Aysha Celestin

Reporter

On January 15, 2023, HBO Max released the first episode of its new series “The Last of Us.” This series is based on the original video game “The Last of Us” which was released on June 14, 2013.

“The Last of Us” was produced by the game-developing company Naughty Dog and was named Game of the Year from various awards. This game is originally released exclusively on PlayStation but is set to have a release for PCs later this year.

Video game media adaptations have gained a reputation for falling flat in comparison to the original. However, fans of “The Last of Us” games held hope for this series.

Neil Druckmann, co-president of the video game development company Naughty Dog and creator of the video game, is listed as one of the creators of the adaptation, giving fans a sense of relief for the show.

The first episode received a 9/10 score on Rotten Tomatoes, earning a 100% fresh tomatoes rating.

The Guardian highly recommended the show, saying it might be one of the best episodes of TV that will air during this year.

The story follows Joel and Ellie, a pair forced to journey through challenging situations, both physically and mentally, in post-apocalyptic America. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, HBO series veterans from the hit series “Game of Thrones,” play Joel and Ellie respectively. Pascal is also known for his role as “The Mandalorian” in that hit Disney show.

Following the premiere, fans took to Twitter to sing their praises of the series.

One of the major details that fans loved was the filmography and cinematography during the high-intensity scenes of the episode. The camera work and framing of the action directly resembled the action-packed scene in the game. These parallels pleased fans, seeing the action unfold in the same way, but in a whole new medium.

Another parallel within the series is certain points of the dialogue. The first episode sets up certain moments that mirror the game to a T. There are scenes where the dialogue in the show directly resembles the dialogue from the game.

The TV show starts in 2003, whereas the video game actually begins in 2013. But the TV show creators worked to recreate many of the images from the game, including the T-shirts worn by Ellie. Even scenes while the characters are driving down the road are recreated to mimic those in the game.

While the show does contain some differences, fans seem to appreciate the similarities they can recognize from the video game.

There will be nine episodes of the series “The Last of Us.” You can watch new episodes of the show on HBO Max.