MOVIE NEWS – The Last of Us Series aims to be a very faithful adaptation of the video game source material. It is, after all, an adaptation of one of the most well known and beloved video game stories. Yet, in adapting the world of the PlayStation game to HBO, some tweaks have been made to the world and story of The Last of Us for various reasons.

We have a lot of faith in HBO’s The Last of Us series because game creator Neil Druckmann himself was involved in its development. However, it has recently been revealed that one change from the original The Last of Us may not be to the story’s benefit. This is the depiction of the infection that triggered the crisis. In other words, don’t expect airborne spores in certain places, especially infected ones, which were dangerous to the player in the original! But the creators have an explanation for this too.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, showrunner Craig Mazin explained why this important gameplay element was omitted from the series. Mazin reiterated that he is a huge fan, and Druckmann and he had a lot of discussions about what to keep and what to drop, and there were things that he insisted on. It was different with spores. “In the game, there are these spores that you must put on a gas mask when you approach them. In the world we’ve created, if the spores were in the air, it’s pretty obvious that they would spread; they would be everywhere, so everyone would have to wear a mask all the time, and by then everyone would probably be fully infected. So we’ve challenged ourselves, we’ve come up with new ideas about how to spread the fungal infection, but I think we’ve stayed true to the spirit of the game.”

In both The Last of Us games, there are some very scary sections where not only the disgusting monsters that have mutated from humans are lurking as deadly threats, but also the mutation-causing CBI spores. So in these sections, Joel and Ellie and their companions must wear masks to filter out the spores. Hopefully, Mazin and Druckmann have come up with an alternative solution that will appeal to gamers and The Last of Us ‘newbies.

The Last of Us launches on HBO Max on January 16. There will also be some important changes from the original, such as Joel not being nearly as nimble and action-packed as in the games. What is certain is that, even if they expand, they will stick strictly to the game’s basic story. In the meantime, Naughty Dog is hard at work on The Last of Us Part 2 multiplayer spinoff, and Neil Druckmann has hinted that there will be a The Last of Us Part 3.