Podcasts
Discussing ‘The Last of Us: Part I’ For ‘The Last of Us Day’ [Safe Room Podcast]
It isn’t exactly surprising that the announcement of The Last of Us Part I was somewhat contentious.
Releasing less than a decade after the original release of Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic stealth action darling The Last of Us, fans rightfully asked, “Why now?” Then there’s a $70 price tag for a remake that, while including the base game and story DLC Left Behind, still lacks the multiplayer portion featured in the original.
So, yes, I understand where some people’s hesitancy came from.
That being said, after chatting this week with Gamespot’s Jake Dekker, these reservations regarding Part I being “Just a prettier rendition of a classic” largely ignores a handful of subtle improvements that strengthen an already near-perfect experience.
The Last of Us remains notable for its phenomenal storytelling and performances that made Joel and Ellie’s trek across an infected America so emotionally gut-wrenching. This tale broadly resonates in a way that so many pieces of zombie media have attempted but often lack the emotional weight found here (largely due to the heart-felt and sorrow-filled performances of Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson).
These performances and elements, obviously, remain in The Last of Us Part I, but the visual fidelity of the PS5 tech exemplifies these already top-tier performances. As Jake details in our episode, remaking characters from the ground up allows for their tragic pasts to be written across their face in a near photorealistic fashion, further emphasizing surviving the infection is hell.
And while many still may not be on board with the $70 price tag, which is understandable, to outright disregard a remake on pricing (which WILL change) alone would deprive oneself of potentially re-experiencing Joel and Ellie’s journey in a way they hadn’t previously.
Safe Room is a weekly horror video game discussion podcast with new episodes every Monday on iTunes/Apple, Sticher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Linktree for additional streaming services.
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Game Loop.
Trace and I inadvertently bookended our April discussions of John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London (listen) and Ciarán Foy’s Eli (listen) with Jude Law films. At the start of the month, we tackled Matt Damon’s Italian grifter in The Talented Mr. Ripley (listen) and now we’re closing out April with David Cronenberg‘s eXistenZ (1999).
The unofficial sequel to Videodrome (listen) and precursor to Crimes of the Future, eXistenZ takes place in the world of virtual reality and simulation. Game goddess Allegra Gellar (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is forced to go on the run with PR nerd Ted Pikul (Jude Law) through the Canadian backwoods when ‘Realist’ terrorists declare open season on her life.
Featuring no shortage of strange encounters and oddball characters, including Willem Dafoe‘s queer-coded Gas and Canadian film royalty like Don McKellar and Sarah Polley, Allegra and Ted must travel between the real world and the game world, all the while keeping track of who is friendly…and who is foe.
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Episode 279: eXistenZ (1999) feat Vannah Taylor
Lube up your industry standard bio-port because we’re playing David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (1999) with someone friendly: Vannah Taylor!
David Cronenberg’s meditation on the dangers of gaming and simulation is the middle entry of an unofficial trilogy. It’s also a film that gets real confusing, real fast, so good luck figuring out if we’re still in the game!
Plus: criticisms of a “bland” game world, praise for Jennifer Jason Leigh, Canadian royalty, comparisons to Serenity, disgusting gristle guns, and Pikul getting his back blown out (several times!)
Cross out eXistenZ!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re continuing our celebration of 1999 films with a look at Stephen Sommers’ bisexual awakening, action adventure film, The Mummy (1999).
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 306 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S01E04, Late Night with the Devil, The First Omen, Femme, Abigail and a brand new audio commentary on the original The Omen (1976).
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