The Last of Us E3 gameplay trailer

Sony’s conference served as the ideal launch pad for the first glimpse of gameplay from Naughty Dog’s new IP and Sony exclusive title The Last of Us. We get just over 7 minutes of footage behind Joel’s head with Ellie in tow, as they try and get through a dilapidated building filled with thugs.

It starts off with the duo exploring the environment until they happen upon some violent and on-edge people. When the action kicks off it becomes clear that Naughty Dog aren’t just repeating the tricks they’ve learned from Uncharted. Very limited ammunition, a focus on sneaking and even a health bar feature prominently throughout.

The real highlight in the trailer is how enemies react to your presence, warning their comrades if you are armed or recognising the distinctive ‘click’ when you run out of bullets, as well as numerous other things. There’s also the moment when teenage Ellie saves your day with a strategic brick throw to the head.

It’s hard to tell how much of the action was scripted and how much was dynamic, but whatever the balance between the two it looks damn impressive.

The Last of Us was arguably Sony’s show-stealer and definitely one to watch. There’s no confirmed release date yet, but we’d expect to see it sometime next year.

Written by Anthony H

Anthony has been playing games for far too much of his life, starting with the MS-DOS classic Mario is Missing. Since then his tastes have evolved to include just about anything, but his soft spot lies with shooters and the odd strategy game. Anthony will inspire you with his prose, uplift you with his wit and lie to you in his biography.