Info
Some time in the 21st century, a mysterious purple ray hits Earth, turning anyone touched by the light into a monster or zombie. With zombies roaming the streets, unaffected people lucky enough to have been inside a building when the ray hit are anxiously holding their collective breath, waiting for someone to rescue them. As The Last Guy, you are the survivors’ last hope to survive this global crisis.
Go forth and save!!
No of Players: 1
Released:2008
Review – by Keith Murray (October 2008)
When the Last Guy Premium Edition was launched in early August on the Japanese PSN (read our review here), we all thought that it would be augmented with downloadable content. But we were caught off-guard, and now have the “full” release. So how does this version compare with its slight but highly enjoyable brethren?
Upon loading it up, there appears to be no difference. The same rules apply; you must coax survivors from their hiding places, while avoiding various monsters dotted around the surroundings. The first of the new areas, Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, is a gentle introduction to newcomers, but will cause slight consternation for Premium veterans as it feels overly simplified. Like all good titles, this is a red herring, as the various nooks and crannies dotted around the landscape encourage the continued risk/reward payoff established in the earlier scaled back version.
As you progress through the game, some of the most fiendish and downright evil level design choices created for a videogame become apparent. The Washington D.C. area provides a rectangular maze, which is littered with partially obscured bugs and monsters, all more than willing to destroy the rapidly-expanding line of survivors that have been painstakingly assembled from the surroundings. V.I.P`s are secreted in truly evil locations, which only open if you keep the chain of survivors in the thousands instead of the safe and manageable hundreds, meaning there’s always a fine line between shepherding and saving.
The horror continues when the location switches to Trafalgar Square in London, home to a monster which produces a noxious brown cloud, obscuring your view and leading to panic as any form of refuge is sought. To mention any further locations would spoil the surprise for potential new players, but it’s generous to say these obstacles are mild to what appears later on.
While it would be easy to form the opinion that all this is unduly harsh on the player, the constant, perpetual motion that zooming around the different areas gives an instant thrill, along with the nigh on perfect risk/reward balance. The different locations, all fully authentic, provide instantly recognisable landmarks which help to make a highly inventive title all the more interesting.
The Last Guy Full Game is a wonderful, addictive title that will continue to cause frustration and elation in equal measure. Whether it’s through the simple, yet effective, old school scoreboard system that will provoke almost daily checks by players to assure their place, or just the satisfaction of seeing just how far you have climbed up the world rankings, it delivers a unique experience, and makes it utterly essential.