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Wednesday 18 January, 2017
From Gameplay Session on 1/16/17
The Last of Us is in my opinion a pinnacle of ethical and emotional storytelling in games. While this session was not particularly long, I still encountered a myriad of ethical and moral choices faced by the characters in the game. While the linear narrative of The Last of Us does not allow for as much player choice as a game like Mass Effect, the characters themselves face choices frequently. During the introductory scene in Texas, Joel and Tommy briefly argue over whether they should stop their car to let in the family walking down the road. We are barely 10 minutes into the game and the characters already must face down a tough ethical dilemma. Because of their choice to leave the family by the wayside as they drive past we assume that that family will not survive the Cordyceps outbreak.
Joel already from this moment demonstrates that he does not hold the utilitarian viewpoint of doing what is best for the greatest number of people. Rather even just a few minutes later we see him urging Tommy to move the vehicle forward despite the crowd of pedestrians ahead. Joel’s family is in danger, and he will do what he needs to in order to save his family. The first time Joel sees an infected, he has to make the choice of shooting their next door neighbor in the head in order to protect Sarah (and himself) from a threat.
Once the car crashes and the player assumes direct control of Joel for the first time, the player is given their first substantial choice. While the game encourages the player to run and carry your daughter to safety, players have the option to fail for the first time. You “can” stand there and not move you “can” try and save others, but doing so simply ends in Joel’s Death at the hands of infected. In essence, any choice the player makes that goes against saving Sarah and escaping the infected is “wrong”. After Tommy makes the selfless choice to hold back the infected so Joel can outrun them, we see another quality of ethical dilemma, is sacrificing yourself for the good of others the right choice to make? While this will certainly come back up across the game, here is the first of many times we encounter it.
This is not a trait unique to Tommy however. Joel also faces the same choice when the soldier is given an order to kill Joel and Sarah (which is another ethical dilemma about the greater good given that they might be infected for all the soldier knows). Joel turns his back to the soldier trying to shield Sarah from the gunfire. While this has the opposite effect Joel intended, we can see that Joel does not see himself as more worthy of living than those he cares for. He is also willing to sacrifice himself for Sarah, and later Ellie.
Finally, I want to discuss the first real “player choice” that presents us with an ethical dilemma. Up until now most all the choices have been handled by the narrative, but this one is strictly in the hands of the player. Shortly after descending into the tunnel to leave Boston, Joel and Tess find several corpses emitting contagious spores. One human has been trapped by Debris and his mask is broken, leaving him exposed to the spores and likely infected. He begs Joel to shoot him in the head, to put him out of his misery and keep him from becoming a clicker.
There are a myriad of reasons Joel may not want to kill this man, for one is it morally wrong to kill someone even if they are asking you to. Secondly, ammunition is a scarce commodity and spending it to put this man out of his misery might leave Joel in danger later with no ammo to save himself. This dilemma is difficult to wrap your mind around. Is Joel endangering others if he doesn’t kill the man before he turns? Is Joel wrong for “wasting ammo” as we see later by Ellie’s immunity how can we be sure that he won’t also be one of the exceedingly rare immune humans? I would be interested to see how many others made the same choice I did (to put the man out of his misery). I’m looking forward to any comments and hope to find more to write about in my next session.
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