Adaptations and Expectations

Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment

I’m not so much of a keen gamer these days, at least not in the same sense I held when I was younger. I still cherish a good storyline, but I simply don’t have the time nor the patience for anything larger and more demanding. Ironic, given my choice of profession.

But where my younger self could transition to a different plane of thought (one instilled by the game at my fingertips), my current mind-state tends to be more concerned with other matters. Oh, to be a kid again.

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us was (and probably still is) the most impactful game I’ve played. In the midst of a pandemic, it’s natural to make comparisons with a story set in post-pandemic America. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic bears little comparison to the much more deadly virus explored in the original game, but it’s intriguing to find concurrent and contemporary themes in any body of work, fragmented or otherwise.

200 Game of the Year awards tells me I’m not alone in my admiration. Its emotionally devastating play-through makes for some desperate viewing at times, but it’s the central relationship between Ellie and Joel that’s the real beating heart of the story; the focal point of a rich but otherwise brutal narrative. Throw in an ever-present threat of hostile humans and a violent, cannibalistic virus and it all makes for some very compelling content.

You can imagine my glee sometime last year, then, when I learned of a planned television adaptation. But I was also nervous. As adaptations go, video games don’t have a particularly noteworthy track record. They received little recognition from critics and audiences and do little to merit much else.

The problem is often a mismanagement of audience and fan expectations, differing the creative transition. Pleasing, then, is the presence of Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann as show creators. The latter served as a director on the original game and has since been promoted to co-president of Naughty Dog.

Druckman's style of writing leans towards intricate character relationships. His first-hand experience of the source material means it’s easier to obtain a more trusted notion that the adaptation will be honest and sincere to the original story. Craig Mazin meanwhile, was most recently the mind behind the acclaimed HBO mini-series Chernobyl, a dark, often apocalyptic show in its own right. Likewise, I’m also thrilled to see Argentine Gustavo Santaolalla return to compose an original score for the show.

The recent success of Netflix’s The Witcher also paints a more positive picture for video game adaptations as television series. Less hindered by the more rigid constraints of movie scripts, they can operate on a larger scope for which to deliver an often complex narrative. Most crucially, they offer greater potential for character development. 

With The Last of Us, there was always great cinematic potential. The landscape of a post-apocalyptic America overtaken by nature was, at times, simply stunning. The fluid changing of seasons delivered a richly rewarding palette.

The knowledge that filming has taken place across Alberta, Canada, is also encouraging. The national parks, untamed wilderness and the Canadian Rockies make for some pretty superb locations. In my time out there, I often thought it belonged on the big screen.

On these qualities alone, my worry seems dumbfounded. The knot in my throat will fade with time, I tell myself. Only time will tell, of course. But it’s encouraging to speculate, it’s therapeutic even. Just so long as it doesn’t descend into full-blown mania as another show is held back by this pandemic.