The Last of Us Part 2 Announced

[Steven Bogos]

The Last of Us Part 2 Announced

Naughty Dog says The Last of Us Part 2 is still "early days," so don't expect a release any time soon.

Sony closed out it's PlayStation Experience event over the weekend with the reveal of a very hotly anticipated title: The Last of us Part 2. The game is a direct sequel to 2013's The Last of Us [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/the%20last%20of%20us%20remastered?os=the+last+of+us+remastered], and will see zombie hunters Joel and Ellie return for another romp through spore-infested territory. Check out the reveal trailer to the right.

We can take a few things from this trailer. First, Ellie is considerably older than she was in the first game, so we can assume that some years have passed. Second, Joel is still around, meaning that he hasn't been killed off between the two games.

At some point in the trailer, he asks her: "What are you doing kiddo?" he asks. "You really gonna go through with this?" to which Ellie replies: "I'm gonna find and I'm gonna kill every last one of them." This suggests the game will be a kind of revenge story, and will possibly see the main protagonist switch from Joel to Ellie.

No release details as of yet, as Naughty Dog says that the game is still "early days".

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[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Not too surprised, as TLoU was a pretty big success. I am pleasantly surprised that they aren't rushing it out, taking plenty of time with it.

 

[Ishigami]

I have mixed feelings...

On one hand, Naughty Dog is a good studio so it's pretty safe to assume it might turn out pretty good and I like good games.
On the other hand, TLoU was pretty self-contained and did not need a sequel and I hate unnecessary sequels.

Anyway I stay positiv. Naughty Dog has given me no reason to be over cautiously.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Gustavo Santaolalla also returns for the soundtrack, so it appears that we have the main pieces what made the first game great back for the sequel. Let's just hope Neil Druckmann hasn't gotten too full of himself, because the size of his beard at the PSX was rather worrying.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Maybe the actual gameplay will be fun this time.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Oh great. Another zombie game. I can't wait not to play it.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Oh great. Another zombie game. I can't wait not to play it.

I've not played it, but wasn't TLoU about zombies in the same way Buffy The Vampire Slayer was 'about' vampires? Or, for a more direct comparison, Telltale's The Walking Dead S1 with all its actual zombies?

Dismissing TLoU's follow-up on those grounds seems a tad unfair, to say the least.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Oh great. Another zombie game. I can't wait not to play it.

I've not played it, but wasn't TLoU about zombies in the same way Buffy The Vampire Slayer was 'about' vampires? Or, for a more direct comparison, Telltale's The Walking Dead S1 with all its actual zombies?

Dismissing TLoU's follow-up on those grounds seems a tad unfair, to say the least.

TLoU's setup was just so generic and although the zombies looked different, the end result was all the same in the end. And it was predictable. The gameplay was pretty meh. Whatever it did, other games such as Far Cry 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 did better.

I guess by far my biggest complaint is that TLoU didn't actually offer us anything at all that we haven't seen before yet everyone kept saying it was oh so great. And the story it was relying on so much to sell copies was, as I said, a predictable grim-dark zombie survival where everyone eats babies.

EDIT: OK, I'll admit I was a little too harsh. Lotta games out there that are much worse and are very much more deserving of disdain than TLoU. But this sequel just really smells like a cash-in.

 

[Casual Shinji]

EDIT: OK, I'll admit I was a little too harsh. Lotta games out there that are much worse and are very much more deserving of disdain than TLoU. But this sequel just really smells like a cash-in.

Probably, but seeing as it likely won't be released till 2019 (that's 6 years from the original to then) it's not they're just going to crank it out for a quick buck. I think that's the longest time inbetween sequels for Naughty Dog ever.

 

[mysecondlife]

I like TLOU but I didn't want a sequel to it for a long time. But I knew it was coming eventually. All I can say at this point is.. "good luck, I hope it'll be good".

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Should they retcon the name of the first game to "The Penultimate of Us", then?

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

TLoU's setup was just so generic and although the zombies looked different, the end result was all the same in the end. And it was predictable. The gameplay was pretty meh. Whatever it did, other games such as Far Cry 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 did better.

I guess by far my biggest complaint is that TLoU didn't actually offer us anything at all that we haven't seen before yet everyone kept saying it was oh so great. And the story it was relying on so much to sell copies was, as I said, a predictable grim-dark zombie survival where everyone eats babies.

EDIT: OK, I'll admit I was a little too harsh. Lotta games out there that are much worse and are very much more deserving of disdain than TLoU. But this sequel just really smells like a cash-in.

I can't really comment worth a damn (I'd like to watch an LP of it, but I'm not sure I could find one of the remaster, with no commentary, and no subtitles), but its reputation for the narrative and writing, at least, is solid (granted, reputation's aren't always truly deserved).

TLoU was pretty much the only Sony exclusive I really wanted to play, and it certainly wasn't for the rather ho-hum looking gameplay - its excellently designed world, if only visually, seemed to have a little more in common with a J.G.Ballard post-fall world than the nonsense games usually peddle. Enslaved did the 'green apocalypse' thing as well, but I appreciate TLoU's more grounded, realist aesthetic.

 

[bluegate]

TLoU's setup was just so generic and although the zombies looked different, the end result was all the same in the end. And it was predictable. The gameplay was pretty meh. Whatever it did, other games such as Far Cry 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 did better.

I guess by far my biggest complaint is that TLoU didn't actually offer us anything at all that we haven't seen before yet everyone kept saying it was oh so great. And the story it was relying on so much to sell copies was, as I said, a predictable grim-dark zombie survival where everyone eats babies.

EDIT: OK, I'll admit I was a little too harsh. Lotta games out there that are much worse and are very much more deserving of disdain than TLoU. But this sequel just really smells like a cash-in.

I can't really comment worth a damn (I'd like to watch an LP of it, but I'm not sure I could find one of the remaster, with no commentary, and no subtitles), but its reputation for the narrative and writing, at least, is solid (granted, reputation's aren't always truly deserved).

Watching a Let's Play really doesn't do the writing and storytelling much justice, though. A large part of the impact of the story comes from playing and experiencing it for yourself.

Spoiler

When Joel is hurt and Ellie is out looking for food and medicine, it's the player that wants to save Joel.
When Ellie is captured and Joel wakes up and starts to look for her, it's the player that wants to look for her, find her and rescue her
When Joel finds out about the nature of Ellie's surgery, it's the player that wants to go and rescue her.

Being a mere outsider looking in can really diminish the experience, I feel.

On Topic:
The Last of Us Part II... someone know a place where I can freeze myself until it's released?

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Watching a Let's Play really doesn't do the writing and storytelling much justice, though. A large part of the impact of the story comes from playing and experiencing it for yourself.
/
Being a mere outsider looking in can really diminish the experience, I feel.

Firstly I'd argue writing and narrative are precisely the kinds of things that can easily be appreciated - very few videogames truly even make use of their own unique qualities with regards to interactive narrative or agency relative to consequence.

As to your specific examples: "it's the player"? Really? What choice does the player usually have in games which merge passive cinematics, gameplay, exposition-walkabouts, etc? Almost always the answer is none; as with Spec Ops The Line (which in one pivotal moment included an objective header of 'OBEY', which was to the player more than Captain Walker), the only choice and agency most players have with most games is to either a) do what you're told, or b) or turn the game off.

So as for being a mere outsider: LP's have still made me laugh, cry, and feel fear over the years, so gaming as a passive experience can still be very powerful (so long as the LP'er's decent, and any I watch are).

Playing something is the ideal - but I certainly don't believe it's ever necessary[footnote]The only exception to that is obviously if you're specifically discussing gameplay itself, and even then that's relative per IP, i.e. different IP's put different emphasis on core mechanics and complexity.[/footnote] (SOMA for example, was still superb as an LP, and one could argue that it did embrace qualities unique to the medium in a way most games do not).

 

[Casual Shinji]

Firstly I'd argue writing and narrative are precisely the kinds of things that can easily be appreciated - very few videogames truly even make use of their own unique qualities with regards to interactive narrative or agency relative to consequence.

As to your specific examples: "it's the player"? Really? What choice does the player usually have in games which merge passive cinematics, gameplay, exposition-walkabouts, etc? Almost always the answer is none; as with Spec Ops The Line (which in one pivotal moment included an objective header of 'OBEY', which was to the player more than Captain Walker), the only choice and agency most players have with most games is to either a) do what you're told, or b) or turn the game off.

So as for being a mere outsider: LP's have still made me laugh, cry, and feel fear over the years, so gaming as a passive experience can still be very powerful (so long as the LP'er's decent, and any I watch are).

Playing something is the ideal - but I certainly don't believe it's ever necessary (SOMA for example, was still superb as an LP, and one could argue that it did embrace qualities unique to the medium in a way most games do not).

The one choice nearly every game, even the linear ones, give you though is the ability to set your own pace. And TLoU definately benefits from that, since there's so much story in the environment, and so many nice quiet moments where you can soak up the setting at your leisure. Or just ignore it and run through them. But it gives you the oppertunity to process things at your own pace.

But this is why I never like watching let's plays of games I haven't played myself yet. A lot of people don't have that problem.

OT: I just found out that Bruce Straley is sitting this one out, which sends my anxiety meter for the sequel straight back up to 10.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Didn't play the original, but I watched it (everyone raved about the story, so I figured I'd just experience that). IMO, the ambiguous ending was kind of perfect and having another story with the same characters sort of feels wrong. I like that it left you wondering if Ellie bought Joel's lie, if she saw through it but stuck with him anyway because she believes he did the right thing, if she saw through it but stuck with him because he's all she has, or if she ditched him when she finally got a chance. My money was always on the second or third option.

However, the story really was one of the best serious stories I've ever seen in a game, so I would trust Naughty Dog do do a good job again.

 

[Mik Sunrider]

Well, like a lot of you, for once, I didn't want a part two but now that we are going to get one ... yeah, I need a ticket for one for the hype train, please!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

The story was great in the first one, the gameplay was really ultra generic 3rd person stealth action with quicktime events.

The progression system was laughable and felt like it was jammed in after the game was finished. That said the game was good enough that I burned through it in less than a week and found myself excited to play it when I got home from work. I liked the characters and the writing. And since I have children the game properly hit me in the feels.