Hello video game of the year! Wow! This is actually the most amazing game I’ve come across yet in 2013. After finishing the new Tomb Raider, Deadpool, and Bioshock Infinite, I honestly thought that there was no way any game could exceed my expectations. I’m happy to say that I was very wrong. 
Who knew that the apocalypse frenzy in games would still cling on now that 2012 is long gone. If you enjoyed games such as Dead Island, then this is the game for you. The Last of Us, sadly, is only out for PS3 at the moment, but Play Station owners everywhere should definitely look into purchasing this game. Unlike State of Decay, this game is more linear and tends to stick to the story more than it offers side quests. It has a fantastic plot line and the gameplay almost never gets repetitive.
The Plot: 9.5/10. This games kicks off with a great intro that will leave you stunned. And as far as I can tell, there are no major plot holes to cringe at. It is set in the US after the discovery of parasitic spores that can take over the host’s brain. The game begins after a twenty year time skip following the introduction of the story, and shows the juxtaposition of the main character’s life, as well as the society he lives in before and after the apocalypse. The ending was chilling and melancholy, and succeeded in making me feel rather uneasy. I loved the cinematic values of this game as well as the story.
The Gameplay: 9/10. The gameplay overall was very smooth, an the graphics were simply stunning. It is a third-person perspective game that centers around one main escort mission. I personally hate escort missions as I find them to be rather tedious, but The Last of Us, like Bioshock Infinite, managed to make the task enjoyable rather than exhausting. Overall, this game has a lot of replay value.
IGN gave this game a solid 10/10. And although I was skeptical about that score at first, I changed my mind almost immediately after I’ve started this game. I think my favorite aspect is in the realism of the game, the protagonist is not a super-human who is invulnerable to any attacks and can take on a million infected without batting an eye, he’s an average survivor. This game takes away the false glory that some other games paint over the idea of the post-apocalyptic society and gives us a more realistic view.