Sony streamed a new State of Play this afternoon — 30 minutes devoted to The Last Of Us Part 2. Neil Druckmann, vice president of Naughty Dog and director of the game, told the story and explained what we were seeing. Then he showed us how to live and hunt in the post-apocalyptic world.
The Last Of Us Part 2 kicks off several years after the ending of the first game, with Joel and Ellie having lived in Jacksonville for several years, in relative peace. That tranquility lasts until something happens to Ellie’s girlfriend (murder, probably) and Ellie leaves on a quest for revenge. Her journey takes her to the Pacific Northwest and into a war-torn Seattle, divided into two factions.
The streets of the Emerald City have been taken over by a militant army called the WLP, whose members tend to shoot first and ask questions later. The surrounding area is populated by the members of a cult who disfigure themselves as a sign of loyalty. Ellie belongs to neither of these, and wouldn’t want to, so both sides want to kill her. She’ll just have to kill them first!
The gameplay elements we got to see today are an extension of what we saw in the first Last Of Us. Ellie now has the ability to climb and scale large objects (though she’s not as gifted as Link…she needs a rope). As shown in previous trailers, she can now ride horseback to travel great distances quickly. She can not only see shadows of enemies behind walls, but the trail of her own scent (to avoid dogs).
Along the way, when you’re not hunting, you’ll be gathering…not just to build bombs, stock ammo or throw distractions, but to upgrade your existing weapons into deadlier models. Ellie has literally picked up a few tricks from discarded handyman magazines.
The video ends with a lengthy segment of uncut footage where all those new gameplay elements are put to use. Ellie peeks around a corner, pecks someone with a shotgun and fires an arrow at someone else. After she forces a confession out of somebody holding a PS Vita (seriously, look at the scene a second time, it’s a Vita), Ellie stabs her tipster in the throat and heads for the hospital, on the hunt for someone named Nora.
The segment ends just as Ellie confronts her target, with the release date on display: June 19. That’s when The Last Of Us Part 2 goes on sale for Playstation 4 and PS4 Pro.
