The Last of Us: Part II

Four years have passed since Joel and Ellie's epic trip across North America. They have found a safe haven and new home in Jackson, Wyoming, which has been fortified against the threat of the infected, but have grown estranged. A chance encounter outside the town with a woman named Abby, a member of a group based in Seattle called the Wolves, sees Ellie making her way to that city in search of revenge. But both young women are being driven by circumstances to make harsh choices to survive.

The Last of Us: Part I is regarded as one of the best video games ever made, its combination of a strong narrative, some of the best voice acting in gaming history and survival-horror-combat mechanics being quite compelling. Inevitably, its massive commercial success and critical acclaim demanded a sequel, which Naughty Dog Studios finally delivered in 2020, with a remastered version for PlayStation 5 and PC now available. The question is if they could satisfy the orbit-high expectations for that sequel.

The answer is, sort of? The Last of Us: Part II is larger and longer than its forebear, with way more action setpieces, massive explosions and furious last-ditch battles than you can shake a stick of dynamite at. It also ramps up the emotional and storytelling stakes with shocking deaths, brutal injuries and hardcore moral questions which don't have pat answers. The Last of Us: Part II is a lot to take on board, and some of its ideas work incredibly well whilst others fall flat on their face. At its worst, Part II is bloated and messy, not always confident of what it's trying to do or trying to say. At its best, it's a compelling horror story where the horror doesn't come from its slightly expanded repertoire of fungoid-zombie monsters, but from humans and what we are capable of.

The game divides its 26-ish hour narrative into four distinct sections: an opening section in Jackson where we touch base with the characters from the first game (and some newcomers), followed by two sequences in Seattle and an epilogue taking place elsewhere. The core of the game takes place across three days, which we see from both Ellie and Abby's perspectives. From Ellie's view Abby is a monster who needs to be eliminated, whilst from Abby's her actions are fully justified in retaliation for some of the more questionable things Ellie and Joel did in the first game. The game switches perspectives to allow the player to experience both points of view. This is an interesting device as I can't remember too many games that allow you to play as the protagonist and antagonist; Grand Theft Auto V flirts with the idea through Michael and Trevor's opposing viewpoints but doesn't fully commit (both being frequently forced to team up against much more threatening, obviously outright villains).

Much more common are those games where the player commits heinous acts which they try to justify through self-defence or the ends justifying the means, but this doesn't stop the moral corruption of the soul from such heinous acts. Far Cry 2 and 3, Grand Theft Auto IV and, most notably, Spec Ops: The Line, all explore this moral murkiness in a full-on manner. The Last of Us: Part II isn't quite as alone in this space as it seems to like to think.

Graphically, the game is beautiful, with impressive character models (that extend to more than just the main protagonists this time around), outstanding scenery and very good lighting. It's not quite cutting edge (and some of the skybox city backgrounds feel distinctly archaic), but still impressive, with responsive controls. The game's PC port isn't the most technically stable, though, with my play-through blighted by a memory leak that caused it to crash every two hours or so without fail. It doesn't seem like a universal problem, though.

From a gameplay perspective, things are pretty similar to Part I. You move through an area looking for the way to progress forwards, whilst evading or defeating enemies and scrounging for supplies, ammunition, collectibles and new weapons. Areas can be large or small, sometimes relentlessly linear but sometimes a more open area consisting of multiple houses, shops or rooms. Part II encourages thorough exploration, although sometimes at the expense of logic: the narrative constantly urges you to get a move on, so it can feel weird to take ten minutes out to thoroughly explore a laundromat, sliding through a skylight to open a locked door and toing and froing between neighbouring buildings to solve a puzzle to open a safe filled with supplies. The game has a good stealth system, allowing you to distract and eliminate enemies silently, even the mushroom-fuelled undead, but this can be a bit hit and miss at times. The game continues to cheerfully (and stupidly) refuse to let you move bodies, meaning you have to either trick enemies into going where you want them or "steer" them there whilst holding them at knife-point.

Direct combat is more satisfying this time around, with a more robust shooting model and a better selection of weapons, including silenced SMGs, pistols, revolvers, crossbows, shotguns and longbows. You can also create tripwire-bombs and shrapnel grenades as well as molotovs. If anything, the game gives you so many options for direct combat that it's often faster and more efficient to simply cause some noise and obliterate the enemy as they converge on your location, especially since looting enemy troops is also the best way of acquiring ammo.

This combat-heavy focus is a bit bewildering after the first game, which emphasised stealth and made most encounters with both human and myconoid enemies tense affairs throughout the game. Part II by contrast turns both Ellie and Abby into action heroes, each fully capable of storming a camp of a dozen or more highly-trained enemies and eliminating all of them in short, bloody order. It's hard to invoke terror in your horror game if your characters can fairly casually blow that horror away with a shotgun firing napalm shells like something out of The A-Team. However this does result in the very fun roguelike optional challenge mode, where you guide a character through several maps in succession before fighting a boss, unlocking new characters and weapons as you go.

Whilst the gameplay is solid, this is a story-focused game and it's fair to say that the game has been divisive. The game is not particularly interested in giving us too many likeable characters or sympathetic factions: the Wolves and Seraphites have very different motivations but ultimately are two sides of the same coin, and the late-emerging Rattlers are just cliches. The characters are also put through the ringer so much that some scenes start to feel like torture porn. The Last of Us: Part I was a story driven by hope, but Part II is fuelled by rage and vengeance instead. It's a darker game that flirts with outright nihilism, like writer Neil Druckmann wants to be the Cormac McCarthy of video games but doesn't have the chops for it, and sometimes risks being the "late-stage Walking Dead showrunner of video games" instead. Similarities between the two franchises are inevitable and sometimes possibly intentional, but I'm not sure that's what he had in mind. It largely falls to our protagonists' sidekicks, Dina and Lev, to keep some kind of beacon of light shining for them, but it's a mighty thin light at times.

The game's length (half again that of the first game) and structure is also a bit questionable. When we switch perspectives, we rewind three days and play through those days again from Abby's point of view, but it takes a good seven or eight hours of gameplay for her storyline to synch back up with Ellie's, which is a long time to leave a cliffhanger dangling. Abby's storyline is pretty good, and paced better than Ellie's (though you might feel like you could go a while before visiting an aquarium ever again), but it doesn't feel like the structure entirely works. Maybe intercutting between the two would have been better, though that may have impacted the mystery that Ellie is investigating in Seattle.

Ultimately, The Last of Us: Part II (***½) is a game that doesn't make life easy for itself. Turning in a cookie-cutter sequel of "moar adventures with Joel and Ellie" would have been safe and easy. Instead, embarking on this Heart of Darkness trip of duelling demands for revenge and "whose righteousness is more righteous anyway?" was a riskier path, and easily more interesting. Games don't take enough risks, and taking this kind of risk with a major AAA franchise is impressive. Structurally and in terms of pacing the game can be a bit of a mess, but its action is far more satisfying than the first game. Whether players are prepared to put up with 26 hours of bleakness and moral murkiness is another question, one that five years of (at times, combative) discourse has failed to fully answer.

The Last of Us: Part II is available now on PlayStation 4 and 5, and PC. The Last of Us TV series is currently airing its second season, based on the first half of this game, right now.

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The Last of Us: Part I

Twenty years after a fungal parasite devastated humanity, killing billions and transforming millions more into mindless animals, Joel and his partner Tess are surviving in the ruins of Boston, working for and amongst other groups to get by. When Joel is contracted by a freedom-fighting group known as the Fireflies to escort a 14-year-old girl, Ellie, across the country to a research base, his first instinct is to refuse. Convinced to undertake the mission, Joel and Ellie find their journey to be arduous, difficult and beset by betrayal and dashed hopes.

Originally released in 2013, The Last of Us became one of the torchbearer games of its generation, arguably the last classic game released for the PlayStation 3. It was later remastered for the PlayStation 4, turned into a critically-lauded HBO TV series, and it's now been fully remade in the same engine as its successor, and (finally!) given its first release on PC. So how does the game hold up in 2024?

For the most part, reasonably well. The Last of Us: Part I (as this edition is now known) is an effective game combining a linear, narrative-driven adventure with elements from the survival, horror and action genres. The game is played in third person and sees the player controlling Joel - and, occasionally, Ellie - as they traverse each level. Levels can vary from being very tight and linear to more open, with more choices of what routes to take and what side-areas to explore for supplies. Ammo and materials are in low supply throughout the game, encouraging thorough exploration, but some areas are also extremely dangerous, with huge waves of enemies threatening to attack if you linger too long or make too much noise. The Last of Us is an effective game of choices and trade-offs.

Still, those used to the dominant open-world genre of the present day may find the game confining. Although you can go off the beaten path a little, it's not long before a locked door, surprisingly dense hedge or inconveniently-crashed car stymies all progress in a particular direction and you're forced back onto the exact path the game wants you to take. As someone who's occasionally railed against the often-needless bloat of open-world games and felt nostalgic about more directed game experiences, I did find the lack of choice in the game quite old-fashioned. Of course, the game is almost a dozen years old at this point, so it's hard to entirely hold that against it.

The game's combat and stealth systems are fairly robust. It's possible to fully stealth most missions, and this can turn the game into a very tense game of cat and mouse as you study enemy patrol routes, sneak up on them from behind and take them down without anyone else realising they're gone. There's some awkwardness in how this is done - you can force enemies at gunpoint to relocate to an area where their body will not be located, but you can't carry their dead bodies around - but it is an effective and tense way of picking enemies off without alerting the whole lot. However, once you realise that combat is rarely loud enough to attract enemies from more than a couple dozen feet away, the temptation is go in all guns blazing. The game accounts for headshots (and sometimes tries to stymie them with armoured helmets) and close-range weapons like shotguns can take out all but the hardiest enemies with one shot.

The weapons roster is robust, with pistols, shotguns and hunting rifles sitting alongside knives and the stealthy bow. Depending on the situation (indoors or out), weather conditions and enemy (human, animal or cordyceps), your weapons shine in different situations. The only awkward fit is an assault rifle, which is not very fun to use and shows up so late in the game that they might as well not have bothered.

The narrative is pretty solid, although I found the experience of having watched the TV show first did make the game narrative less tense: obviously the show spoils the general direction of the story and also has time for much more dialogue and in-depth characterisation, which can't help but leave the game's story feel a little undercooked in comparison. It's still a pretty solid story, but does not land as well as it did in 2013. The Left Behind DLC - included here at no extra charge - has better writing and a more refreshing, original structure. The voice acting is, famously, excellent throughout.

The game's status as a remake does create a rather schizophrenic feel. Graphically, it looks amazing with some of the most well-detailed environments you can see in a current video game (only the fantastic Alan Wake II reliably outshines it, with moments bordering on the genuinely photorealistic), and some terrific lighting and weather effects. However, movement and animation can both be clunky, and human characters look decidedly uncanny-valley-ish (the care lavished on Joel, Ellie and a handful of other characters is not shared by the random mook enemies or NPC allies). The suspicion here is that 2023/24-level textures have been dropped onto 2013-era level design and maybe even models, creating a weird duality that doesn't quite work. Don't get me wrong, it looks great and is preferable to playing the OG 2013 version, but the illusion isn't as sold as well as it could be. It also doesn't help that the game's original PC release was blighted with technical issues. These have mostly been resolved, but the game is fairly punishing on modern hardware.

The Last of Us: Part I (****) is a very solid, enjoyable game which tells its story with skill. It's no longer as fresh as it was back in the day and the remake doesn't feel as cohesive as it could, but it's still a thoroughly engrossing gaming experience, with some excellent set-pieces, vistas and voice acting. The game is available on PC and PlayStation consoles now. A sequel, The Last of Us: Part II, is available now on PlayStation 4 and 5, with a PC version expected a couple of years down the line.

Thank you for reading The Wertzone. To help me provide better content, please consider contributing to my Patreon page and other funding methods.

THE LAST OF US to make the jump to PC, releases more images from the TV series

Sony's mega-selling video game The Last of Us is making the jump to PC, reasserting Sony's commitment to bringing many or most of its biggest franchises to the platform in a move unthinkable just a few years ago.

The Last of Us is one of Sony's most important franchises, a post-apocalyptic saga developed by Naughty Dog Studios. The two games see Joel, a smuggler, escorting a young girl, Ellie, to safety in a North America ravaged by a fungal plague that has turned most people into cannibalistic monsters. The Last of Us (2013) and The Last of Us, Part II (2020) are among the biggest-selling individual video games of recent years.

The first Last of Us, now retitled The Last of Us, Part I, is getting a remake for PlayStation 5, but the news that the remake will also be available on PC is the bigger news. Sony has been porting more and more of its exclusives to PC recently, but it was questionable if The Last of Us, a proven console-seller title by itself, would make the jump. That now appears to be the case.

The PlayStation 5 version of The Last of Us, Part I, will arrive in September, but the PC version is so far undated, and may likely be a 2023 release. Presumably The Last of Us, Part II will also make the jump at some point.

Meanwhile, HBO are preparing to launch a television series based on the first game in the series, starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. HBO have released a new image from the TV show and revealed that Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who voiced the characters in the games, have been cast in the TV show as different characters.

The TV series doesn't have an airdate yet, but is expected to launch on HBO before the end of the year.

HBO greenlights LAST OF US TV series

HBO has greenlit a live-action TV series based on the Last of Us video game series.

HBO announced they had put the project into development back in March, with Chernobyl writer-showrunner Craig Mazin developing the series alongside Neil Druckmann, the senior writer on the game series. Mazin will run the new show whilst Druckmann will advise, produce and write, his duties at Naughty Dog Studios permitting.

The game and TV series are both set in a post-apocalyptic world where a toxic fungus has infected millions of people and turned them into violent monsters. The storyline follows Joel, a middle-aged survivor, who finds himself protecting a young girl named Ellie.

The original Last of Us (2013) was a huge hit. Developed by Naughty Dog Studios, who also developed the Uncharted series (a film version of which is currently shooting), the game sold over 13 million copies. The Last of Us, Part II was released in June this year and has already sold over 4 million copies to date. The sequel seemed to end the storyline fairly definitively, but Naughty Dog are reportedly considering a third game (which maybe a prequel or spin-off rather than a straight sequel) due to the success of the first two games.

Video game adaptations were once seen as a fool's errand in both television and film circles, but a growing number of successful transitions have made HBO - never shy to take on a challenge - keener to try out the idea. Showtime are also deep in production on a TV series based on the Halo series of video games.

The Last of Us will likely enter production in 2021 for a 2022 premiere.

LAST OF US II delayed indefinitely due to coronavirus pandemic

The eagerly-awaited video game The Last of Us II has been indefinitely delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The movie and TV industries have been hit badly by the pandemic, which has seen almost the entire global TV and film production industries shut down until further notice. The video game industry has been much more bullish, developers announcing that they are much better equipped to work from home and some even citing the advantages of doing so. CD Projekt Red recently confirmed that, after a few days' delay whilst they transitioned to home working, they are full steam ahead on Cyberpunk 2077 (due for release in September) and a new game in The Witcher series.

However, it appears that whilst development work can continue from home, the pandemic is impacting on the ability to manufacture and deliver physical copies of the finished game. The release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, the first major release during the pandemic (Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons both managed to slip out just ahead of most countries going into lockdown), has become fragmented with some countries receiving their copies of the game almost two weeks ahead of the official release date, whilst other territories may not receive copies until after the date given worldwide delivery disruptions. There is also the matter of retailers such as Amazon low-prioritising entertainment products in favour of essential goods.

The Last of Us II is functionally complete and ready to roll, with Sony admitting the main problem is the practicalities surrounding the release of the game.

Fans will be hoping that other games will not be impacted, particularly the year's other big release, Cyberpunk 2077.

HBO is currently developing a Last of Us television series with Sony Television, with Chernobyl head writer Craig Mazin attached to write.

LAST OF US TV series in development at HBO with CHERNOBYL writer

In an interesting move, HBO has joined forces with Sony Television to produce a TV series based on the extremely popular video game The Last of Us.

Sony has created a new production company, PlayStation Productions, with a view to transferring more of its video game properties to TV and film. The Last of Us will be the first project in this vein.

Craig Mazin, who created and wrote Chernobyl for HBO last year, will executive produce and write. Neil Druckmann, the writer of the video game, will also work on the TV series as a producer and writer. Druckmann co-wrote the first, second and fourth games in the Uncharted series as well as episodes of Between the Lines and Face Off.

The game and the TV series are set in a post-apocalyptic world where a toxic fungus has infected millions of people and turned them into violent monsters. The main storyline follows Joel, a middle-aged survivor who finds himself sworn to protect a young girl, Ellie.

Released in 2013, The Last of Us was a huge critical and commercial success for Naughty Dog Studios. It has sold over 17 million copies. The Last of Us, Part II is due for release in May this year and is one of the most eagerly-awaited video games of the year (alongside Cyberpunk 2077 and Final Fantasy VII Remake). The 2017 movie Logan is noted as having likely been strongly inspired by the game.

So far the project is only in development, but with the creative talent lined up it seems likely that HBO will proceed with an order. It's unclear if this will be a pilot order or a full season greenlight at this time. The series will initially cover the events of the first game in the series, with the possibility of expanding to incorporate the events of the second (which is set five years later) if it is successful.