Game News The Last of Us Part II: story, gameplay, all the info before its release (video)
The Last of Us Part II will be with us in just over a month. While a new trailer has just been released, this is an ideal opportunity to redo a full update on what we know about the history and mechanics of the game. There have been major leaks on the script in recent weeks that we Obviously, we will not talk about it at all here, the idea not being to spoil you, but simply to refresh your memory before the release.
Video script
Context and scenario
Now that it's said, let's start with the background for The Last of Us Part II. Ellie will be the central character, even if we find Joel in a more secondary role here. The action takes place 4 years after the original game, but we can potentially expect an introduction right after the first game, as suggested by the images from the latest trailer. Ellie is now 19 and lives in Jackson in a community. She is in love with another girl named Dina, whom you could see in the trailer for E3 2018. From the very words of Neil Druckmann, who is the creative director of the game, she has almost never been so happy. And yet, not everything is rosy in Ellie’s life.
She already finds herself at the heart of minor conflicts in her community. She's cold with Joel, for a reason that we imagine linked to the events at the end of the first episode, and is also involved in a love triangle. Because Dina is dating Jesse and the three of them are friends. Following the separation of the first two, Ellie and Dina will get closer, which we can see in the trailer for E3 2018 that I mentioned a little before. But that's not all. A tragic event very strongly suggested in the trailer released in September 2019 suggests that his happiness will not last, and that Ellie will again go in search of revenge. A quest in which she will be at least partially accompanied by Joel.
Among the secondary characters, we find in particular Tommy, Joel’s little brother already present in the first, but also several other new characters that we could see in the very dark and violent trailer shown at Paris Games Week 2017. There have already been a lot of theories and leaks around these characters, so we will not talk about them in more detail since nothing is official yet, but know that they exist.
New animation details
All that is the context of The Last of Us Part II, but there's also a lot to say about its game mechanics since we had the chance to play two different sequences a few months ago . The first took place in the snow and was especially interesting in terms of scenario, since it placed us the day after the famous ball where Ellie and Dina kissed. They then went on patrol in the middle of winter and apart from using the physics of a rope to reach a higher level, the gameplay presented here was very close to the first game.
But the second sequence, which took place much later in the adventure, made us discover more interesting new features. We are already dealing with a new animation system that uses “Motion Matching” technology, similar to what For Honor uses. In terms of rendering, it gives something very realistic and quite impressive that recalls the standards of a title like Red Dead Redemption II. In game, Ellie also has more possibilities than before: she can lie down already, which allows her to hide under cars or in low grass, but beware, if they are too close, the enemies will spot you much more easily, in the latter case, than if you are crouching in tall grass.
She can also use her weapons in any position, which is particularly useful, but it will obviously be more difficult to aim well when lying down than when standing with a bow, for example. There are also contextual racing animations that allow you to grasp a bottle in full swing and launch it without stopping, or to slide more quickly into the opening of a wall to avoid being detected. Finally, we could not see it in play, but it will also apparently be possible to remove an arrow stuck in Ellie's body. The physics engine has also undergone a small boost, which we can see in particular on enemies with fairly realistic and violent localized damage: whether it is the marks of stab wounds that we can leave in body-to-body combat. -body, the infected fully or partially destroyed by a grenade, or any other type of dismemberment of which I pass you the details, the title will clearly not be put in all hands.
A close structure, with some new features
In terms of structure, however, The Last of Us Part II seems fairly close to its predecessor. There is therefore a linear base, but also semi-open areas offering points of interest useful for combat or infiltration. There are still a few additions that complicate your task within these structures. The first is fighting dogs that can sniff your presence and therefore alert their owners. The second is the Shamblers, a new type of visually infected infected with the colossi of the first, but which gives off a toxic gas and can explode when beaten.
The third concerns sound design: a system called “Murmurations” has been implemented, which allows you to calculate Ellie’s heart rate at any time and therefore adjust your breath strength accordingly. It’s not the only sound element meant to enhance immersion, since the enemies also all have a name. So when you take a hostage or kill him, you will hear his comrades screaming in anger or pain when they call him. A point that also works for dogs, by the way. Other more classic elements from the first episode are back, such as collecting items, crafting and a skill tree. Note however for the latter that Ellie will have unique skills, and that the minor improvements will therefore be behind. For example, she can learn to make silencers, hold her breath longer, or create two copies of an object with the same number of resources as to make one.
Before leaving, we also have some final little information to remember about the game. The first is that unlike its predecessor, The Last of Us Part II will not have a built-in multiplayer mode. The second is that we find the same actors, Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, in the roles of Joel and Ellie, while the performance Capture of the mysterious woman from the PGW 2017 trailer is directed by Laura Bailey. Gustavo Santaollala signs the soundtrack, as in the first episode. Finally, if the game has already been postponed, it went Gold in early May, which means it took over the factories for canning.
Last reminder therefore, The Last of Us Part II will be released on June 19 on PS4 and will weigh more than 100 GB, so plan a little space on your hard drive if you plan to take it dematerialized. I hope you enjoyed this video recap and see you soon for other videos on iGamesNews.
