The Last of Us

Somewhere in your genetic make-up -- deeper down for some -- nature has put in the code for paternal instincts. Once you have a child, the drive to protect that little bundle of joy is incredibly overwhelming. Every scratch and bruise, every time another snot-nosed kid acts like a bully, it feels like you're taking on the wound ten-fold. The Last of Us may have figured out how to tap into those emotions, tugging at our heart-strings to create a narrative with real staying power.

The formula hasn't always worked in every game. The dreaded escort mission, loathed almost universally, is a tired form of gameplay rarely leading to much more than frustration. But recently, game developers have latched on to a simple concept: instead of forcing the player to temporarily care for some bumbling, helpless doofus, why not make the object of protection a character actually worth caring about?

During the Sony Press Conference at E3 2012, Naughty Dog showed off a gameplay demo for its upcoming survival-action thriller, The Last of Us. Thanks in no small part to the studio's uncanny ability to humanize its virtual protagonists, watching Joel and Elle make their way through a rundown building filled with armed bandits was immediately unnerving. Sitting in a chair, observing from afar, the urge to protect this 14-year-old kid was intense.

And then, Elle hit a dude in the face with a brick. Suddenly, it's readily apparent The Last of Us is about more than just shielding a teenager from harm; it's also about accepting the idea that children have to adapt to their surroundings, and maybe you need them as much as they need you.

 

The same emotions cropped up during Telltale's excellent Walking Dead game in 2012. Getting through a post-apocalyptic wasteland with a little one sounds like the most horrific concept, ever. And those instincts translate to, and from, the real world. We want to take them to the doctor every time they so much as sniffle. We wonder how our actions around them might warp their little brains. We worry about what will happen to them after we die.

Of course, The Last of Us provides more to worry about than a common cold or the occasional bully. Instead, there's the small issue of a brain-eating fungal infection and roving hordes of survivors armed with shotguns.