The Last Guy

Written by Matt Swider  on September 25, 2008

Reviews: Google Maps Street View + a Flash Game = The Last Guy

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First came MapQuest. Then, Google Maps dominated as the online directions king. Next, Satellite View was added by Google and, most recently, the almost voyeuristic Street View enhanced directions to a scary new height. But, where do we go from here? How about adding a game to the map making mix? The Last Guy, the latest PlayStation Network game that you can download on your PS3, picks up where Google left off by having your character travel through 15 Street View-like city map overlays and save thousands of hunkered-down survivors hiding from zombies.

The Last Guy doesn't use Google Maps specifically; however, your last-hope-for-mankind character does travel on top of real-life aerial maps, including San Francisco, Sydney, London, Los Angeles and Tokyo. The gameplay for each location consists of standing near buildings to gather an increasing number of survivors and leading them back in a line to a designated escape zone. Your kind-hearted instincts will urge you to rescue as many as possible, but the more survivors you touch, the longer the line behind you becomes. Therefore, it becomes harder for you to avoid the zombies and giant spiders crawling through the city streets. As you progress through the 15 levels, the total amount of people you must rescue increases, which ramps up the difficultly considerably since there's always a time limit.



The sci-fi story that's attached to this game doesn't explain much and what's here isn't at all interesting. It's okay to skip to the gameplay without hesitation. The developer might've taken that advice since some of the Japanese elements that Sony of Japan created are still intact and aren't translated. What's appealing about The Last Guy is that certain cities are going to be immediately recognizable, like Washington D.C.

The landmarks here really stand out as you travel from the escape zone in front of the Lincoln Memorial, run through the trees to gather survivors on both sides of the Reflecting Pool and then hit the survivor jackpot around the World War II Memorial. The other problem is getting back to the escape zone on the other side of the National Mall without a zombie hitting your long trail of survivors. It makes for some challenging, but fun gameplay.