The Last of Us GAME Exclusive Ellie Edition PlayStation-3

Released on 14-Jun-2013

Survival and action combine for a genre-defining - and re-defining - experience in The Last of Us for PlayStation 3.

Set in an America changed forever by a infection pandemic, The Last of Us sees ruthless survivor Joel hired to take some unique cargo across the country - a 14-year-old girl named Ellie…

The Last of Us: GAME Exclusive Ellie Edition

The Last of Us Ellie Edition includes:

• Canvas Wrap Packaging
• Min Artbook
• "American Dreams" Mini Comic from Dark Horse Comics
• Screen Print Effect Poster
• Ellie Skin for your Dualshock Wireless Controller

Exclusive Digital Content

In-Game Survival Pack

• Special customisable items for your multiplayer character.
• Start with a pool of in-game currency to buy boosters, customisable parts and other items to bolster your multiplayer characters.
• Bonus experience points to give you a head start on your rivals.
• A powerful melee attack booster to pack a heavier punch in hand-to-hand combat.
• Two bonus skins for Joel and Ellie – available once you’ve completed the single player game.

Sights & Sounds Pack

• A PS3 dynamic theme showing Joel and Ellie on their journey
• Digital download of the game's soundtrack, featuring music from Academy Award winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla
• Exclusive PlayStation Network Avatars of Joel and Ellie in winter survival gear

Plus

• Ellie costume for Sackboy in LittleBigPlanet

Key Features of The Last of Us on PlayStation 3:

• An intense character-driven narrative from legendary developers Naughty Dog
• Explore a horrific America forever changed by the pandemic
• Learn to survive together as both hunter and hunted
• Combat enemies powered by The Balance of Power AI system

The Last of Us comes from Naughty Dog, the critically-acclaimed creators of the Uncharted series. This is a tale that could not be further from the daredevil adventuring of Nathan Drake, but one that highlights the award-winning cinematic storytelling, performance capture, and high-production values that Naughty Dog have become famous for.

The Last of Us takes place in a bleak future, twenty years after a fungal infection has wiped out much of humanity, turning them in to mutated savages. Those who survived are not much better, with survivors huddled together in quarantined zones,  struggling and scavenging for the remaining food, weapons - and anything else they can get their hands on.

Joel is such a survivor, living a life of smuggling and black marketeering - and one with few morals. He's hired to transport a teenage girl named Ellie across the country, but what seems like a simple job turns into a desperate and profound journey across what remains of America.

The Last of Us presents a familiar but dangerous United States, with Joel and Ellie experiencing a stunning but brutal country as they travel. Escaping their home in Boston, you'll explore an America that has been thoroughly transformed over the last two decades. Nature has reclaimed much of the land, with overgrown plantlife further devastating the ruins of the cities you travel through.

The Last of Us offers classic survival gameplay with a sense of danger and fear that is not often seen in today's games. Playing as Joel, you'll need to learn to work together with Ellie if either of you are to survive this horrific landscape where food, ammo and other supplies are extremely limited. You'll need to scavenge for what you need, craft weapons from what you can find and compete with other survivors in a land where the true limits of humanity will be tested - and where new threats are waiting at every turn.

You'll need to combat both the infected savages and your fellow survivors. Like the best survival games, you'll need to keep your wits about you and fight smart, avoiding encounters when you can and making every bullet, every shiv and every attack count. But your enemies will be fighting smart, too. Thanks to the Balance of Power AI system, your foes will constantly adapt, changing their behaviour based on your actions, the weapon they see you carrying, or how many of them are left to fight.

Play The Last of Us Demo - included with God of War Ascension

A demo for the Last of Us will be included with God of War: Ascension, letting you play through a chapter months before its 14th June release.

To access The Last of Us demo, all you need do is put God of War Ascension into your PS3 and highlight The Last of Us option on the main menu. Then simply follow the instructions on-screen to gain access to the demo when it becomes available.

• The Last of Us - Review

  
  

  

  Uncharted Territory

  Naughty Dog, the makers of the hugely popular Uncharted games, have made themselves a reputation as purveyors of the highest quality AAA action epics, with Hollywood production values, thrilling storylines and stunning visuals.

  With their new game The Last of Us, they've excelled themselves. It's a masterpiece of storytelling, engineering and gameplay with a mature attitude and serious, stripped-back style. It makes Uncharted look like child's play, and the competition look silly. Put simply, it's one of the best games of its generation.

  The Last of Us takes place after the outbreak of a fungal virus that devastates America, turning most of the population into zombie-like infected monsters. It follows survivors Joel and Ellie on an epic trek across the country to get Ellie - for reasons we'll leave secret for now - to the headquarters of the Fireflies, a resistance movement. Joel's a tough middle-aged smuggler with a troubled past, Ellie a precocious teenage girl. The way their relationship develops is what gives The Last of Us its huge emotional power, but it's far from the only reason to recommend this amazing game.

  Beautiful Destruction

  The first thing that grabs you about The Last of Us is its astonishing world. Although we've seen similar post-apocalyptic set-ups many times before - in I Am Legend, The Walking Dead or 28 Days Later, say - Naughty Dog makes this one so powerful by setting it 20 years in the future, showing a world that's already ended. People live in slums ruled by a paranoid and cruel army, while most of the country is empty, overgrown and falling apart.

  

  Starting in Boston and heading west over the course of a year - the seasons changing as you play - the game takes you through crumbling skyscrapers that are falling apart, cities empty of all life and strewn with wreckage, and wildernesses unchanged by the fall of man. It's awe-inspiring and stunningly beautiful and sad at the same time.

  Naughty Dog's artists and programmers have done amazing work, and with its incredible lighting and animation and jaw-dropping views, you'll scarcely believe The Last of Us is not playing on the next-gen PlayStation 4. The dark, haunting atmosphere is also helped by great sound and music; the music is often left off, leaving you to really feel the loneliness and tension of the survivors.

  Make no mistake, this is a much darker game than Uncharted - and much harder, too. Playing as Joel, you need to fight through or sneak past both infected and hostile humans, and the action blends third-person shooter gameplay with elements of stealth and survival horror. Given the survival theme, it makes perfect sense that ammo is limited, and you need to scavenge supplies and craft them into what you need - be that med kits or Molotov cocktails.

  And because all of this is in short supply, you often need to vary your tactics and think on your feet. This makes the action extra gripping - sometimes, when fighting infected, it's as scary as Silent Hill - but also wonderfully varied. Although you'll need to restart often, it's not a chore because you always have options, and a fight never plays the same twice.

  It's not for the faint of heart, though - this is an extremely violent game, with lots of gory executions. It can be a bit much sometimes, but the feeling of constant danger really underlines what a harsh and brutal world Joel and Ellie live in.

  

  The Heart Of The Matter

  If that sounds too bleak, what really makes The Last of Us work is the drama. The story has some unexpected twists for sure, but it's really quite simple - essentially, it's a road movie about Joel reluctantly starting to feel responsibility and affection for the girl he's been dumped with.

  It takes a while to hook you in, because writing and acting are, by video game standards, extremely understated and subtle. But in the long run that only makes the characters more real to you, and their plight more moving. Once the game hits its second half and takes you through some extraordinary situations and locations, it's hitting with more dramatic power than you've ever felt from a game. The ending is like nothing you've seen in games before, and will leave you speechless.

  Many people said Uncharted 2 was like a playable movie, and that's true - but the movie you were playing in that case was an entertaining, throwaway action romp. The Last of Us is thrilling and spectacular too, but its portrayal of desperate survivors in a world without hope is also far deeper, more moving and more thought-provoking. It's a masterpiece that you will never forget. (And it has multiplayer too!)

  GAME's Verdict:

  The Good:

  • A powerfully moving story with the best acting and writing you've ever seen in a game.
  • Tough, absorbing survival gameplay that varies and never gets old (with fun multiplayer on the side).
  • Technically and artistically stunning, The Last of Us will blow you away.

  The Bad:

  • It's a little slow to get going, and the characters take a while to get under your skin.
  • The set-up is incredibly well realised but not all that original.
  • Some people might have mixed feelings about how it ends.

  Published: 10/06/2013

• 10/10: The Last of Us slays the critics

  When a review embargo ends nine days before a game launches, you know its publisher is confident, and SONY had every right to be with Naughty Dog's survival epic The Last of Us. The game has attracted top marks from over 25 websites and magazines, earning a rare 10/10 from Edge magazine, only the 15th in the publication's history.

  The word 'masterpiece' has featured often in the appraisals, and reviewers have universally celebrated the quality of the game's storytelling, voice acting and atmosphere. The game currently sits on a spectacular 96 per cent average on review aggregator Metacritic - making it the highest-rated game of 2013 so far.

  Eurogamer calls it "a surpassingly confident and handsome survival thriller", making note of its "wonderful, elegant and sad" soundtrack, by Oscar winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla.

  "The action moves through a stunning sequence of locations and gameplay variations with a momentum that is unhurried but immense. It's breathtakingly confident game-making," continues the review. "The Last of Us is Hollywood stuff, of course, but the good kind of Hollywood: big-hearted, humane, with just a shade of grey."

  It also promises an ending "you won't forget in a hurry", and after a hefty 15-20 hour story, there's still plenty to get your teeth into, with an extensive clan-based multiplayer mode the site calls "a strong offering".

  The short wait for its launch next Friday just got even harder. PlayStation 3 owners, prepare to buckle in for what promises to be one of the most thrilling and talked-about games of the year.

  Published: 06/06/2013

• Demo reveals ambitious multiplayer mode for The Last of Us

  PlayStation 3 survival horror The Last of Us is one of the most anticipated games of 2013, but developer Naughty Dog has so far been playing its cards close to its chest when discussing the game's multiplayer mode.

  However, buried within the code of the survival horror's recent demo - available to those who bought God of War: Ascension - were a number of details that have now been excavated.

  It's an ambitious mode that takes a clan-focused approach to multiplayer, giving you a number of non-player characters to fight alongside against waves of the game's fungal foes. Your job is to both train and protect them, while collecting items to convert into supplies. Keep your cabal alive long enough and you can send them on missions to increase their stats, thus improving their chances of survival.

  It takes place in the same harsh, unforgiving universe as the single-player game, meaning you have more to worry about than just enemy attacks. It's possible to die from infection or starvation, for example, though each character can learn new skills, from crafting weapons to more green-fingered pursuits - like growing plants that offer healing benefits.

  Those concerned about distinguishing their clan from other players' needn't worry: the character customisation feature promises a range of over 150 hats to wear.

  You don't have to wait long if you want to dress to suppress. The Last of Us launches exclusively for PlayStation 3 on June 14th.

  Published: 03/06/2013

• The Last of US DLC and Season Pass detailed

  SONY's nail biting survival thriller The Last of Us is out in just a couple of weeks, and we've finally learned what extra bits we'll be able to download for the game.

  Three major DLC updates are planned. Two will add more maps and other stuff to the game's still-mysterious multiplayer modes. Those more interested in the single player game will get a dedicated story-based download which adds another chapter to the story of Joel and Ellie as they try to stay alive in a world destroyed by a ferocious fungal parasite.

  If you opt to buy the game's season pass, you'll save 30% on the price of all the DLC, and will also get some additional perks. You'll be faster at reloading the 9mm pistol, crafting items and healing. You'll also get a capacity upgrade for your rifle, and an exclusive feature length documentary, called Grounded, which takes you behind the scenes at developer Naughty Dog during the making of the game.

  The Last of Us is a PlayStation 3 exclusive and goes on sale worldwide on June 14th.

  Published: 29/05/2013

• The Last of Us has "best multiplayer ever"

  If you've been playing games for any amount of time, you soon get used to the wild boasts made by various developers and publishers as their games near release. Few are as bold as Nate Wells, lead artist on Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic survival thriller The Last of Us, however.

  He took to Twitter to declare that “I REALLY can't prepare you for the best MP ever conceived...” This is especially interesting as while Sony and Naughty Dog have shown off plenty from the game's single player campaign, the multiplayer aspect is still fairly mysterious. The studio surprised us all by introducing some great multiplayer and co-op modes into Uncharted, so it may be that these are not idle boasts.

  The game promises to be a gruelling adventure set after a strange fungal virus has decimated mankind and turned survivors against each other. You'll play as Joel, a man haunted by the loss of his family, as he takes a young girl, Ellie, under his wing.

  The Last of Us is due in just under a month, on June 14th, and Sony is clearly pretty happy with the result. The publisher quietly registered internet domains for The Last of Us 2 and The Last of Us 3 this week.
  

  Published: 17/05/2013

• The Last of Us - Preview

  
  

  

  Naughty Dog, the developer behind the rip-roaring Uncharted series and a team that's become synonymous with the PlayStation brand, has elicited many emotions from its players in the past. With Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter, it charmed us, and with Nathan Drake's adventures it excited us and, if you've a certain investment in Uncharted's well-realised cast of characters, warmed us and touched us.

  The Last of Us, the all-new game that's coming to PlayStation 3 this summer, does something a little different. It sets out to scare us, and a chance to play through an early level reveals that it's horrifically effective in doing so. This is no longer the matinee adventure of Uncharted, and it's several hundred miles away from the Saturday morning whimsy of Naughty Dog's earlier games. This is a gritty, murky tale set across a post-apocalyptic America that's portrayed with a chilling touch of authenticity.

  True Horror

  The premise is simple, and a little too believable. An infection based on the real-life fungus cordyceps - otherwise known as the zombie fungus - has wiped out much of the population, turning them into savage and monstrous husks. They're only half as savage as many of the survivors, though, and it's up to you as one of them to travel across the country with some precious cargo in tow.

  

  That cargo's the teenage Ellie, and in the relationship between her and the player character Joel there are signs of the game's heritage. Like Uncharted there's a human core to The Last of Us, and it's played out convincingly through some stellar writing, affecting incidental moments and strong motion capture. It's interactive cinema at its most powerful, and certainly at its most visually impressive.

  Just as convincing are the encounters between Joel and the infected, and it's this part of the game that was the focus of the first section Naughty Dog allowed anyone to play. You're escaping Boston with Ellie and your partner Tess in tow, working your way through destroyed office blocks as you step away from the relative safety of the quarantine zone.

  Uncharted Territory

  There are touches of Uncharted in the way that Joel bounds across the scenery, and in the way he hulks behind cover, but in every other way The Last of Us is very much its own game. Descending into the depths of the ruined city, it takes on the gnawing tension of a true horror game, and strings that feeling out across its encounters.

  

  The infected are a gruesome and powerful bunch, and getting too close can send Joel down in a grimly observed death scene that makes for truly unpleasant viewing. And so slow and steady stealth is the best recourse, the player left to pick their way through cover and dart through the shadows in an attempt to avoid detection.

  The encounters, when they do come, are as savage as so much else in The Last of Us's world. Joel can craft shivs and other makeshift weapons from items left discarded around the scenery, although resources are scarce and make such devices a precious commodity. It's essential to fight smart, to make every single bullet count and to isolate enemies so as to make the most of your deliberately limited toolset.

  Over the course of 20 minutes of play The Last of Us reveals itself to be almost unbearably tense, delivering the kind of real horror that many feel has been lost to video games since Resident Evil went wayward. But it's just part of the emotional palette of the game, says Naughty Dog, suggesting it'll be painting with other shades of dark as well as throwing in some much-needed light. If they're delivered with the kind of conviction seen in this early look, expect The Last of Us to be something very special indeed.

  Published: 14/02/2013

• The Last of Us slips into June

  The Last of Us, the incredibly promising survival horror adventure from Uncharted creator Naughty Dog, has slipped backwards from its planned release on 7th May. Don't panic too much, however. This isn't like Grand Theft Auto V retreating to September. The Last of Us will now launch worldwide on 14th June, just over a month later than expected.

  "In many ways it may be Naughty Dog's most ambitious project to date - a brand new universe and cast of characters, brand new tech, brand new genre, and not to mention it's easily the longest campaign Naughty Dog has ever made," creative director Neil Druckmann posted on the PlayStation Blog.

  "As we entered the final phase of development for The Last of Us, we came to realise just how massive Joel and Ellie's journey is. But instead of cutting corners or compromising our vision, we came to the tough decision that the game deserved a few extra weeks to ensure every detail of The Last of Us was up to Naughty Dog's internal high standards."

  The Last of Us takes place years after a terrifying fungal plague has decimated civilisation, and follows a grizzled survivor called Joel as he takes a young girl, Ellie, under his wing. Expect gruelling survival challenges, nail-biting stealth and bloody, brutal combat.

  The UK Ellie Special Edition will be available exclusively from GAME, and comes with a host of downloadable extras and bonuses for the game's online multiplayer.

  Published: 14/02/2013

• God of War: Ascension offers early access to The Last of Us demo

  There's an additional treat in store for anyone who picks up SONY's upcoming mythical slay-a-thon, God of War: Ascension: early exclusive access to the playable demo for SONY's upcoming apocalyptic survive-a-thon, The Last of Us.

  You won't need to do anything else - just buy God of War. When the Last of Us demo is available, you'll be able to launch it from the main menu. So simple, even a meerkat can do it. SONY has yet to decide whether this demo will be offered for download to everyone, so there's a chance this will be your only shot at playing Naughty Dog's tantalising adventure before it comes out.

  God of War: Ascension is a prequel to the incredibly popular and insanely gory series of legendary brawlers, following man-shaped frown-muscle Kratos as he carves his way through more gods, monsters and hapless humans thrust into his path with only a sword and shield to protect them from his whirling blades.

  The Last of Us is an epic post-apocalyptic adventure set in the aftermath of a mysterious fungal virus that brings civilisation to its knees. You'll follow Joel, a gruff drifter, and Ellie, the young girl he protects, as they journey through the ruins of America. Don't forget - the special Ellie Edition is exclusive to GAME and comes with loads of extras.

  Both games are exclusive to PlayStation 3. God of War: Ascension carves its way onto shelves on 15th March. The Last of Us follows on 7th May.
  

  Published: 28/01/2013

• The Last of Us: Ellie Edition exclusive to GAME

  If you're frothing with excitement at the prospect of Naughty Dog's upcoming survival horror adventure The Last of Us - and if you're not, what's wrong with you? - you'll want to sink your teeth into this special edition, exclusive to GAME in the UK. Dubbed the Ellie Edition, named after the young girl whose journey players will share through a virus-ravaged world, it contains a veritable buffet of cool extras.

  Inside the box you'll find a mini artbook giving an insight into the evolution of the game's visual style; the first issue of American Dreams, a Dark Horse prequel comic with variant cover; a collectible screen print effect poster of Ellie and an Ellie-themed DualShock 3 Skin for your controller.

  There are also digital trinkets unlocked with the Ellie Edition. The Survival Pack DLC offers bonus XP, in-game currency, a boosted melee attack and customisable character skins for the game's multiplayer modes. You'll also unlock exclusive Joel and Ellie skins when you complete the single player story. The Sights and Sounds DLC pack is also included, offering the game's soundtrack by Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla, a dynamic wallpaper for your PS3 and PSN Avatars.

  And that's still not all! You'll also receive a bonus code to download an Ellie skin for use in LittleBigPlanet. It's a generous spread, and only makes the wait for the PlayStation 3 exclusive's launch on May 7th feel even longer.
  

  Published: 23/01/2013