Naughty Dog’s ‘The Last of Us’ Delayed For Polishing

The new survival-adventure Playstation 3 game from Naughty Dog, Playstation’s premiere developer, has been delayed until June 14th of this year. Earlier this week, Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann took to the official Playstation Blog to announce the delay, reasoning that Naughty Dog needed more time to ensure that The Last of Us lived up to the developer’s standards.

The Last of Us was originally revealed at the Spike Video Game Awards in December 2011. It is a standalone game created by a second team at Naughty Dog that split off of the Uncharted development team sometime between Uncharted 2 and 3. The original release of the game was slated for May 7th, so now Playstation fans will have to wait a bit longer to sink their teeth into Naughty Dog’s latest.

The Last of Us – Gameplay Trailer E3 2012

One intriguing tidbit accompanied the delay when Druckmann mentioned that The Last of Us was “easily the longest campaign that Naughty Dog has ever made”. Their track record for dazzling players with deep, engaging, detailed single-player experiences is rather impeccable, most recently shown by the Uncharted series. Those games clock in at, on average, around 8-10 hours to play through the first time, so we might be in for a treat if the The Last of Us is significantly longer and just as polished.

For those not in the know, The Last of Us is third-person adventure game that stresses the survival element of living in a desolate, post-apocalyptic world. Resources and ammunition are scarce, and the player will have to decide whether a tango with an enemy is worth collected meager rewards. It also features an extremely dynamic world, where character interactions are based on the environment- enemy behavior is based on what weapon you wield, melee attacks vary depending on whether or not a table or window are present in the room, etc. Approaching situations in different ways, via stealth, avoidance, or guns blazing, can yield vastly different results in terms of gameplay and story. Speaking of, the game is very story-focused, not unlike Uncharted, but with a more serious and dire tone than the lighthearted Nathan Drake’s tale. Particular attention has been drawn to the development of the two protagonists and their relationship. Check out the story trailer below for a small glimpse of what is to come.

The Last of Us – Story Trailer (December)

Those itching to give it a try sooner can obtain an exclusive demo of the game by purchasing God of War: Ascension on March 12th. The Last of Us releases on June 14th, so look for our review shortly after our coverage of E3 2013!