Once I finally got The Last of Us working, I found it to be a truly enjoyable experience. The graphics are striking: animation is incredibly life-like and natural, textures are massively detailed and clear, and lighting effects are spot-on. The audio completes the presentation package. Every sound in the game is important to the player, from faint ambiance-building music to footsteps, this game is a superior example of how to employ audio with surround-sound technology.
The characters are not only realistic-looking and realistic-sounding, but they act like real people. These aren't your standard WWII shooter cardboard cutout soldiers. Joel's tragic backstory has real depth, and the mystery of Ellie's mission is compelling. It doesn't stop there. Side characters such as Bill of Bill's Town, offer a wider view of the emotional fallout present in this post-apocalyptic world.
It's a fun game, too. While the story and characters are compelling, the game is truly at its best when the player is forced to struggle. Scrounging for randomly-spawned weapons (Joel rarely has more than a dozen bullets in his inventory at any given time), supplies, and other gear is where the player spends the most time. On the harder difficulties the game really begins to shine: equipment is extremely scarce, and Joel has few options to defend himself. Every piece of gear must be used as efficiently as possible in order to survive. I'm reminded of how much fun I had on expert difficulty in Left 4 Dead 2 - some of my favorite video game memories.
The fact that deaths are nigh meaningless (Joel is merely returned to the last checkpoint) is a blemish on this system. In order to keep the player immersed and tense, death should have some serious consequence. This is partly why Dark Souls and EVE have been so successful at building rabidly dedicated fans: what you do has real meaning, and if you die, you pay for it.
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