I’ve played through and beaten The Last of Us ’ upcoming single-player DLC entitled Left Behind, and in many ways, it’s met my expectations. I’ll leave my pointed praise and criticism for next week’s review, but let’s just say that Left Behind – a brief prequel to the events of the main game -- gives you a few more hours to play The Last of Us and experience it in a new way, and that alone will make playing it a worthwhile endeavor.

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“ These two girls go back a ways; there’s a familiarity between them.

Exploration is the name of the game.

“ The two girls’ interactions with one another made me a believer in their friendship. Everything is tangible between them.

Danger is lurking.

“ Left Behind doesn’t lean on combat, but it’s there, and as promised, there’s a new dynamic to it.

Of course, there’s more to it than that, because Left Behind isn’t just more The Last of Us. It’s more of one very specific aspect of Naughty Dog’s masterpiece, granting players permission to explore the dilapidated ruins of the post-pandemic United States one last time (as this is the game’s one and only piece of single player DLC ). While there is fighting and gunplay in Left Behind, what it readily emphasizes is a steady, slow, and thoughtful examination of a long-abandoned mall. There are surprises – awesome, story-bending surprises, in fact – but by-and-large, this once-bastion of commerce outside of Boston’s quarantine zone is the DLC’s main focus.Left Behind also zeroes in on The Last of Us’ young female protagonist Ellie, as well as her friend Riley. You may have seen Riley in the American Dreams comic books , and Left Behind strives to further illustrate her relationship with Ellie. This is accomplished from the get-go, when Riley storms into Ellie’s bunk at the quarantine zone and suddenly wakes her up. These two girls go back a ways; there’s a familiarity between them. They know each other, they are endeared to each other, and they get along great. Left Behind does an exceptional job of making you want to experience their story, even if it’s only cursorily related to the events of the main game. And as you’d probably expect, you’ll want to stay away from it if you’ve not beaten The Last of Us, since it will absolutely spoil the campaign for you.Johnson’s performance is commendable, and so too is that of newcomer Yaani King, who -- in her first mo-capped gaming role – provides the yin to Ellie’s yang. The two girls’ interactions with one another made me a believer in their friendship. Everything is tangible between them. There’s true emotion there. Their back-and-forth is arguably as interesting to listen to as Ellie’s and Joel’s.Ellie feels radically different from Joel. She’s smaller and weaker, and she can’t handle herself like Joel can. We got a taste of this in The Last of Us itself, but it’s more pronounced here. The two characters can craft the same items and find themselves in similarly dangerous predicaments, but there are major differences to be found, and those differences are obvious almost immediately. While Joel might be able to run at an incoming enemy to ward him off, Ellie can only do so much damage with her dagger and often has to retreat to keep her enemies at bay.Still, The Last of Us’ plot and narrative-driven nature is alive and well in Left Behind, and that’s the best news fans could possibly hear. So much is jam-packed into a few short hours that it’d be impossible to go over it all. And even if I could, I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprises stuffed into it. All I’ll say is this: there’s every reason for you to be excited about Left Behind, especially if you want to learn more about Ellie’s origins while getting a haunting – albeit brief – glimpse back into her world.

Colin Moriarty is IGN’s Senior Editor. You can follow him on Twitter.