Background Characters in The Last of Us

There are quite a few things The Last of Us for the Playstation 3 do particularly well, but something I am exceedingly impressed with is the way it builds up background characters. We're talking characters the player will probably never meet, who have likely died long before Joel and Ellie arrive in the area.

These relationships, if you will, are built entirely through notes. I think one of the best examples is of a background character the player first meets through a note outside of the sewers. From there, from finding a series of notes, the player watches his story unfolds and becomes excited. It makes the player wonder if they will meet the character. Or if they will be able to read to the end of his story. Of course, this depends on how thorough you are while exploring.

I don't think that any video game has ever made me quite so interested in, not only a background character, but a character that is essentially a "ghost" since he is not a main character and, if you do meet him, it is never stated outright. But with every bit of exploring, and every Infected I found, I had to wonder, "Is this him? Did he die?"

That very small story arc was extremely interesting, I was so amazed by the game's ability to do this.

So, do you get the opportunity to meet this character, or will you read the end to find out? I am unsure, so you'll need to play for yourself and found out.