Infectious sounds of terror in Naughty Dog's 'The Last of Us'
A fungus has invaded, taking over the actions of its host before it destroys its hostage, and begins to spread spores throughout an entire colony of potential fodder. The cycle begins anew: a host invaded, its actions possessed, and a colony is left in ruins. It's a narrative you'd expect to see in a movie. It's also the basis for one of the most anticipated games in the PlayStation 3's 2013 release schedule.
In Naughty Dog's upcoming PS3-exclusive The Last of Us, the narrative inspiration for the parasitic plague wreaking havoc on civilization is ripped from a segment in the BBC-produced documentary series Planet Earth. The segment delves into the natural actions of a fungus known as "cordyceps." The fungus takes over an insect before it bursts from the host's body in an effort to spread its spores to other insects, wiping out colonies.
Though first assumed to be an undead army, the infected in The Last of Us are living humans. Each stage of the infection modifies their physical and mental capacity. People in the first stage of infection - referred to as Runners - know in their hearts and minds that their instinct to attack uninfected survivors is wrong, but they cannot control the impulse to harm life around them. Later stages of the infection offer encounters with more ghastly creatures. At stage three, the infection blinds hosts and turns them into 'Clickers,' agressors with faces bloomed in blood and gore. These enemies rely on echolocation to sniff out survivors, bellowing a haunting sound offered as a warning for all to remain completely still.
It's in the moments - between the hurried snarls a stage one infected cries out and the terrorizing clicking noise a stage three projects - that The Last of Us establishes its rules and its place as a terrifying new universe for gamers to explore.
In Naughty Dog's upcoming PS3-exclusive The Last of Us, the narrative inspiration for the parasitic plague wreaking havoc on civilization is ripped from a segment in the BBC-produced documentary series Planet Earth. The segment delves into the natural actions of a fungus known as "cordyceps." The fungus takes over an insect before it bursts from the host's body in an effort to spread its spores to other insects, wiping out colonies.
Though first assumed to be an undead army, the infected in The Last of Us are living humans. Each stage of the infection modifies their physical and mental capacity. People in the first stage of infection - referred to as Runners - know in their hearts and minds that their instinct to attack uninfected survivors is wrong, but they cannot control the impulse to harm life around them. Later stages of the infection offer encounters with more ghastly creatures. At stage three, the infection blinds hosts and turns them into 'Clickers,' agressors with faces bloomed in blood and gore. These enemies rely on echolocation to sniff out survivors, bellowing a haunting sound offered as a warning for all to remain completely still.
It's in the moments - between the hurried snarls a stage one infected cries out and the terrorizing clicking noise a stage three projects - that The Last of Us establishes its rules and its place as a terrifying new universe for gamers to explore.
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