The Last of Us in development for two years, no online planned

The Last of Us has been in development for two years, the game's creative director said. The two actors behind the main characters are also revealed.

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The Last of Us was perhaps the most surprising revelation at the Spike TV Video Game Awards over the weekend. Sure, another post-apocalyptic game starring sort-of-zombies may not be the most original concept, but the game's developer roused up quite a lot of buzz: Naughty Dog. The developer is best known for their work on the Uncharted series, and only recently shipped Uncharted 3 to critical acclaim. So, where did Last of Us come from?

Apparently, a "secret team" formed within Naughty Dog after shipping Uncharted 2. Creative Director Neil Druckmann, who previously served as a writer on Uncharted 2, admitted to working on the game "for the last two years."

Druckmann also revealed the identities of the two protagonists of the game. Joel, described by Sony as "a brutal survivor," is played by Troy Baker--who stars as Booker Dewitt in the upcoming BioShock Infinite. Ellie, a "young teenage girl who's braver and wiser beyond her years," is played by Ashley Johnson--not Ellen Page as some had guessed. And, as with the Uncharted series, the actors will not only be providing their voices, but will also be performing the motion capture as well.

While the debut trailer suggested as much, it appears the game is aiming for a Mature rating, evidenced by the official site's age gate, and the 18 PEGI provisional rating on PlayStation's European site (via Eurogamer). This would be Naughty Dog's first foray into M-rated territory; their previous games have all been E and T.

The European game page also reveals yet another interesting factoid: The Last of Us promises no online play. Given Uncharted 2 and 3's focus on online multiplayer, Naughty Dog's return to a single player-only adventure should be a refreshing change of pace for some.

Check out the debut trailer again here:

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 12, 2011 7:00 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, The Last of Us in development for two years, no online planned.

    The Last of Us has been in development for two years, the game's creative director said. The two actors behind the main characters are also revealed.

    • reply
      December 12, 2011 7:24 AM

      To be honest once I saw this was in development by Naughty Dog I understood why Uncharted 3 didn't live up to Uncharted 2 (I know some people debate that, but I going with the majority of responses I have heard). Not saying they didn't work hard on Uncharted 3, but I bet the secret team was made up of a lot of their top people.

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        December 12, 2011 7:35 AM

        This is definitely all good news. I would rather they concentrate on a solid single player game then spread themselves out to provide multi-player capabilities (even though that's pretty ballsy in today's market). I am definitely looking forward to this game (where do I pre-order?)

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        December 12, 2011 7:36 AM

        That was exactly what I was thinking. The night of the VGAs, I joked to a friend "so that's why Uncharted 3 sucked, right?"

        (It didn't suck; but it certainly was no Uncharted 2.)

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        December 12, 2011 7:38 AM

        No.

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        December 12, 2011 7:40 AM

        Hahaha what

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        December 12, 2011 8:09 AM

        Crossed my mind as well, who knows I guess.

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        December 12, 2011 8:21 AM

        [deleted]

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          December 12, 2011 9:07 AM

          I am half way through UC3 and still wonder when it's going to pick up. There was one part so far that was great the burning chateau but that's been about it so far.

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        December 12, 2011 12:53 PM

        I thought UC3 was much better than UC2. The gunplay was a little off, but otherwise I thought the story and locations were much better this time around. No more supernatural bullshit, just straight up locale hopping and plundering.

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      December 12, 2011 7:44 AM

      if it's the same actor she played Annie in the movie Annie. she's certainly grown up since then

      http://images.wikia.com/ben10/images/f/f0/Ashley-johnson-dirt-season-two-premiere-screening-arrivals-1Fssjb.jpg

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        December 12, 2011 10:19 AM

        Yeah I forgot who she was so I googled her and in the second spot is a picture of her as Annie, two pictures over she is on a couch with a guys hand up her shirt lol

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      December 12, 2011 8:13 AM

      [deleted]

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      December 12, 2011 9:06 AM

      No focus on MP certainly makes me happy. Uncharted 3 definitely suffered due to its heavy focus on what I consider mediocre MP.

      I wonder if it will have a 2012 release date.

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      December 12, 2011 10:25 AM

      Zombies are this console generations WW2

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      December 12, 2011 10:48 AM

      As long as Joel has flashbacks to when he was in WWII and yells for "Red" or "Corrion" or even "Suppress that sonofabitch!"

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