Special: Five Reasons To Watch For The Last of Us: Part II – We have seen relatively few major releases so far this year, but with the upcoming release of The Last of Us: Part II, we see another Triple-A release from Sony itself. Naughty Dog is the developer on duty and that is very highly regarded. It is therefore not surprising that expectations are extremely high. Soon we can tell more about game in our review, but so far we have five reasons to look forward to this game today, which we would like to share with you.
Detailed environments
If there is one thing in which Naughty Dog is an uncrowned king, it is the creation of worlds and environments that stand out above the rest. It is not so much about the size or what you can put in it, it is the details that make it unique. In Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy we already saw fantastically designed locations and Naughty Dog takes that with The Last of Us: Part II to an even higher level. We enter the forests, we enter the rainy area of Seattle and much more. All environments, inside and outside, will again be beautifully designed to Naughty Dog standards with an unprecedented eye for detail. When we look at their latest games, we know that it is good anyway. But we are now a few years further, so Naughty Dog will undoubtedly get even more out of the PlayStation 4.
The story continues
The story of the first part was one to never forget. What made this story so strong was the sublime dynamism between the seemingly surly Joel and the enthusiastic young girl Ellie. As the game progressed they became more and more a band and that made for a special experience. The story itself could have stayed with the first part, but Naughty Dog found a way to continue it in a meaningful way. We are going to see more of Ellie and Joel and since they are now a lot older, this of course results in new situations, developments and relationships. Naughty Dog is able to tell beautiful stories and everything in the interviews, trailers and gameplay images shows that they go one step further.
Richer adventure
Since Joel and Ellie made a long journey in the first part, not all characters from the original are still present in the new part. The game also takes place five years later in a new environment. That means you’ll be introduced to several new characters, some of which we’ve already seen in the trailers and gameplay footage. These characters all have important roles in the story to some degree and friend or foe, Naughty Dog will undoubtedly deepen the main characters in the game. That means more background, more depth and of course new interesting relationships. That should provide a richer adventure, where you as a player become even more involved with the main characters.
Major dangers
The Clickers and all variants thereof are of course the dangers that put your fire on unexpected moments. But since the world has changed so much now, there is much more danger. That is not limited to the aforementioned Clickers, you will also find factions that are not too friendly and have rather dubious habits. The environments are also a lot more fragile than before. Buildings, roads, settlements and more are in many cases no longer maintained and if things deteriorate, danger can arise. Now the first part was a very exciting adventure at times and Naughty Dog is not averse to some heavy setpieces, where the environment plays a major role. Now years after the original with areas and cities that have fallen into decay, the danger lurks once more. In addition, Naughty Dog recently told that they will introduce new infected enemies. That increases the tension once more and that alone is reason to look forward to the adventure and the confrontations / situations.
More gameplay options
The first part was to a certain extent relatively limited in the gameplay options. It mainly consisted of walking from A to B and eliminating the enemies as effectively as possible. Before that you got a variety of weapons and accessories. In The Last of Us: Part II, that has been expanded to include more weapons and other items, and Naughty Dog encourages creative use of resources. Think of luring enemies to a specific place to take out superiors at once, just to name a few. But you can also tackle battles completely in stealth. You can now frequently tug, lie under vehicles and more. In other words: you will have enough resources at your disposal to handle every confrontation as you see fit, which will provide more depth in the gameplay, as well as replayability. This, for example, by tackling situations in a second playthrough differently.
So here you have it: five reasons to look forward to The Last of Us: Part II. Friday, June 12, we will tell you all about it in our review and the game will be in stores from June 19.
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