UPDATE (Oct. 26): Naughty Dog announced the game will be delayed to May 29, 2020.
Two years of silence, and now Naughty Dog gave the world some information on the sequel to the 2013 release, The Last of Us. Physical goods, a release date, a trailer, and more has been announced in the past few days between State of Play on the 20 and today, Outbreak Day, the day in which the developer celebrates anything related to the zombie infested world.
The latest trailer gives some insight into the journey that Joel and Ellie will embark on. Neil Druckmann, creative director of the games, stated that the first was about “love” and this sequel will be about “hate.”Now the meaning behind his words are revealed as Ellie gets kidnapped by a new faction of bandits and witness her new girlfriend die, so it is time to start killing in this revenge story.
The video shows off gameplay and locations. Snowy rural areas to dilapidated cities will give the same variety of environments as the first adventure the two protagonists experienced.
Journalists got some hands on time with The Last of Us Part 2. They got to play three hours through two levels. I won’t walk through the demo since I did not play, but you can read Kotaku’s article on the gameplay along with the snippets of story and characters that were shown.
Last year Anthony Newman, the game’s co-director, told Polygon the new title would have multiplayer like its predecessor, but that changed to opt out of having an online mode. Newman said, “I know we had kind of announced that [it would have multiplayer], but as the game has developed, it’s become so ambitious, so grand in scope, and so intricate in its complexity, that it really required the full focus of the studio to deliver this single-player experience.”
Pre-order editions have been announced:
Standard comes with the base game for $59.99. Some in-game goods are given like an ammo capacity upgrade, crafting training manual, and digital pre-orders get an avatar of Ellie’s new tattoo.
Special Edition for $79.99. You get what the standard offers plus a PS4 dynamic theme, six PSN avatars, a steelbook, and a 48 page art book.
Collector’s is priced at $169.99. Anyone who gets this will get what is listed in the $79.99 edition along with an Amray case, 12″ statue of Ellie, Ellie’s bracelet, five stickers, six pins, digital soundtrack, digital version of the art book, lithograph art print, a behind the scenes documentary and a thank you letter.
Ellie Edition is a sold out product, but it did cost $229.99 and came with everything from the Collector’s plus Ellie’s backpack, logo patch, a vinyl record, and a keychain.
The Last of Us Part 2 releases on Feb. 21, 2020 exclusively for PlayStation.
Header image via Naughty Dog/Sony Interacting Entertainment
Tristan Zelden 