The Last of Us: Season 1

A fungal mass infection has overrun much of the world, killing billions and turning others into mindless, ravaging creatures. Smuggler Joel is tasked by a group known as the Fireflies with escorting 14-year-old Ellie across America to safety. The Fireflies believe that Ellie's genes hold the key to a cure for the infection.

The Last of Us was a 2013 video game from Naughty Dog, the creators of the Uncharted franchise. The game was a massive smash hit success, attracting praise for its emotional storytelling, dialogue, combat, characterisation and atmosphere. Its 2020 sequel was somewhat more divisive but still mostly well-received.

Inevitably, moves began to adapt the story as either a film or TV show. After several failed attempts, the project found a home at HBO with Chernobyl writer-producer Craig Mazin at the helm, joined by the game's original creator and writer Neil Druckmann.

The project still faced an uphill battle to succeed. TV has been awash with post-apocalyptic survival stories for well over a decade, with The Walking Dead (2010-22) being the most successful example, spawning multiple spin-offs. Other shows have had less success, with Y: The Last Man (2021) failing to gain much ground and only lasting one season. More notably, video game adaptations still had a long track record of failure in other mediums, Netflix's Arcane being the biggest exception (although that show benefitted from really only using characters and background lore, and crafting a new story).

The Last of Us once again argues that HBO has the Midas touch, emerging as easily the best live action video game adaptation to date. It helps that the series is based on a linear video game with a very linear story, divided itself into sections that can easily be lifted out and converted into episodes. It also helps that the source material itself is so strong.

The biggest success is in casting: Pedro Pascal can play "adopted grumpy gunman protector-daddy" in his sleep at this point, but still brings his A-game. Bella Ramsey doesn't hugely resemble the Ellie from the games, but has the requisite attitude, and Ramsey and Pascal have a great relationship and energy (possibly inspired by both being Game of Thrones casualties). Other actors rotate in and out of the road trip and do a great job, with Nick Offerman delivering the best guest performance of the season as Bill. More under-used is the normally-outstanding Melanie Lynskey, who isn't given much to as Kathleen (and from what we do see, it feels like her Yellowjackets character - also a well-meaning psychopath - has been airdropped in for five minutes). The likes of Merle Dandridge, John Hannah, Anna Torv, Gabriel Luna, Murray Bartlett and Rutina Wesley all provide excellent support.

The structure of the series mirrors that of the games, but also breaks away for format-busting experiments. The third episode, Long, Long Time, might be the season highlight as it follows libertarian prepper Bill's attempts to survive in the aftermath of the outbreak, and it turns from comedy to action to romance with conviction. Left Behind (based on an expansion to the game) is an excellent flashback episode focusing on Ellie's history and what led her to joining forces with the Fireflies.

Where the series falters a little is in some of the "normal" episodes, where the pacing can flag and where the show sometimes hesitates in how it deals with post-apocalyptic/zombie tropes that the likes of The Walking Dead have employed a dozen times over. A loved one is infected and needs to be killed/is allowed to make a noble sacrifice? Yup, several times. Have the tough times have made some people resort to being murders/rapists/cannibals/murderous rapist-cannibals? Oh yeah. At the merest sign of trouble, did about 30% of the population turn into authoritarian lunatics instantly? Of course. To its credit, the show does its best to make these well-trodden plotlines work, sometimes successfully, at other times less so.

This impacts on the pacing, with, once the flashback episodes are removed, seven episodes to tell its story and it still feels a little too long, which is odd given that the show runs to only about half the length of the first game. Still, the game can eat up a lot of its time in combat and stealth sequences which the show can't, at least not so easily.

But if the pacing is sometimes sluggish, there are also excellent moments of character development. It's also refreshing to see an adaptation not afraid to adapt the source material. Entire scenes from the game are faithfully recreated in the show, occasionally dialogue-perfect. Other storylines are changed to accommodate the show's greater sense of realism: fighting off the type of numbers that Ellie and Joel encounter in the game would look silly, or drag out too much. It's a judgement call in each case and, for the most part, the show makes good calls. After a bunch of recent adaptations that seemed to be terrified of their own source material (The Rings of Power comes to mind), it's good to see one more in conversation with it.

The show also makes good calls when it comes to CG. The increasingly all-invasive use of CGI in modern TV and film has become tedious, leading to fake-looking backdrops all over the place. This show certainly uses CG in places, but it is more restrained and, as a result, more convincing. Arguably, the show even fails to use CG in moments when maybe it should have (painting out the massive mountains that have inexplicably appeared around Boston might have been a good idea). The CG-animated cordyceps monsters are extremely well-realised, and used sparingly to good effect.

Excellent performances, good action and strong character arcs make the first season of The Last of Us (****) a winner. Occasionally sluggish pacing and sometimes questionable story turns that seem rooted more in video game logic than actual logic prevent the show from being an unqualified success, but these issues are minor. The Last of Us proves that adult, intelligent and interesting adaptations of video games are possible, and hopefully more will follow.

The TV show is available to watch on HBO or Max in the US and most overseas territories, and on Now TV in the UK.

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THE LAST OF US renewed for a second season at HBO

HBO have renewed their TV series The Last of Us for a second season. The not-completely-surprising news came after the show aired its third episode and recorded impressive audience growth week-on-week, as well as enormous critical praise.

The Last of Us is an adaptation of the critically-acclaimed video game franchise of the same name, which spans two video games (released in 2013 and 2020 respectively) and assorted expansions. Both game and series see humanity devastated by the release of a fungal plague which transforms infected human hosts into aggressive monsters. Joel (Pedro Pascal in the TV series) is given a mission to help smuggle a young girl, Ellie (Bella Ramsay) to safety after it is discovered she is immune to the infection.

Showrunners Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (creator of the video game) have confirmed that they only plan to adapt the two games and their assorted DLC, but it may take two additional seasons to fully cover the events of the second game.

The remaining six episodes of the first season will air through 12 March.

HBO's LAST OF US adaptation to launch on 15 January

HBO's adaptation of the video game The Last of Us will launch on 15 January 2023.

The TV show's first season will consist of nine episodes and is based on the first game in the series. The show stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, two survivors of an apocalyptic event caused by the arising of zombie-like monsters. They travel across America, linking up with other survivors (friendly and not), avoiding the "clickers" along the way.

The show also stars Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandridge, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman and Anna Torv, whilst the original game voice actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson will also appear.

Chernobyl writer-producer Craig Mazin is co-showrunner of the project, alongside the video game's creator and head writer, Neil Druckmann.

HBO drops trailer for THE LAST OF US

HBO has dropped its first full-length trailer for The Last of Us, its adaptation of the hit video game.

The Last of Us stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie and is co-written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (who wrote and directed the two video games in the series). The series is expected to debut on HBO in the USA in early 2023.

THE LAST OF US to make the jump to PC, releases more images from the TV series

Sony's mega-selling video game The Last of Us is making the jump to PC, reasserting Sony's commitment to bringing many or most of its biggest franchises to the platform in a move unthinkable just a few years ago.

The Last of Us is one of Sony's most important franchises, a post-apocalyptic saga developed by Naughty Dog Studios. The two games see Joel, a smuggler, escorting a young girl, Ellie, to safety in a North America ravaged by a fungal plague that has turned most people into cannibalistic monsters. The Last of Us (2013) and The Last of Us, Part II (2020) are among the biggest-selling individual video games of recent years.

The first Last of Us, now retitled The Last of Us, Part I, is getting a remake for PlayStation 5, but the news that the remake will also be available on PC is the bigger news. Sony has been porting more and more of its exclusives to PC recently, but it was questionable if The Last of Us, a proven console-seller title by itself, would make the jump. That now appears to be the case.

The PlayStation 5 version of The Last of Us, Part I, will arrive in September, but the PC version is so far undated, and may likely be a 2023 release. Presumably The Last of Us, Part II will also make the jump at some point.

Meanwhile, HBO are preparing to launch a television series based on the first game in the series, starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. HBO have released a new image from the TV show and revealed that Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who voiced the characters in the games, have been cast in the TV show as different characters.

The TV series doesn't have an airdate yet, but is expected to launch on HBO before the end of the year.

Unrest at Sony as company re-focuses on AAA games at the expense of smaller titles

Jason Schreier at Bloomberg has a fascinating report on unrest and uncertainty at the Sony Studios group of video game developers.

Days Gone, a relatively well-received Sony exclusive from 2019. Sony have shot down plans for a sequel, but the game is getting a second shot at success via a PC release later in 2021.

Sony's PlayStation video game console has been the leading console in four successive generations of hardware: the original PlayStation (1994) emerged triumphant over the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn, whilst the PlayStation 2 (2000) outsold the original Microsoft Xbox, Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube. The PlayStation 3 (2006) initially lost ground to the Microsoft Xbox 360 (released a year earlier), but clawed back the lead to emerge the more successful console, although both were outsold by the Nintendo Wii, which had pivoted to focus on younger gamers. The PlayStation 4 (2013) much more comfortably defeated the Xbox One and Wii U.

The PlayStation 5 was launched at the end of 2020, almost simultaneously with the Xbox Series X, with sales of both consoles being surprisingly comparable. There was a widespread expectation that the PlayStation 5 would, again, comfortably outsell the Microsoft rival. Sony's success is rooted in two factors: their utter market domination in Japan and other parts of Asia, where Xbox sales are almost negligible; and their catalogue of exclusive titles not available on other systems, including the Uncharted, Last of Us, God of War, Horizon, Gran Turismo, Tekken, Ratchet & Clank and Spider-Man franchises.

However, in recent years Xbox has deployed a formidable new asset to make their brand more attractive: Xbox Game Pass. Best summed-up as "Netflix for video games," the pass allows gamers to play a large catalogue of hundreds of games for a monthly subscription fee which is far less than the cost of a single video game. With many people buying a game, playing it through once and never touching it again, such a service is hugely more attractive than a much bigger, one-off payment for a title of limited utility. The Xbox Game Pass is also platform-agnostic, being available not just on the Xbox console but also on PC, tablet and smartphones. Microsoft has even offered to make the service available on competitor consoles, including PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, indicating they see the Game Pass as being the future of their video game strategy rather than constantly escalating (and ever-more-expensive) hardware battles.

Simultaneously, Microsoft has gone on an immense spending spree, buying up video game studios by the dozen, to bolster their exclusive games library. This is an area where Microsoft has struggled, with only a small number of popular, exclusive franchises such as Gears of War, Halo and Forza. Their recent acquisition of Bethesda has given them access to several massive franchises, including Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and Doom, as well as critically respected series such as Wolfenstein, Dishonored and Prey. Their acquisition of Obsidian and inXile Studios has also given them access to credible studios with an interest in making challenging RPGs with reactive gameplay.

These moves seem to have given Microsoft a leg-up over the previous generation, resulting in a much closer race between Microsoft and Sony this time out. In addition, both consoles are being negatively impacted by global chip shortages leading to a lack of stock being available, with Microsoft perhaps edging it slightly with console availability, giving Microsoft a chance to make a better case for their console.

None of these things are fatal for Sony - whose dependence on their PlayStation range of products has increased dramatically in recent decades as their former dominance in the TV and hi-fi sectors has collapsed - but clearly they have the company somewhat rattled, and looking for steps they can take to compete.

Sony have their own subscription service, PlayStation Plus, as well as a streaming service called PlayStation Now, which allows gamers to stream PS games without a console at all, but both services feel limited compared to Xbox Game Pass and Sony has shown limited enthusiasm for turning the services into a real competitor. This is because Microsoft have a lot of financial firepower coming in from other quarters and are happier to become platform-agnostic, whilst Sony's business model does rely on their hardware becoming profitable, at least in the second half of its shelf life. Still, the competition of Game Pass will likely force Sony to develop these services further.

Sony have also taken the unprecedented step of making some of their former exclusives available on other platforms. Horizon Zero Dawn had a successful launch on PC in 2020, and Days Gone will launch on PC this year. The real test will be if Sony brings out the Uncharted or Last of Us series on PC, or the much-requested 2015 PlayStation exclusive Bloodborne, but there is no sign of this as yet.

Based on Schreier's report, Sony's main response to Microsoft's growing momentum is to double down on the areas where they are already strong: exclusive franchises developed by strong teams. To do this, they are reducing the number of sub-AAA games they're making, apparently dropping "small games that only sell in Japan" (a market that they've probably lost out to the Switch on anyway) and prioritising AAA blockbusters, as well as tightly controlling costs. It sounds like Sony are becoming incredibly risk-averse, which seems like a bad idea when the next generation of video games will require innovation and out-of-the-box thinking, even moreso than normal. The result has been a brain drain as developers at several Sony studios have quit.

Schreier's report does reveal some additional information of note: a thorough Last of Us remaster/remake for PS5 is currently in the works at Naughty Dog, with a remake of the original Uncharted possibly to follow. A fifth Uncharted game is also early in development, with some reports it might be a prequel. A Days Gone 2 has apparently been proposed and turned down, with the development team responsible for that game working on a new project instead.

Pedro Pascal joins THE LAST OF US TV series as Joel

Following yesterday's announcement that the Last of Us TV series had found its Ellie in former Game of Thrones actress Bella Ramsey, HBO has completed the main cast of the show with hot actor-of-the-moment Pedro Pascal. Pascal will play Joel, the male lead of the franchise.

Pascal rose to fame playing Prince Oberyn Martell, also in Game of Thrones (though he left the show long before Ramsey joined), and DEA agent Javier Peña in Netflix's Narcos. His film appearances include Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020). Since 2019 he has starred as the main character in Disney+'s Star Wars: The Mandalorian. It has been confirmed that he will continue to star in The Mandalorian, with HBO and Disney working out a schedule to accommodate him.

The Last of Us Season 1 is in pre-production at HBO and should start shooting in the coming weeks for a 2022 debut. Season 3 of The Mandalorian should start shooting afterwards for a mid-to-late 2022 bow; the show has been pushed back in the schedule to accommodate a spin-off show, The Book of Boba Fett, which will take over its late 2021 airing slot.

Bella Ramsey cast as Ellie in HBO's LAST OF US TV Series

HBO has found its lead for its forthcoming television adaptation of the video game franchise The Last of Us, and it did not have to look very far. Bella Ramsey, who has starred in both Game of Thrones and His Dark Materials for the cable network, has been cast in the role.

17-year-old Ramsey was a surprise breakout star on Game of Thrones, playing the role of the young Lady Lyanna Mormont in the last three seasons of the show. From there she moved to playing the lead role of Mildred in The Worst Witch and the voice of Hilda in Netflix's Hilda. Last year she played Angelica in the second season of His Dark Materials. In 2019 she won a BAFTA for her role on The Worst Witch.

Ellie is one of the two lead protagonists in The Last of Us, alongside Joel. Mahershala Ali, who previously worked with HBO on the third season of True Detective, was in talks for the role but ultimately declined. It's possible shooting dates may have clashed with his upcoming title performance in Blade, a Marvel Cinematic Universe-set reboot of the Wesley Snipes franchise.

Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin is writing and helping run the show, alongside Neil Druckmann, the writer and director of both games in the series.

The Last of Us (2013) and The Last of Us Part II (2020), set in a post-apocalyptic world, are two of the most critically-acclaimed games of the last generation, praised for their writing and character development. The two games have sold some 30 million copies between them.

HBO greenlights LAST OF US TV series

HBO has greenlit a live-action TV series based on the Last of Us video game series.

HBO announced they had put the project into development back in March, with Chernobyl writer-showrunner Craig Mazin developing the series alongside Neil Druckmann, the senior writer on the game series. Mazin will run the new show whilst Druckmann will advise, produce and write, his duties at Naughty Dog Studios permitting.

The game and TV series are both set in a post-apocalyptic world where a toxic fungus has infected millions of people and turned them into violent monsters. The storyline follows Joel, a middle-aged survivor, who finds himself protecting a young girl named Ellie.

The original Last of Us (2013) was a huge hit. Developed by Naughty Dog Studios, who also developed the Uncharted series (a film version of which is currently shooting), the game sold over 13 million copies. The Last of Us, Part II was released in June this year and has already sold over 4 million copies to date. The sequel seemed to end the storyline fairly definitively, but Naughty Dog are reportedly considering a third game (which maybe a prequel or spin-off rather than a straight sequel) due to the success of the first two games.

Video game adaptations were once seen as a fool's errand in both television and film circles, but a growing number of successful transitions have made HBO - never shy to take on a challenge - keener to try out the idea. Showtime are also deep in production on a TV series based on the Halo series of video games.

The Last of Us will likely enter production in 2021 for a 2022 premiere.

LAST OF US II delayed indefinitely due to coronavirus pandemic

The eagerly-awaited video game The Last of Us II has been indefinitely delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The movie and TV industries have been hit badly by the pandemic, which has seen almost the entire global TV and film production industries shut down until further notice. The video game industry has been much more bullish, developers announcing that they are much better equipped to work from home and some even citing the advantages of doing so. CD Projekt Red recently confirmed that, after a few days' delay whilst they transitioned to home working, they are full steam ahead on Cyberpunk 2077 (due for release in September) and a new game in The Witcher series.

However, it appears that whilst development work can continue from home, the pandemic is impacting on the ability to manufacture and deliver physical copies of the finished game. The release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, the first major release during the pandemic (Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons both managed to slip out just ahead of most countries going into lockdown), has become fragmented with some countries receiving their copies of the game almost two weeks ahead of the official release date, whilst other territories may not receive copies until after the date given worldwide delivery disruptions. There is also the matter of retailers such as Amazon low-prioritising entertainment products in favour of essential goods.

The Last of Us II is functionally complete and ready to roll, with Sony admitting the main problem is the practicalities surrounding the release of the game.

Fans will be hoping that other games will not be impacted, particularly the year's other big release, Cyberpunk 2077.

HBO is currently developing a Last of Us television series with Sony Television, with Chernobyl head writer Craig Mazin attached to write.

LAST OF US TV series in development at HBO with CHERNOBYL writer

In an interesting move, HBO has joined forces with Sony Television to produce a TV series based on the extremely popular video game The Last of Us.

Sony has created a new production company, PlayStation Productions, with a view to transferring more of its video game properties to TV and film. The Last of Us will be the first project in this vein.

Craig Mazin, who created and wrote Chernobyl for HBO last year, will executive produce and write. Neil Druckmann, the writer of the video game, will also work on the TV series as a producer and writer. Druckmann co-wrote the first, second and fourth games in the Uncharted series as well as episodes of Between the Lines and Face Off.

The game and the TV series are set in a post-apocalyptic world where a toxic fungus has infected millions of people and turned them into violent monsters. The main storyline follows Joel, a middle-aged survivor who finds himself sworn to protect a young girl, Ellie.

Released in 2013, The Last of Us was a huge critical and commercial success for Naughty Dog Studios. It has sold over 17 million copies. The Last of Us, Part II is due for release in May this year and is one of the most eagerly-awaited video games of the year (alongside Cyberpunk 2077 and Final Fantasy VII Remake). The 2017 movie Logan is noted as having likely been strongly inspired by the game.

So far the project is only in development, but with the creative talent lined up it seems likely that HBO will proceed with an order. It's unclear if this will be a pilot order or a full season greenlight at this time. The series will initially cover the events of the first game in the series, with the possibility of expanding to incorporate the events of the second (which is set five years later) if it is successful.