God of War Director Opens Up About ‘The Last of Us’ Comparisons

The Last of Us was a PlayStation 4 exclusive that brought a breath of fresh air to the Zombie genre with its incredibly heartfelt story and combat progression. Because of that, the title from Naughty Dog set the bar for expectations, causing many titles released afterwards to inevitably be compared against it. When the revamped God of War title burst onto the scene, it was met with perfect scores across the board, once again putting another title in The Last of Us’s crosshairs. So how does director Cory Barlog feel about the comparison? Well, for starters – he loves it!

Barlog himself told GamingBolt in a recent interview that the comparison is inspiring, and that he never understood how it could be intended as an insult. He told the site,

“The thing with The Last of Us, is, for me, I think a lot of people mean it as a dig, which I’ve never really understood. Like, “oh, you’re just doing your own Last of Us“, so, o-Kay. One, I am incredibly inspired by Neil and his team, they are absolutely otherworldly with their abilities and how talented they are and how much they bring to and elevate the medium. And I think to me, I would love to be considered as somebody alongside, or even within the proximity of someone who helped elevate the work that we do.”

He added, “I will never ever be bothered by the fact that we are being compared to The Last of Us, because I think it’s truly a watershed moment in our industry. So to be considered in the same vein as that is fantastic. But I think it shortsells any idea when you say there’s a similar part to something else, like “aw man, The Avengers is ripping off Batman. You’ve got people running around in outfits”. Of course, there are outfitted people and there’s superhero stuff, but it’s not just ripping off Batman.

“I think we’re all inspired by each other. We’re all riffing on each other. At the end of the day, every one of us is ripping off stories from the Greeks and from the Bard, and from everything. There’s nothing new, even “new” is inspired by something. We’re all, either consciously or unconsciously, we’re inspired. I think that’s a good thing.”

The man makes a solid point. A game’s success does not immediately equate to another’s failure. There was a lot to love about both titles and influence can be found everywhere. To be compared to such a magnificent title, even more so to still remain on its own two legs, is a phenomenal compliment.

You can read the full interview with our friends over at GamingBoltright here. As for God of War, the breathtaking latest exclusive is available now for PS4.