Video game storytelling quality (and Last of Us specific)

Well first of all I think comparison to a TV show is a bit unfair, as they are two different medium with different possibilities and different restrictions.

1) This one I guess is hard to argue with as this is fairly subjective. I myself didn´t think it was slow, I thought it was tense and atmospheric and a good introduction to the characters, controls and game-world.

2) This one is fair, but I this is something which plagues video games in general i´d say. I mean the problem is that we have to get an introduction to how things work somehow, which either comes in the form of just tons of text that keeps popping up, which i myself find extremely annoying. another option is to put the main character in a place of being new in the world as well, so it makes sense to explain everything to them, but personally this is just a huge cliche at this point, so I don´t really favour it, and narratively it wouldnt make sense in this case. The third option is the way The Last of Us does which doesn´t really make sense that much either, but in the end it is neccesary, and it is just in the beginning like in every game, so you get over it usually.

3) Well first of all, The Last of Us is in no way a role-playing game, quite the contrary, I would argue it is an anti-roleplaying game. As for the scene you are describing I believe you can actually choose to not shoot him, but I may be wrong. Either way, I think one of the major strengths of The Last of Us lies in moments like this though, because I strongly disagree that the player is left passive as with a TV series, you are very much an active participants. What the game does in a scene like this, is that forces you to do an action, good or bad, without the possibility of choosing your own morality, you are forced into pulling the trigger, even if you may think it is the morally wrong thing to do, you have to do it anyway. It forces you to take part in this bleak world, but it does not allow you to consider to moral high ground as an option. It would of course be completely different if it was in a cut scene, but this is part of the brilliance, and it occurs in several key moments in the game, where most games would just use a cut scene, the last of us forces you, the player, to become one with the character and his actions, it doesn´t allow you to distance yourself from his actions.

I hope you continue playing it and finish it, it is my favourite game of all time. I would also say that if does get slightly faster probably, the first hour are for obvious reasons concerned with setup and introduction, but stay with it, it contains some of the most brilliant moments in gaming, and in storytelling in general in my opinion.