The Last Of Us (2013)

Naughty Dog tells great stories. That was clear already from its incredible work on the Uncharted series. With this title, however, the development team really mastered the formula. They took all the good parts from their previous games and put it into a new and raw setting, weaving a story that reaches fresh emotional heights. In The Last of Us, a zombie outbreak has torn the world apart. Factions fight for control of what's left of society, while the military does its best to contain the spread with quarantine zones. Really, it's nothing you haven't heard before. There are new and interesting twists on the zombie formula, but its world generally sticks to the ideas movies have penned for decades. That sounds like a criticism, but that fact is one of the game's strongest points. It shows that even after decades of the same idea, Naughty Dog can still bring something incredible to the table. And it does so by largely doing away with the clichés. The focus in this game is not mowing down hordes of zombies with a machine gun, it's on character. The interaction between a graying man and a young girl as they make their way across a harsh land and struggle to survive. Naughty Dog uses its world infested with inhuman creatures to accurately portray humanity. The true evil exists not in the mindless zombies but in those willing to exploit the chaos it causes. However, moments of kindness and the bond between the two leads act as a contrast, painting a dark yet emotional tale with plenty of inventive twists.