Everything You Need to Know About The Last of Us 2
#10: Gustavo Santaolalla Returning
Over the years, Naughty Dog has proven that video games can be enriching, cinematic experiences. And part of what helped “The Last of Us” achieve this was Gustavo Santaolalla’s haunting and melancholic score. The Argentine musician, known for minimalist compositions, used a variety of string instruments during quieter moments to capture the game’s mournful tone. But he also used heavy percussion to convey the danger of this post-apocalyptic landscape. And it worked wonders, even earning an Excellence in Musical Score award at South by Southwest. Santaolalla is no stranger to accolades, however, as he also took home Oscars for his work on “Brokeback Mountain” and “Babel.” And if he weren’t returning, it would feel like an essential piece was missing.
#9: You Play as Ellie
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The first game had players controlling Joel, though Ellie was playable for a small portion towards the end. This time around, Ellie takes center stage. “The Last of Us” was very much Joel’s story, exploring how he coped with the loss of his daughter and accepted Ellie as a surrogate. From everything we’ve seen so far, “Part II” looks to explore Ellie more deeply as an adult. In fact, Joel has been suspiciously absent from most of the marketing. And at E3 2018, writer and creative director Neil Druckmann stated that Ellie is the only playable character. It’s possible Naughty Dog just didn’t want to give anything away. But it seems that, at least for most of the game, we’ll be controlling Joel’s former sidekick.
#8: A New Setting
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“Part II” will take place 5 years after the end of the first game and we’ll see parts of the U.S. we didn’t see before. “The Last of Us” had Joel and Ellie trekking across the country looking for safe harbor and the Fireflies. Locations like Boston, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City were all explored equally. While there will be other locations, like Ellie’s commune in Jackson and Wyoming, the main city of the sequel will be Seattle. Naughty Dog’s meticulous eye for detail should show how this area was impacted by the outbreak and how survivors have adapted. Some may have formed a positive community. Others, like the violently militaristic Washington Liberation Front, not so much.
#7: No Multiplayer
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“The Last of Us” is revered for its single-player campaign, as it should be. But one of the game’s most surprising inclusions was its faction-based multiplayer. Players sided with the Hunters or Fireflies in three different game modes, gathering necessary supplies and crafting in order to get the upper hand. It was surprisingly good, which is why many may have been disappointed to learn “Part II” will be single-player only. According to co-director Anthony Newman, the game became so big that they had to solely focus on the story mode. It isn’t all bad though. Some form of online multiplayer will come later, there’s just no telling when that will be.
#6: A More Violent Experience
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The first game was already plenty violent, with heaps of grisly carnage and explosive peril waiting around every corner. But from what we’ve seen so far, “Part II” looks to make players even more uncomfortable. Gameplay footage has been visceral, gritty, and messy. Part of this comes from improved visuals, making the violence more realistic. But the sound design from the E3 2018 footage was also appropriately unsettling. Then there are the religious Seraphites to consider, who seem to relish in performing ritualistic executions. “Part II” will also be more mature all around. In addition to the blood and gore you’d expect, it will include nudity, sexual content, and drug use.
#5: New Gameplay Elements
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From a glance, gameplay from both games seems fairly similar. But Naughty Dog is taking a more lively approach with Ellie. She’s more agile and nimble than Joel, able to jump and go prone to hide from enemies. She can dodge, with animations varying depending on weapon type and angle of attack. There’s also a greater pressure placed on players to survive during combat. For example, if Ellie is hit with an arrow, it creates a status effect that hinders aiming and disables the listen mode. Only getting to safety and removing it will make the effect go away. Additionally, players will be able to upgrade Ellie through skill trees like Survival, Crafting, and Stealth.
#4: Smarter Enemy A.I.
It’ll take more than some tall grass to fool these guys. Naughty Dog have seemingly worked very hard to ensure the enemies of “Part II” feel incredibly human. Meaning, they’ll team up and use deductive reasoning in order to find your hiding places. Even if you’re stealthily killing your way through a horde of baddies, others will be able to follow your trail of carnage to hunt you down. And some will even bring hunting dogs along to sniff you out. Each confrontation requires strategic thinking. On top of that, each enemy has also been given a name their friends will cry out once they find their body. It lends each situation more emotional weight, making you question your actions all the more.
#3: Halley Gross Co-Writing
While Neil Druckmann wrote “The Last of Us” on his own, he’s got some help for the sequel. Halley Gross, an accomplished TV writer, joined as co-writer and narrative lead in 2016. Gross is best-known for her work on “Westworld” and “Too Old to Die Young.” While Gross hasn’t written for a video game before, she seems deeply in tune with exploring how vicious experiences will impact Ellie’s growth. She wants to challenge players by having Ellie deal with as-of-yet unknown trauma. But it’s also crucial to challenge Ellie as a character, having grown up in such an awful world.
#2: An Unclear Story
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Although gameplay has been explored in-depth through demos, the plot of “Part II” certainly hasn’t. Naughty Dog has only given brief details, such as Ellie being on a mission of revenge. One trailer made it seem like revenge for Dina, a new character and love interest. But it doesn’t seem like Naughty Dog would spoil a character’s death. It’s also unclear how Anna and the Seraphites fit in, why Ellie finds herself rescuing Tommy in Seattle as seen in the press demo, or if the Fireflies are still prominent. And what happened during the five-year gap between games? Did Ellie find out what Joel did? There’s so much we don’t know, but it will be all the more tantalizing when we do.
#1: An Ambitious Undertaking
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Naughty Dog have grown to be one of the most respected developers of the video game industry. From “Crash Bandicoot” to “Uncharted” to the award-winning “The Last of Us.” But Neil Druckmann has promised their upcoming title will be their biggest, most expansive game yet. It is reportedly so big that it will ship with two discs. The story is so emotionally complex that it required the game to be longer than anything else Naughty Dog has produced. And apparently, everything we’ve seen has only scratched the surface. It’s incredibly exciting to see creators on the cusp of what could be their best work yet. And we can’t wait to see if their ambition pays off.
