How the brutality of combat in The Last of Us reflects human struggle (exclusive)

Warning: This article contains minor story spoilers for The Last of Us.

I became consciously aware at this moment that I had been panicking. Running ’round an abandoned high school gym with fellow survivors Ellie and Bill in tow, I turned a corner without looking. In that instant, a Bloater (a massive zombified human with extensive fungal growth exuding from all parts of its body) snatched me by my head and then ripped open my face by forcibly separating my jaws.