The Last of Us, developed by Naughty Dog, was one of the best final games on the PlayStation 3 in the lead up to the next gen consoles. Expectations were very high from the game coming from the creators of Uncharted and Jax.

The Last of Us is very in depth with its world, mechanics and survival game play. The massive guide book is testament to how much the game has to offer but the more it offers the more gamers have a chance to miss bits of for that 100% completion.

The first sections of the guide go over the basics: getting used to the screen, UI and what every icon means etc. Afterwards it goes into more detail about the different ways of traversing the environment with horse riding and interacting with objects. Next the guide lays out all the different weapons and items that you can find around the environment and what their use is. The Last of Us strategy guide also goes into the items you might not expect such as how to use the shiv doors and what the different collectibles are within the game, making sure when you are out in the world you know what you are coming across. This is a great idea as the game has a lot of different areas which can be easily missed and this helps you by laying out everything.

After the basics are covered the next part of the guide focuses on improving your odds when you are out in the world and how to use the mechanics to survive. You will get a detailed explanation of how to craft within the game and how each item can be used to survive and what materials you need to make each item. Upgrading Joel and your weapons is important in The Last of Us but with limited resources to do so choosing your upgrades is a critical step. A simple table explains what each upgrade does as well as how much it costs and is broken down between Joel’s upgrades and weapon upgrades.

With the upgrades explained, The Last of Us strategy guide gives you the run down on combat. This is broken down into various sections from combat mechanics, using explosives, looting, using guns, taking enemies hostage, distracting your enemies and engaging with the enemy. Weapons are the next section and each weapon is outlined with an image, its available upgrades with the cost and the pros and cons of each weapon. Finally the enemies are explained from the infected to human, which chapter they are found in and an explanation of what they will do in combat and how to fight against them.

Learning how to survive using crafting and upgrades is an important step and the guides explain is easily so you can decide what you want to upgrade based on the way you play.

The Story is the biggest section of the guide and goes through every chapter of the game. Each chapter further breaks down into smaller sections with an overhead map of the area, what collectibles and supplies you can find and what enemies you will run into. Along with the run by of what to do in the chapter you will also get tips, hints and little information boxes about the characters and more. This additional information is a nice touch to the guide and outlines other important bits of the game which will help your adventure.

All the collectibles within that chapter are also clearly expressed in information boxes and are numbered to keep track of each different type. Inside the box a little explanation of where to find the collectible helps the player if the map doesn’t pinpoint it exactly. In case that is not enough, an entire section is dedicated to collectibles with large screenshots of the location with a more in-depth explanation of how to find them.

The final part of the guide is dedicated to the multiplayer aspect of the game and explains the factions, basics of multiplayer battle and all the different maps you will find.
Overall The Last of Us Strategy Guide does a very good job at explain everything you need to know about the game before you start, getting you ready to face the infected and humans. After the initial explanations, the strategy guide does well at breaking down all the sections with detailed information for each area of the game with easy to read tables, short snippets of concise information and clear imagery.

If you are looking to get the most out of The Last of Us and want to complete the game 100% by finding all the collectibles and not leaving a stone unturned then you will not regret getting this guide for your gaming adventure. Personally the best part of the guide is the handy little bits of information it offers that you might not be aware of playing the game solo. Multiplayer wise the last area of the guide should help you get into the player on player actions quicker than learning by yourself.

Should you buy?		Pros and Cons
	+	Very detailed
	+	Great for completionists
	+	Doesn’t forget about the multiplayer.
	–	No extra’s section in the standard versions
	–	Sometimes a lot of information on one page to take in.