Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Reviews

The Last of Us: Left Behind review

Ryan Fleming
By
TLOU Left Behind screenshot 1
The Last of Us: Left Behind
Score Details
“The Last of Us Left Behind DLC offers both a good and bad re-imagining of the original game.”
Pros
  • The prequel helps to flesh out the role of Ellie
  • More Last of Us is always a good thing
  • Colorful and lush level design
Cons
  • An emphasis on combat that runs counterintuitive to the original
  • The story is only half compelling
  • Plenty of clichéd gameplay

One of the things that made The Last of Us such an arresting and eye-opening game was its continual rebuttal of action-game conventions. At first glance it looked like countless other games, but on closer inspection that turned out to be a setup. Things we take for granted in similar games were turned on their head. Combat, for example, was something you were forced to do rather than wanted to do, and the game was better for it. Every action you took resonated. Every bullet spent or bomb thrown mattered. Killing an enemy was a big deal. Tense shootouts forced you to battle a dwindling inventory and your own character’s limitations as much as the enemies. And for the character of Ellie, killing was a soul-shattering experience that lingered with her.

In the DLC Left Behind, many of those conventions, unfortunately, revert to the genre’s default. You take control of Ellie for three to four hours, jumping between two moments in her life. The first is a prequel to the game and introduces us to the character of Riley Abel, a friend of Ellie’s that has connections to the rebel militants, the Fireflies. The second is deep into the primary campaign, and takes place during a moment when Joel was indisposed. Saying more would be a spoiler, but it fits well within the original game’s framework.

Related

The game jumps from time period to time period, as the teenage girls explore a mall outside of the Boston quarantine zone prior to Ellie meeting Joel, and then again in another mall, this one half way across the country. Despite that unifying thread, however, the two time periods aren’t really that connected in either story or gameplay.

TLOU Left Behind screenshot 4
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The first time period is heavily story driven. Ellie hasn’t yet gained many of the survival abilities she’ll later learn from Joel, so much of this section – with a few exceptions – is essentially an interactive movie. Ellie and Riley have a deep, complicated friendship, which is revealed through a series of conversations. This is where the game is at its best.

Ellie and Riley’s story is sad, touching, and funny, even if there isn’t much to do in terms of gameplay.

The Last of Us featured strong gameplay, but it was the story that made it so memorable. It was a very human story, despite the inhuman elements, and the focus on the friends retains that. Ellie and Riley’s story is sad, touching, and funny, even if there isn’t much to do in terms of gameplay.

The later section, however, is entirely gameplay oriented. Without giving any spoilers, Ellie has a single task to accomplish without the benefit of Joel. This proves more difficult than it first seems, and she is quickly sidetracked. Throughout it all, she is hunted by both the infected and humans.

Some of the areas Ellie needs to cross can be navigated through with stealth, but combat is much easier. There are even sections where you must clear the area before you can progress. Ellie wasn’t a fighter in the previous game, but she is now, and the game encourages you embrace this. Ammo is relatively plentiful, as are crafting items to create additional weapons like bombs. She also is a much better shot than Joel ever was, and can pick off enemies from a distance.

Gameplay is smooth and responsive, and switching between items creates several creative possibilities. Throw a bottle against a wall to attract enemies, then toss a bomb. Sneak up behind a human and stab them, then let their buddies chase you into a group of infected. You can even trick the two groups into fighting each other without ever being seen. It all works on that level, but it is counter-intuitive to what the game was all about.

TLOU Left Behind screenshot 1The Last of Us was always about survival, and that included combat. With Left Behind that isn’t an issue. You can easily fight your way through most sections, which cuts down on the tension and makes the game feel like so many others. PArt of that is down to the nature of the DLC, where inventory management isn’t an issue, but mostly it is a consequence of the level design that forces you to fight. The emphasis on combat also slightly changes the character of Ellie. One of the primary themes of the original game was Ellie’s maturation. She did what she had to in order to survive, but leaving a pile of bodies behind her would have been unthinkable. That’s not the case in Left Behind.

With that said, the DLC does help expand the character of Ellie – at least the prequel section. The DLC isn’t essential to the story, nor does it change anything. It further deepens our understanding of one of the better developed characters in video games though.

Conclusion

The Last of Us DLC: Left Behind adds a little to the overall story, but nothing that most will notice – or really even care that they missed. The combat – while pleasing enough in terms of gameplay – stands in contrast to the difficult balance the first game was so masterful about creating. If anything, the best thing Left Behind does is to encourage fans to once again consider playing through The Last of Us. Left Behind doesn’t quite recapture the magic of the original game, but it does remind us why we liked it in the first place.

(This game was reviewed on the PS3 using a code provided by the publisher)

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Ryan Fleming
Ryan Fleming
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…
The Last of Us Part 1: best skill upgrades
Ellie draws back a bow in a The Last of Us Part 1 screenshot.

As a remake, The Last of Us Part 1 remains incredibly faithful to how the original played and the mechanics you had at your disposal. While some speculated that features or mechanics from The Last of Us Part 2 might find their way being retroactively included, that turned out not to be the case. For those who loved the original just as it was, this is great news to learn that nothing mechanically is different from the game you loved, but plenty of people who played the sequel might have some trouble adjusting.

While skills did exist in The Last of Us Part 2, they were mostly different skills split into different trees. The Last of Us Part 1 remains a bit more straightforward with its upgrades, but that also makes each decision you make on which to take or upgrade more important. Whether it's your first or fifth time joining Joel and Ellie on this journey across an infected America, you will want to make sure Joel is as well equipped as possible with the best skills you can get.
How skills work

Read more
The Last of Us Part 1: best weapon upgrades
Ellie aiming a rifle.

Everything is scarce in The Last of Us Part 1. You will constantly be running low on supplies, ammo, health, and maybe even hope. This game functions a lot like survival horror games, in which managing your inventory is just as important as being able to land that critical headshot. Your arsenal, in terms of firearms, is not terribly large, but you do have the ability to upgrade each weapon in a number of ways to help you make the most of every precious bullet you find.

Weapon upgrades, just like skill upgrades, are not free -- they both cost a limited resource. However, weapon upgrades also have an extra layer of restriction in that you can't simply stop and upgrade a weapon whenever you feel like it. When you are able to upgrade, you also have to consider which gun you want to invest in, how you want to invest in it, or if you want to save up for a future weapon or a more expensive upgrade later. It's a delicate balance, but we've picked the best weapon upgrades to help you survive your journey in The Last of Us Part 1.
How to upgrade weapons

Read more
The Last of Us Part 1: All Training Manual locations
ps now vs xbox game pass the last of us remastered

Joel has managed to survive for over 25 years in the Clicker invested world, but even he can learn a few new tricks. He's already adept with any gun you can get your hands on and can slap together basic materials to make some useful tools, but just about everything you have access to can be made better with the right training. Unfortunately, it's a little late for Joel and Ellie to enroll in a survival course, so reading up is the next best option.

The Last of Us Part 1 has 12 hidden Training Manuals you can collect that all improve one of your tools in a meaningful way. Some of these are so powerful that you'll wonder how you managed without them, and yet some are so well hidden that you can go through the game multiple times without finding them all. If you want to become an expert Boy Scout, turn on your Listen Mode and pay close attention to our guide on finding all the Training Manuals in The Last of Us Part 1.
Training Manual 1 -- Shiv: Sharpening
Your first Training Manual to grab is in Bill's Town. You will have a hard time missing it, but after you escape from Bill's leg snare trap and follow him into the bar, one of the many objects to pick up is the training manual right on the bar itself.

Read more