MOVIE NEWS – There’s a lot of buzz around The Last of Us so far, with several critics calling it the best video game adaptation ever.

The Last of Us Part I won’t be coming to PC for a few months. It’s scheduled to launch on Steam on March 3, an entire decade after the original PS3 debut. The TV adaptation, however, arrives next week, and it’s apparently going to be a great way to get your Naughty Dog fix while you wait for the game.

Movies based on video games don’t usually change the world. Still, TV adaptations have been a different story in recent years, with series like Arcane and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners receiving widespread acclaim.

Based on the critical response, the Last of Us is set to join them. In fact, it is probably the best television adaptation ever. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received a 98% rating based on dozens of critical reviews. Many used breathtaking superlatives for the series.

A recurring theme in the reviews is that “this is the best video game adaptation ever made.” Others highlighted the performances of the two main characters, Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal. Well, we’re not saying anything for now, but you can expect a review from theGeek very shortly…

Of course, the series is not perfect, according to the critics. The BBC, for example, wrote in their review that it’s “the best video game adaptation of all time”. However, they added that some scenes “seem too game-like for TV”, and the second half of the series felt a bit rushed. Of course, the intensity to “immerse oneself in the world” through the game is missing in the non-interactive version of the story.

True, critic Stephen Kelly eventually steered things back into the “near-perfect” lane. “For fans of the game, it is an adaptation of the utmost skill and reverence, yet one still capable of surprise; for people who have never picked up a controller, it is an encapsulation of the game’s heart and soul – its full-blooded characters, its neat plotting, its mature themes of love and loss. It is, to finish Ellie’s joke, ‘outstanding in its field’.”

Not bad, eh? Critics aren’t infallible, and you may well be judging from a different perspective, but when you see such broad agreement, you have to start wondering if they just might know something.

The Last of Us debuts in the US on HBO and HBO Max on January 15 and in the UK on Sky Atlantic and Now on January 16. Fair warning for PC gamers planning to play The Last of Us for the first time in March: while the TV adaptation is apparently different from the game in a few ways, I suspect it still gives away crucial story moments. So it’s worth avoiding the series until you’re fully aware.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

The first reviews are in for #TheLastOfUs – currently it's #Fresh at 100% on the #Tomatometer, with 28 reviews: https://t.co/Kl2ea45dh8 pic.twitter.com/oWVpPXP5Fk

— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) January 10, 2023

#TheLastOfUs is a finer version of 'The Walking Dead' — and HBO's next big hit https://t.co/AUdI7PNh7p

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) January 10, 2023