The Last of Us Part II Review. Stalling Revenge
Last year, Naughty Dog studio unveiled its next long-player and the second part of the mega-hit for PlayStation called The Last of Us. The game was subtitled Part II for a reason, because it is a direct continuation of the events of the first part, which not immediately, but develop rapidly and dramatically.
Before the release of The Last of Us Part II game started a wave of scandals. Screenshots and parts of the plot were leaked online.
That didn't stop The Last of Us Part II from breaking sales records and literally flying off physical and digital shelves. Yes, the fact is that Naughty Dog has a new masterpiece and arguably the best story game on the outgoing console generation. Of course, it's not without its flaws. Read more in our review.
About the story, its pros and cons
The guys from Naughty Dog have made, perhaps, a brilliant horror action with a lot of drama. The plot doesn't sag, it's aligned, debugged, balanced and constantly surprising. There are so many unexpected plot twists and turns that sitting for an hour behind the game, you can't even come close to what the writers came up with and did it with maximum cruelty.
The second part is directly related to the first game, so if you haven't been through it, you should. Although in the intro, Joel briefly tells his brother Tommy about what he did for Ellie. Nevertheless, it is recommended that you go through the first part to get a feel for the dramatic changes in the main characters' motivations that occurred in the sequel.
There are many new characters in The Last of Us tips and the creators make them sympathetic to the gamer and put them on par with Ellie and Joel. Often they are controversial personalities, antagonists and just plain nuts, but gradually the developers reveal their motives, from which they become full-fledged heroes of the events.
The perception of Ellie is also transformed. Initially she is a sweet and pretty protagonist who has had an accident and the girl sets out for revenge. But with each hour of the game, she goes further in her actions, loses her humanity and becomes imbued with hatred. By the end of the story, the girl familiar from the first part becomes a full-fledged anti-hero, and you empathize with her enemies sometimes more, because they turn out to be more human.
The theme of revenge runs through the story in a thick, bloody red line, shattering our perception of the heroine, the world, the first part and the sacrifices Joel made at the end.
The Last of Us Part II is severely dragged out, despite the near-perfect execution. I don't remember cinematic action sequences lasting 25-30 hours, and that's with medium difficulty and the same exploration of the world. You can easily cut out small chunks that are perfectly done and impressive, but don't affect the ending or the main idea.
In the second half of the campaign, when you think you'd like to call it a day, it turns out that only two-thirds of the campaign has been completed and there is still a huge chunk ahead. And you can't even imagine what else they've come up with, if there's already been something that's creepy to think about.
And maybe it's also the boastfulness of the developers, who show their skills and say, "Look how cool we can twist the plot and make it tense, how can the gameplay not sag and change the essence, how bright the environment, faces and the world look! Play and forget about time!"
The gameplay of The Last of Us Part II is almost the same as the first installment, but has received a number of small but important tweaks. The game is based on three familiar elements: exploration, combat and stealth. But each of them has grown and added to the scale.
So, it takes more time to explore the world, because the locations increased many times, and the map with post-apocalyptic Seattle almost reaches the full open world.
The game is divided into huge zones, within which the gamer can do whatever he wants and go wherever he wants. Naturally, in order to advance in the story you will have to go to a specific place and perform certain actions, but no one stops you from exploring the houses along the way, reading the letters left behind, playing guitar, collecting supplies, and just seeing how people lived.
Collecting spare parts is still an important part of the gameplay, and the process itself is carried over unchanged from the first The Last of Us. Found parts are used to assemble first-aid kits, Molotov cocktails, jammers, mines, enhanced melee weapons, and so on. The pills enhance the character's abilities, health, skills, and more.
Improved stealth
Now the hero can not only hide in the grass, but also crawl, which reduces the visibility for enemies. Also added the cheater skill sharp hearing, which shows the approximate location of the enemies behind the walls. But here it should be understood that the word "approximate" means just that and nothing else. So the white-illuminated enemies may not be where the skill indicates. From the last part of the silent bow and the creation of a silencer for a gun, which also improves stealthy passage through locations.
Improved the combat system as well. Now the hero is able to dodge in close combat, which made melee battles as spectacular as possible. Every type of opponent needs his own tactics, but dodging always helps, and after it Ellie attacks and strikes different parts of the body, depending on the armament. So seemingly identical melee skirmishes almost always go differently and depend on conditions: whether the person in front of you is alive, what faction, what he's holding (gun, knife, cleaver, etc.), infected and his type, and so on. The Last of Us Part II has its own triggers and perfectly designed movement animation for every such combat scenario, so it's the most fun to fight here.
