The Last of Us is undeniably one the best, if not THE best, games that I have played in recent memory. With tons of excellent combat, tense stealth elements (honestly, who doesn’t love stealth these days…. I’m looking at you Thief) and easily the most compelling story in modern day gaming, there is little that I could say that was negative about it. Left Behind lets you jump back into this game for some back-story on Ellie, and a bit of information that was left out of the original retail game.
This DLC feels instantly familiar, even allowing you to turn off its tutorial sections if you feel like you don’t need a refresher. This is a nice touch because anyone that is purchasing this DLC definitely already knows his or her way around the game.
After a quick re-cap of a few plot elements from the main game things get started fairly quickly. Left Behind follows fan favorite Ellie and her companion Riley, who is new to The Last of Us, though her existence was mentioned during the on-disc campaign. The majority of Left Behind takes place in a decrepit shopping mall, which is a fantastic setting for this expansion as the different retail locations each offer a unique mood and scenery. Left Behind doesn’t have you traversing the same amount of distance that Ellie and Joel covered in the main story but this is DLC so honestly, what did you expect?
The dialogue is expectedly amazing and simply interacting with items around the mall is an enjoyable use of your time and there are fantastic scenes that truly speak of the ability Naughty Dog has while acting as the puppet master while influencing our emotions. The attention to detail is once again on right the money making your time traversing the mall just as enjoyable as you’d expect
Left Behind is short. I beat the campaign in just under three hours while playing on Survivor difficult and searching every nook and cranny for supplies. The price point of $14.99 is a bit steep for such a short experience. There are a few collectables that give the player a reason to re-visit this DLC, but there is little reason to come back to Left Behind after your first play through. In the end I felt that I the cost was worth it in the end to have a another chance to experience just a little bit more of the broken world presented in The Last of Us but I was left wanting just a little bit more.
Left Behind is a downloadable add-on requiring the Playstation 3 exclusive title The Last of Us, both developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment.