The Last of Us Part II review: A brilliant game that is not what it seems – VentureBeat

At last, the long-awaited sequel from Naughty Dog is here. The Last of Us Part II debuts June 19 for the PlayStation 4, but Ive played through the game a couple of times for this review. And I am glad to say I am not disappointed with the risks the developer took, even though the game didnt go where I thought it would go, nor where I wanted it to go.

Early on, the previews gave us clues that a tragic event that would trigger the journey of the second game. There is no question that playing the game is an intense emotional and moving experience. But the story had some twists that I believe will prove controversial and perhaps unpopular among enthusiastic fans.

Im glad to see some risk-taking. The stakes couldnt be higher. With more than 100 million PS4s sold, Sony has a chance to sell tens of millions of copies of this game (as of 2018, The Last of Us sold 17 million copies). The original won numerous Game of the Year awards, and its my favorite game of all time.

Early on, I detested parts of the story. But Naughty Dog committed itself to this unpopular direction. Despite my initial misgivings, Im glad they went down this road, because it made me question my sense of right and wrong.

Its so eerie to play the game about a post-pandemic zombie apocalypse during a pandemic, with sirens for emergency vehicles going off in the background in real life. If there was a solace, I played this one together with my middle daughter, who was too young to play such a serious game when the first one debuted.

But I was so much happier in the sadness of the world of The Last of Us Part II, and I was so disappointed to snap out of it after each play session and emerge in todays reality. We have waited for this game for a long time, with multiple delays. But the good thing about those delays is that I did not encounter any showstopper bugs in the game on my PS4 Pro. That is exceedingly rare.

Naughty Dog vice president Neil Druckmann (who directed The Last of Us Part II) and the companys own trailers have spoiled a lot of the story. But you shouldnt place stock in everything that they have led you to believe. Part II is not at all what it seems. In fact, Naughty Dog has gone out of its way to mislead us into thinking what the game is about.

A story told in a compelling way

Ive already begun to sound like I want to rewrite Naughty Dogs script. But lets be clear. I believe that nobody tells better stories than Naughty Dog. This story is told in a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards in a timeline. Youll see the characters get put into an excruciating situation, and then youll have to wait, as the story moves back in time to a flashback that will explain how you got into that situation.

This can be very frustrating until you learn the reason for the flashbacks, and that makes the dramatic impact so much bigger. Id like to say so much more, but that would be spoiling the story.

Flashbacks are an interesting tool for a storyteller because they give you a way to learn something about a character who is dead in its present but still alive in your memory.

Above: The melancholy guitar makes many appearances in The Last of Us Part II

Image Credit: Naughty Dog/Sony

The story of the first game came with a bookend ending that resonated for me. I was deeply touched by the story of the teenage girl Ellie and gruff smuggler Joel two survivors of the zombie apocalypse who spend their days just trying to survive. The graphic violence is horrific, but more often than not, Joel does it in the name of protecting Ellie, and later on its Ellie protecting Joel. Fighting the zombies takes skill and stealth, and too often the human enemies are worse.

At the beginning of The Last of Us, Joel loses his teenage daughter at the start of the pandemic. By the end of the game, he had to decide whether to save Ellie or watch his surrogate daughter die. He had to choose how much he was willing to sacrifice for somebody he loved. Joel made the choice of a parent, and it was easier to make that choice even though the fate of the world was at hand. What made his choice easier is that, throughout the entire game, we learned what a shitty place the world had become.

When I finished the first game, I thought about a quote from Steven Spielbergs film, Schindlers List, about the German man who saved Jews during the Holocaust. It says, Whoever saves one life saves the world entire. That quote came to mind as I finished the game. Joel saved a life, and he said the world be damned.

And now Joel has to live with that choice in Part II. The sequel is not about love, but hate. It is about what you would sacrifice to take revenge. Can you get justice and closure without sacrificing your soul? The main characters go on a long journey to discover something about themselves. This new game also has its bookend ending, and all I will say about that, for now, is that it involves a guitar.

Amazing graphics affect gameplay

This is one of the prettiest games with it comes to graphics on the PS4. So many graphical marvels appeared in the imagery that I lost count. But these improvements in graphics arent just part of the scenery they affect gameplay.

Above: Seattle is overgrown and flooded in The Last of Us Part II

Image Credit: Naughty Dog/Sony

On a skyscraper in the clouds, the fog gets in your way just as youre trying to aim at an enemy. The grass blows in the wind, and it gives you a place to hide while you creep up on a foe. You can swim underwater, find key secrets at the bottom, and emerge in a place where the enemy doesnt expect you.

The story spans seasons and climates, such as the snows of Jackson, Wyoming or the lush jungle-like landscapes of an overgrown Seattle. The cities are authentic, with great attention to detail. Youll find coffee shops in Seattle, but theyre overrun with vines, moss, and long grass growing out of cracks in the floors and walls.

In Wyoming, Ellie loses track of another character, Dina, in a snowstorm and then finds her again. In that way, the environment plays a role in the gameplay as well as the story.

A diversity of characters with different perspectives

Were used to video games that give us good guys and bad guys. In the previous game, our main characters were just Ellie, then 14, and Joel, a grizzled old man in his 40s. In Part II, Ellie (played by Ashley Johnson) and Joel (Troy Baker) are four years older. But theyre joined by a big cast of characters in Jackson, Wyoming, like Jesse (Stephen Chang), Dina (Shannon Woodward), Tommy (Jeffrey Pierce), and others as well as a number of strangers that we meet along the way.

Above: Dina (left) is Ellies love in The Last of Us Part II

Image Credit: Naughty Dog/Sony

This game goes out of its way to paint two sides to every person and to show them in shades of gray. Ellie and Joel are both brutal killers in the first game, and they remain so in the second game, though they have settled down in Jackson. Now their job is to protect their home from the Infected (as the zombies are called) and human foes outside the walls. Yes, even after a pandemic, more so than today, humanity has to live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by people like Ellie and Joel.

While the first game doesnt have much by way of supporting characters, the sequels cast gives us a contrasting point of view to the people we have come to love. They are different kinds of survivors, and they highlight how people can make some contrasting choices in this gray world.

Significant gameplay improvements

Part II has some huge technological improvements. In close combat and in exploration, Ellie can do so much more thanks to these changes. And it makes the fighting intense, grueling, and raw in a way that, if you can believe it, doesnt happen in the first game.

Above: Ellie pits Infected against human foes in The Last of Us Part II.

Image Credit: Sony/Naughty Dog

She can swing on ropes, climb vertical structures to avoid trouble, navigate boats, ride horses, break glass, and crawl through grass. She faces enemies such as dogs who can trace her footsteps, stealth warriors who can attack with arrows, and large numbers of zombies. Ellie can sprint, dodge attacks, and time her counterattacks. She can use enemies as a shield, and she can get help from her friends. This makes combat far more diverse than in The Last of Us.

And as she does in the first game, Ellie can pit enemies against each other, making zombies attack humans. All of these improvements ratchet up the level of skill.

Occasional humor

One character makes a keen observation about how two others are behaving awkwardly when together. It just so happens that one of the characters, who is afraid of heights, is trying to deal with a high crossing. The character replies, Now? As in, you have to ask me that now? Its pretty comic, trust me. And after a particularly difficult level, one of the characters screams, Fuck Seattle!

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The Last of Us Part II review: A brilliant game that is not what it seems - VentureBeat