This is a game that I pre-ordered with little knowledge of what it was other than that Naughty Dog were the developers, developers which I grew up with thanks to Crash Bandicoot (my gaming childhood in a nutshell), and Uncharted. This is a game that has a storyline which I would not care for if it was in another medium such as film (passively observing the events unfold would bore me as I prefer plot over character in film) and it also has levels of violence which I could only stomach in video game form. That said, everyone should play this game. It's story is rich in depth through it's characters. It's gameplay feels relatively fluid with solid stealth mechanics allowing me to play the game in a way I love but also supporting the more expected, rough-and-tumble fist punching that a post-apocalyptic or dystopian game such as this should have.
Before I talk about the gameplay in more detail I should mention the excellently woven storyline. The game's plot follows Joel, a man who lived in our world (i.e. the non-post-apocalyptic every-man-for-himself world it becomes in the game). The game begins in the present or rather the day a viral outbreak occurs which leads to the dystopian, depressive "I am Legend"-like world where cities are either overrun with zombie-like creatures (usually known as Clickers but their are variations) or else are declared safe zones whilst being run like totalitarian states where curfews are enforced and executions are carried out on the potentially infected. The story follows Joel as he becomes responsible with escorting and protecting a young girl, Ellie, as they try to survive what remains of civilisation.
Now onto the topic of the gameplay, the melee combat looks very organic and has dynamic elements (Joel will slam an enemy into a wall if near one etc.) which adds a great level of gritty realism to the experience. Melee weapons range from wooden planks to lead pipes and all have varying degrees of limited use before they eventually break, leading the player to seek out a new melee weapon regularly. Also, Ammo for guns is scarce and health does not regenerate so use what little med kits you have wisely. Crafting is also an excellent and prominent feature, allowing the player to build make-shift bombs, med kits, shivs (for stealth takedowns and killing certain special enemies) along with many other useful tools. The crafting aspect is accessed through the player's backpack which also serves as an upgrade hub. Upgrades such as increased health, reduced weapon sway and better durability for some melee weapons are available through the backpack. The backpack also keeps a record of any collectibles you find such as letters and dog tags. I think it is also worth mentioning, that the game never pauses when using the backpack, adding appropriate tension when enemies are near (as you can be killed while checking/upgrading your gear). Gun upgrading is handled separately to the backpack and can only be carried out at specific points in the game, in the form of work benches. The weapon upgrades include, increased clip sizes and reduced recoil and not all upgrades can be achieved in a single play-through. This encouraged me to replay the game on "New game plus" mode.
The game will sometimes strongly nudge you to favour stealth in the interest of saving ammo etc. for the tougher enemies later on. This constant process of having to decide when to make a noise and expend your ammo and when to sneak by/silently kill the threats adds a nice feeling of agency and can even encourage the player to replay specific levels or areas differently to see how it might affect the game. That said, this game does not have an alternative ending and can be viewed as linear in that sense thus limiting player freedom. Yet such linearity serves as a strength to the game's tale as every cutscene is contributing to a very finely woven storyline, a storyline so well told that to deviate or offer an alternate path would only dilute and diminish the quality of what is a true masterpiece in story-telling.