‘The Last of Us’ Season 1 Review: The Best Video Game Adaptation To Date
“You have no idea what loss is.”
Twenty years after a virus ravages the world infecting the majority of the human population into zombies, Joel (Pedro Pascal) is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic United States in search of a cure.
The Last of Us (2023) was great in all respects and takes the cake for best video game adaptation to date. The casting, setting, costume design, and storytelling all worked together to tell a compelling story and a worthy adaptation of the critically-acclaimed video game.
The Last of Us video game was developed by Naughty Dog and released in 2013 exclusively to PlayStation consoles. The game became one of the best-selling video games, selling over 1.3 million copies the week it was released and 17 million by 2018. It won multiple game of the year awards and received critical acclaim with praise for its narrative, gameplay, visuals, sound design, score, characterization, and depiction of female characters. That being said, the HBO series had astronomical expectations to live up to.
The series was helmed by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, Mythic Quest) and Neil Druckman (The Last of Us game, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End) and featured Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. When the castings were announced, they were met with some resistance. But it is safe to say that both Pascal and Ramsey crushed their roles and were integral to the adaptation of the story.
The series followed the game closely, cutting out some things and adding in others. Most notably was the addition of the backstory of Bill and Frank, Ellie’s backstory answering how she became infected, and seeing the complications surrounding Ellie’s birth. Each of these additions were done exceptionally well, enhancing an already beautiful and compelling story.
Similar to the game, HBO’s The Last of Us season 1 has received great audience and critic reception. That being said, Druckman and Mazin have some tough decisions to make surrounding where season 2 will go. The sequel game, The Last of Us: Part 2, had an extremely controversial release and appeared almost universally hated, so much so that I opted to not even play it. The first game was so good with a satisfying ending that I decided I was OK with not continuing the story. I will, however, watch season 2 when it releases and I sure hope it is good enough not to taint season 1.
Overall, I really enjoyed the first season of The Last of Us. I have been looking forward to watching this since it was announced, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. Even though the game is still a better medium to experience the entirety of the story, the series was fantastically well-done and is, in my opinion, the best video game adaptation ever made.