The Last of Us was a big hit when it came out, it got ten's across the boards on most reviewing sites, and A lot of gamers just loved it, and I loved it also I gave it a score of nine and I stick by that score, but I have to say something that a lot of people are probably going to get pissed off at, this game is overrated, I know, I know I can see all the thumbs down now, but let me at least have a chance to explain myself. First off I just want to say that The Last Of Us is a perfect crafted game, so why do I think it's overrated? because of the continual fan reception, whenever you hear someone talking about their opinion on the best game ever made someone just has to mention the Last Of Us,(rant incoming) The Last Of Us in not even close to the best game ever made, I'm not trying to hate on people who love the game, but lets be honest, it's just a top notch Survival Horror game that honestly is nothing new to the series, sure the execution is fantastic but I'm sick and tired of hearing people constantly talk about this game, it's a good game sure, but I'm sick of hearing about it, its not the best game ever and I might not even agree that it's the best game of 2013, but like I said I do love the game and I do recommend it, my point is that I am sick of hearing about it, tone it down a bit huh. They should have called this a rantveiw huh?... anyone..., anyways I'm getting off topic but I just wanted to mention my feelings towards the Last Of Us before I talked about the actual DLC.
Story: So basically Left Behind is split up into two parts. The first part is a side story that was passed through in the main campaign, and the second part was mentioned in the main campaign but was never touched upon, So First I will talk about the story that was passed through in the main campaign. This is the part in the campaign where Joel and Ellie were getting attacked by Hunters trying to find the firefly's in a mall, and Joel falls down on a sharp object, in the main story it kind of skips to Ellie hunting and still caring for him, but nothing was touched upon when they were at this mall. So what a perfect opportunity to add DLC for it right? well I guess, but when it come to this part of the DlC, to be honest it just feels tacked on because all you are doing is trying to get a first aid kit. This is more the regular Survival part of the game, while the other part of the game is more focused on it's story. Like I said though the only thing you are doing in this part of the game is trying to heal Joel and I feel like this just didn't feel like it needed to be touched upon, it opens no new door to the rest of the Last of Us campaign's story, so it honestly feels like it was just augmented into the story but with no substance to do so. The second part of the story is based on Ellie and her friend Riley, right before the breakout started getting to the point of no return. Which means you know whats going to happen. This part of the story can be compelling at some points, but again if I'm being honest their are moments where they are forcing the emotion and it comes out awkward, and I would like to also address that throughout the game you start to notice that Riley and Ellie's relationship is a little weird, and thats when Ellie kisses Riley, Their is absolutely nothing wrong with this I have nothing against someone who is gay or might be gay, but this just comes off as awkward again because it feels like they our forcing the emotion yet again.
Presentation: Theirs not much to mention that I didn't mention in the regular Last Of Us review its pretty much the same as I described it to be. It is pretty cool that the mall is what I believe to be the same one that Ellie begins in with Riley and now you are back in it with Joel, it's a nice touch to bring the DLC together. The soundtrack in this one isn't anything to ride home about but it's pretty good. Overall the presentations pretty good.
Gameplay:it's the same style gameplay as it it is in the regular game, which will always make it a fun experience, but one thing I don't like in the DLC is when you are a kid you have no weapon most of it is basically just screwin around in the mall with Riley and while some of the activitys might seem fun at first they start to get old really quickly and this is basically mostly based on story, and that's fine but it just seems kind of boring sometimes, The other part of the story is the actual combat to the game, their aren't a whole lot of Clickers and infected but they are still for the most part a threat, and there is still a lot of tense moments in it. Their our even parts where you interact with hunters and infected and this time you can control the hunters fate, by throwing bottles or bricks near them which makes the infected or clickers run over to them and attack them, whoever thought of this is a genius, this is so fun to do and adds more depth to the game. their isn't a whole lot to say when it come to Left Behind gameplay that hasn't been said in the regular campaign, its flow can be a little bit slow but it still makes for some fun.
(Spoiler Alert)The final part of saving Joel is an all out battle with the hunters, its nearly impossible to beat because the hunters pretty much find you right away and you have pretty much no ammo, it's way harder then it should be and they could of set it up better. After defeating all the hunters Ellie takes Joel on his way riding on something behind the horse and covered up so he wont get hurt. The ending of Ellie and Riley's part of the DLC is what everyone expects to happen Riley and Ellie running from Clickers and end up getting bitten, the rest doesn't need to be explained and Riley give a heartfelt speech at the ending that ties both of the DLC's ending together and for once in the game I felt like they finally just let the emotion flow and it made for a great ending, but for me story wise, it seemed to be missing that type of charisma throughout the whole DLC.
Overall Left Behind in my opinion could have been done better, but I think part of the problem with it is that, it didn't have enough time to really captivate me into really getting into Riley and Ellie's relationship, I say this because while I felt like they truly concern oneself with each other, some of the elements like the Comic book store and the water gun fights just felt a little bit to forced emotional wise and as I mentioned in my review hurt the flow of what this was trying to reiterate itself in the plot. I know I may be sounding nitpicky but that's just the way I felt. I still believe this is worth a purchase for DLC but fifteen dollars does feel a bit steep for it.