10 Things The Last of Us Series Did Better Than The Game
Less is More
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While much of the video game is focused on the moment-to-moment combat encounters in between story beats, the series is much more character focused. That doesn’t mean it isn’t without its moments of tension, however. The museum scene is almost beat for beat but the fact it only has a couple clickers instead of being overrun by clickers and infected makes the scene all the more realistic and terrifying. The same is also true of the infected’s other major appearance in Kansas City. When the horde of infected comes pouring out of the sinkhole in an endless wave, we feel the same horror as the many characters fighting to survive. And the Bloater absolutely steals the show here as well. We also rarely see Joel in direct combat save for the aforementioned Kansas City encounter and the university, which makes his rampage through the hospital that much more thrilling.
Getting to Know Sarah
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In the opening moments of The Last of Us, we experience the start of the outbreak through the eyes of Joel’s daughter Sarah and witness her remaining strong even despite the horrifying events unfolding around her. The series takes this time with Sarah further by letting us follow her throughout her entire day before the outbreak begins. We witness her more or less taking care of her father as well as being sweet and supportive of her elderly neighbors and even her trip to fix Joel’s watch. Even knowing how things were going to end up, we’d be lying if we didn’t say we were hoping to spend even more time with Sarah as the series continued, if even for just one more episode.
Jackson
When we first find Tommy in the game, it’s pretty much by mere coincidence. In the series however, Joel has more of an approximate location of where Tommy might be and eventually, we along with Joel and Ellie are brought to Jackson where the two have their reconciliation. However, in the game, we only briefly see the outskirts of Jackson itself as much of our time is spent at the hydroelectric dam helping Tommy and company fend off attacking scavengers. In the series however, we get a much better look at not only the whole community, which is almost one to one how Jackson is portrayed in The Last of Us Part II, we also get a few nods to important story beats in the sequel, such as Ellie’s beloved horse Shimmer as well as what fans believe was the first unofficial meeting between Ellie and Dina.
Motivations
Speaking of Tommy, along with Joel’s reasons for agreeing to transport Ellie, everyone within the series seems to have much more realistic motivations driving them in the series versus the game. Instead of wanting their guns back, Joel and Tess need a battery and working car to head out West to find Tommy believing him to be in danger after losing contact with him. Henry and Sam aren’t simply passing through, but trying to escape a coup that overthrew FEDRA in Kansas City. Even new characters like Kathleen and her reasons for pursuing revenge against Henry are understandable enough that even the newly founded military group within Kansas City would follow her. We even get a better understanding of Marlene’s connection to Ellie but more on that in a bit.
A Broken Man
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Sarah’s death was understandably a pivotal moment in Joel’s life after the outbreak and while he’s still dealing with the heartbreak and trauma in the game, within the show, more than just the loss of his daughter weighs on Joel. The Joel in the series is a man in his 50s and isn’t going to be sneaking around crouched for hours on end and even actively attempts to avoid encounters whenever possible. Even within these parameters however, we see the stress of traveling with Ellie taking its toll as he begins to grow attached to Ellie as their journey continues and he becomes more and more terrified of losing someone he loves once again. This might not be the ruff and tuff Joel fans of the games were expecting but it’s a much more realistic portrayal of grief and loss than what would have been possible in the game.
Ellie’s Naivety
Ellie within the game is surprisingly well versed in the ways of the world for someone who has spent their entire life within the QZ city limits. She’s familiar with not only horse riding but also somehow able to pop a clutch and drive a vehicle with no explanation of this experience. Ellie within the show, however, is far more naive, being amazed by not only being in a car for the first time, but also adorably being excited about an escalator within the mall her and Riley are exploring. The Ellie we come to know in the series is also much more affected by her first time shooting someone whereas Ellie within the game is all too eager to pick up a gun and follow Joel, slaughtering anyone who gets in their way.
David Unhinged
In the game, David ended up being worse than any of the other scavengers Joel and Ellie had encountered throughout the time together. Manipulative and unsettling, David lured Ellie into a false sense of security before completely flipping the script and attempting to carve her up for his cannibalistic cult. David within the HBO series is arguably more disturbing, however. Not only is he still the deeply unnerving character gamers are familiar with, but now he’s the leader of a small community full of families who look to him for guidance while he feeds them human meat without their knowledge. His intentions with Ellie are also far more disturbing than within the game. While it’s alluded to in game, in the tv series, David makes no reservations about his courtship with the underage Ellie and his constant taunts as he hunts her throughout the burning restaurant make this even more apparent
Bill’s Best Life
From the moment we met Bill in the game, he immediately struck us as a tragic character, someone who had been on their own living within their own paranoia of the infection for far too long, even talking to himself on more than one occasion. Bill had a partner named Frank, but he had since attempted to leave and was infected for his efforts. When we first meet Bill in the series, he’s very much the same paranoid prepper, sorry “survivalist”, but this time we get to witness his first meeting with Frank and not only their budding romance over the 20ish years since the start of the outbreak, but also their time together all the way to their Shakespearean end. After witnessing what could have been the worst possible version of Bill, it was heartwarming to see someone who had been preparing for the worst for so long, find the happiness he never knew was possible.
Fungal Beginnings
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Over the course of the game, we’re given hints as to where and how the outbreak began but most everything that players knew about the infection was mostly speculation. The HBO series, however, makes it very clear not only where the outbreak began but also how it spread across the world so quickly and even eventually precisely HOW Ellie’s immunity could be used to create a cure to end the spread of the fungus. We open the series with a couple of scientists discussing the various possibilities of how an infection could bring about the end of the world as well as a look at where it all began in Jakarta and our best look at this new mutation of the Cordyceps and its disturbing tendrils. This new variation also affects the way the infected behave, giving them more of a hive mind, making the Cordyceps feel more alive than the clusters of spores in the game.
Ellie’s Immunity
During the events of The Last of Us game, Ellie’s immunity is the reason Joel is bringing her to the Fireflies on the West Coast and the driving force for most of the characters within they encounter. This is still true within the series as well, but for the first time, we not only get to meet Ellie’s mother Anna, but also witness just how her immunity began in the first place. Fans of the game also get a much deeper understanding of Marlene’s connection to Ellie through the series. We had always known that Marlene knew Ellie’s mom, but we didn’t know to what extent in addition to what led to her death. The process of creating a vaccine is also much more fleshed out within the series and provides a better explanation for not only how Ellie’s immunity works, but also how it could be used to save what remains of humanity.
