The Last of Us Part II has infected fans, the gaming media, and PlayStation 4 consoles now for just under seventy two hours. There are a plethora of reviews published (none of which I've read, as I'm yet to complete the game) - and headlines about review bombs occurring on platforms like meta critic from disgruntled fans.
I'm not here to take in the opinion of others on their percieved socio-political grievances with the game, or to spoil the story. I'm here to write about my legitimate thoughts, outside of the influence of the sphere of public thought, having spent 16 hours in Naughty Dog's latest world on my PlaySation 4 Pro.
As a sequel, The Last of Us Part II is set several years after the events of the first game. America is ravaged by a fungus called Cordyceps, which has mutated in such a way that it can infect humans and turn them into relentless, aggressive killing machines. More harrowing than these zombie-like creatures shambling about, is the fact that all you need to do is inhale a few spores for this infection to begin its work.
As a result of this infection, the United States is a fragmented series of quarantine zones, frontier townships, and a world in which no one trusts anyone else. It is a world where anarchy reigns supreme, and if you need something, you either build it yourself, salvage it, or take it from someone who has got the item you want or need.
Thus, the background of a post-apocalyptic, overgrown city, suburb, and countryside dominates the world of The Last of Us Part II. Thick with vegetation, over-run with vines, weeds, ferns, and other lush, green plant life, this contrasts starkly to the sum of human labour which it grows open - phone booths, abandoned cars, gates, homes, businesses, and even roads are a canvas for photosynthetic life to flourish.
It's a gorgeous game, and most of the fun is in marvelling at the incredibly dense world Naughty Dog have created. The majority of the game I've played so far has been set in Seattle, where the overcast, rainy skies sees ruined buildings, bridges, and - well, civilisation.
Interior environments are dimly lit, atmospheric areas with lots of draws, cupboards, and cabinets to loot, with spare parts, vitamins, and resources enabling you to craft various objects in the world.
Spare parts let you upgrade weapons when you come across a work bench in the environment. Vitamins let you learn new skills, and I tend to see these as experience points scattered around the game world. Resources let you craft things like med kits, improvised explosives, and other items that make you more effective in combat.
Combat is not as fluid as the excellent Horizon Zero Dawn - but it tries to be. It feels clunkier than Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - with realism favoured over the arcade notions of the former games. A gritty environment and weapons that feel heavy are favoured here - but it doesn't lend itself well to the type of scenarios that you're thrown into.
As a result, this is a survival horror balance piece - clunky weapons and a fledgling protagonist reacts well to the weight of these weapons - as the way they feel to control would be the exact way one with the physique of the player-character would handle these weapons in the real world.
For much of The Last of Us: Part II, you're stuck in a gameplay loop that goes a little bit like this:
- Enter an area.
- Have a goal of getting to point B.
- Explore a little bit.
- Encounter some human foes
- Encounter some infected foes
- Explore a little bit more
- (Perhaps) solve a puzzle to proceed through the area
- Watch a cut scene which progresses the story
- Loop back to entering a new area
As a result, the gameplay is not incredibly varied. You are, however, reminded that you're in a total sandbox when it comes to combat and exploration, with Naughty Dog cleverly designing levels with branching paths, meaning that there is more than one way to get from A to B, or to combat the foes you encounter.
That sandbox is limited to the present environment you're in, as classic Naughty Dog tricks come in like collapsing gates, doors, or other bits of the environment to ensure that once you're through a particular region, you're not going back. There's technological reasons for this - so that other areas of the map can be loaded, and new objects allowing a great deal of variety into the game world, and its trick used to ensure that the visual fidelity of the game is kept to a premium - while also ensuring that during game play, there's little to no load time.
The plot ambles along at a reasonable pace, and characters take time to say what is on their mind, without you finding yourself lost in hours of exposition like a Hideo Kojima game. However, so far - there's no obvious tricks to pad out the gameplay length.
If anything, Naughty Dog have been very clever about reusing environments in several areas of the game, with several flashbacks moving back in time to locations you've visited in the game - but changing up the weather, lighting, and time of day in such a way that the environment takes on an entirely new mood, persona - and feeling. You see different things on a sunny day versus those you see on an overcast afternoon.
Animation in this game is sublime. From humans wandering around the environment, to the infected creatures that roam about the shadows, you can tell that there was an enormous amount of talented motion capture (and tweaking) done to ensure that each character and type of infected has its own personality. Just in the same way that no two humans have an identical gait - the same can be witnessed in this title. The only place where animation seems to fall short is in that of the horses you ride about on - they're not on the same level as Red Dead Redemption 2.
Emotional impact is one of the tag lines of this title - and it is very obviously, and carefully painted upon the faces of each and every character, adding to the quality of animation. The Last of Us: Part II is a technological masterclass and an impressive example of what can be done with an incredibly talented team of developers and a piece of console hardware that is almost a decade old at this point.
I've been playing the tile on a PlayStation 4 Pro console on a 4K TV - and it is a technical marvel in terms of animation, visuals, and also, in sound design. At one point while playing, it started raining - I thought it was raining outside - but no, I was in an environment that closely matched my home, and the positional audio, and timbre of raindrops that emanated from my 5.1 home theatre speakers made me think again that I was experiencing this in a game world.
The Last of Us Part II is a game that I will no doubt be spending some more time with - and there's no sign that I'm nearing the end of the plot. This is a leisurely game, and a wonderful world to explore. Once I've finished the title, I will return with a full review.
For now, sixteen hours in, I do not regret my purchase, and believe that in exchange for my money, I've got an excellent experience, and wonderful value.
All screenshots taken from The PlayStation website for The Last of Us II.