The Last of Us, a PlayStation 3-exclusive that just won
IGN’s 2013 Game of the Year, was an emotional experience built upon a cast of characters that players loved and cared about, and occasionally distrusted, disliked, or outright hated.
With Left Behind, the very first (and perhaps only) single-player DLC created for
The Last of Us, gamers will be reintroduced to one such character they came to adore – the brave, bold young girl named Ellie – and an all-new character, her trusted friend Riley.
First, check out an exclusive video that will show you how Left Behind gets going.
As the new trailer for Left Behind begins, we see Ellie fast asleep in her bed. Naughty Dog immediately shows off its impressive technical chops, as we don’t only subtly hear the rain falling outside of Ellie’s window, but we see the shadows of rain drops cast upon her as they slide down the window's glass panes.
Suddenly, Ellie is awoken by another young girl -- Riley -- who pretends she’s one of the Infected, playfully biting Ellie in the neck. Ellie quickly reacts, throwing Riley off of her and to the ground as she quickly grabs her familiar switchblade from underneath her pillow. Ellie realizes that it’s only her friend, though as the two talk, it becomes clear that they haven’t seen each other in quite some time.
IGN was given an opportunity to discuss Left Behind with the actress who plays Riley, Yaani King. King – born in Brooklyn and raised nearby in Queens – has been acting for over a decade, and recently appeared in the hit TV show Mad Men. With The Last of Us’ new DLC, she takes her first foray into the world of acting for a video game, complete with her first experience with performance capture.
King prepared for her role as Riley by studying The Last of Us’ campaign, as well as the American Dream spin-off comic books that the character stars in. According to King, Riley "has an extremely strong personality, very driven, very confident for a 16-year-old, and she is Ellie’s best friend. They are quarantined together in this boarding school and became really close.”
But Riley and Ellie aren’t just friends. “She’s also a mentor to Ellie… and helps her explore and see different sides of the world that they live in, and doesn’t really like following authority blindly. She’s not interested in just doing whatever it is she’s being told. So that’s what pushes her in the direction to kind of become a Firefly.”
In The Last of Us, we hear a bit about Ellie’s experience at the quarantine’s boarding school, but we never actually get a taste of it. King expanded on what actually goes on there. “On the surface, we’re being protected from the Infected [at the school],” she explained. “[The powers that be] have us there kind of learning how to basically, at a certain age, fight the Infected at some point. So, it’s pretty boring. It’s kind of like what you’d imagine military school would be: wake up, eat, chores around the quarantine, learning how to protect yourself, and that sort of thing.”
“But it’s very strict,” she continued. “I feel like it’s more about control over these kids than it is really teaching them anything or helping them in any way.”
It seems that getting out of the boarding school – and the quarantine itself – to see the unkempt, post-apocalyptic world around Riley and Ellie is the motivation for the events of Left Behind. And since gamers will play as Ellie throughout the experience, Left Behind has a markedly different feel than The Last of Us’ core campaign.
“What I can say is that there are moments in the DLC where you get to really learn the personalities and the heart of who these two girls are to each other through the adventures that they have,” King remarked. “And there are some really fun, new, fresh dynamics and content that [is] in this that you don’t necessarily see in the original game which I think add to who they are and who Riley is.”
“You’re going to have a little more fun, I would say,” she continued. “One thing I can talk about is what you kind of see in the teaser trailer, the carousel scene… you get to be a little more playful, you get to see a side of Ellie, along with Riley, that is a bit more carefree, not so focused on the world that they live in and the reality in which they live in, but you get to explore a playful side of Ellie that you don’t necessarily get to see. And you get to see her through Riley, who’s kind of bringing these things out of her and loosening [her] up a bit.”
Naughty Dog is mum about many other details about Left Behind, from the intricacies of the plot to how long players should expect spend with it before beating it. What we do know is that it will cost $14.99 when it arrives on the PlayStation Network at a still undetermined point in time. Unlike Infamous 2’s meaty spin-off DLC – Infamous: Festival of Blood – gamers will be required to have the actual The Last of Us disc to play Left Behind. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on if it will include Trophies (though chances are it will).
Stay tuned to IGN for more on The Last of Us’ Left Behind DLC leading up to our full review.
Cray story telling but Naughty dropped the ball like fumbles.
I just want moar TLOU.