Anybody who occasionally visits gaming websites, or just the internet in general has heard of Naughty Dog’s new game, The Last of Us. The game is considered to be one of the most anticipating games to be released in the near future. The Last of Us takes place in a world where a fungus infects most of humanity, turning them into what we would call zombies. The government, desperate to control the outbreak, creates quarantine zones for all of the healthy people. Unfortunately the quarantine zones have a terrible standard of living, with most of the citizens living in constant fear. The game follows protagonist Joel – the player character – and Ellie, his spunky teenage companion. Joel and Ellie have to escape their quarantine zone for some unknown reason, and try to survive on the outside, all the while being tracked by the military. The game sounds promising enough, certainly interesting, so why, you may ask, am I telling you it will be disappointing. Keep reading to find out.

The Last of Us’ protagonists Joel and Ellie

Watching The Last of Us trailers, one can clearly see that a large amount of effort has been put into the detailed world and story line. For these reasons, I think the campaign will be too short. Today we see debate over the campaign in Dishonored, how some people think it’s too short, and other say that if it’s too short you’re not playing the game the “right way”. Regardless of the arguments, some people think Dishonored is just too short, and that a longer campaign would make a large difference. I think a similar thing will happen in regards to The Last of Us, the detail will be brilliant, the story line will be deep and emotional, but the length just won’t be there, people will complain that they didn’t get their money’s worth. If you’re counter argument is that those people aren’t playing the game the “right way” then I would say that’s a moot point. Different gamers have different styles of play, some rush, and some don’t. Either way a lot of people will be disappointed with the length.

Some stunning detail, but detail comes with a price

But what about the multiplayer? Sure if the campaign may be too short, but we can make up for it with hours of online play. Not too much about the online aspect of the game is known yet, but Neil Druckmann, the creative director for the game has confirmed that the game will have a “very unique” multiplayer. This just sounds like a recipe for disaster, as I am reminded of Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception. I regard Uncharted‘s online play as a crash and burn, sure it was slightly unique, but it never really caught on. I fear that The Last of Us will attract some hardcore online fans, but it won’t really be all that great.

When I first heard about The Last of Us I was excited for another zombie game, I love zombie games. However it became more clear to me that The Last of Us will involve more human conflict then zombie conflict. Not that this is too much of an issue for me, but people will buy The Last of Us, hoping for a great zombie game, only to be craving for more zombies at the end.

A bust of the infected from the game, that face will haunt my dreams for years

All in all, I’m not saying it will be a bad game, I will certainly shell out the sixty bucks it will cost to buy, and I’ll play it, and I’ll in enjoy it. I just can’t see the game being as memorable as everyone thinks it will be. It doesn’t help that many people have high standards for the game.

When it eventually comes out it might not live up to expectations, then the downsides of the game will be exaggerated and people will be upset, and disappointed.

What do you think? Will it be a disappointment or are you staying cautiously optimistic? Let us know in the comments below.