The Last of Us is a beloved game series that carries a heavy story with a soundtrack that emphasizes its plot. It is a story of love, loss and revenge in a post-apocalyptic world that has been taken over by an zombie outbreak that its last surviving inhabitants have yet to acquire. In the most recent release of the the second game, “The Last of Us Part 2", revenge is the only thing on Ellie’s mind after the loss of, Joel, the only father figure in her life is murdered years after killing the only doctor that could have have potentially saved the world from the zombie outbreak in order to protect Ellie from death herself.
Santaolalla has worked with countless directors to make music for their movies and games. What makes him unique is his way of going about creating music for the project he is apart of: creating scores before the first shot has been taken, as it is a way for him to connect with the character in it as well as inspiring new scenes to be created on the director’s side of the job. Using only three instruments in the first game, the ron Rocco, electric and bass guitar Gustavo was able to create a emotionally solemn sound that that reflected the situations within the game. In the second game he replaced the ron rocco with an acoustic guitar that had a special set of strings that lowered its octave and added banjo to change the timbre of the second game in comparison to the first. Santaolalla goes further in depth about the process of creating music and the instruments in this video here.
When I listened to the soundtrack for “The Last of Us Part 2" I first noted the song titled after the game “ The Last of Us” which is similar to the one in the previous game except showcases a banjo instead of a guitar. It continues the previous story but, the banjo indicates a change in theme and emotion and seems to foreshadow something detrimental about to happen. Progressing through the soundtrack you hear the songs that give environmental awareness, bitter sweet feelings of what once was and isn’t anymore, the progressive dissatisfaction Ellie is receiving when she proceeds in getting her revenge to the final grieving and realization that all that she has done is not worth it.
When this game released it as well received, and while many did not appreciate the ending everyone who is a fan of the series can come to an agreement that Gustavo Santaolalla did a fantastic job at setting the stage. Many people, myself included, have followed along with the story and have grown attached to the characters and seen the father daughter bond between the two main characters and the cycle of revenge through Ellie in “The Last of Us”. The music encapsulates the what the audience is supposed to feel as they progress this story and I do not think any but Gustavo Santoalalla would have done the job any better.
