On Survivor difficulty, The Last of Us Part II will be even more extreme than usual, forcing players to resort to savage brutality in order to survive the horrible situations encountered by protagonist Ellie. Developer Naughty Dog is hyping The Last of Us Part II as an uncompromising look at a near-future post-apocalyptic wasteland. In the wake of a viral outbreak that turns people into zombie-like monsters, some survivors rally within whatever communities remain standing, but others strike out on their own, becoming bandits who kill and steal to sustain themselves.
The original 2013 The Last of Us was praised for offering a fresh take on survival horror, especially as the genre's most beloved franchise, Resident Evil, had leaned into more of an action spectacle focus. For the sequel, Naughty Dog is pressing the horror into more intimate territory. Thanks to cutting-edge animation technology, the developer is making sure players really feel the kills in The Last of Us Part II, understanding the value of human life as it is snuffed out by a vengeance-driven heroine.
This intensity will likely be present on all difficulty levels in The Last of Us Part II, but the highest setting, "Survivor," ratchets things up a notch. PowerUp! Gaming wrote about their experience with the high-profile PlayStation 4 exclusive and came away impressed and shook by the transcendent power of the game to transport its players into life-or-death situations and moral ambiguity aplenty.
On all difficulty modes, The Last of Us Part II will be a brutal and visceral experience, and it's not clear if there will be much room for the occasional levity of the first game. But on Survivor, the game will push back - hard. On regular difficulty settings, players will have choices with regards to how they dispatch enemies, from melee weapons to firearms. On Survivor, those choices won't be made at the player's whim, but as a matter of necessity for, much as the name indicatates, survival. The PowerUp! Gaming story describes Ellie slashing people until their faces are ripped apart by her blade, and the haunting look in an enemy's eyes as they see the imminence of their own death. On Survivor, these animations won't feel like window dressing; they'll feel like an integral part of the experience, the price of revenge.
The Last of Us Part II has come under fire for its focus on intense and brutal violence, with some of the marketing for the title being accused of glorifying violence without including any context for the grotesque imagery on display. Now that hands-on previews are starting to roll in, hopes are high Naughty Dog has delivered a game that doesn't just push the boundaries of content in gaming, but does so with a deft thematic hand, combining gameplay and storytelling to create a disturbing and violent tale of revenge. Audiences will find out for sure when The Last of Us Part II releases July 19 on PlayStation 4.
Source: PowerUp! Gaming