Infectious sounds of terror in Naughty Dog's 'The Last of Us' -- Joystiq (excerpt)
Death comes quickly to Joel if precautions are not taken. In one area a lone clicker investigates a room as the trio enters from an opened door, the monstrous being's disturbing sound piercing the air every few seconds in search of a new victim. Picking up a brick or bottle and hurling it to another section of the room sends the infected fleeing in search of a bite. If the player makes too much noise near a hunting clicker, it's as good as signing Joel's death warrant. The infected's powerful jaws rip through Joel's throat in an instant. Reset to last checkpoint, try to shut up this time.
Later Joel offers to clear an area crawling with infected while Tess and Ellie hide. Here multiple runners and clickers prowl. On their own, runners can be quite easy to take down; however, their quick speed and typical formation in packs can quickly overwhelm Joel. Inching in to shiv out each infected one-by-one is a difficult task (and it wastes resources), resulting in multiple moments where I was forced to pound on the dedicated sprint trigger to put space between the enemies and Joel. A few thrown bricks, a wooden plank combined with a blade as an improvised melee weapon, and what few bullets I was able to scrounge from fallen enemies later and the trio were on their way. Sounds easy, but it took me a few tries to not be eaten to death.
The Last of Us quickly trains you to adhere to its established rules. Sounds that break silence become heart-racing, "What the hell was that?" moments. Outside of the building where runners and clickers roam, the sound of a frog had me in a panic as its hushed, distant croak sounded frighteningly similar to a clicker's echo. Joel – and by extension, myself – was frozen in fear. Until I realized it was just a frog and, well, embarrassing.
Full Preview - http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/04/infectious-sounds-of-terror-in-naughty-dogs-the-last-of-us/
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This game is sounding like everything I had hoped and wanted. Like Left 4 Dead or Zombie U with a deep, immersive story and memorable characters. I can't wait.
