Not all successful video games that are made into movies or shows are successful right away. Some lose their identity after some time while others stay nowhere close to the source material, the gameplay itself. But this largely untapped genre of show business seems to have been finally utilized to the best of its potential with the making of The Last Of Us – a TV series on HBO Max based on the eponymous PlayStation game.
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The game focuses on the post-apocalyptic United States, where a fungus, Cordyceps, has infected the general populace and turned them into the Infected – zombie-like creatures that pass the infection to others once they bite them. The gameplay focuses on Joel, a survivor, who helps Ellie, a fourteen-year-old girl, cross the United States while fending off the Infected and other hostile survivors and animals.
Future The Last Of Us seasons to have more screen time for the Infected
The Last Of Us, the game, has plenty of ways for the player, playing in a third-person mode and controlling Joel for the most part, to fight off the Infected, using a variety of guns, melee weapons, hand-to-hand combat, or even crafting items for survival to help against the zombie-like creatures. The Infected play a huge role in dictating the gameplay, but fans were a little disappointed to see their disappearing significance towards the end of the season of the series.
The Infected go through different developmental stages depending on how long they have been infected, growing more dangerous with every stage. In such order, then, are Runners – weakest among all of the Infected, but they tend to be the fastest and swarm opponents. The next stage sees the Runners change into Stalkers, who rely on stealth and agility to become the hostile predators they are. Clickers are blind but possess superhuman strength and use echolocation by making a clicking sound – thus their name – to ‘see’ around.
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The final stage of infection sees a Clicker turn into a Bloater – the deadliest among all of the Infected, having fungal growth tough enough to serve as armor, strength far beyond human imagination, and the capacity to throw toxic waste at survivors to blind or hurt them. Killing them is the toughest and impossible to do when one has caught a survivor – getting caught by a Bloater causes an instant kill.
Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann interacted with The Wrap and shared their plans for the future of the series, and about how there might be more screen time for the Infected in the future.
“We did at times have choices to make about how we wanted to present the Infected [on the show]. Even though we were greenlit for a season of television, Neil and I felt like we can’t just make a season of television without considering what would come after. There is more of ‘The Last of Us’ to come, and I think the balance is not always just about within an episode or even episode to episode but season to season. It’s quite possible that there will be a lot more infected later. And perhaps different kinds.” said Mazin.
The first season saw Runners and Stalkers, and only a passing glimpse of a Bloater. Fans thus hope for more screen-time for the Infected in future seasons.
The first season of The Last Of Us was a resounding success
The Last Of Us did remarkably well in its first season, so much so that there are plans for a third season already for the HBO Max series. Future seasons may even show fans the Rat King, which is a fused fungal Infected creature comprising several Infected at once, possessing strength beyond Bloaters’, and abilities of each of the Infected stages. The raw potential of the series and its capacity for throwing up stunning visuals remains enticing and one can only wonder at what is possible with the series in future installments.
The first season focused more on developing interpersonal relationships, primarily between Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, and Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, instead of too much emphasis on altercations with the Infected.
“Within the episodes that we were concentrating on, I think ultimately we generally stressed the power of relationships and trying to find significance within moments of action… so there may be less action than some people wanted… after all, you’re not playing it; you’re watching it. And although a lot of people do like to watch gameplay, it needs to be — I think — a little bit more focused and purposeful when we’re putting it on TV.” said Mazin.
One can trust that the series is in good hands, seeing as how the showrunners stuck to the original source gameplay as much as possible. The potential for the series is now showcased, Mazin and Druckmann now have their own standards to live up to in future seasons.
The Last of Us is streaming on HBO Max.
Source: MovieWeb
