Analysis Of The Game The Last Of Us
The Last of Us, a critically acclaimed PlayStation exclusive was released on June 14th, 2013 and is classified as a third-person action-adventure survival horror game. The Last of Us masters storytelling in ways only a few games ever have. Its story not only exquisitely parallels with the post-apocalyptic action-adventure game’s concept but also raises the bar for how powerful video game narratives can be. The game’s gripping, gritty narrative follows the story of Joel, a distant, cold middle-aged man with a tragic past, and Ellie, a spunky 14-year-old girl with an extremely rare immunity to the fungal infection called Cordyceps which has infected and decimated the majority of the human population over the past 20 years. The dynamic relationship between Joel and Ellie evolves as they travel westward in hopes of finding a cure for this plague. Along the way they meet other interesting and engaging side characters that prove essential for their survival and add to the complexity of the story. The game is divided by seasons and every season ends with major plot development, just as you would expect with a book or a television series. The game mechanics in The Last of Us are based off stealth focused encounters with infected and human alike, with the primary mechanic being Joel’s “superhuman” hearing.
Joel is able to pinpoint the exact location of patrolling enemies using his hearing and the player is able to see a silhouette of enemies through walls and other objects. The primary goal of most encounters is to stealthily take down each enemy one by one with a variety of weapons to avoid alerting others, however, the encounters throughout the game don’t evolve much from the encounters you experience early on. This is the main source of complaint behind the few who voice their displeasure with The Last of Us. Despite the relatively simple combat mechanics, The Last of Us a very unique game filled with complex symbolic and thematic elements that all work together to tell one of the most captivating stories ever told.
This intentional focus on thematic elements rather than game mechanics is the reason that this game must be properly analyzed and examined from a narratological perspective to fully grasp what makes this game so special. The dynamic relationship of our heroes, the powerful influential side characters, and the consistent thought-provoking challenge to morality throughout the The Last of Us are the core elements driving the game’s narrative, which sets a new standard of video game storytelling.
Main Characters & Their Relationship
The main relationship in The Last of Us is between Joel, a ruthless survivor with few moral lines left to cross and Ellie, an energetic light-hearted young girl as they try to survive in an oppressive and deadly wasteland. As protagonists in the story, they represent two very complex and conflicting personalities. Their evolving relationship is a crucial and primary element in this game’s narrative. Joel’s personality has two distinct phases; before and after the outbreak or more precisely, before and after the heartbreaking death of his daughter Sarah. Before those tragic events, Joel is shown as a very caring father who like to spend quality time with his daughter demonstrated by the photographs that we can see in their house in the beginning of the game. After the outbreak however, he becomes unemotional and heartless. Despite strict military law, punishable by death if caught; Joel operates in the city’s black market, unafraid to smuggle the right product for the right person at the right price.
On the surface, Joel is like any other apocalyptic video game character; selfish, emotionally unavailable, and mercilessly practical. It is hard for the other characters within the story to guess his emotions as he keeps his feelings tightly bottled up inside. This, however, is part of what makes him so interesting. The character evolution of his personality traits throughout the game gives the player a personal feeling of progression in the game’s storyline. The arc through which Joel’s story is told is both mesmerizing, moving, genuine and terrifying all at the same time. It may be easier to understand Joel’s psyche through his relationships with the other characters as his actions toward those closest to him often betrayed his underlying motivations. Having been born after the outbreak collapsed modern civilization, Ellie doesn't know a life other than the post-apocalyptic world of quarantine zones she grew up in. She was raised in constant state of fear and loss. This, of course, explains her an obsession with relics of the past, such as comic books and music. We meet her a mature fourteen-year-old girl with a lot of street smarts. The strength and complexity of her character shine within this story as she isn’t the typical girl that needs saving or protecting. Although her strength and bravery has always been buried deep inside her, it took her time to realize what she was capable of. These heroic traits slowly emerge from within as she gains confidence in herself throughout the course of the game. She does not hesitate to use violence or fight when she is forced to fend for herself or Joel. Whether it's against men or infected, she has a multitude of stealthy tactics, tricks, and weapons to protect herself. This “will to survive” is a part of her personality that is in direct contrast to another.
Ellie suffers from monophobia and survivor’s guilt due to all the people she has lost in her short life. This drives her to hate herself and always feel as though she is a burden. As opposed to Joel who is jaded most of the time, Ellie expresses a real enthusiasm about the world outside the quarantine zone. What makes her interesting is the opposition between how she feels and how she acts. She embodies hope in a context that is really dark. She is a light in the darkness, especially for Joel.
Neil Druckmann, the creative director of The Last of Us, talked about a secret motive he had in mind when creating the game during a keynote presentation for the International Game Developer Association (IGDA). Druckmann admits, “… I wanted to create one of the coolest non-sexualized female video game protagonists. I felt like with The Last of Us, if we did that, we had an opportunity to change the video game industry. I know it sounds pretentious, but that was my goal.” Druckmann was absolutely successful with his goal. Ellie is an incredibly unique character that quietly takes over as the lead protagonist as she gains confidence in herself throughout the game. This is a powerful message to every young woman; they are capable of so much more than they may realize. The renowned love and success for Ellie’s character will pave way for other developers to take initiative in creating other like-minded powerful female protagonists across all genres of video games.
Joel and Ellie’s relationship evolves significantly throughout the game’s narrative. Joel is assigned the task of escorting Ellie to a group of Fireflies -- a band of survivors searching for a cure -- by Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies. His initial views this as nothing more than babysitting. This results in emotional distance being maintained between the two characters. Initially annoyed by Joel's surliness, over time Ellie begins to feel a strong attachment to him and vice versa. Indeed, the fact that Joel lost his daughter makes him scared of becoming a father figure for Ellie. She reminds him of Sarah and Joel strongly believes the feelings of love and emotional bonds can only end with heartbreak and loss. The turning point in their relationship happens when Ellie runs away after overhearing Joel’s intentions of passing Ellie off to his brother to guide her the rest of the way to the Fireflies. Joel eventually finds Ellie in an abandoned ranch where Ellie confronts him about his intentions and admits how much she needs him. This incredibly poignant cutscene is the first time each of the two characters fully realize what they’ve come to mean to each other. For much of the game, Joel internalizes his feelings and expresses anger instead of showing his true emotions. For example, when Ellie fatally shot a man to save Joel from dying, Joel who is clearly happy to see that she is safe, shouts at her for not being cautious about her own safety as well as his. After the scene at the ranch, Joel ends up embracing his feelings for Ellie and slowly accepting her as a surrogate daughter. This is seen best during the Winter Season when Joel gets severely injured and their roles get reversed. For the first time, Ellie is the protector and Joel allows himself to be the one who is taken care of.
Another example is at the end of the game when Joel and Ellie finally reach the Fireflies. The Fireflies are initially hostile and end up knocking out Joel as he is administering CPR to Ellie after a nearly fatal drowning. Joel wakes up and hears that Ellie is alive, but being prepped for surgery to remove the traces of fungus inside her brain. Marlene is back with the Fireflies and tells Joel that this surgery is a 100% fatal procedure, but claims they do not have a choice. Joel reacts how every loving father would in that situation and knows there is another option. Instead of conceding Ellie to the Fireflies, Joel escapes from his captors and goes on a violent killing spree, unleashing his unrivaled fury on every single person getting in his way. After finally reaching Ellie in the operating room and making his escape out of the headquarters, he has one final confrontation with Marlene where she begs Joel to “do the right thing” and sacrifice Ellie for the good of mankind. Even though it may mean a vaccine for the virus, Joel chooses to save Ellie from a life ending surgery, killing Marlene where she stands, as he cannot face living in a world that Ellie is not a part of. The power of the love Joel and Ellie share in their relationship is the most impactful element of the narrative in The Last of Us and makes players internalize these characters and reflect upon the choices they’ve made. As the main characters, Joel and Ellie are the centerpiece of the narrative in The Last of Us, but as with any great play or book, without the dynamic secondary characters, this game would simply not come to life.
Side Character’s Influence on Narrative
A critical component of the post-apocalyptic narrative falls on the secondary characters that are encountered throughout the game. With a relatively linear narrative (See Appendix B), support roles such as these are key tools in immersing a player in the storyline and gameplay, without requiring the player to make decisions that impact the events of the game. While navigating the ruins of what once was the United States of America, the player engages with several NPC characters that are essential to developing the two components that make The Last of Us the immersive and emotional experience that it is – the character development and the overall narrative. While not all of the secondary characters provide riveting development to the narrative, the proportion of those who do is staggering. Out of the eight secondary characters that are encountered through the game, the majority of them provide major developments to the narrative and character development, making them integral to the experience. Even the few side characters that don’t influence monumental changes in the narrative do influence it to a certain degree.
In Understanding Video Games, Engelfeldt-Nielsen describes characters such as these as cast characters, or, in his words, “Characters with a particular function in the game related to the story”. While other games still effectively deliver the narrative primarily through the main character and active player involvement, The Last of Us differs by deeply intertwining its secondary characters in the narrative. As previously alluded to, there are several secondary characters throughout the game that, if removed, would leave massive gaps in the narrative. In describing the medium of video games to communicate a narrative, Ostensen states, “While a central focus of these games is character development — gaining skills and abilities as quests are successfully completed — the entire rationale for playing is provided by the narrative and the problems posed within the storyline.” One such character is Sarah, Joel’s daughter. Sarah is only physically present in the very early stages of the game, but she leaves a lasting impact on the narrative of the game. Despite Sarah’s death at the hands of the military being one of the player’s first experiences, she heavily influences Joel’s character and his actions throughout the game. It is likely that without losing a person who Joel deeply cared for, he might not have resorted to living an empty life as a smuggler, only caring about providing for himself and surviving from day to day. This sets the initial narrative of the game, with Joel primarily being a selfish survivor, only looking after himself and doing what’s best for him.
Another character that is essential to influencing the narrative is Marlene – the leader of the Fireflies group. Joel first comes into contact with Marlene after she intercepted a shipment of guns that was meant for Joel and his smuggling partner, Tess. Marlene offers Joel a deal in exchange for the guns – to sneak Ellie outside of the quarantined area to another faction of Fireflies. This deal ultimately initiates the main plot of the story or direction of the game after the designated faction is found dead by Joel, Ellie, and Tess. Without the player’s interaction with Marlene, the narrative would not have been initiated and Joel would remain a smuggler, taking impromptu jobs while struggling to survive.
Not only does Marlene initiate the story line, but she also wraps it up towards the end of the game. After finally reaching the Salt Lake City hospital to submit Ellie for research on a cure, Marlene presents herself once again. Ultimately, Joel kills Marlene in an effort to save Ellie from certain death on the operating table, in lieu of finding a cure for the brain-mutating disease. The intentions of Marlene to sacrifice Ellie for the greater good of humanity and Joel’s decision to end Marlene’s life effectively culminate the narrative. Outside of pushing the narrative forward, several secondary characters have massive influence on developing Joel and Ellie’s characters and their relationship. Most notably, David and the duo of Henry and Sam provide the deepest influences. Joel and Ellie meet Henry and Sam midway through the game after escaping a group of enemies trying to kill them. At first, there was heavy tension between the two groups, but this eventually blossomed into a companionship and friendship. Unfortunately, this was short lived, as Sam was bitten and infected, soon after succumbing to the infection. Henry, Sam’s father, did what any sensible person would do and put him down, but he was so distraught over what happened that he then took his own life. These events marked a shift in the narrative, making Joel and Ellie realize how much they need each other for survival. This begins a gradual shift away from the selfish attitudes that Joel and Ellie previously carried and altered their motives to carry on with the journey.
A fourth secondary character that adds depth to Joel and Ellie’s interactions and that has the most profound impact on the narrative is David, a cannibalistic leader of a small village of people. Ellie first encounters David while alone and while at first he seems friendly, she quickly learns that she and Joel had killed many of David’s group, which creates a cause for alarm. Ellie quickly escapes, but David and his group follow and ultimately capture Ellie. Once Joel awakens and realizes that Ellie is missing, he embarks on a frantic search for her. In the end, he finds her, just moments after narrowly escaping death and bludgeoning David’s head with an axe. This traumatizing moment for Ellie forces Joel open up emotionally and console and comfort her marking the most significant change in the narrative; one that sees Joel outwardly care about someone other than himself. From this point of the journey onwards, Joel’s sole motivation is to keep Ellie safe from harm.
This deep motivation for Joel leads him to take some extremely questionable actions further into the game, leaving players to debate the morality of his character on their own.
The Challenge of Morality in this Dystopian World
The Last of US takes a very atypical philosophical stance on morality. Throughout the entire playthrough, the player experiences consistent dark, intense moral dilemmas vicariously through the main protagonist Joel. In the game’s introduction, Joel and his daughter Sarah are confronted by a soldier while trying to escape the city and the game quickly sets the tone for the bleak reality of the world soon to come. The soldier, under strict orders to take out all civilians, hesitates slightly but continues to open fire on the two of them. Despite being saved by Joel’s brother Tommy, Sarah was fatally wounded in the shooting and dies tragically in Joel’s arms. Sarah’s death leaves Joel as a broken shell of the man he once was, now adopting the same moral code and fleeting humanity as the soldier who took his daughter’s life. With nothing left to lose, Joel must now do anything in his power to survive. The harrowing undertones of this new world continue to be evident going into the game’s first mission when Joel and his partner Tess come across a man pinned underneath furniture, already exposed to the mind controlling spores. The man is still in the initial stages of the infection, capable of begging and pleading Joel to end his life to escape the slow inevitable consumption of his mind. The game then offers the player the choice whether or not to grant the man his mercy. However, this “choice” for the player is merely an illusion as the game developers have made it clear they want you to kill the man; offering extra ammunition and even a tutorial on how to shoot directly after the man’s plea for mercy. By letting the player “choose” to end the man’s life, rather than letting a cutscene do the dirty work, The Last of Us makes the player a willing participant of the reconstructed morality that they will continue to experience throughout the rest of the game.
Unlike games like Undertale where the choice in your morality is FAR from an illusion, choice in The Last of Us is basically nonexistent. It’s not the player that is actively making these moral decisions but instead passively experiencing these decisions and their consequences vicariously through Joel and to a lesser extent, Ellie. The Last of Us challenges morality from a philosophical perspective in that it refuses to define what morality is or should be in this new world. Instead it challenges players to think and look introspectively and to make that distinction for themselves. In an academic journal written by Amy M. Green, she discusses how these narratological elements are deployed and their effect on the player in The Last of Us. Green explains, “The gamer, then, participates in the narratological elements by virtue of the game’s mechanics, requirements, and gameplay. The Last of Us, while moving players through a series of environments and locations, immerses them in an uncomfortable exploration of what it means to be human”. The introspective thought emerging from these moral dilemmas helps the player truly immerse themselves into the game. This dynamic interaction with the player hits home on a personal level, allowing each and every player to build a deeply intimate relationship with The Last of Us, uncovering pieces of themselves along the way.
The narrative element of morality culminates with the rest of the plot during the final moments of the game when Joel decides to risk his life to go back to the Fireflies in order to rescue Ellie from the operating room, silencing what's left of the dwindling hopes to find a cure. The love Joel has for Ellie is strong enough break through his deep rooted emotional barriers he has built up since the death of his daughter. Joel is well aware of the consequences of his decision, risking his own life and damning the future of mankind. However, the only thing Joel truly cares about in this world anymore is Ellie; and he finally realizes that a world without her in it would serve him no purpose. The morality of Joel’s decision is extremely flawed, yet powerfully human. This decision from Joel is the hallmark conflict of morality in The Last of Us. Joel’s behavior here is mostly unsurprising and fittingly concludes his characters story arc, evolving from a cold heartless man to the man willing to sacrifice himself and the world for the irrational love he has for Ellie. His actions, however, are still widely debated on whether he was justified. While still heroic in a sense, it is clear that Joel’s actions were selfishly motivated. However, the selfish action he took was one that stemmed from love in the purest way possible. Humans, despite our sharp intellect, are incredibly emotional beings. The irrational decisions and questionable morality seen in Joel and the other characters throughout the game is the exact reason why so many people are able to build such a profound connection to The Last of Us.
The reason that most players are able to forgive Joel for acting selfishly in this situation is because of how authentic and powerful his love is for Ellie by the end of their journey. Players are able to relate to these heavy emotional moments of weakness that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. These deliberate conflicting emotions the player experiences throughout the game is something rarely seen done this well in box office feature let alone in a video game and this is what makes the story of Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us one of the best stories ever told in a video game.
Conclusion
Our enjoyment of The Last of Us didn’t come from the gameplay, though we liked each well-designed section, the graphics, and the audio. Instead, it came from the constant desire to unfold the story of our beloved Joel and Ellie and due to sense of self-discovery the player experiences as they build an intimate personal relationship with the game itself. Joel, the hero, is forced into difficult situations where there's often no obvious answer. As players, we search for signs and explanations why things turned out the way they did. When there isn't an obvious one, we invent our own. The Last of Us is more than a game, it’s a well written story that explores complex characters and themes and that’s what’s kept us playing. The game delivers a thrilling narrative that wouldn’t be made possible without the dynamic relationship between Joel and Ellie, the numerous side characters that are critical components of the narrative, and the moral questions that arise and make the player question how and why they would respond in similar situations.
