Cormac McCarthy gave post-apocalyptic video games their flavour

Cormac McCarthy, one of the most significant figures in modern American literature, died last week aged 89. While the tributes have mostly come from within the literary world, he had a huge impact upon modern culture as a whole – including video games. McCarthy's work reshaped the way that the world looks at the post-apocalyptic genre, a flavour of fiction that video games have long called home. And Rockstar's western opus Red Dead Redemption vividly recalls the Border Trilogy – particularly the twisted figure of Dutch van der Linde. The developers of The Last of Us have specifically cited The Road as a key influence, and it's easy to see why Naughty Dog drew upon McCarthy's parent-child journey across a post-apocalyptic America to inform their own.