Here’s an Extensive Gameplay Look and Details at The Last of Us 2 from #StateOfPlay
I swear I wasn’t going to watch it, as I want to go into the game as blind as possible for when it releases next month, but minutes before the State of Play event dedicated to The Last of Us: Part II kicked-off, I broke! Thankfully, despite the 20+ minute demonstration being quite in-depth, there wasn’t anything all that spoiler worthy and I was glad that did in-deed break. The presentation kicked things off with a most recent trailer that many of us have already seen, before jumping into all the new goodness. As well as seeing new gameplay segments, we also learned more about the post-apocalyptic world.
As we already knew, The Last of Us 2 takes place several years after the events of the first game, with its conclusion very much playing a huge role in this sequel. Ellie now 19, along with Joel have settled within a community in Jackson, living a somewhat normal(ish) life. But as you can expect, nothing in this world will stay normal(ish) or peaceful forever, and just when Ellie discovers some form of peace, tragedy strikes and this seems to set the tone for the sequel, with Ellie on a warpath of revenge, and judging by the conclusion of this presentation, a lady by the name of Nora seems to be a key factor in Ellie’s quest for vengeance.
While much of the game will be set in Jackson and the old quarantine zone of Seattle, we also saw the beautiful forests and snow filled areas of the Pacific Northwest. However, within Seattle is a war raging between two rival factions, a well-armed militia group known as The Washington Liberation Front, and the cult-like Seraphites, also known as “The Scars”, who are all about mutilating their victims, and using stealth to ambush those unsuspecting.
We also got a glimpse at some of the infected enemy types that we’ll encounter in the game. As with the original, we will see the return of the Clickers, Runners and Stalkers, but we’ll also see new enemy types such as the tank-like Shambler, who explodes into a deadly, toxic gas when near to their victims. We will also get other new monsters, yet to be revealed. But judging by the blacked-out sound effects, they might not only be deadly, but large too.
The presentation also showed us improved ways in which Ellie will traverse around her environments, such as swinging and climbing ropes, jumping large gaps and generally being more athletic, perhaps taking inspiration from Naughty Dogs other beloved series, Uncharted. We also saw Ellie not only travel by horseback and by boat, but she can now also swim, something that she was unable to do in the first game. Ellie also used stealth mechanics such as being submerged underwater and hiding in tall grass, however, unlike some other “stealth” games that has you hiding in grass, when enemies get too close, they will spot you. Dogs also play a huge role in enemy encounters, as they can track your scent, which the demo hints at ways in which you can lose the pesky mutts.
Then when we moved into the new and uninterrupted gameplay segment, Ellie is in pursuit of the aforementioned Nora, but before Ellie gets close to her, she sneaks, kills and struggles her way through abandoned hospital, now home to her enemies. One of Ellie’s victims before reaching Nora was interrupted while playing a PS Vita, which will no doubt be a relic in any post-apocalyptic world.
You can enjoy the near 25-minute gameplay presentation below, knowing that there’s little to spoil. The Last of Us: Part II will release next month for PlayStation 4 on June 19th.