The Last of Us Box Art Revealed

Sony has taken upon itself to announce the pre-order bonuses for The Last of Us along with a release of the game's official box art, which features both its main characters—Ellie and Joel—upon its cover. It has both characters walking through a flooded street in a city overrun by plant life.

Those who pre-order the game now will receive one of two packs: the Sights and Sounds Pack, which includes the official game soundtrack, a PS3 dynamic theme, and PSN avatars of Joel and Ellie; and the Survival Pack, which includes bonus experience points for multiplayer, a multiplayer melee attack booster, in-game currency for multiplayer characters (which can be used to purchase new abilities and unlocks), special customizable items for multiplayer, and bonus skins for both Joel and Ellie which become available once the single-player game is completed.

The Sights and Sounds pack will be available to participating retailers (presumably every retailer which isn't GameStop) while the Survival Pack is exclusive to Gamestop. 

The announcement of the pre-order bonuses confirms our earlier report about multiplayer being a huge addition to The Last of Us, which was previously known to have only a single-player campaign. It shouldn't come as a huge surprise given Naughty Dog's penchant for implementing dedicated multiplayer modes into their games, however, and it should serve only to boost the game's lifespan—assuming people don't get bored over what it has to offer and head back to a Halo or Call of Duty title. 

The Last of Us is exclusive to the PS3, and will be out on May 7 next year.