Last week The Last of Us hit our shelves and by now most of you have hopefully had a chance to play the game. Though, as with most games, a game guide was released to help players find the unlockables and also help with the game in general. The lovely folks over at BradyGames have released their guide for The Last of Us, and it is my pleasure to review it for you today. Don’t worry this review will be spoiler-free just like our Last of Us review!
Note: This review will not use my typical ‘review headers’ of “Story” etc. I will simply discuss the guides features and give my thoughts.
So let’s delve into BradyGames’ The Last of Us guide!
The game guide features an image of Ellie and Joel on the front – identical to that on the box art for the game. I can’t quite describe it but the guide itself has a different texture to most, though this is not a complaint!
So what’s included in the guide? The guide is split into 7 chapters which are named as followed;
- – Survival Guide
- – Tools of a Post-Pandemic world
- – Enemies
- – Story
- – Collectibles
- – Factions
- – Tags and New Game+
We’ll take a look at each chapter in turn to give you an insight in what you can expect.
Survival Guide
This chapter focuses on giving the reader controls and useful tips on how to survive within The Last of Us. It goes all the way from basic controls up to which materials make which weapons.
Tools of a Post-Pandemic World
Here you can find detailed information on each weapon found within the game. Melee weapons state how many uses they have, whereas guns have detailed upgrade requirements. Alongside detailed information you can also find which chapters/areas in the story contain each weapon – so that you able to find them. One thing I forgot to mention in my review of The Last of Us was that you can actually walk past weapons, so this is a useful nugget of information to be included.
Enemies
The enemies section details – you guessed it – the enemies within The Last of Us. Each enemy has an image and detailed information of where they are found in-game – and tips on how to avoid them. Thankfully this chapter is split into two sections; The Infected and Non-Infected Humans. This section is detailed well and has nice action shots of each enemy.
Story
As you would expect this section is the biggest within the guide and goes into vast detail on the Story Mode. The story is split into chapters, numbered how the game numbers them, for easy navigation. At the start of each chapter an overview is given which contains; the chapters collectibles, the chapters available supplies, the enemies and a map of the chapter. The birds-eye view of the map marks where each collectible and supply can be found. I thought this was a brilliant addition to have the first page of each chapter as an overview. A nice touch also was noting in each chapter where character conversations can be started. While I did find most of them while playing, it is nice to have them easily accessible incase you missed one.
Collectibles
The collectibles section shows the location of each collectible, along with detailed text on what chapter and how to get to the room if it’s locked. This is simply further information than given in the Story chapter. As with the Story chapter this chapter is split into smaller chapters, one for each collectible. I shall not name the collectible sub-chapters here for those who have not played The Last of Us.
Factions
For those who do not know what Factions is, Factions is the multiplayer mode of The Last of Us. The chapter here shows each map and gives useful advice on how to improve your tactics. On top of this the section details basics when playing on multiplayer and also how to choose your side (alongside detailed descriptions of each multiplayer mode).
Tags and New Game+
Finally the Tags and New Game+ chapter. This chapter details each of the trophy requirements and how to achieve them on both Single Player and Multiplayer Modes. On top of this it also details on what the New Game+ mode includes.
So we have looked at the contents but what about the presentation? The game has excellent images which show off each description effectively. The maps for the single player story and also the multiplayer are excellent and extremely useful in collecting items… and also planning your online tactics. The presentation of the guide is neat and easy to read. Text is positioned nicely and when reading it I had no issues with trying to see the text due to the images (you’d be surprised how often this happens these days).
In Short
Game guides are a hit and miss for me at times. I love game guides for some games, though other game guides aren’t made to high enough standard for me to have a reason to purchase them. If you haven’t picked up a BradyGames guide before I can assure you one thing… they are written with love and care. The Last of Us guide is to the high standard that I expect from BradyGames guides; brilliantly presented and highly detailed to help you through the game.
So the big question: does this guide help you enough to make it worth the purchase? Yes. This guide is useful from start to finish and will help players complete The Last of Us with 100%. If you are looking for a high quality, well presented and brilliantly worded game guide; make sure you purchase BradyGames’ Signature Series Guide of The Last of Us.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
