Last of Us Part 2 Review

The Last of Us Part 2 is the sequel to the 2013 masterpiece of the same name, also from Naughty Dog studios. Set in a post-apocalyptic United States where a fungal infection has turned the majority of the population into zombie-like creatures. What’s left of humanity exists largely in quarantine zones run by the military. The game follows Joel, a smuggler who lost his daughter at the beginning of the fungal outbreak, and Ellie, the 14-year-old girl he reluctantly agrees to escort to a hospital run by a rebel group known as the Fireflies. Ellie was bitten by the infected as a young girl and did not turn (or die) and so it is believed that her blood may hold the key to a cure.

What ensues is a tense, somber campaign culminating with Joel and Ellie arriving (mostly) safely to the Firefly hospital, relieved and optimistic they may be able to turn the tide of the pandemic. Unfortunately, Joel finds out that any attempt to create a cure would require Ellie’s death. At this point, Ellie is already unconscious, and Joel decides the slim chance at a cure is not worth the life of the girl who has come to be like a daughter to him. He kills several Fireflies including a doctor, breaks out of the facility, and escapes with Ellie. When she wakes he tells her the doctors weren’t able to find a cure and they left peacefully. 

Fast forward five years to the beginning of Last of Us Part 2. Ellie and Joel have had a falling out but are working through it, living in a well-established community in Jackson, Wyoming. There are a bar and restaurant, crowded Main Street, kids running around playing in the snow, all the things you would expect to see from a small town in the middle of winter. There’s also patrols, community members going out in teams of 2 to clear infected from the surrounding area and scavenge for supplies. They’ve achieved a piece of normalcy within their walls but the world outside remains savage and unforgiving. That said, things are going as well as can be hoped for until a group of former Fireflies, now part of the Washington Liberation Front shattered the facade when they captured and murdered Joel and set Ellie on a road looking for revenge against Abby, the doctor’s daughter, that threatens to destroy not only her but everything she holds dear.

First and foremost, Naughty Dog should be applauded for their attention to accessibility options. There are ways to adjust the difficulty to your precise needs, display and audio options for hearing and vision impaired, removing puzzles, changing input methods, etc. Basically, anything you can think of that would increase the accessibility of the game has been included. This level of care should be the standard in AAA games moving forward. Second, when it comes to graphics and audio, The Last of Us 2 is top-notch in every way. It excels in writing, voice acting, sound effects, art direction, and I had a bug/glitch-free experience. The frame rate remained solid throughout my playthrough and there were several graphical flourishes that added to the believability of the world. Characters covering their eyes when looking in the direction of the sun, ducking under low hanging signs/branches when horse riding, the progression from wilderness to cities that have been reclaimed by nature, etc. The game oozes polish from start to finish.

Once the story kicks off The Last of Us 2’s gameplay is very similar to its predecessor. You’ll spend a lot of time sneaking, gathering resources, distracting, and silently killing enemies. In Part 2 you take control of the smaller, quicker Ellie. Movement during combat is key as TLoU2’s enemies are more intelligent and aggressive than the original. Human enemies coordinate with each other, calling out your position (whistling for the scars), flanking, and constantly looking to flush you out of cover. After a few chapters scent following dogs are introduced, forcing you to stay on the move as they follow your trail bringing the Washington Liberation Front soldiers down on your position. When facing infected stealth is key. Bottles and bricks return as your main method of distraction and with new infected and the originals returning even deadlier, you’ll want to stay hidden. 

Runners, Stalkers, Clickers, and Bloaters return and are joined by two new types: Shamblers and the Rat King. Shamblers resemble Bloaters but rather than spores they attack by spraying acid. The Rat King is a horrifying amalgam of several different types of infected fused together into a nearly unstoppable death machine. The new types are particularly concerning but any of the infected can take you down in a hurry if you’re not careful in your approach. Ellie has plenty of weapons at her disposal to help deal with humans and infected alike. Pistols, rifles, shotguns, bows, Molotov cocktails, homemade bombs, trip mines, and even a flamethrower round out your ranged options. For melee combat, you’ll be looking at bats, wrenches, pipes, axes, and machetes that you find throughout the world. Ranged weapons can be upgraded at workbenches and melee weapons can be upgraded and repaired via crafting, but don’t expect to hold on to them for long before they break. 

Combat feels uncomfortable. Characters strain and scream with every murderous swing. Blows land with incredible force, and the sound of metal and wooden implements colliding with human skulls is not easily forgotten. Gunplay is no less harrowing. Shots ring out, echoing in the open spaces as the wounded wail and beg for their rapidly fading lives. Every encounter is filled with tension from the first moments to the last, surviving is less a relief and more a weary acknowledgment of the violence yet to come. TLoU2 has well-placed respites throughout in the form of flashbacks, but even these welcome interludes are typically intruded upon by at least the threat of running into the infected. 

These flashbacks tell the story of what led Ellie and Abby to their current circumstances. Ellie’s fallout with Joel and the subsequent attempts to repair their relationship, and Abby witnessing her father’s murder then joining the WLF. They provide needed context for a narrative that centers around revenge and its aftermath. Both Ellie and Abby make choices that uproot their lives, destroy relationships, and put their loved ones in harm’s way. To say nothing of the increasingly desperate and barbaric acts they commit in an “ends justify the means” cycle that sees them losing their own humanity in search of some twisted vision of justice. The further they travel down this path the harder it is to reverse course. Every act of violence serves to countenance their mission and the world begins to shrink until there’s only room for those for and those against their cause. 

This is set against a backdrop of war between the Washington Liberation Front and the Seraphites, or Scars. The WLF fought to replace federal forces in overseeing civilian neighborhoods after the outbreak, the Seraphites are a religious cult convinced human sin was the impetus for the infection. Now they fight each other over control of Seattle, largely uninhabitable territory overrun by infected. Throughout the game you see various battles between these factions play out, each side winning and losing their share, seemingly never gaining or losing significant ground in the overall struggle. Near the game’s conclusion, you control Abby as she and young former Seraphite make their way to a boat in hopes of escaping Seattle and sailing to California where there are rumors of a Firefly base. Their way out is on the far end of the Seraphite home island, where there are several motorboats docked. At the same time, the WLF is beginning their invasion of the island, looking to end the war for good.

You successfully navigate the battlefield, board a boat, and sail away with the entire island engulfed in flames behind you. The overwhelming sense I had watching the escape was again not victory or even relief, it was just how pointless it all was. The WLF and the Seraphites weren’t really fighting for any ideals or because they had to, they fought just to give their lives some sort of purpose. Abby and Ellie pursued revenge, pushed themselves until they lost everything, not to right a wrong or rid the world of some evil but because what else did they have? The Last of Us 2 shows you unspeakable acts from the perspective of the victim and the aggressor in two different scenarios. You get to know the characters, you understand their motivations for every act they commit and the takeaway is…no one is right and no one is wrong. The unthinkable happened and what it left behind was a world filled with broken people trying to tear itself apart. 

The Last of Us 2 is a masterpiece. Expertly crafted and refined. Like it’s predecessor it is arguably one of the greatest games ever released, but there is no fun here. What little happiness is found in the narrative is snuffed out almost immediately. They take the same mechanics used in nearly every other game to produce highlight reels of spectacular and rewarding violence and turn them against the player. Making you question your involvement in what just played out on your screen. The effect is somewhat lessened by the sheer number of enemies placed in your path along the 20+ hour campaign, but the fact that they are able to temper players’ enthusiasm for killing at all is an achievement. With a shorter campaign and fewer encounters, TLoU2 could have been nearly perfect, but as is Naughty Dog has once again reaffirmed their position as the top studio in all of gaming.