I too had never played the video game. So I held out some hope. But after a few episodes I couldn't help but think I'd seen this all before. Way too similar to Walking Dead and World War Z. Some of the scenes and camera angles look like they're copied from either show. On the plus side Pedro Pascal is awesome. He deserves all the accolades. On the other hand, I'm sure that Bella Ramsey has done some great stuff but watching her on Last of Us is painful akin to fingernails going down a chalkboard. HBO should stick to what it does best, original programming and stop these costs cutting measures.