The Last Of Us VS The Walking Dead

Two very similar ideas battle it out in this article. The Walking Dead and The Last Of Us now both have TV shows and video games. After playing and watching both series, I am here to finally settle this debate, what is the better zombie apocalypse story?

Video Games:

The Last Of Us began as a 2013 video game by Naughty Dog, exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Since then, this property has had two video games, DLC and a brand new TV show on HBO, even a small run of comics. The success of the original game elevated the series into mainstream entertainment, as it told a unique story unlike anything we've ever seen during any Zombie Apocalypse story. That was the tale of Joel and Ellie, where our main protagonist is sent on a mission that could cure humanity of the corteseps fungi, that has turned most of the population into (essentially) flesh eating zombies. It may sound very familiar to that of the walking dead, with it's world wide Apocalypse because of a deadly zombie break. Although The Walking Dead began as a series of graphic novels, it has since spawned many games of it's own. The Walking Dead Tell Tale games really come to mind, but unfortunately the other games in this franchise have been poor discounts of Left 4 Dead or a series of underwhelming mobile games, that have rudimentary graphics at best. Tell Tales really gave us an emotional rollercoaster of a story with Lee and Clementine, but these games are all about making choices, rather than challenging gameplay. The fourth and final Tell Tale Walking Dead game gave us very simple third person combat, but The Last Of Us 2 really develops the already solid gameplay of the first game, alongside having far superior graphics and gameplay. Both stories are equally good, but overall, The Last Of Us parts 1 & 2 are far better games overall. The Last Of Us wins this round!

TV Shows:

Without a doubt, The Walking Dead triumphs in this regard! Both Fear and the main series are genuinely great shows, with plenty of other spin offs still ongoing. The main series follows the events of the comics, almost exactly, save for a few new characters and extended storylines. In some cases, characters who die off early in the comics, are still alive even after the show's finale. Although The Walking Dead has over stayed it's welcome somewhat, with it almost becoming like that of Marvel's MCU with all of it's spin offs and possible movie adaptation. There is just so much to see on TV, when it comes down to it. The Last Of Us just finished it's first season, overall it was still a great show, which, just like Walking Dead, follows it's original story (the game), almost exactly, save for a few new scenes and expanded background lore too. However, I personally feel like the HBO live action rendition of The Last Of Us, simply wasn't as engaging or thrilling as it's action packed original game. Very little action was to be seen, the acting is somehow worse than the 2013 video game and without as many zombies everywhere, the show just felt un-threatening compared to the horror of the game. In most cases; The Walking Dead TV show is far better and longer than it's comics, The Last Of Us feels somehow shorter and less impactful than it's game. Season 1 of The Walking Dead alone is enough to win this round.

Conclusion:

The Last Of Us has always felt like The Walking Dead game we've always deserved in my opinion. It clearly inspires from the show and comics, with it's post apocalyptic atmosphere, American setting and zombie outbreak storyline. The Last Of Us showed us a gritty, realistic video game world, where humanity fights for their survival against the undead. Although the tell tale walking dead games have great stories, we've never gotten a decent survival horror game in the series, Days Gone and Dying Light are other Zombie Apocalypse games, which give us similar survival Horror gameplay to The Last Of Us, only in an open world setting. I think The Last Of Us has huge potential to one day become just as big and successful as The Walking Dead in TV and other media, but as it stands; The Last Of Us has the best games, and The Walking Dead has the best shows. They are both equally great in my opinion and should both be enjoyed by zombie fans alike.