Video game adaptations have been made for years, though some are better than others, most are notorious for being not very good. Things seem to be changing for the better with the recent success of the adaptation of “The Last of Us” on HBO Max. 

“The Last of Us” is a story game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where spores have been infecting humans and turning them into zombies. The game follows the stories of two characters Joel and Ellie. Joel was around before the collapse of humanity while Ellie was born during the apocalypse. Joel and his partner Tess are tasked with escorting Ellie to a rebel group called the fireflies because that group believes that she may be the key to finding the cure since she seems to have an immunity to the sickness.  

HBO Max has had massive success in the past with shows like “Game of Thrones”, “Euphoria” and “White Lotus”, so when fans heard that HBO was picking up the project excitement and expectations were high. The main thing people seemed to be worried about though was the casting, who was going to play Joel and Ellie? How were the zombies going to look? Would they keep some of dialogue? 

Fans were pleased to find out that Joel would be played by “Mandalorian” star Pedro Pascal. Ellie is played by Bella Ramsey, and while some fans praise her for embodying the character, some are upset she doesn’t look much like the original video game character. This is strange because Pedro Pascal is definitely not a dead ringer for Joel and people don’t seem to mind that casting choice.  

Many players were worried about what would be changed in the show and how that would affect the story. One of the main changes that fans have mixed feelings about is changing how the infection spreads from host to host, in the game it is spread through spores that people breath in, while in the show it is spread through tendrils. 

The creators of the show mentioned that they did this to make it more visual and menacing, fans seem to think they only did it so they didn’t have to edit spores into the show after filming. Fans were also upset because this eliminates future scenes that come later in the game where characters are wearing gas masks. Another recent change that fans are worried about was the change to certain character’s relationships, a lot of fans are unsure how this will affect events that will take place later in the story. 

So far the show has been really well received by old fans and people who are completely new to this story alike. It is very rare to find a video game adaptation that sticks so closely to source material, only time will tell if future episodes will hold up to fans expectations.  

Article by Sophie Meek