The Last of Us: Left Behind

It’s only a short DLC, sure – though a 5GB download – but Left Behind is worth a little entry here.

This is the first time I've bought DLC to continue a game, and that's really because what was most striking and enjoyable about The Last of Us was its story and its characters.

Not a whole lot happens in Left Behind, in all honesty - the side-story jumps between two different time periods while drawing parallels between different events in the difficult life that Ellie has led. One part fills in the blank between Joel's injury and Ellie caring for him in the isolated hut - just how did she get him there? The other, perhaps providing more of the heart of the piece, is the flashback to Ellie before she met Joel - and her entirely adorable relationship with another rebellious girl called Riley, who has come back to see her after having become a Firefly, filling in some blanks such as who the dog tags in her backpack from the main game belonged to. 

The actual game portion is really centred on the midquel part - there, Ellie is armed and capable and has to deal with some quite tricky situations, including some incredibly annoying stalkers. On the other hand, I was slightly disappointed because I kept trying to play the game with stealth and finesse, only to keep failing and to realise it was a lot easier to kill one enemy sneakily, then just go ham and shoot everyone very loudly. The parts where you set the infected on the 'Cannibals' was quite enjoyable, but the combat segments were few and far between, and not the focus at all. 

Because this DLC is here to tell a little story, the story of Ellie and her sweet little romance with Riley as they run about a mall, having water gun fights, taking photos together (that, sweetly, get posted onto your real Facebook) and dance to Riley's mix tape up on a counter. Of course, it inevitably ends badly - otherwise how would we get to the story proper? - and there's a definite tear-jerker element, but I have to say that in the tradition of the game, the most harrowing parts are actually left unsaid. 

Incredibly cute, cleverly-done and interspersed with a lot of fun details - especially in the Hallowe'en joke store - this was also a pleasant reminder of just how superb the game looked and how well-crafted its characters are. Great stuff.