Gameplay Infecting Screenplay : Gamic Elements in HBO's The last of Us

This essay examines how the first season of the HBO series The Last of Us makes use of gamic elements and how it adapts gameplay sequences from the video game it’s based on. Using theories from game studies about environmental storytelling, it investigates how the series construct gamic spaces by for example confining characters in semi-opened environments with a labyrinth-like layout, common in video games. The gamic spaces are often environments with a story to uncover, where you need to interpret narrative fragments to learn about the history of those places. I argue that the series uses similar narrative structures seen in many survival horror games. Additionally, the essay highlights how video game logic is essential in the series during multiple scenes where the characters are required to traverse spaces by adhering to video game rules, while using gamic strategies and tactics to overcome gamic challenges. This is evident in, for example, the museum sequence of episode two where Joel, Ellie and Tess need to face the clickers that pose a similar threat to the characters in the series as they do to the player of the game. In the same sequence there is also an example of a third-person shot that resembles aiming a gun in a video game. I argue that the series uses gamic third-person shots to signify awareness and action but also to encourage viewer identification with the characters. By drawing on gamic camera conventions from third-person shooters, particularly how the camera repositions after a cutscene, third-person shots are also used in the series to signal a shift in character focus. This can be seen in the first episode, where a third-person shot is used to highlight the switch of perspective, from Sarah’s to Joel’s. I conclude by addressing that the use of gamic elements in the series proved to be successful, which is evident due to how well the series was received. Previous research has shown that players expect the same ergodic pleasure watching the adaptation as playing the game. In other words, they want the struggles of the characters in the series to be similar to the challenges the players faced while playing the game. The Last of Us series accomplishes this through its gamic spaces and by making the action scenes resemble video game states.