Adolescents take information technology particularly tough in the zombie apocalypse. Anybody around them is obsessed with survival--which is certainly understandable--only every ounce of a teenager's instincts is pushing him or her toward goofing off. The psychological toll of burying your near basic desires must be exhausting. Left Behind presents this unique point of view through Ellie, the extraordinary heroine from The Last of Us, and information technology'due south difficult to resist laughing along with her when her childlike nature is on full display. Don't expect this prequel to ignore the dark cloud that hovers ominously overhead, though. Past examining Ellie'south plight through the lens of such a dour being, we grow ever closer to her, and realize how devastating one's life in such a earth would be.

Riley sneaks into Ellie's room before the dominicus rises, pouncing upon her sleeping body while mimicking a hissing neck bite. Plainly terrified that an infected is eating her alive, Ellie tosses Riley to the basis before pulling a knife from beneath her pillow. Jokes aren't quite every bit funny when there are monsters lurking. Nosotros soon learn that these two all-time friends had a falling out a month back, and while Ellie is going through preparation in a military school, Riley has joined the insubordinate Fireflies. Grievances rapidly forgotten, the ii risk punishment from their superiors past sneaking into the dangerous city they call home.

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Now Playing: The Final of Us: Left Behind Review

There's a relaxed dorsum-and-forth between Ellie and Riley that's a marked modify from the uneasy churr that dominated The Last of Us. Ellie is playful and open with Riley, always ready with a quip and eager to experience everything that life has to offer. A few years older than Ellie, Riley soon takes charge, though her direction is subtle. She's more than of an older sis than a guardian. Their destination: an empty mall without any electricity. Or and then Ellie idea. When Ellie flicks the power generator, the lights come on, and the two girls are costless to explore the shattered remains of what was one time a rich and wasteful society.

Watching these two characters interact is heartwarming. As they try on masks in a Halloween shop, their joy is infectious, and I was nodding forth with Ellie when she remarked how much junk people used to buy. Such bric-a-brac must be difficult to understand if you alive among people who cherish only the bare necessities. Notwithstanding, Ellie doesn't turn her olfactory organ upward at the novelties around her. As you wander through that store, in that location's a Magic eight Ball that looks similar a skeleton'south caput. Sure, y'all could milk shake it just one time if you're in a hurry, or commodities right through the door to the adjacent surface area, but once I realized that Ellie had a lot of questions in mind, I kept going back to it until she ran out of things to say. Such moments fabricated me happy. To meet Ellie in her own element, acting like the kid that she still is, was so real and genuine that I didn't desire to encounter information technology end.

Past examining Ellie'due south plight through the lens of such a bleak existence, nosotros grow ever closer to her, and realize how devastating one's life in such a world would exist.

Much of Left Behind is composed of these playful scenes, but at that place'south more than going on beneath the surface. Equally y'all explore the many stores of the mall, Riley and Ellie proceed up a running dialogue. Having the emphasis placed on wandering effectually the desolate environments is a welcome change from the tense gainsay encounters that dominated the main game. The focus is primarily on getting to know Riley and understanding more of Ellie'due south motivations, and then it'due south a relief not to have their bonding interrupted. You desire to know more. You want to find out what caused them to fight, what Riley's future plans are, and how they're coping with their depressing reality.

Death is incredibly difficult to bear.
Death is incredibly difficult to bear.

Interspersed betwixt these scenes of Riley and Ellie is a hectic state of affairs that takes place a few years in the future. Here, Ellie has already begun her journeying with Joel, although she is past herself during this time. And any thoughts of bumming discovery have been banished. Surrounded by roaming zombies and mortiferous mercenaries, she must use all of her survival abilities to make it through unscathed.

Information technology's here that Left Behind more closely resembles the mood that permeated The Terminal of Us. Ellie lives in a terrible place where every living thing could be considered an enemy. Death is her merely companion, always painfully present as she moves slowly through the tattered environments. Going between the lighthearted early days and the foreboding doom years afterward is then jarring that it's about too much to bear. When she's with Riley, Ellie laughs so loudly that I would hold my breath, scared that a clicker would hear her. Even though no infected were around, I couldn't forget their terrible wrath. She'south so immature, then naive, that she hadn't all the same learned to be cautious at all times. And when you're lone in the sections without Riley, y'all feel the weight of the modify of the last few years. Now she realizes that death is one loud dissonance abroad. I wanted her to stay immature forever, ignorant to the threats lurking, while understanding that she needed to grow up fast if she was going to survive. Of course, such different mindsets are impossible, and I was sad to see how quickly her carefree disposition was ripped away.

So I cherished those scenes with Riley and Ellie. When they happen upon a photo booth, they make faces and shriek giddily when their empty-headed mugs are captured. But they can't print out the pictures. And that goes along with the major theme of Left Behind. We run across a brief, happy snapshot from Ellie'southward life with Riley, merely nosotros can't have information technology with united states of america. Her babyhood has to come to an end at some bespeak.

Every young girl should learn how to use a Molotov cocktail.
Every young girl should learn how to use a Molotov cocktail.

When y'all're playing as Ellie lone, at that place are threats around you. There are no jokes here, nothing to distract you from the bleak proceedings. When the first fight erupted against the zombie menace, I recoiled. Farthermost violence was the norm in The Last of Us, but later spending so much time in peaceful placidity in Left Backside, I had forgotten how harsh this earth was. And I hated that Ellie had become accustomed to her part so chop-chop. Though Ellie must kill many times during the course of this three-hour story, information technology'southward e'er uncomfortable. Information technology's never accustomed that this is just the manner things are. It's to the game'southward credit that you lot're placed on the defensive in gainsay. Ellie doesn't want to fight--she has to--so you reluctantly kill your foes because that's the only selection.

I was distressing to see how quickly Ellie's carefree disposition was ripped abroad.

Still, information technology's disappointing that i section tin be completed only when every enemy has been exterminated. Every bit the fight was wearing downwards, a few zombies were quite a distance away, well out of sight, and yet I could non open the door that stood locked before me. Forcing Ellie to systematically kill everything felt muddy, as if the game were pushing Ellie downwardly a trigger-happy path that's opposed to who she is during the somber cutscenes. Or at least who I wanted her to be.

In many ways, the fights are identical to what The Concluding of Us offered. The crumbling wasteland of the postapocalypse serves as your battlefield, and you must make smart utilize of the overturned tables and smashed windows if you're going to survive the stalking threats. Ellie is quick with a bow and pistol, and tin craft smoke bombs, boom bombs, and Molotov cocktails if you lot demand something more than explosive. The most important items aren't traditional weapons at all; rather, they're bottles and bricks. Ellie has little wellness, and in that location aren't many items scattered about to craft a surplus of medical packs, then you need to stay out of sight. That's where the bottles and bricks come in. Instead of letting your position be known by firing a gun, you can stun infected and humans by tossing an object at their face and and so rushing in to stop them off with a pocketknife. Disturbing? No doubt. Just very constructive.

Even though there are infected about, clowns are still pretty creepy.
Even though at that place are infected about, clowns are nonetheless pretty creepy.

At that place is one addition to the combat that fundamentally changed how I approached fights. In The Last of United states of america, zombies and mercenaries never mingled. Hither, the mercs may be in for an unpleasant surprise when they're hunting you. You run into, infected don't like any humans at all, so they're just as happy to become after a gun-toting soldier as they are a teenage girl. If you toss a bottle toward the armed guards, you can draw the attention of the diseased monsters, and then sentinel from a prophylactic altitude as the two sides fight. I acknowledge that I found pleasure in hearing the mercenaries cry for help when surrounded by infected. They were trying to kill Ellie, after all, so they deserved a tearing end. Plus, the mercenaries would undoubtedly impale at to the lowest degree some of the infected, and then it made my chore much easier one time their fight was over.

Left Behind is a hugely successful add-on to The Last of U.s.a.. When I played through the primary game last twelvemonth, I had trouble connecting to Joel, because his crude demeanor and questionable choices left a bitter taste in my mouth. And so it was a relief that his agony was nowhere to exist constitute in Left Behind. Instead, the story focuses on beloved and hope. Seeing how Ellie acts with a peer, a friend, gave me new appreciation for her, and Riley offers another strong grapheme to latch on to. The focus on exploration likewise lets the well-realized environments breathe, and gives y'all plenty of time to take in the current state of the world. And when a combat encounter surfaces, information technology's so much more impactful considering how rare fights are and the exhausting tension that accompanies each battle. Left Backside is an excellent addition that gives further insight into the chilling world of The Terminal of Us and its most interesting character.