The Last of Ushas had inventive and improvisational kits for its playable characters. For example, thanks to Bill and his booby-trapped town in Lincoln, Massachusetts, players are introduced to nail bombs. Meanwhile, players are taught to be mindful of their environments and not trigger tripwires with bricks and bottles strewn about everywhere that they can throw to detonate and clear them. This is hardly the ideal use of a brick or bottle, though. Joel’s revolver and Ellie’s bow are iconic weapons inThe Last of Us, but it is debatable that bricks and bottles are far greater staples of the series.
Molotovs are rarely wasteful as long as players can shepherd a pack of infected, but there will always come a time when players lack the required resource ingredients in order to craft one. Likewise, unarmed fist-fighting as Joel or Abby in their respective games is also not easily advised due to how quickly players can become overwhelmed. Of course, no scenario is truly doomed if players have a brick or bottle at the ready. Oddly enough,Part 2debuted stun bombs (upgraded with supplements to become a variant ofPart 1’s smoke bombs), which only further exemplifyhow inspired bricks and bottles are inThe Last of Us.
The Last of Us Part 1’s Bricks are a Clicker’s Worst Nightmare
InThe Last of Us Part 1, bricks are a ubiquitous yet indispensable resource, especially on harder difficulties, because a three-hit combo with one can kill a clicker. Thus, unlike the bottle, bricks are powerful melee weapons as well as throwables used to create distractions or temporarily stagger enemies. Bricks are terrific, too, if players wish to preserve as many shivs as possible so that they can access every shiv door in the game, which in turn allows players to preserve the durability of reinforced melee weapons.
This strategy is moot once Ellie becomes playable inThe Last of Us’ wintertime and during herLeft Behind DLCsince she can kill clickers swiftly from stealth with her switchblade.
Part 1features smoke bombsthat are easily forgotten about unless players are throwing the kitchen sink at enemies. And, having been the precursor to stun/smoke bombs, inPart 2, it’s ironic that players truly don’t need to prioritize smoke bombs in their crafting inventory so long as they have spare bricks or bottles around.
The Last of Us Part 2 Juggles Stun Items Redundantly
Sadly, bricks are nerfed inThe Last of Us Part 2as they’re no more effective than a bottle, becoming mere reskins of one another. This is proven by the fact that bricks cannot be swapped for bottles and vice versa like they can inPart 1, meaning there is no longer a distinction between them, and the likely culprit as to why may be to emphasize stun/smoke bombs instead.
Contrary to their lack of memorability inThe Last of Us’ story campaigns, stun bombs are incredibly effective and downright vital inPart 2’s roguelike mode, No Return, as bricks and bottles are scarce in any given encounter and craftable stun bombs can be a godsend when cornered in Assault, Holdout, or Hunted, much less boss encounters such as the Seraphite Elite.
Rather, Abby’s arsenal replaces stun/smoke bombs with explosive pipe bombs to complement her offensive capabilities. On the whole, Abby’s playstyle is the closer of the two tohow Joel plays inPart 1, complete with craftable shivsthat Abby can now use to break free from any grapple if players don’t want to mash square and lose more health in the scramble. So, it might’ve made sense for bricks to at least be as powerful as they were inPart 1, at least while Abby is wielding them.
Instead, stun bombs and smoke bombs join a wide catalog of craftable items, with the latter item creating a smokescreen. It may have ironically made more sense for Abby to have wielded stun/smoke bombs since her association with theWLF militiawould’ve been a better excuse as to why she’s armed to the teeth and may not resort to bricks and bottles as much as Ellie may have while out on patrol. Either way, aLast of Us Part 3should honor and respect bricks and bottles by not feeling obligated to nudge other stun tools into players’ inventories.
