GameCenter - Issue 67 - 39

DOG-EAT-YOU
WORLD
One of the most meaningful additions to
The Last of Us Part II's combat encounters
isn't infected or human. When Ellie is on
the streets of Seattle, the patrols she confronts will sometimes be accompanied by
trained canine units. The tactical pooches
are outfitted with adorable little vests,
which makes it all the more unfortunate
that they're not there to lick your face and
play fetch.
Instead, human enemies will use the
dogs to flush you out when you're hiding
out of sight-and they'll go into full-on
attack mode once they spot you. Dogs
can smell a scent trail of where you've
been walking recently, meaning that it's
no longer safe to hide out in cover and assume patrols will walk right by. You'll need
to distract the dog by throwing an object,
or find a less PETA-friendly way to resolve
the situation, if you don't want to lose the
element of surprise.

Naughty Dog is keeping many details of the story under
wraps for now, but we do know that the game will follow
Ellie five years after the conclusion of the last game.

H

ow do you follow up a game like The
Last of Us, Naughty Dog's masterful
2014 foray into survival horror? For
most sequels, the answer is to go bigger: more
weapons, crazier fights, an even more sinister
villain. But what made The Last of Us great, in
part, was its restraint. Its story of an older man,
Joel, and a teenage girl, Ellie, traveling across
a country brought to collapse by a zombiespawning fungal infection, wasn't about
saving the world. It didn't have some big bad
at the end. Combat wasn't about the wealth
of weapons at your disposal, but the absence

39

of ammo, such that even small threats were
serious and every shot had to count.
The Last of Us Part II, then, can't rely on the
standard approach. To make a great game into
a great series, it'll need to find a way to make
those same elements-storytelling, character,
and tension-feel just as impactful the second
time around, and that's no easy task.
Naughty Dog is keeping many details of
the story under wraps for now, but we do
know that the game will follow Ellie five
years after the conclusion of the last game.
Now 19, she's found a measure of stability
GameCenter - Issue 67

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GameCenter - Issue 67
