The Last of Us Part II

Boxart used for all editions of the game, featuring protagonist Ellie

**PlayStation 5**
January 19, 2024

***The Last of Us Part II*** is a 2020 action-adventure third-person shooter video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, originally for the PlayStation 4. It is the second installment of *The Last of Us* series, and the sequel to 2013's *The Last of Us*.

*The Last of Us Part II* takes place in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by a pandemic of a mutated *Cordyceps* fungus strain, which turns humans into aggressive and cannibalistic beings referred to as the Infected. *Part II* follows the intertwined stories of returning character Ellie (Ashley Johnson) and Abby (Laura Bailey), a parallel playable character whose actions tie to a tragic event surrounding previous protagonist Joel (Troy Baker). As with its predecessor, *The Last of Us Part II* is played from a third-person perspective. Players can use a variety of upgradable weapons, improvised melee tools, stealth and traps to dispatch enemies, which include other survivor factions and Infected. *Part II* also introduces jumping, crawling and climbing mechanics for greater mobility and flexibility within combat arenas and exploration zones.

Development on *The Last of Us Part II* began in 2014 following *The Last of Us Remastered*, with Neil Druckmann returning as lead writer and creative director. Druckmann stated that the game's theme was centered around hate, in contrast to the first game's theme of love. The team eschewed multiplayer plans by 2019 due to the scope of the single-player campaign; the multiplayer mode would eventually morph into its own project, *The Last of Us Online*, though development on it was stopped in December 2023. *The Last of Us Part II* was noted for its troubled production, with accusations of crunch culture within Naughty Dog that prolonged the game's development time significantly and alienated employees within the company; the development of *Uncharted 4: A Thief's End* also hampered progress in the game's early stages. *The Last of Us Part II* was unveiled in December 2016 at PlayStation Experience. Originally planned for 2019, *The Last of Us Part II* was delayed several times until its release in June 2020. A remastered re-release, *The Last of Us Part II: Remastered*, was announced in November 2023 and is slated to release in January 2024.

Highly anticipated prior its release, *The Last of Us Part II* became the subject of controversy in the weeks prior to its release following content leaks of its narrative. It received critical acclaim, with praise towards its production values, soundtrack, design, gameplay and performances. Critics and players alike offered polarizing opinions towards the story, characters and themes. It was a commercial success, selling over 10 million copies by early 2022. *The Last of Us Part II* was nominated for and won multiple end-year accolades, for its writing, visuals, performances and overall quality. The game's narrative will be adapted into the second season of the series' television adaptation.

## Gameplay

*The Last of Us Part II* is an action-adventure video game that is played from a third-person perspective and combines elements and mechanics found in the shooter, stealth and survival-horror genres. Gameplay retains numerous mechanics and design elements from 2013's *The Last of Us*, including an exploration focus within linear environments, weapon upgrades, improvised weapons, a crafting system and the utilization of non-playable characters as companions for long stretches of the game's duration. The game's single-player campaign alternates between playable sections of dual protagonists Ellie and Abby; *The Last of Us* protagonist Joel is playable in a limited capacity during the game's prologue.

Similar to its predecessor, *The Last of Us Part II* is a largely linear game with a fixed narrative and character direction. The game contains larger maps than the first game, allowing for a greater emphasis on exploration and a more flexible approach to enemy encounters. While exploring various arenas, interiors and abandoned or occupied locations, players can scavenge for resources such as weapon ammunition, crafting materials, collectibles and vitamins, the last which lets Ellie or Abby unlock new attributes or enhance existing ones. Expanded verticality within the game environments introduces several platforming elements to the series, including the ability to jump, climb and swing, allows players to reposition themselves during combat or reach high peaks that may push further story elements or contain resources. Traversal in several occasions in the game can also be done by horse or boat.

Combat can alternate between melee and long-ranged tactics. Players can use various firearms such as shotguns, pistols and rifles, as well as arrow-focused weaponry such as bows and crossbows. Objects such as pipes and planks can be used as improvised melee weapons, while bricks and glass bottles can be used both to distract enemies as thrown weapons, or used for close-ranged combat. Both Ellie and Abby have access to their own weapons, which prioritize stealth and a more straightforward approach respectively. Weapons can be upgraded at workbenches located in several points of the campaign. *The Last of Us Part II* introduces new mechanics for combat including a dodge mechanic.

### *No Return*

*No Return* is a roguelike survival mode available as part of *The Last of Us Part II: Remastered*.

## Synopsis

### Setting and characters

*The Last of Us Part II* is set in a post-apocalyptic United States, decades after an outbreak caused by a mutated *Cordyceps* fungus, which infects human brains and turns them into feral, cannibalistic creatures referred to as the Infected. The majority of the game's events take place in 2038, four years after the events of *The Last of Us*; several flashback segments in different points of the game explore events up to four years before the main act. The setting spans several locations including the thriving survivor community of Jackson in Wyoming, which serves as the setting for the game's prologue and several of its flashback segments; the war torn city of Seattle in Washington, which serves as the main setting to the majority of the game;and the hostile environment of Santa Barbara in California, which acts as the final stage for the narrative.

### Plot

In the days after leaving the Fireflies-occupied hospital and returning to Jackson, Joel confesses to his brother Tommy his massacre of the Fireflies to prevent from killing Ellie in their search for a cure against the *Cordyceps* fungus. After the two return to their homes, Tommy agrees to keep Joel's actions a secret and Joel visits Ellie in her room. He gifts her a guitar.

Four years later, Joel and Ellie continue their lives in Jackson, though their relationship has become strained. While Joel and Tommy are out on a patrol, Ellie and her friend Dina are tasked with their own routine; while taking shelter at a late community member's house, Ellie and Dina kiss and confess their mutual attraction to each other. Concurrently, a young woman called Abby, a former Firefly, traverses through the snowy landscape to reach Jackson. She is rescued by Joel and Tommy and leads them to take shelter at her group's place, where they incapacitate the two. Ellie and Dina are found and informed by Dina's ex-boyfriend Jesse of the brothers' disappearance. Losing Dina in the snow storm, Ellie finds the group but is held down and forced to watch Abby murdering Joel before getting knocked out.

Following Joel's death, Ellie seeks revenge against Abby's group, who were traced back to Seattle. Tommy, guilt-ridden and pressured by Ellie's anger, heads to Seattle by himself, which forces his wife Maria to ask of Ellie and Dina to retrieve him. The two women reach Seattle after a long journey, where they encounter the Washington Liberation Force (WLF), a militant survivor organization to which Abby and her group belong. After surviving an ambush, Ellie and Dina make their base in an abandoned theatre, where Ellie reveals to her that she's immune to the fungus, while Dina is revealed to be pregnant by Jesse.

The next day, Ellie scouts Seattle alone due to Dina falling ill, and encounters Jesse who travelled to help the trio. In her pursuit of Nora, a woman associated with Abby, Ellie encounters the Seraphites, a religious survivor group fighting the WLF for control of Seattle. Locating Nora, Ellie chases her down and tortures information on Abby from her, actions that greatly traumatize her. Through flashbacks remembered during her quest, it is shown that Ellie's relationship with Joel gradually deteriorated as she became suspicious of his actions at the Firefly hospital. This culminated in her investigating the now-abandoned hospital and forcing Joel to confess, after which Ellie cut ties with him until the day before his death.

In the third day of Seattle, Ellie chooses to pursue a lead to Abby over finding Tommy, leaving Jesse to find him alone. She confronts Abby's associates Owen and Mel, which ends with Ellie killing the two in self-defense before learning that Mel was pregnant. A shocked Ellie is found by Tommy and Jesse and taken back to the base. The group is ambushed by a vengeful Abby, who kills Jesse and incapacitates Tommy.

The story resets to three days earlier from Abby's perspective, still bothered by her lack of satisfaction from avenging her father Jerry, the head surgeon Joel killed to take Ellie. During her routine, Abby learns that Owen has gone missing after fatally shooting a fellow WLF member. In a run-in with Seraphites, Abby is rescued by two Seraphite runaways, Lev and Yara. Abby leaves the two in a hideout to continue her search for Owen, who has grown disillusioned with the WLF-Seraphite war and wants to track down a rumor of a Firefly resurgence in Santa Barbara, California. The next day, Abby returns to save the siblings, before going with Lev to retrieve medical supplies so Mel can treat Yara's worsening condition.

Lev runs away to try and convince his and Yara's mother to leave the Seraphite cult. Abby and Yara track him to the Seraphite's island, where they find that Lev accidentally killed his mother in self-defense. As the trio flee the area, the WLF launches an attack on the Seraphites. In the ensuing battlefield, Abby and Lev manage to escape the island while Yara sacrifices herself to help them escape. Returning to Owen's place, Abby finds the bodies of her loved ones and tracks Ellie's group down. The two women fight, with Abby emerging victorious but sparing Ellie, Dina and Tommy at Lev's plea.

Several months later, Ellie and Dina live in a farm outside of Jackson while raising Dina's son JJ. A bitter and crippled Tommy guilt-trips Ellie into resuming her hunt for Abby, much to Dina's charging. In the meantime, Abby and Lev are captured by a survivor gang called the Rattlers, who imprison the two. Ellie locates Abby in Santa Barbara and frees her after fighting through the Rattlers. Abby is forced into a final battle with Ellie after the latter threatens Lev, with Ellie emerging victorious but choosing to spare Abby.

Back in the farm, Ellie tries but fails to play her guitar due to her damaged hand, having lost two fingers in her fight with Abby. She recalls her final conversation with Joel in which she expressed her willingness to forgive him, and leaves the guitar in the farm as she walks away.

## Development

*The Last of Us Part II* was developed by PlayStation Studios subsidiary Naughty Dog, and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Franchise creator and Naughty Dog vice president Neil Druckmann served as creative director, reprising his role from the first *The Last of Us* as well as 2016's *Uncharted 4: A Thief's End*. Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau serve as co-game directors, replacing Bruce Straley who departed Naughty Dog in 2017. Erick Pangilinan and John Sweeney worked as art directors, with the former reprising his role from the first game; Christian Nakata was lead artist. Travis McIntosh and Christian Gyrling worked as programming directors, with the former reprising his role from the first game. Emilia Schatz and Richard Lloyd Cambier served as lead game designers, both previously worked on the first game; it was also Cambier's final game at Naughty Dog. The story was written by Druckmann and Halley Gross, the latter also serving as narrative lead. Additional writing was provided by Josh Scherr and Ryan M. James, the latter also working as narrative designer; it was Scherr's last game at Naughty Dog before departing the studio in 2022.

Additional art production was provided by One Pixel Brush, Original Force, The Studio of Secret 6, Lemon Sky Studios, Virtuos, Passion Republic, XAC, Adia Entertainment, Mindwalk, Visual Dart, Redhot and MOOD.

### Technology

*The Last of Us Part II* was developed using Naughty Dog's in-house proprietary game engine, "completed overhauled" since the release of *Uncharted 4*.

## Release

### *The Last of Us Part II: Remastered*

In November 2023, the key art, screenshots and trailer of a PlayStation 5 re-release were leaked. Shortly afterwards, Sony and Naughty Dog announced *The Last of Us Part II: Remastered* for the console, with a release date of January 19th, 2024. In addition to graphical improvements and expanded accessibility options over the original release, the remaster includes several new game modes, including a roguelike survival mode called "No Return", a collection of three scrapped game scenarios with developer commentary titled "Lost Levels", and the ability to play on the game's guitar mechanics outside the story campaign.

## Reception

### Reviews

* MetaCritic: 93/100
* OpenCritic: 93/100
* Destructoid: 8.5/10
* Easy Allies: 9.5/10
* Edge: 9/10
* EGM: 10/10
* Eurogamer: Essential
* Game Informer: 10/10
* Game Revolution: 7/10
* GameSpot: 8/10
* GamesRadar: 5/5
* Guardian: 5/5
* IGN: 10/10
* PlayStation LifeStyle: 10/10
* PlayStation Universe: 10/10
* Push Square: 10/10
* VGC: 5/5

*The Last of Us Part II* received widespread universal acclaim. It currently holds a score of 93/100 on MetaCritic based on 121 scored reviews, categorized as "universal acclaim" by the site. On OpenCritic, the game holds a score of 93/100 based on 199 reviews, categorized as "mighty"; the reviewers summary states "Simply put, The Last of Us Part II is yet another masterpiece from Naughty Dog that should not be missed. It's a brutal, poignant, beautiful, cohesive, and thrilling experience."

The Guardian's Keza MacDonald called *The Last of Us Part II* "the kind of challenging, groundbreaking work that comes along two or three times a decade". IGN's Jonathon Dornbush considered it "a masterpiece worthy of its predecessor" and called it one of the best games of the eighth console generation. Game Informer's Andy McNamara deemed it a "monumental achievement in video game storytelling". GamesRadar's Alex Avard believed it is "a game we'll be looking back on for decades to come". Push Square's Sammy Barker called it Naughty Dog's "crowning achievement", while Easy Allies' Michael Huber praised it for its "deep, emotional impact". The reviewer for Edge concluded, "as a big-budget action game, then, *The Last of Us Part II* is almost without peer. As a sequel to that story, it is deeply, daringly, fascinatingly flawed."

### Sales

*The Last of Us Part II* sold over 4 million copies within its first three days, overtaking the 3.3 million copies record of Insomniac Games' *Spider-Man* as the biggest launch of a PlayStation 4 exclusive title. In June 2022, director Neil Druckmann announced that *The Last of Us Part II* sold over 10 million copies as of early 2022.

## Legacy

The accessibility options of *The Last of Us Part II* were noted to be a significant step in game accessibility within the industry. Writing for Eurogamer, Vivek Gohil argued that the game's accessibility features were ground-breaking and that its awards at The Game Awards 2020 were important to signify the growing recognition of such features. Fellow PlayStation Studio Santa Monica Studio cited the accessibility options of 2022's *God of War Ragnarök* as part due to the developer's wish to "match Naughty Dog one-to-one".

Internal documents of Capcom leaked in November 2020 cited *The Last of Us Part II* as an example for the publisher in inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters for its own future games.

## Gallery

### Trailers

The Last of Us Part II - PlayStation Experience 2016- Reveal Trailer - PS4The Last of Us Part II - Teaser Trailer -2 - PS4The Last of Us Part II – E3 2018 Gameplay Reveal Trailer - PS4The Last of Us Part II – Release Date Reveal Trailer - PS4The Last of Us Part II - Official Story Trailer - PS4The Last of Us Part II - State of Play - PS4The Last Of Us Part 2 - Official Extended CommercialThe Last of Us Part II - Official Launch Trailer - PS4The Last of Us Part II – Official Accolades Trailer - PS4The Last of Us Part II – Abby Story Trailer - PS4
### Other videos

The Last of Us Part II - PlayStation Experience 2016- Panel Discussion - PS4The Last of Us Part II Interview- A New Look at the World of The Last of Us - PS4The Last of Us Part II - PSX 2017 Panel - PS4The Last of Us Part II Interview - PlayStation Live from E3 2018The Last of Us Part II - Reveal Reactions - Anniversary Video - PS4
## References

1. ↑ https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2018/06/e3\_2018\_the\_last\_of\_us\_part\_ii\_runs\_on\_a\_completely\_overhauled\_engine
2. ↑ https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/17/23966254/the-last-of-us-part-ii-ps5-remaster-leaks
3. ↑ https://blog.playstation.com/2023/11/17/the-last-of-us-part-ii-remastered-coming-to-ps5-on-january-19-2024/
4. ↑ https://blog.playstation.com/2020/06/26/the-last-of-us-part-ii-sells-more-than-4-million-copies/
5. ↑ https://www.gamedeveloper.com/console/the-last-of-us-part-ii-has-sold-10-million-copies-in-two-years
6. ↑ https://www.eurogamer.net/players-without-sight-can-platinum-the-last-of-us-part-2-a-look-back-at-accessibility-in-2020
7. ↑ https://www.gamesradar.com/god-of-war-ragnarok-accessibility-features-last-of-us/
8. ↑ https://nichegamer.com/capcom-ransomware-leaks-resident-evil-battle-royale-monster-hunter-rise-heads-to-pc-politically-correct-business-strategies-and-more/