We can't be the only ones who were blown away by The Last of Us at Sony's E3 press conference. An expansive, post-apocalyptic urban environment. Subtle characters with nuanced interactions. Brutal, desperate combat with dire consequences, and software design that's really showing off what the PS3 is capable of.

Some might say the post-apocalyptic setting has been done to death, but we say it's never been done like this before. Leave it to Naughty Dog, the developers behind Uncharted, to blow us away with cinematic presentation and characterization like we saw at this year's E3. The demo was intense, so dynamic, so shocking, you may have missed a few key components. Allow us to point them out for you...

Early in the demo, Joel and Ellie encountered a poster advertising a film called Dawn of the Wolf. It’s obviously some fictional movie that came around the time the world ended. “These posters are everywhere,” Ellie comments. At fourteen, Ellie is likely too young to remember the movie’s release, if it ever had one.

The name Dawn of the Wolf is likely an homage to Dawn of the Dead, a landmark post-apocalyptic zombie film. But what interests us even more than a zombie movie reference is the ‘press triangle to interact’ queue that came up when the demo player approached the poster. Maybe it would only have zoomed in for a closer look, but that on-screen command combined with Ellie’s comment has us thinking that The Last of Us could be filled with world-building fiction for us to examine. Maybe we’ll get to watch the film in a ruined movie theatre!

With Uncharted, Naughty Dog set the standard for cinematic presentation and absolute cohesion in graphics and audio design. The Last of Us looks like it’s going to raise the bar one notch further, and it’s starting with the little things. The rustle of wind in bushes, the splash of boots in ankle deep water, the clunk of a ladder as Joel climbs to the second of floor of the ruined hotel. All these little details make for a world that can be experienced by the player in a more natural, true-to-life (or at least true-to-cinema) fashion.

Sound design also contributes to world-building interactions between characters. In the hotel, floorboards creak under Joel’s feet and he warns Ellie to watch her step. Then they hear looters and begin to eavesdrop. “I haven’t seen a clicker in weeks,” one of them says. This is an interesting clue, “clicker” must be a nickname for infected humans, probably referring to a noise they make. Next, Joel trips on something that makes a clang and he curses under his breath. Keeping silent and avoiding objects that make noise could be an important gameplay element.

Humanity may have been reduced to scattered survivors and violent neo-savages, but at least some of the natural world remains. There’s plenty of vegetation, and hints that some animals may have survived. Throughout the demo Joel scares up the occasional bird, he even watches a flock fly overhead as he walks across the hotel roof.

From what we’ve seen in the past, we know the viral infection is caused by a fungus, but we don’t know what species it affects, besides humans. All mammals? Or maybe just primates too? We’re not hoping to encounter infected gorillas or anything, but we’re wondering how much of nature has been left intact. The plants and algae-tinted water filling the streets give the impression that nature is taking the Earth back.

The first few minutes of the demo were an exercise in cinematic, HUD-less beauty. But when Joel and Ellie overheard the looters, the game’s health bar and ammo counter appeared, getting the player ready for combat, but did so in a subtle, unobtrusive fashion. Neatly tucked away in the top left of the screen, we almost didn’t notice it had appeared.

Giving the player necessary data without ruining a game’s presentation with info-clutter is a delicate balance. You also need to make sure the player can discern what items are usable and what’s just set dressing. The Last of Us seems to solve this problem with on-screen text and queues. As long as they don’t go overboard with the text, this seems like an elegant solution.

Yeah, yeah no duh, bad guys bleed when you hurt them, but enemies in the Last of Us do it in a very dynamic, cinematic fashion that adds emphasis and a horrific element to the violence you commit. When Joel slugs an enemy nice and hard in the jaw, blood pours out of his mouth, just like in the movies. When he smashes a man’s face on furniture, blood splatters all the finish. Gunshots spray gore all over the walls, and enemies bleed out when they go down after a deadly blow.

This is a moment we really found striking, taking a hostage is a pretty underhanded move, but this guy was beating Joel with a pipe, and you do what you have to when the world is ending. What we’re wondering is whether this was a scripted moment or combat option that’s always available to the player?

Other games have done human shields before, Gears of War lets you grab a grub and fire while hiding behind his shoulders. But what really made this a compelling moment, and made us think it might be scripted, was the way Joel menaced the thug by threatening his buddy’s life. It was the definition of a hostage situation, and we want to know more.

“I know that sound,” the thug snarls. Pulling the trigger without a round in the chamber makes a sickening, empty click that tells foes you’re an easy target. Again, this is another moment that could be scripted, or maybe it's a naturally occurring gameplay element. In I Am Alive, pulling the trigger on an empty gun let’s enemies know you’re out of bullets, and causes them to charge. Is this what we saw in this demo?

There's certainly the chance this isn't a scripted moment. Joel missed a shot or two, had he been more accurate or conservative with his ammo, he might have had a round left. But then would Ellie have thrown that brick?

Throughout the demo, Ellie reacted seamlessly to Joel’s actions. She picked up a brick and waited for just the right time to hurl it at an enemy. She comments on your actions, “Holy shit,” she says when Joel roasts a creep with a molotov. However, the question becomes, would Ellie have thrown that brick if Joel hadn’t run out of ammo?

How much of what we saw in the E3 gameplay demo was scripted? Obviously the moments where Joel is ambushed and grapples with enemies are programmed to occur, but other moments seem more natural, more random? That’s why we really can’t wait to eventually go hands-on with this game.

After Ellie disabled him with brick to the face, Joel’s aggressor met a nasty end by getting his head bashed into a desk. Perhaps this was a scripted, pre-recorded kill animation? Or will we have the option to perform hand-to-hand finishers by slamming foes into walls, the ground, or whatever’s near?

The ruined landscape of The Last of Us should provide plenty of chances for brutal environmental kills. Long falls, exposed rebar, open flames, the possibilities are endless, and sickening.

There’s a lot that can be gleaned from the quick look we got at the game’s inventory screen. First off, the five ammo types listed on the left gave us a hint at the different weapon types: 9mm pistols, revolvers, shotguns, rifles and bows. Second, there appears to be a basic crafting system. In the demo, we saw Joel combine cloth and a bottle of alcohol to create a molotov cocktail. The other items and empty slots on the menu have us thinking that he’ll be able to create bandages and other improvised explosives. What really has us wondering are the slots for sugar and a battery. Is that a flashlight next to the battery?

Note that when the demo player brought up this menu, the game didn’t pause. The enemies were still searching for our two main characters, so Joel has to craft quickly before he was discovered. It’s likely that creating items quickly and while under pressure, or simply entering battle prepared, will be a key element of gameplay.

When Joel got ready to toss a molotov at his enemies, you may not have even noticed the aiming arc that appeared to help the player line up his shot. We think that’s part of the idea. It was a thin, chalky line that’s really only visible if you’re looking for it. Just like the game’s subtle HUD, it aids the player without detracting from the game’s visual presentation.

Compare it to the grenade aimer in Gears of War, which is bright blue and sticks out from the game’s grey, ruined environments. It doesn’t clash, however, because the Cog soldiers carry advanced technology that emit bright colors like this. However, a color like this wouldn’t make sense in the less technologically advanced world of The Last of Us. The chalk look is considerably more low-tech, and a great choice on the part of Naughty Dog.

The facial animation in The Last of Us is incredible, and the brutal, close-quarters combat gets you close enough to appreciate it. Throughout the demonstration, Joel got tangles hand-to-hand with foes, bringing the player close enough to appreciate the amazing detail and grimy reality of the situation.

For facial animation, two moments stood out to us the most. The first would be Joel's stealth choke-out of the first thug. We could really see the desperation in his eyes as he struggled in Joel’s grip, then his eyes go dead as he passes out (or his windpipe gets broken, we couldn’t really tell). The second would be the wrestling match with the shotgun-toting enemy. Once again, the facial animation brings home the fury and desperation of the struggle.

We know you didn’t miss this one, but the rough, unforgiving world of The Last of Us definitely merits a Mature rating. F-bombs are dropped, shotguns demolish faces, enemies burn alive and people seem to die horribly on a regular basis. That, and a fourteen-year-old girl is consistently put in danger.

It’s not just a matter of physical violence and some foul-mouthed bad guys, it’s about tone. Words like dour, harsh, brutal and gritty are how we’d describe the world that The Last of Us creates. Think about that title in relation to the two main characters. Ellie, who seems to have some innocence and good nature left in her. Remember how she wanted to stop and help the survivors in the last trailer we saw? Then there’s Joel, once a murderous looter, now trying to reform by looking after a child. Who is truly the last of us? The ones who survived this apocalyptic event uninfected, or those who managed to keep their humanity intact despite the savagery around them?

Well, that's all we've got! Questions of scripting, story, the nature of this viral outbreak and what remains of humanity still ruminate in our minds. But what are you thinking? Voice your questions and concerns about The Last of Us in the comments below.

Want more E3 goodness? Then check out our Sony press conference wrap-up and our debate over Who won E3.