The Final of Us HBO trailer impressions: Save who it can save you

HBO dropped the official trailer of its TV collection The Final of Us, and it’s making an impression throughout the web. Contemplating that is my favourite online game collection, I’ll drop a couple of ideas on what I observed.

The present will debut in 2023, and it’s coming from the inventive staff of Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.

First, the tagline on the video is “Save who it can save you.” That catches my consideration as Joel, the lead character alongside Ellie within the recreation and present, goes by way of a journey within the recreation the place he cares about household, loses his personal after which cares about nobody else. That’s earlier than he meets Ellie.

It’s somewhat jarring at first as present actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey don’t actually appear to be Joel and Ellie within the recreation. However the music and setting shortly make you are feeling like they’re each acquainted and one thing completely different, which is what this present is meant to be for players and new audiences coming to the universe.

So “save who it can save you” in reference to Joel is ironic. He doesn’t wish to save anybody else, not less than till he meets Ellie, a woman who at first he transports like cargo from one place to a different. We see the survalist world, the place people in an enclave are portray over an indication from the Fireflies, a renegade group. The entire recreation is about their altering relationship as they make their means by way of horrible conditions within the post-pandemic world. (Sure, the that means of that final phrase has modified within the final couple of years).

The tagline from The Final of Us jogs my memory of the road from Schindler’s Listing, “Whoever saves one life saves the world whole,” which has all the time resonated with me as appropo for this recreation.

The trailer does a very good job of capturing that journey, the place Joel will get caught with Ellie, an inexperienced 15-year-old who will get caught with Joel. Then she has to run to outlive alongside Joel after which she has to study to battle the zombie-like Clickers and merciless human survivalists as properly.

The present appears to have contemplative moments the place Joel is trying inward, as he seems to be on the blood-written signal “if you’re misplaced within the darkness,” in addition to bursts of horrifying violence, like the place we see Ellie cowering or with blood spattered on her face. There’s that terrifying second within the trailer that jogs my memory of so many scenes within the video games the place Joel tells Ellie to be quiet as they attempt to evade a Clicker that’s pushed by sound.

And sure, it looks as if we’re stepping into the enterprise of not solely reviewing video games, however evaluating recreation TV exhibits and flicks as properly. I’m getting used to it.