Sophie LaBüf

Last Updated on Mar 12, 2023

The Last of Us is a video game created by Neil Druckmann in 2013 about a pandemic involving a fungus called cordyceps which infect humans and cause them to become violent, cannibalistic monsters. In which one man is tasked with escorting a young girl across the county in order to save the world. It’s a coming-of-age buddy-buddy story. 10/10 stars.

This game was adapted for TV in early 2023. It’s on HBO. They have released three episodes thus far. The latest being January 23, 2023.

Some Notable Differences Between the Game and the Series:

***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

• Game:
  • Austin, Texas:
    • The infected neighbor is a younger male.
    • The infected neighbor kills the dog.
    • The escape from Texas happens in the middle of the night.
  • Boston, Massachusetts:
    • Joel doesn’t give two shits about Tommy’s whereabouts and Joel isn’t looking to get out of town to find him.
    • Joel and Tess go after Robert because he took the guns they bought from him and sold them to the Fireflies instead.
    • Tess kills Robert.
    • Joel, Tess, and Ellie get ambushed by guards (plural). Where we find out she has the fungus.
    • Joel and Tess agree to take Ellie to the capital in exchange for “double the merchandise” Robert sold them.
    • Uninfected attack them at the capital while Tess gets into a shootout with them to buy time for Joel and Ellie to escape.
  • Lincoln, Massachusetts:
    • The arcade game they find is called “The Turning”.
    • There are plenty of infected.
    • Bill lives in a church transept.
    • Bill and Frank had a falling out and Frank stole his truck battery so he could get away from Bill. Then Frank got infected and hung himself.
    • Bill helps Joel and Ellie get a car so they can leave Massachusetts. He is alive and well when they leave.
    • Joel doesn’t know who Frank is until they find him hanging from a light fixture and Bill tells them about him.
    • There’s no way in hell Bill would have let Joel have all his stuff.
    • Ellie steals a nudie magazine from Bill’s bunker.
  • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • The ambush happens in Philadelphia, PA.
    • Ellie kills a guy to save Joel.
    • Joel gets angry with Ellie for shooting the guy.
    • Joel gives Ellie a crash course in shooting a rifle.
    • Joel finds Henry and Sam by accident.
    • The leader of the hunters is a man named David.
    • Sam is not deaf.
    • Sam and Henry didn’t have help. At least not that we saw in the game.
    • Their escape happens at night via the surface.
    • Sam hides getting infected from everyone.
    • Henry kills him them himself.
    • The sniper encounter in the cul-de-sac happens in broad daylight.
  • Jackson, Wyoming
    • Tommy and Maria are fixing the dam which gets invaded.
    • Joel doesn’t complain to Tommy about being weak.
    • Ellie steals a horse and takes off when she finds out Joel is going to leave her.
    • Joel decides on his own after a long ride back to Jackson to not leave Ellie with Tommy.
    • Ellie quotes Rylie.
    • Joel took the horse with permission.
    • Ellie named it Callus.
  • Bolder, Colorado
    • A recording on a recording device tells them where they went.
    • Joel gets impaled by rebar.
  • Boston, Massachusetts and Boulder, Colorado
    • Rylie wakes up Ellie by pretending to be an infected.
    • The girls don’t drink any booze until they get to Winston’s tent in the mall.
    • Bounces between Boston in the past and Boulder in the present.
    • The carousel breaks down when Rylie gets on.
    • Ellie is mad at Rylie.
    • Vacation plans discussed.
    • The photo booth printer is broken
    • Nothing in the arcade works and Rylie describes playing The Turning while Ellie imagines it.
    • Brick Fucking Master.
    • Water gun fight.
    • Ellie knows who Marlene is.
    • The kiss happens in the department store after the Halloween store.
    • Ellie has Rylie’s mix tape in her Walkman.
    • They get bitten after a lengthy run from a horde of runners.
    • Ellie hunts with a bow.
    • Big shootout with infected.
    • She hunts a rabbit first.
    • Ellie is awakened by David’s party.
    • Ellie tries to sneak away.
    • Ellie makes it to a resort before getting caught.
    • Joel wakes up on his own. No raider.
    • Ellie and David aren’t alone in the cage room.
    • Joel interrupts Ellie while she’s wailing on David.
  • Salt Lake City, Utah
    • Joel rescues Ellie from nearly drowning and gets caught while Joel is giving her mouth-to-mouth.
    • Joel finds out when Ellie is before going up to get her.
  • Overall:
    • Starts in 2013.
    • The main story takes place in 2033.
    • No tendrils.
    • No hive mind.
    • Joel just has hand guns until he gets a regular, non-assault rifle in the Boston capital building. He doesn’t get an assault rifle until the hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah at the end of the game.
    • Ellie doesn’t get a gun until Joel gives her one after their run-in with some hunters in a hotel in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
    • Joel never laughed at any of Ellie’s jokes.
    • They meet the first bloater in Bill’s Town.

***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

• Series:
  • Austin, Texas:
    • The infected neighbor is an old lady.
    • The dog doesn’t get killed.
    • The escape from Texas happens in the afternoon.
  • Boson, Massachusetts:
    • Joel is worried about Tommy because he hasn’t checked-in in a while.
    • Robert gets killed because he tried to sell a bad battery to the wrong people.
    • Joel and Marlene both want the battery so they can get out of Boston. Joel to find Tommy and Marlene to get Ellie out.
    • Marlene promises Joel a battery in exchange for smuggling Ellie out of the QZ.
    • Joel, Tess, and Ellie get caught by one guard. Where we find out she has the fungus.
    • Infected overrun the capital while Tess dumps gasoline all over the floor in order to blow them and the capital to smithereens allowing Joel and Ellie to escape.
  • Lincoln, Massachusetts:
    • The arcade game they find is called “Mortal Kombat”.
    • Bill and Frank live in a house.
    • There are no infected.
    • Frank has cancer.
    • Bill and Frank remain lovers until they both commit suicide together some time before Joel and Ellie get there.
    • Joel and Tess are friends with both Bill and Frank.
    • Bill essentially leaves Joel all his stuff.
    • Ellie finds a nudie magazine under the seat of the truck.
  • Kansas City, Missouri
    • The ambush happens in KC, MO.
    • Ellie wounds a guy to save Joel. Joel kills him.
    • Joel apologizes to Ellie for putting her in that position then shows her how to use the gun.
    • Henry and Sam find Joel and Ellie.
    • The leader of the hunters is a lady named Kathleen.
    • Sam is deaf.
    • Sam and Henry have a collaborator.
    • Their escape happens at night, but via tunnels.
    • The sniper encounter in the cul-de-sac happens at night.
    • Sam tells Ellie he’s infected and she tries to cure him by smearing her blood all over his bite. It doesn’t work.
  • Jackson, Wyoming
    • The dam is fine and there’s no invasion.
    • Joel complains to Tommy about nightmares and general weakness.
    • Ellie doesn’t take off.
    • Ellie doesn’t mention Rylie.
    • Joel was going to steal the horse.
    • No name is given to the horse, but I’m 100% sure it was not Shimmer.
    • Joel gives Ellie a choice whether she wants to go with him or Tommy.
    • Joel teaches Ellie how to shoot a rifle.
  • Bolder, Colorado
    • They discover on a map where they all went.
    • Joel gets stabbed.
  • Boston, Massachusetts
    • Rylie just pretends to try to kidnap Ellie.
    • The girls get the booze early, long before getting to the mall.
    • They drink more booze on the carousel.
    • Ellie is happy to see Rylie.
    • No mention of their vacation plans.
    • The printer works on the photo booth.
    • The arcade is fully functional and they play Mortal Kombat II.
    • Rylie doesn’t like what Ellie has in her Walkman.
    • No Brick Master.
    • No water gun fight.
    • Ellie doesn’t know Marlene.
    • They get bitten in the Halloween store after a fight with just one infected.
    • Ellie hunts with a rifle.
    • No shootout with a horde of infected.
    • No rabbit.
    • Ellie goes outside and spots David’s party.
    • Ellie makes them chase after her.
    • Ellie greets caught right away.
    • Joel gets woken up by one of the raiders.
    • Ellie and David are alone in the cage room.
    • Joel finds Ellie after she escapes from the restaurant.
  • Salt Lake City, Utah
    • Joel and Ellie get ambushed by the Fireflies.
    • Joel figures out where Ellie is on his own.
  • Overall:
    • Starts in 2003. Not counting the TV talk show clip from the 1960s foreshadowing the cordyceps.
    • The main story takes place in 2023.
    • Joel has an assault rifle. At least until he stashes it in a gas station.
    • Ellie has a gun. She took it from Bill’s house.
    • Joel laughs at and even spoils some of Ellie’s jokes.
    • They meet the first bloater in Kansas City.

***CONTAINED SPOILERS***

***YOU WERE WARNED***