Boulder
Boulder, Colorado is where Joel and Ellie search the University of Eastern Colorado for the Fireflies in The University chapter. Left Behind's present-day story picks up nearby at the Colorado Mountain Plaza mall, so this region covers both the campus and the mall.
- Type
- Region
- Region
- Boulder
Good to know
- The University has two sections, Go Big Horns and Science Building, and holds 17 collectibles.
- Left Behind's present-day chapters here are Back in a Flash (4 collectibles), So Close (3) and The Enemy of My Enemy (3).
- Main landmarks: the University of Eastern Colorado and the Colorado Mountain Plaza, which contains Weston's Pharmacy.
- The Fireflies once ran a research lab in the campus science building.
- A bloater that was once a Firefly named Joe Warren lurks in a campus dormitory.
- Enemies here are infected (runners, stalkers, clickers and a bloater) and a hostile group of survivors.
What you do here
On horseback you search the campus for a science building Tommy described as a giant mirror, restarting generators to open gates while Ellie waits with the horse. Inside you learn the Fireflies have moved on to Salt Lake City, and then the hostile survivors attack.
Leaving the universitySpoilerShow
Joel falls from a balcony during the fight and lands on a piece of rebar. Ellie gets him onto the horse, Callus, and they ride away, where he collapses. Left Behind's present-day chapters follow her as she hunts the Colorado Mountain Plaza for supplies to save him.
- Back in a FlashBack in a Flash is the first chapter of Left Behind. After a short flashback to Riley's surprise visit at Ellie's school in Boston, you play Ellie in the snowed-in Colorado Mountain Plaza, searching the mall for anything that can help Joel.
- Main storyThe main story of The Last of Us Part I follows Joel, a smuggler in the Boston quarantine zone, as he escorts Ellie, a teenage girl who is immune to the Cordyceps infection, across the United States to the Fireflies. It runs 12 chapters, from Austin on the night of the outbreak in 2013 to the spring of 2034.
- Left BehindLeft Behind is the prequel story bundled with The Last of Us Part I, played entirely as Ellie. It cuts between July 2033 in Boston, when her best friend Riley turns up and takes her to an abandoned mall, and a winter shopping mall in Colorado where Ellie searches for medical supplies for Joel.
- So CloseSo Close is the third chapter of Left Behind, back in the present at the Colorado Mountain Plaza. Ellie has to restore power to reach the crashed military helicopter on the mall's upper level, which means siphoning gas for a generator, fighting stalkers in a flooded stockroom and sneaking through a pet store full of infected.
- The Enemy of My EnemyThe Enemy of My Enemy is the fifth chapter of Left Behind and its main combat chapter. With the medical kit in her pack, Ellie fights back across the Colorado Mountain Plaza to Joel's hiding place while armed survivors and infected roam the halls, and you can turn the two groups on each other.
- The UniversityThe University sends Joel and Ellie on horseback across the University of Eastern Colorado near Boulder, looking for the science building where Tommy says the Fireflies are based. It mixes quiet exploration with a dorm full of infected and a fight against armed looters inside the lab building.
- Atrium noteThe Atrium note is an artifact in the Left Behind DLC chapter So Close, set in the present-day Colorado mall. It is in the atrium, to the left of where Joel and Callus are hidden, near the remains of a field surgery.
- Atrium recorderThe Atrium recorder is an audio artifact in the Left Behind DLC chapter So Close. It is in the tent near the crashed helicopter on the mall's upper level, the spot Ellie has been trying to reach all chapter.
- Combination noteThe Combination note is a required artifact in the Left Behind DLC, found behind the counter of Weston's Pharmacy in the Colorado mall during Back in a Flash. It gives the code for the American Princess store next door, where the key Ellie needs is waiting.
- Crew photoThe Crew photo is an artifact in the Left Behind DLC chapter The Enemy of My Enemy. After Ellie leaves the helicopter, look in the corner of a dark room shortly before the hostile survivors show up; it is on a decaying body.
- Duct recorderThe Duct recorder is an audio artifact in the Left Behind DLC chapter The Enemy of My Enemy. It is in the air duct passage on the left that Ellie crawls through after the fight with the hunters, next to a body.
- Firefly's recorderThe Firefly's recorder is an automatic artifact in the university science building. Joel picks it up from a dead Firefly in a cutscene, so it cannot be missed, and you can play the whole message later from the Artifacts menu.
- Free RadicalsFree Radicals, issue 7 of Savage Starlight, is on the rusty hood of a car up the hill behind you as The University begins.
- Fungal X-raysThe Fungal X-rays are an optional artifact in the university science building. After you follow Ellie through the short tunnel, turn left and check the far table next to the window.
- Generator noteThe Generator note is an artifact in the Left Behind DLC chapter So Close. It sits next to the generator at the refugee camp inside the Colorado mall, where Ellie has to restore power to reach the upper level.
- Griggs's Firefly PendantGriggs's Firefly pendant lies on a table in the last tent of a camp outside the science building, in the Go Big Horns section of The University. It belonged to Erik Griggs.
- H. Pino's Firefly PendantH. Pino's Firefly pendant hangs from a tree near the flamethrower room in the Go Big Horns section of The University. It belonged to Hope Pino and needs knocking down.
- Health: SterilizationHealth: Sterilization is a training manual on a desk in an upper-floor room off the university courtyard in The University. It makes crafted health kits 67% stronger.
- Hickman's Firefly PendantHickman's Firefly pendant is on a shelf in the monkey lab inside the science building, in The University. It belonged to Sadie Pearle Hickman.
- Lab recorderThe Lab recorder is an optional audio artifact in the room with the caged monkeys in the university science building. Go to the large table on the right and pick it up from the corner.
- Medical suppliesThe Medical supplies artifact is the suture kit Ellie came to the Colorado mall for in the Left Behind DLC. She takes it inside the crashed military helicopter at the start of The Enemy of My Enemy and packs it for Joel.
- Molotov: DeploymentMolotov: Deployment is a training manual behind the shiv door to Room 104 in the science building of The University. It doubles the radius of a thrown Molotov.
- Newspaper clippingThe Newspaper clipping is an optional artifact in Room 209 of the university dormitory. After you deal with the bloater and climb the next stairs, enter the first room on the right and look on the mini fridge to the left.
- Office recorderThe Office recorder is an optional audio artifact in the university science building. On the third floor, go through the door on the left, then straight into the storage room on the left and take it from the far table by the window.
- Pharmacist's noteThe Pharmacist's note is an artifact in the Left Behind DLC chapter Back in a Flash. It is on the dead pharmacist at the back of the American Princess store; once Ellie takes his key, you can pick up the note too.
- Pharmacy keyThe Pharmacy key is a required artifact in the Left Behind DLC chapter Back in a Flash. Ellie takes it from the dead pharmacist at the back of the spore-filled American Princess store, then uses it to open the pharmacy's locked back door.
- Rohner's Firefly PendantRohner's Firefly pendant is on a desk in an upstairs office room in the Go Big Horns section of The University. It belonged to Alex Rohner.
- Salon noteThe Salon note is an artifact in the Left Behind DLC chapter Back in a Flash. It lies next to a dead soldier in the wrecked salon Ellie crosses on her way from the pharmacy to the crashed helicopter, near a health kit.
- Snipers' nest logThe Snipers' nest log is an optional artifact on a lookout balcony at the University of Eastern Colorado. From the depot where you find the flamethrower, take the stairs to the top level, step out onto the balcony and check the corner beside some crafting parts.
- Student's journalThe Student's journal is an optional artifact in Room 202 of the university dormitory. Climb the stairwell to the second floor, enter the second door on the left and open the drawer next to the door.
- UEC campus mapThe UEC campus map is an optional artifact in the dormitory's main office at the University of Eastern Colorado. Duck under the furniture barricade into the office and pick it up from the counter straight ahead.
- Wall panel noteThe Wall panel note is an optional artifact taped beside an electrical panel in the university library area. After you pass the first metal gate and hear runners nearby, head to the next gate on the right and look at the wall to its left.
- Warren's Firefly PendantWarren's Firefly pendant is the only one you loot from an enemy: it drops from the bloater in the spore-filled lower level of the university dormitory in The University. It belonged to Joe Warren, a Firefly who became that bloater.
BloaterBloaters are stage four infected covered in armor-like fungus. They are slow and blind but kill you instantly if they grab you, and they throw bursting sacks of mycotoxin from range. Fire is the way to beat them.- David's GroupDavid's group are a group of survivors from a town at Silver Lake, Colorado who hunt Joel and Ellie through the winter. You fight them at the University of Eastern Colorado, in Left Behind at the Colorado Mountain Plaza, and around Lakeside Resort.
- InfectedThe Infected are people taken over by a mutant Cordyceps fungus, and they are the main threat between every human fight in The Last of Us Part I. In Part I and Left Behind you meet four stages: runners, stalkers, clickers and bloaters, each harder to kill than the last.
- RunnerRunners are stage one infected, people turned within the last couple of days. They still see, move fast and swarm in packs, so the danger is numbers rather than any single runner.
- Colorado Mountain PlazaColorado Mountain Plaza is the snowbound mall near Boulder where Ellie hunts for medical supplies in Left Behind's present-day chapters. You play Back in a Flash, So Close and The Enemy of My Enemy here, fighting both infected and hostile survivors.
- University of Eastern ColoradoThe University of Eastern Colorado is the Boulder campus where Joel and Ellie expect to find the Fireflies in The University chapter. You search it on horseback and on foot through the Go Big Horns and Science Building sections, and it holds 17 collectibles.
- Weston's PharmacyWeston's Pharmacy is the drugstore inside Colorado Mountain Plaza that Ellie checks first in Left Behind's Back in a Flash. It has been picked clean, but it is where the chapter's search for supplies starts.
Related places
- Region
Lincoln
Lincoln is a small Massachusetts town a few miles from Boston and the setting of Bill's Town, the fourth chapter. Joel and Ellie come here to call in a favor from Bill, a paranoid survivor who has rigged the whole town with traps, because they need a working vehicle.
- Region
Boston
Boston, Massachusetts is the first region after the time skip and the city where Ellie grew up. You play The Quarantine Zone and The Outskirts here, and Left Behind's flashbacks with Riley take place in the same city. FEDRA holds the North End as one of the last working quarantine zones in the country.
- Region
Silver Lake
Silver Lake is a snowbound Colorado resort town and the setting of the Lakeside Resort chapter, where Ellie is playable for most of the winter. A group led by David lives here. Its surroundings include an abandoned coal mine and the Whitefish Lake rest area.
- Region
Jackson
Jackson, Wyoming is the home of Tommy's community and covers both the town and the wider Jackson County, including the hydroelectric dam and the Hidden Pines Corral ranch. You visit it twice: in Tommy's Dam and in the short closing chapter, Jackson. It is the one safe, working settlement in Part I.