There was a moment in The Last of Us that was so serene I could have watched it forever. Protagonists Joel and Ellie were finally afforded a breath - a stitch of peace - and I hesitated to nudge them forward. The moment was so starkly different from all the violence that preceded it, so beautiful that it was painful. I could have let them stand there until the disc drive in my PS3 broke down, until the power went out or the world came to an end. The pair had been through so much, it seemed cruel to make them move on.

The Last of Us has a curious inertia though - the stumbling, inevitable momentum of a man off balance - and I couldn't deny it. Whatever laid ahead, I knew that their slow, torturous tumble was far from over.