Captivating new and old fans, the Sony game, The Last Of Us, has been taken on by HBOMAX for a television adaptation. Following Joel, a smuggler tasked to escort a fourteen-year-old girl, and Ellie, the fourteen-year-old girl who is seemingly immune, as they navigate through a destroyed world with little humanity and hope left for a cure. It starts off with Joel and his daughter Sarah getting ready for a normal day when unexpectedly, the apocalypse breaks loose. But it’s not your average apocalypse because these aren’t exactly zombies. No, they’re humans taken over by a fungus instead of death, but one just isn’t enough. Working its way to the brain of its host, the fungus takes over making the person’s body turn into a bloodthirsty monster and its goal is to infect as many viable hosts as it can.

Created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the development by Naughty Dog started in 2009 and was announced in 2011, to give an anticipated release of The Last of Us in 2014 for Play Station 3. While the game is set in 2013, the show is set in 2023. They both follow the same storyline of Joel and Ellie through the world twenty years after the initial outbreak. Both the game and the tv show look into the relationships and humanity of the characters. It brings a refreshed look on zombies that isn’t too far-fetched. With a stacked cast including Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Anna Torv, and Nick Offerman, the tv show has been getting great reviews after only three episodes with a 9.3 on IMDB and 96% on rotten tomatoes.

There have been many positive reviews from people who have played the games and those who are just now learning about the franchise. The creators have made it well known that this is supposed to be a show about humanity. Do not go into this expecting it to be a zombie show because it is far from that. If you have yet to watch the show and are wanting to or wanting to play the game, don’t forget the tissues because you will cry after watching just the first episode.

photo credits: HBOMAX/the last of us