The Last of Us gets taken down a peg by scientists and ethicists

The Last of Us is one of those games that can (and, I think will) be talked about at length for years and years. This week, in honor of an annual TLOU fan celebration called "Outbreak Day," biomedical research charity Wellcome Trust gathered together a group of scientists with specializations ranging from microbiology to epidemiology, as well as a vaccine expert, an ethicist, and a game journalist to dissect Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic tale.

You can watch the whole, spoilery, 15-minute video below, or skip ahead for an equally spoilerish summary.

Basically, the scenes of initial panic, a poorly-executed evacuation, and the isolation of healthy humans from an infected populace are all pretty spot-on. Naughty Dog paints a vivid portrayal of life after a decimating disease, and as far as these experts can reason, it's a believable, potential scenario.

But a highly-contagious fungus that turns people into rage zombies? Not so much. That's more for us, the gamers who want cool enemies to fight and unique gameplay challenges. Personally, I won't complain about this concession if it means getting to blast more Clickers.

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Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.