Highlights
- The Last of Us' success owes a lot to Naughty Dog's Uncharted, which established the studio's ability to create rich character interactions and realistic worlds.
- The emotional depth and thought-provoking storytelling in The Last of Us set it apart from other zombie games, while Uncharted is like a popcorn flick with exciting set pieces.
- While Uncharted has earned recognition for its achievements, The Last of Us is the much more popular IP today with far fewer entries.
Before The Last of Us Part 2, fans probably would have had a few different answers as to what Naughty Dog’s studio-defining game was. The Last of Us has always been one of its best and most thought-provoking, but Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and even Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy would’ve been viable choices. None of Naughty Dog’s past work has been diminished by The Last of Us’ popularity, but in only two games it is undoubtedly startling how much the IP has done to generate success for the developer. However, without Uncharted there would arguably be no The Last of Us.
The Last of Us in the hands of any other developer might’ve mishandled how emotionally resonant and tragic its character interactions are. In every measure, The Last of Us could’ve been yet another repetitive zombie epic that recycled the same ‘man versus man’ motifs that most of them seem to, but it’s Naughty Dog’s rich storytelling and writing that always distinguishes it from being something that could otherwise seem derivative. Uncharted is the same way, basically being an homage to action blockbusters, but its own efforts don’t seem to reach the same level of fame.
The Last of Us’ Popularity Beats Out Uncharted’s Today
Perhaps it’s because Uncharted doesn’t have any controversial or divisive subject matter involved, but The Last of Us has always had fans in a bit of contention with regard to the choices Naughty Dog has made. Players were left wondering what they would do in Joel’s situation at the end of The Last of Us, for example, and The Last of Us Part 2 pushes players to make an attempt at empathy that is certainly difficult to conceive if they were strongly attached to Joel.
Rather, Uncharted is akin to a popcorn flick that players can put down afterward and look back on some exciting set pieces, and meanwhile there aren’t many moments of emotional hardship to reflect on in the series altogether, at least nowhere near the heartstring-tugging that The Last of Us practices. But whether that popularity circled around to players despising Naughty Dog’s choices or not, The Last of Us is still definitely more popular than anything else Naughty Dog has put out now, culminating in an HBO show for The Last of Us that will soon be adapting the second game in its subsequent seasons.
Uncharted was the Guinea Pig for The Last of Us’ Successes
Uncharted is surely not without its own praise, but it’s important to acknowledge how much of Uncharted’s essence acted as a building block for The Last of Us. Uncharted was Naughty Dog’s first attempt at ordinary human characters in a largely ordinary and realistic world after Jak and Daxter, for example, and therefore it could be argued that Uncharted was a stepping stone for its next new IP to thrive after a foundation had been established.
Indeed, the timeline for both Uncharted and The Last of Us makes a lot of interesting intersections where it is clear to see how an Uncharted release influenced a The Last of Us release. The two IPs are wholly different in terms of gameplay, tone, and story, but Uncharted 4’s jump to incredible hyperrealism in graphics and a simplification of UI prompts made their way into The Last of Us Part 2. Then, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy introduced a building block for a mini-open world, which The Last of Us Part 2 also implemented in its own design when Ellie and Dina arrive in Seattle.
It obviously makes sense that any developer’s previous work would influence the work that came after, allowing them to learn from what they’ve accomplished. But Uncharted only now having received its own live-action movie shows that even after 10 total game releases including remastered compilations, Uncharted deserves to share as much of the limelight as The Last of Us for all it has achieved.
