Stay calm: This episode is spoiler-free.
Cooperatives: The Last of Us
Chris Plante co-founded Polygon in 2012 and is now editor-in-chief. He co-hosts The Besties, is a board member of the Frida Cinema, and created NYU’s first games journalism course.
Too often filming Cooperatives can feel like sucking marrow from a bone. Few games have a lot to say, and fewer still say something as concisely, eloquently and intelligently as The Last of Us. Our conversation barely breaks skin on a game that warrants a full autopsy.
How did Naughty Dog do it? How did the animators make Ellie's characterizations so believable? How did the designers create a world so sprawling and twisted and not need to include a mini-map? How did the writers stick the ending? The more I think about the game, the more it feels like a series of technical sleight of hands, gracefully guiding the player from the prologue to the climax.
So, this won't be the last time we discuss The Last of Us. Both Frushtick and I look forward to taking a plunge into opinion pieces. Until then, enjoy watching two goofballs struggle through something spectacular in under five-minutes of stream of consciousness buffoonery.
Most Popular
- Bring back the coolest animated series (and coolest animated sword) of 1981
- Pokémon TCG Pocket unleashes Ultra Beasts in new Extradimensional Crisis packs
- I bet you haven’t seen a first-person shooter quite like this
- The dark Pac-Man Metroidvania secretly has what I can only describe as Pac-Man Championship Edition 3 hidden inside of it
- Mario Kart World has been in development for 8 years as Nintendo struggled to improve a ‘perfect’ formula
