Naughty Dog's The Last of Us and Telltale's The Walking Dead franchises are no stranger to fans of survival horror games. Both games give an immersive experience to the apocalyptic world in a way that no other games could. Interestingly, the two have many things in common, including the ups and downs of its characters' father-and-daughter relationship, with Joel and Ellie on The Last of Us & Lee and Clementine on The Walking Dead.
With that being said, each game has both perks and weakest links, and the following list will describe why one is better than the other, and vice versa.
10 The Last of Us: More Weapons
The nature of The Last of Us is quite dangerous, and to balance it, Naughty Dog arms their characters with a plethora of weapons. It ranges from the small and weak revolver to the silenced submachine gun, and players are also free to upgrade it at the workbench if they have the right amount of necessary parts.
The Walking Dead, on the other hand, does not have that flexibility. The only weapons players can use are either a melee, a pistol, or a revolver. There aren't many upgrade systems on the Telltale game, either.
9 The Walking Dead: More Alternative Endings
The Walking Dead has a unique point that The Last of Us doesn't, and that is the freedom of tailoring the characters' fate based on the players' choices throughout the game.
Players are sometimes required to make a split-second decision throughout the game, which eventually will shift the main story to another direction. Although the death of the protagonist is rather impossible, other characters are not immune to that. Even after beating all four seasons, it's always good to come back and get an alternative outcome.
8 The Walking Dead: More Graphic Enhancements
Thanks to the new generation of PlayStation 4 Pro and the upcoming engine of PlayStation 5, graphics is never an issue on The Last of Us. The ironically beautiful-yet-dangerous environment of the dead city of Seattle and Santa Barbara will keep players engaged for hours, even if it's only to pay attention to the little details on the game.
The looting system is also much more fun and rewarding than ever, with plenty of savs and vault scattered around the city for more unlockable items.
7 The Walking Dead: More Cartoon-ish Environment
However, not everyone is a fan of heavy graphics for one reason or another, and that's where The Walking Dead comes as an alternative.
It's not a PlayStation exclusive, which means that it can run on PC too. Its cartoonish graphics can run on an even low-budget PC, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to obtain all four seasons on Steam.
6 The Last of Us: Stealth Combat System
Looking for a thriller and non-stop action? Then The Last of Us is the game for it. Unlike The Walking Dead, The Last of Us' stealth combat system brings the thrill and the horror to life.
With the lack of supplies, saving bullets by crawling through an enemy is a must on the Naughty Dog's exclusive. It's a risky business, but it also brings the crafting system back and lets the players trade valuable items like health kits, silencers, and Molotov for the right amount of supplies.
5 The Walking Dead: Fewer Supplies, Bigger Challenge
Supplies are hard to come by on both games, but The Walking Dead is something else. It does not have that many varieties of weapons nor a crafting system, leaving the players with pretty minimum protection. Players only have a revolver, a melee, or a pistol to defend themselves with throughout the game.
Fortunately, it won't be too stressful for the players, because ammo count doesn't really matter on The Walking Dead. It's all about the matter of precision.
4 The Last of Us: More Infected Creatures Variety
Set more than 20 years after the Cordyceps Brain Infection, The Last of Us's universe is way more dangerous than The Walking Dead. According to the four stages of infection, the 'Infected' creatures can vary from the Runners, the Stalker, the Clicker, the Bloater, and the Shambler. The final boss of Part 2, the Rat King, is a combination of three Infected creatures, conjoined into one.
On the other hand, The Walking Dead universe is not too dangerous at all. The only type of infected to be worried about are the 'Walkers,' and they're pretty easy to manipulate to walk past them by smearing a Walker's blood or wearing a Walker's skin.
3 The Walking Dead: Better In-Depth Character Development
The first season of The Walking Dead was released back in 2012, while the second one was in 2013, the third season in 2016, and the finale in 2018. The story of how Clementine emerged from a small, 9-year-old treehouse girl into a strong woman has lived with fans for years, and in this regard, The Walking Dead has a better character development than The Last of Us.
On the other hand, The Last of Us was released in 2013 and its sequel in 2020. It's still a long game for The Last of Us to develop its characters like The Walking Dead, and hopefully, the lackluster reception from some of the fans won't hinder the team from developing Part 3.
2 Final Conclusion: The Last of Us
With so many similarities between the two, it's hard to pinpoint which game is better between The Last of Us and The Walking Dead. At the end of the day, it's up for players' preference. If you're looking for a game packed with non-stop action and a wide variety of weapons, then The Last of Us is the one.
While both are strong enough in terms of storyline, The Last of Us' weapons will satisfy the kind of hell-raising, thirsty-for-destruction players. Not to mention the excellent graphic upgrade from the first game to its sequel, too.
1 Final Conclusion: The Walking Dead
However, The Walking Dead gives something that The Last of Us can not, and that is the freedom of tailoring the fate of the characters based on your choice. With four seasons in store, The Walking Dead's characters seem to develop and intertwine with each other better than The Last of Us, which only has two titles, a comic book, and a musical night special so far.
Unlike the hard-hitting graphics on The Last of Us, The Walking Dead's cartoonish graphic is pretty friendly for low-budget PC. Given the fact that it's not a PlayStation exclusive game, anyone can play The Walking Dead without costing an arm and a leg.