The Last of Us Details Fleshed Out: Non-Linear Traversal, Ammo Scarcity, and Survival

The Last of Us may just be the most anticipated title of 2012, especially given the popularity of Naughty Dog's previous undertakings.

The game was first revealed at Spike TV's Video Game Awards late last year, and received plenty of fanfare from both fans of the Uncharted series and gamers in general.

New details of The Last of Us have been released via the Official PlayStation Magazine, shedding some light on the game mechanics and the environment in which the two main characters—Ellie and Joel—will traverse through.

According to the magazine, The Last of Us will be nowhere as linear as the Uncharted games, but not be set in an entirely open world. Players can choose, for example, to enter locations like coffee shops and stores not in the way of the main area. Doing so is entirely optional.

Unlike the Uncharted games, which loaded players out with near-infinite amounts of ammunition, ammo in The Last of Us is a scarce resource. Players will have to conserve ammunition, but shootouts will be rare.

The game is said to contain a myriad of situations in which Ellie and Joel must help each other to traverse obstacles. Naughty Dog says that the manner in which it's presented will not be obvious, as they hate games where you have to "brainlessly defend an NPC."

In developing the world and its environment, Naughty Dog will make an attempt to steer away from post-apocalyptic cliches.

The first version of the game—last seen at the VGAs—shared great similarity to the visuals in Uncharted. Changes have been made to the game's rendering system and the lighting has been altered to give the game a different, and unique look and feel. Additionally, camerawork is rougher, and a lot less fluid than it would be in the more action-oriented Uncharted series.

The Last of Us is a PlayStation 3 exclusive. It does not yet have a release date.