Gaming
The Last of Us Part 2 – A (disturbingly) unforgettable 3 hour hands-on
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Red Bull Games was recently given a chance to get an exclusive three-hour hands-on session with Naughty Dog's upcoming sequel to one of the most highly regarded post-apocalyptic adventures ever...
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Before we begin we want to hold a minute silence for Ashley, Drew, Alex and Kenneth. They're henchpersons that we murdered. Brutally. They were AI minions whose names we shouldn't know but nevertheless do. Possibly forever, from what we know about PTSD.
To be fair, they were trying to put speedholes in us with axes, crowbars and high-powered rifles. But the guilt pangs remain as we sit here picturing their faces with perfect clarity, even now, days after our trip to LA for a world's first hands on of The Last of Us Part II. Long story short and surprising trauma aside, this is sequel to a masterpiece that's shaping up to be a leap beyond its progenitor. In every way, too – visual fidelity, soundtrack, captured performances and – we say this last one with a thousand yard stare – enemy gore systems.
Ashley was a dog lover. We know this because when we dropped her attack pooch with an arrow, she wailed in misery as Cujo thunked into the dirt with a whimper. Ashley's anguish and growing rage was short-lived. We switched to a pistol and installed a blowhole in her forehead. From across the road, Drew shrieked her name and called us a murdering asshole. We scope shot him through the neck after a protracted gunbattle fought across a street blocked with rusting cars. We're not proud to say that it wasn't a clean death. We... uh, had to listen to about 10 seconds of piteous death gurgling.
From across the road, Drew shrieked her name and called us a murdering asshole. We scope shot him through the neck after a protracted gunbattle...
The third person who sprang at us from behind was Kenneth. He had been identified earlier, as the mob foolishly vocalised their strategies to box us into a garage (after they saw us click empty on our long gun). When Kenny grunted and attacked from six o'clock with an axe, we mashed the new dodge button (L1) and fluidly counterattacked without even panning the camera to visually acquire him. Dive-rolling, Ellie slashed a huge gouge out of this newcommer's cheek. Two shanks to his intestines and a coup de gras to the jugular later, and we had to watch as the final look of shock and all remaining light drained out of Kenneth's face.
Clickety-Clack, don't come back
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As for Alex, We're just not ready to talk about it yet. The memory involves a shotgun and not much range at all. Think: “half-eaten raspberry-filled gingerbread man” and you're not too far off.
This writer is old and has off'd innumerable AI enemies in the course of 35 years. But there was still a little adrenaline shake after the above encounter. Kenneth's face persists in our memory. The day after the demo, we caught ourselves wondering if he had an NPC family waiting for him to return. Somewhere off the map...
So yeah. we can comfortably (or rather uncomfortably) say that The Last of Us Part II is next-level intensity. Even if you consider yourself to be hard-boiled, as many of us do, there's a good chance it'll mess with you a little. Maybe it'll be that first tackle-stab animation you do on an unsuspecting German Shephard. Or maybe you'll be more disturbed when you find the “Ellie getting face mauled” death animation quickly turns you into a ruthlessly efficient canine killer.
Three hours with TLoU Part II was draining, but not enough. We need more of it. The two demos we got to play gave us a taste of two gameplay tempos, both of which we'd... err, kill to re-experience.
This way to the Uncanny Valley ->
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The first was very early in the game. We're guessing right after an intro cinematic. It's a tutorial-ish section that's a day in the life of heroine Ellie and her best friend/girl crush Dina. We'll not spoil too much of what happens, but the basic gist is that you're both living in Jackson, Wyoming, one of the last civil societies in the apocalypse. You both have to pitch in to run patrols. Your targets are marauding assholes or infected mushroom people with a taste for human flesh.
It's maybe forty minutes of content that reveals some cool mechanical upgrades over the last game. Firstly, horses are fully rideable, like Red Dead Redemption II levels of polish (but not freedom, as we saw no true sandbox in our clippy-cloppy journey). Interestingly, Ellie is more spry than Joel, thanks to a jump button and a few hints at what might well become a frequently used grapple hook/rappelling subsystem. Basically, verticality is in, both for crafting materials snoop sections and to get that Obi Wan higher ground advantage in combat.
Speaking of, we got into lots of scraps during our early skulk sessions into a blizzard whipped ghost town. Make no mistake, this sequel brings the survival horror. Ammo is scarce and if you do stealth like a bull in a china shop, there'll be super intense melee battles with Runners and Clickers as your “reward”. The new dodge button on L1 will be your friend here, but not your complete saviour. Ellie is ferocious, but getting boxed in by more than three foes is bad juju. They'll chip you down to a grotesque death animation.
Oh, does Red Dead Redemption 2 have a horse rival?
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When things opened up in the second demo, we scored a ton of firearms, gadgets and gameplay wrinkles to experiment with. We're told that this section is much later in the game – post calamity. Ellie's quest for blood has taken her to Seattle, into a city controlled by murderous xenophobes called the WLF. She's here to save Tommy (Joel's brother) and then get the hell out of Dodge before the “doges” get her.
It's here that we got into crawling prone through grass to go “super stealth”, also under cars to buy some breathing space to craft stuff. The area is very reminiscent of The Suburbs section from TLoU, but the blinkers have come right off in terms of level size and building access. The section is still essentially a series of combat / stealth arenas that close off to you as you inch closer to the explosions on the horizon. Made by Tommy the OG insurgent, presumably.
Cinema come to life? We reckon so...
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The AI has been noticeably improved over the last game. We're Grounded difficulty veterans, but dogs are a serious wrench thrown into our old strategies. You'll feel constantly outnumbered, on the run and under-equipped. Leveraging the analogue stealth is pretty much the only way you should go – make hit and run strikes as silently as much as possible for as long as you can. When it invariably goes to shit, break contact, lose the heat and reassess your ammo. From here, either lay traps to de-limb any looky-Lous, or re-engage from a different vector with a better Solid Snake impression. Whichever way you go, we guarantee it'll be white knuckle stuff.
These seven foot jerks are slower than Runners but are much more aware of you than any normal Clicker. They'll get in range and fart gas through cover...
And that's even before Naughty Dog layers in a new enemy type, The Shambler. These seven foot jerks are slower than Runners but are much more aware of you than any normal Clicker. They'll get in range and fart gas through cover that won't dissipate for ages. They effectively deny what little room you have to move in claustrophobic basements and then come in for the munch. Oh, and killing them triggers one last take-you-with-me stinker. Lovely.
Can't all be about fighting and hiding, human stuff needs to come as well
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While Shamblers are a pain and can be found off the beaten path, we still loved snooping about this world. Every bit of scrap we got inched me closer to being more effective in some future life and death struggle. The new gunsmith mechanic is sheer gun porn, too, that made us gat-proud in no time. Also, these little kleptomania side excursion reveal a wealth of environmental story moments, optional dialogue and just moments where you're struck by how gorgeous this game is.
We were seriously pressed for time, but still spent a minute with our jaw on the floor, watching Ellie's horse punch through floating ice on a flowing river. We sat, mesmerised as the tiny, individual chunks lazily floated away for a few metres before melting against and through a metal grate downstream.
Not only is this the new current champion of Prettiest Game We've Ever Seen award, it's also a sheer delight to watch in full flight. Naughty Dog has invested in a new motion matching animation system that seamlessly blends and variates every action you do in the world. It's eerily lifelike stuff. No two encounters will ever look the same.
Breakin' on through to the other side...
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Couple all that with a cracking revenge story, and Part II is looking remarkably close to a sure purchase from where we stand. Naughty Dog has the most talented artisans and truly mind-blowing tech in its kennel. Further, Neil Druckmann is an immensely talented writer who's essentially out to explore the nature of hate (and its disturbingly close proximity to unconditional love).
In one sense we can't see how any of the above can possibly go wrong. In another, it's clear that everything almost certainly will, at least for fans who fell in love with the original characters. There are some straight shots to the feels coming, folks. Anybody can see that coming. Nobody knows whose number is up.
Day one of launch should be pre-marked in your calendar as “chuck a sickie, purchase & playthrough”. Make the following note for day two, however: “stiff drink / possible therapy session / hug a random dog”.
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