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There was a moment towards the end of The Last Of Us (opens in new tab)’ pre-release story trailer that looked a lot like it was giving the end away:
In hindsight, it seems an obvious slight of hand but it still caught me out and left me thinking that Joel and Ellie’s path was set – one executing the infected other. It actually affected my entire first playthrough as I waited for it to happen. Here? Is it here? Will it happen here? What about here?
Now, it turns out Naughty Dog played us like a fiddle and I have to admit I’m a little annoyed. That deception and the expectation it created eventually coloured the whole game for me, right up to the end.
“We purposely deceived [players] with certain trailers,” explains writer and creative director Neil Druckmann in this month’s OPM. “[The] shot where Joel’s on the floor and he looks kind of sick and he turns up. That shot was made just for the trailer. Just to make it look like he’s infected or there’s something wrong with him, and then it’s juxtaposed with a shot of Ellie holding a gun, so everyone’s like ‘Oh my God, Joel’s going to turn and Ellie’s going to have to shoot him at the end!’ That was constructed in such a way so that people would guess that and think that that’s the obvious ending, and then we could turn it on them.”
I might be overthinking this.
The latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine, with Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End on the cover, is out now. Download it here or subscribe (opens in new tab) to future issues.
