Fighting against zombies is stressful - the sound design makes the monsters particularly scary - but killing inhuman creatures never made me feel guilty. Much of your time is spent stalking around areas full of enemies, and these encounters differ quite a bit depending on who you’re up against. It’s dark and oppressive with only rare, all-too-brief moments of hope Ellie’s quest puts her directly in the middle of this turmoil. Two factions - a militant organization known as WLF and a religious group called the Seraphins - fight constantly over conflicting ideologies and limited resources. Seattle’s many buildings are filled with unsettling zombie-like creatures: ones that are blind and move by sound, forcing you to be quiet and slow, others that scream in a horrifyingly human way and will stop at nothing to kill you. It’s still a third-person action / adventure game where everything around you is dangerous. The first half of The Last of Us Part II feels like exactly what it is: an upgraded version of the original game. But a few hours into the game - for reasons I won’t spoil - she sets off for Seattle with vengeance on her mind. Aside from the regular patrols to clear out infected monsters, it’s almost idyllic. She struggles with Joel’s overprotective nature. The sequel is centered on Ellie, now 19 and settled in a relatively safe community in Wyoming. It ends with him making a devastating choice to protect someone he cares about. The original starred Joel, a haunted man who latches on to 14-year-old Ellie as a daughter figure, in a quest that sees them traverse a post-apocalyptic America in search of safety. On the surface, the two games are similar. The Last of Us Part II is a sequel to the acclaimed PS3 game, which transformed developer Naughty Dog - then known primarily for lighter fare like the Uncharted series - into a studio able to tackle more serious and resonant stories.
It’s one that grapples with the impact of that violence and shows players the consequences.
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Yet, I’m glad I pushed through - because those dark, disturbing moments are what make The Last of Us Part II so powerful. There are scenes so upsetting that they didn’t just make me uncomfortable they made me question why I was playing this game at all. I certainly didn’t want to watch a religious zealot’s head explode into a grisly cloud because of my well-placed shotgun blast. I didn’t want to bash that lunging dog with a hammer or slice at that defenseless woman with a knife. Over the game’s 20-hour runtime, I often found myself wanting to quit because the violence became unbearable.
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