Naughty Dog
The Last Of Us: Left Behind

Adding something to a masterpiece can, in principle, be a risky operation. The content added later might not measure up to what preceded it, thus partially ruining the aura of perfection of the entire product. In an era where the video game industry increasingly fragments its creations, it requires great skill to avoid falling into this trap and propose something that, while connected to a broader context, has its own life. Naughty Dog's latest effort succeeds in this difficult task.

The first and only single-player DLC of The Last of Us unfolds, alternating, on two parallel tracks: without revealing too many details, one of these fits within the journey through the United States of Joel and Ellie, while the other goes back to the young protagonist when, a few years before, she was locked up in an orphanage in the Boston quarantine zone. In this place, as secure as it is oppressive, a reunion with an old friend, Riley, will set the whole story in motion.

The greatest merit of Left Behind is its ability to tackle themes already addressed in the main campaign (survival, loyalty, grief) in different ways within its two subplots, while always remaining tremendously effective. The part linked to the journey with Joel stays faithful to what was seen before: resources and ammunition are scarce (almost absent in Survivor mode), enemies brutal and reactive in tracking down and attacking the player, whether they are human or infected. Most of the time will inevitably be spent hiding to intelligently plan the next move or rummaging every corner in search of useful items. From this point of view, the most interesting addition is the ability, in some instances, to incite clickers against bandits: the clash between the two factions will allow quick evasion without being seen or the option to wait for the battle to end to explore the surroundings more calmly.

If what has been said so far might label Left Behind as simple more of the same, although of high quality, the part of the adventure with Riley is instead a very pleasant surprise. Except for brief stretches, combat gives way to slow-paced exploration, punctuated by dialogues that gradually outline the relationship between the two friends. It allows the discovery of Ellie's more playful and carefree side, a part of her character that, out of necessity, will not have many occasions to emerge in the grim journey narrated in the main campaign. The cruel world marked by the epidemic gives way to a more youthful dimension where the protagonists can exceptionally enjoy some typical pastimes of their young age, in a sequence of events leading the player to a well-known finale to those who have already completed The Last of Us, but no less bitter for that.

From a technical point of view, the graphics engine is obviously the same used for the main game and represents a milestone in the history of console video games. Textures, environmental lighting, and the protagonists' facial animations are of absolute level and reach heights never before touched by any other title on PS3. If you want to nitpick, the frame rate is slightly lower than in previous Naughty Dog productions (notably Uncharted 3), but this does not affect the overall quality, given the nature of the far from frantic gaming experience.

The length of Left Behind ranges between three and five hours, depending on the difficulty level chosen by the player. The advice of the writer is to muster the courage and start right away in Survivor mode, to fully appreciate the spirit of this adventure. Although some parts are objectively very challenging, the experience never becomes too frustrating thanks to checkpoints distributed at a frequency that perhaps 90s survival video game lovers will find a bit excessive. The fact remains that with Left Behind the Santa Monica studio once again manages to offer a product of extremely high quality, while at the same time deeply detached from current video game trends.