The first season of the HBO show The Last of Us is arguably the best video game adaptation ever made. It's great, and it (mostly) sticks to the story originally laid out in the 2013 Naughty Dog game for PS3. With The Last of Us season two beginning to air in April on Max, the first season is getting an awesome limited-edition steelbook release so you can catch up to where the show left off. It’s available for preorder now, with a release date of March 18. Read on to see what comes with it.
Preorder The Last of Us: The Complete First Season (4K UHD Steelbook)
For anyone who hasn’t seen this first season, it basically covers everything that happened in the first game and the Left Behind expansion, plus some extra world-building story lines that add to the overall effect. The scripts for the first season were all written by showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (Druckmann was a writer and creative director for both The Last of Us video games).
In the Max show, Pedro Pascal takes the role of Joel Miller, while Bella Ramsey plays Ellie. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson (who played Joel and Ellie, respectively, in the games) have parts in the show as well. It follows the same basic story as the first game, with Joel escorting Ellie on a cross-country trip through a fungal-zombie-infested America, where Ellie will play a key role in potentially saving the world from the outbreak.
The Last of Us is one of my personal favorite video game series, and I think the show does justice to the exceptional story. You can check out our The Last of Us season one review for more details.
Special Features and Bonus Content
Included in The Last of Us: The Complete First Season Limited-Edition Collectible Steelbook bundle is over two hours of bonus content. Here’s what you get:
- Controllers Down: Adapting The Last of Us, From Levels to Live Action
- The Last of Us: Stranger than Fiction
If the show left you with an appetite to play the games, you can pick up The Last of Us: Part I on PS5 or PC. The Last of Us: Part II Remastered is also available on PS5 and is coming to PC on April 3. Sony has also released some pretty rad Joel and Ellie action figures, if that's your thing. And for those looking forward to the second season of the show, you can check out 5 details in the season two trailer.
Chris Reed is a deals expert and commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Bluesky @chrislreed.com.
