Warning: Spoilers
Naughty Dog, have outdone themselves with "The Last of Us". Keep in mind I still haven't played "Bioshock Infinite" (Yet), but "The Last of Us" represents the best so far of 2013 and the first game that delivers a level of immersion, emotion and game play we haven't had for quite a long time.
The plot involves a breakout of spores from the nonfictional fungi "Cordyceps", that in this story have mutated to be able to infect humans. Cut to 20 years later, nature has taken back a lot of the cities and landscapes of America you'll traverse as Joel, a man now in his 40's-50's who's lost large parts of his life to this epidemic. Joel's mission is to escort young teenage girl Ellie, across these wastelands in a tale that spans all four seasons. Unfortunately this also means coming across a lot of desperate people, who are willing to do almost anything in means of survival.
That's as much as I'm willing to say without spoiling the ever expanding story, and much deeper sense of urgency. The areas in the game are superbly creepy and upsetting. Many times you'll find yourself triggering inappropriate conversations with Ellie, that do wonders in immersing you and building up personalities, therefore investing you further in how the situation will pan out for these characters.
The Music by Gustavo Santaolalla is superb, and deeply planted into my mind as one of the best I have ever heard while playing a new game (It always shows up at the right time, just to pull you in that little deeper). But getting into the game play aspects, do you finally realise how deep Naughty Dogs efforts were. Improvisation is absolutely essential to survival, as you collect and build all these important tools to help see you through. Depending on your level of skill at the game you'll always find yourself wanting more health or ammo, regardless how much or how little you have. It goes from part drama, part adventure to even survival horror seamlessly, never becoming too overwhelming that you'll find the situation boring.
My final thoughts on this game go to the terrific performances from Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, for captivating us so well throughout this story. Motion capture is starting to really help blur the lines between movies and games now. Sooner or later I believe that stories like "The Last Of Us", will help define how we will view both mediums in terms of the word "Art", and dare I say "Expression".
Final Verdict: I consider myself an avid gamer (I even went out and bought a PS3, mostly just to play this game). I loved "Crash Bandicoot" as a kid, and "Uncharted" held me over during the 2000's. Naughty Dog, "The Last of Us" is your masterpiece, to anyone yet to experience it I urge you to take it on as soon as. 9/10.