Over time, gaming has evolved into its own artform. From the 1980’s 2D platforming era to the vibrant and captivating worlds that now dominate the gaming industry. The most gripping tales that can’t be ordinarily told in a 90-minute film  are now being told in video games. This precise idea is embodied in The Last of Us Part II, which is both polarizing and  beautiful in its own macabre and human way.

With minimal spoilers included, this review will concentrate on the game as played on the PS4 Slim. It will be treated fairly in the review, without reference to the opinions of players or other journalists, and it will be described in terms of how I personally played it throughout the five times I've completed the game.

About The Last of us Part 2

The Last of Us Part 2 is an action adventure, survival horror game that takes players to a post-apocalyptic United States where it has been ravaged by a mutated strain of the cordyceps fungus. The game specifically takes place in Seattle, where most of the story is set, and in Wyoming, where the first game left off. Ellie from the original game and a brand-new character named Abby are controlled by the player.

It was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was released on June 19, 2020. It was met with universal praise from game journalists and critics but was met with mixed to negative reviews by fans of the series. It has sold 10 million copies globally since its debut, with 2.8 million in its first month, making it the highest-selling PS4 game of all time and the most popular game of 2020. .  After the Left Behind DLC for The Last of Us Part 1 was released in 2014, the game's development got underway. The production value of Part 2 was a staggering $100 million.

Story

  The Last of Us Part 2 - Official Story Trailer

Ellie looks on at a firefly insignia calling them liars. This is already a pretty depressing game but this just puts the cherry on top

The Last of Us Part 2 focuses on two different stories with Ellie and Abby, the two playable characters of the game. The story picks up where the previous game ended where Joel and Ellie moved into Jackson, Wyoming after Joel saves Ellie from the Fireflies, a militia formed after the cordyceps outbreak. Abby's story focuses more on her complicated connection with her own group and a warring party that is opposed to her own, while Ellie's story centers on her search for vengeance.It’s not just the stories of Ellie and Abby that are intriguing.

Joel, who was the main playable character of the first game, is featured also in this game with his story focusing on how he has dealt with the guilt of lying to Ellie about the fireflies and how his relationship with Ellie has evolved since then. Returning characters like Tommy and Maria, and new ones like Jessie and Dina all coalesce to make the story engaging and makes you want to know more about who they are and why they do what they do.

Gameplay

  The Last of Us Part 2 Gameplay Trailer (4K) - E3 2018

The gameplay is a fairly straightforward and linear story where you take control of Ellie or Abby depending on which part of the story you’re in. There are RPG and progression elements in the gun and skill upgrades for both characters.

Scrap is the mode of currency in-game where it's looted from the different explorable areas found when you either down an enemy or in the drawers of the rooms you’ll be scavenging, and trust me, there’ll be a lot of scavenging in this game. Scrap is used for the gun skill trees and supplements are a different kind of upgrade requirement for the ability skill trees.

Supplements can be looted like scrap but it's more commonly found in safes which is a new mechanic in this game. The safe codes can be found around the vicinity where the safes are located with the code written down either on a piece of paper or on a wall which in real life feels very convenient like imagine coming across a bank vault and you can just randomly see the vault combination written on a piece of paper.

There’s minimal puzzle solving in the game where the puzzles boil down to finding a crate or a trolley and pushing it as a platform to the next playable area. Players can also craft their own bombs and reinforce melee weapons found throughout the world

Ellie fights off a Clicker while a runner waits its turn to try and kill you

The enemies you’ll be faced with are the infected, the WLF, and the Seraphites. The infected are humans ravaged by a mutated strain of the real life cordyceps fungus (yes, this thing is real and makes literal zombie ants. No kidding) and as the years go by, so is the severity of the infection. Runners, Stalkers, Clickers, and Bloaters are the 4 main infected types with two new special infected introduced.

First are the Bloaters that look like a walking trypophobic nightmare and explode like a bomb when you get near them and The Rat King, a hulking mass of infected connected skin to skin by the fungus which is as disgusting as it sounds.

The non-infected enemies you’ll be fighting are the WLF and the Seraphites. WLF or the Washington Liberation Front are another militia group that took down the military’s control of Seattle. They’re a shoot first, ask questions later kind of group. Second are the seraphites. They’re an insane cult that follows the teachings of a doomsday prepper turned prophet.

The events of the game happen in different areas. First part happens in the snow-covered mountain forests of Wyoming and the bulk of the game happens in the gloomy and war-torn city of post-apocalyptic Seattle where buildings have been bombed and most of the city has been reclaimed by the forest and the ocean.

Seattle's playable zones are extensive and transport you to a variety of structures, including homes, moist forests, hospitals plagued with clickers, and amusement parks.

Combat

  The Last of Us Part 2 - Brutal & Epic Combat Compilation

Combat in the game is the highlight of the whole play experience. In simple terms it is one of the most fluid and stunning combat systems in any game for the PS4 or PS5. The HUD is only minimal with small icons representing health, weapons, or throwables.

Health is shown on the lower right corner of the screen with a meter showing how much HP you have left. Status effects are introduced in this game as when hit with an arrow it’ll cause a bleeding effect that will last until you manually pull the arrow out.

The combat feels visceral with every knife slash or weapon hit registering with a vibration on your controller and where you can mortally wound the last enemy in a firefight and make them beg for mercy, which is 1. Utterly horrifying, with your companion reacting strongly to your ruthless display of violence with them saying “Jesus” or “Oh my God”, and 2.

Immersed in a way where you don’t feel for the enemy’s suffering but only the satisfaction you get after smashing them in the head with an ax or stabbing them in the heart with your knife. I swear this game does not promote the nurturing of homicidal thoughts.

Melee weapons break after a certain amount of hits on an enemy but can be reinforced with crafting materials making them deadlier and sturdier. One of the most responsive and realistic-feeling ranged weapons in any game can be found in this one. Shooting an enemy in the arm can dismember them where you can hear them scream in agony until they eventually die of blood loss. Shooting one in the throat with an arrow makes them gurgle their own blood and aiming for their mouths makes them lose their jaw in the process.

The dismemberment feature in the game is one of the most satisfying and morbid things you can see. Enemies caught in the radius of a bomb makes them lose their legs and the surrounding area splattered in blood and when a Molotov burns an enemy they turn black and their skin all melted.

Ellie and Abby level up when they have sufficient supplements scavenged to upgrade their crafting speed, hearing distance, and damage output. The guns you’ll carry are fully upgradable on a workbench found throughout the different areas in Seattle. The Last of Us Part 2 does not have a multiplayer function unlike its predecessor which had its Factions feature which served as the game’s multiplayer.

There are currently no plans for a multiplayer function to be added to the game but a multiplayer Last of Us game has been confirmed but not as part of the story of the main game but a standalone game altogether.

Mission System

The Last of Us Part 2 is a linear story with no side quests. Only the main story where we follow Ellie and Abby throughout their different adventures. It doesn’t offer anything in terms of dialogue options as the story and dialogue is fixed but what it lacks in choice, it makes up for in immersion and tension. Around the corner could be a sniper taking aim at your head, the next area could be infested with Clickers or Runners or a boss fight with a Bloater.

Some sections are focused on scavenging for resources so the player will have ample ammo or crafting materials for the next firefight and some sections will be more focused on stealth with multiple hiding spots in the encounter area.

Graphics

Ellie looks on at Joel. Trust me you will want to listen to everything she says in this scene

 Tech Analysis - Is the Last of Us Part 2 The Best Looking Game Of All Time?

The graphics for The Last of Us Part 2 is one of the best-looking games ever on the PS4 and can even rival the graphics there are on the PS5 even when the game is running on a PS4 Slim. There are no latency issues and the 60-fps frame rate is smooth and uninterrupted with the textures at 1080p and 4k enhanced for the PS4 Pro.

The game, even on the native PS4, is absolutely stunning. Draw distance even from afar is crisp and beautiful with some sections letting you ride through forests with the sunlight breaking through the canopy to letting you oversee the mountains and wilderness of Wyoming to the desolate and destroyed city of Seattle with collapsed buildings and broken bridges and rivers running through the streets looking how they would look if it was bombed by the military and run down by cannibalistic mushroom people.

Combat animations are fluid with every damage from your hits being gory and bloody with detached limbs, exploded heads, or burnt bodies. Everything looks as real as it could get for a PlayStation game.

Development and Price

The Last of Us Part 2 was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Naughty Dog previously developed the first The Last of Us and also the Uncharted series. While playing through the game there have been zero instances of any kind of glitch or bug happening and I’ve played and finished the game 5 times.

Some updates of the game have been developed but mostly for fixes and bug issues reported by some players but nothing too significant to make it game breaking or unplayable. It is a smooth and seamless game and deservedly so.

The Last of Us Part 2 is currently available  at $39.99 dollars.. It can be played on the PS4 and on the PS5. The game is sold as is with no in game purchases, however there are special editions of it that come with steelbook versions of the physical copies of the game and a PS4 Pro that is themed after the game and has a custom controller.

FINAL VERDICT

Pros:

•    Absolutely stunning graphics that look like they belong on a PS5 

•    One of the most fluid combat systems of any game. 

•    Different enemy types follow each other in any given location, creating a shift in tactics at any given time that keeps you on your toes. Enemy variety is wonderfully balanced.

•    One of the best stories ever put into video games.

Cons:

•    Absolutely NONE. This is, in my opinion, the PERFECT sequel to any game and imitates exactly what life is. Unexpected and brutal but beautiful if you decide to let it be beautiful. You will not be the same person after finishing this game.

SCORE: 10/10

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https://www.gamersdecide.com/pc-game-news/10-easter-eggs-can-be-found-last-us-2

•    The Last of Us Movie – 10 post- apocalyptic movies to watch if you like The Last of Us

https://www.gamersdecide.com/pc-game-news/last-us-movie-10-post-apocalyptic-movies-watch-if-you-last-us

•    The Last of Us 2 Everything we know about the gameplay

https://www.gamersdecide.com/pc-game-news/last-us-2-everything-we-know-about-gameplay