How do you review a near-perfect game for the second time? You already found the fault of the first game now fixed, and all the troubles that the Naughty Dog development team has gone over the past 6 years make reviewing this game far more difficult than expected.
Noting their trials and tribulations within, which encompasses the making of another swansong game for the current generation of PlayStation console once again, only without a PS3 cell processor in sight.
So how good is The Last of Us Part 2, you may ask? It’s very good if you want a short answer to it. But the caveat of the story plus some weird choices in its game design might put off some people who liked the first one. So without any more distractions, here is our review of the game that many have been waiting for.
Presentation
For what it’s worth, The Last of Us Part 2 has pushed their art design to its limits for the most grounded yet most beautiful looking game world ever.
Details such as the now fully overgrown vegetation on the roads or the lingering murky pools of water within the empty buildings as you traverse the game world, which looks amazing even on a base PS4.
It’s main infected enemies, Clickers also look mighty dangerous to fight again, with the design now making them more mutated than ever, making them much scarier to fight with.
The sound design also had a massive improvement. The guns now sound more visceral when fire upon and the audio cues from the enemies really make a difference from being caught into another firefight or slipping away quietly.
Like a movie, the music comes into play when the situation gets intense and goes away slowly during quieter moments, all without ever breaking the immersion.
The voice acting performance is highly commendable. The powerful performance from the likes of Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson, and even Laurie Bailey still makes the storytelling quite compelling to follow along.
Not to mention the many variations of NPCs with their own unique voice lines now roaming around the game as well, it seems to help build the scale of Ellie’s revenge, with how many people that we’ll face during the course of the game.
Gameplay
One major that I quite dislike about the previous game is the combat, where it’s restrictive nature of gunfights and set-pieces with the clickers made the game quite tedious, has now been fixed. Fights feel more open-ended with the enemies thanks to the bigger area spaces in most of the combat segments. And set-pieces now taken to a bigger notch in making the game far more engaging, which they succeed.
Its controls are still mostly similar with some new added mechanics like the ability to go prone in some area. Naughty Dog also has implemented some helpful assist that makes the game easier for those who need it, but those who want a challenge could turn off everything like in the first game.
The only nitpick I have about the controls is the Dodge mechanic which sometimes doesn’t land when pressed a fraction too early but that’s all really. This game pretty much uses all of the Dualshock 4 quite interestingly and it’s assist feature is quite neat for those who would want a personalized experience. So another good call from them.
Content
Now, with all the positive within the game, the one big flaw that I have found from this game is sadly the story.
Due to the nature of the storyline, I won’t be talking about it but a fair summary of how the storyline goes is like this: a mix of HBO’s Westworld during its confusing 2nd season plus some bits from the later seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead, which you can already see within the game’s many trailers.
Naughty Dog tries to make the storyline cohesive but I feel that that method just falls flat within the end of my 20-hour playthrough. Naughty Dog does suggest to us to continue with New Game Plus to get all the game has to offer, and I feel most of you guys would want to play it for the second time, trust me.
Personal Enjoyment
I will be frank with you all, I didn’t not like the first The Last of Us at all, and though I praise this game for making a lot of changes that make it a better experience, the storyline almost made me hate this game as well.
And I feel it’s kind of the point of The Last of Us, there is no joy in this universe, even when you finally receive it. The game is violent, emotional, and engaging to play but it will make you feel hollow for all the right reasons.
Conclusion
The Last of Us Part 2 is again, a near-perfect game that will make people question if they like it or not. I don’t particularly like or hate it, but it is a darn good action game if I ever played one. Sony knows it has another divisive game on their hands and they know it will be golden in the end.
Played on Game Version 1.01, and on a base PlayStation 4. Review copy provided by PlayStation Asia
The Last Of Us Part II
The Last of Us Part 2 is again, a near-perfect game that will make people question if they like it or not. I don’t particularly like or hate it, but it is a darn good action game if I ever played one. Sony knows it has another divisive game on their hands and they know it will be golden in the end
- Presentation 9
- Gameplay 8
- Content 5
- Personal Enjoyment 7
