Seven years have passed since the release of “The Last of Us” on PlayStation 3. A production by the “Naughty Dog” studio which has left an imperishable mark in the minds of many players, in particular for its emotional story which allowed follow the fate of the protagonists "Ellie" and "Joel" in the context of a post-apocalyptic world. The game has been a great critical and commercial success in addition to chaining awards to the point of being perceived as the "game of the decade", a recognition largely deserved in our opinion, because beyond the story, the software also offered solid gameplay and an unparalleled atmosphere.
It was therefore obvious to see Naughty Dog and Sony offer a sequel to the adventures of Ellie and Joel, especially since the end was relatively abrupt for the players. The development teams and all the people involved in the project have worked hard all these years to offer a sequel that meets expectations until today, 2020. But we all know it, 2020 is certainly the one of the worst years for a long time and there is no doubt that history will remember her… The Last of Us Part 2 has not been spared, in particular with delays and some nasty leaks. Despite this, nothing can prevent the game from arriving in stores and on the PlayStation Store, The Last of Us Part 2 will be released exclusively on PlayStation 4 on June 19. A long wait that ends for the fans and ends for us too... And we can tell you, you clearly won't be disappointed. We tested (and even finished) the game on PS4 Pro, we tell you what we think of it in this test, without Spoil on the scenario of course.
A story that picks up where it left off:
The opening scene gives you a quick summary of the facts to resume when the adventure stopped in the first "The Last of Us". This is a direct sequel, however, things are told differently. Several years have passed since the events of the first game, we find an older Ellie who is now an adult and who seems to have resumed an "almost" normal life in Jackson County, Wyoming. Ellie and her friend Dina regularly go on horseback patrols in search of marauders and infected people who could endanger the haven in which many survivors have taken refuge. Their job is to eliminate any threats they encounter and alert other patrols to any problems.
Remember, we are in a post-apocalyptic world, the threat posed by the population that has been infected by a strain of the Cordyceps fungus and the rival groups are still there. If nearly 5 years have passed since the facts of the previous game, the vision of the end of the world is more important than ever with vegetation that has completely taken over its rights offering both panoramas with an incredible spectacle, but with the representation equally terrifying. It is therefore in this context that the new adventures of Ellie, the central character of The Last of Us Part 2 begin. From our point of view, it is quite important to have completed the first software to fully understand the issues and the ties that unite each of the protagonists. If the story of the first The Last of Us was significant for many reasons, in particular the attachment that the player had for Éllie and Joël, expect here to experience even stronger moments with Part 2, the adventure has given us for our part, goes through all the possible emotions, anger, sadness, amazement, fear...
A story that is supported by a flawless staging where every animation and facial expression seems to you to be more real than life. The characters in the story are very expressive with perfected motion-capture and the actors more involved than ever in their roles… And what about the voice actors who did an excellent job of making you feel all these emotions. VO or VF, we couldn't even tell you which of the two is the best since the work done in both camps is just incredible. Note that the way of presenting the story to the player is very different than in the first, if in "The Last of Us" first of the name we easily understood the point of view of Joel & Ellie that we embodied, it was difficult to determine the daily life of our enemies. In part 2, the game offers you several points of view allowing you to understand the way of life of the different factions, why you do this and why they do what they do, who is right and who is wrong in this story? You are both the actor and the spectator behind your screen, no longer knowing what is a "right decision"... No, you really can't imagine ONE second what awaits you in Part 2.
A structure close to the first The Last of Us:
If the software keeps the same structure as the first with linear passages and others, more open, the playing field of The Last of Us Part 2 is easily 4 times larger. There's more to see, more variety in the areas you explore, there's even a much larger than average area of Seattle where you have a map you can open at any time to get your bearings. This is also the only time in the game where you are equipped with a MAP, for example Ellie will open the map herself in certain places to note what is worthy of interest when you explore this part of Seattle . It's up to you afterwards whether or not to push your investigation further or to focus on the main objective. Note that exploration can be done on foot or on horseback, but not only.
Although The Last of Us Part 2 still gives you the option to advance without even exploring the environment, players who choose to do so can expect to be rewarded. There are many resources to collect along the way. The Naughty Dog teams have disseminated "artifact" objects which take the form of documents to read which were often written by survivors when the epidemic broke out, thus allowing them to understand a little more the state of people's minds when it all started. These documents sometimes allow you to get your hands on a clue that will lead you to open a nearby safe which is often full of resources of all kinds, which gives you the possibility later to strengthen your weapons on a workbench or to improve Ellie's skills so that she becomes more effective during confrontations. For example, during your explorations, you find training manuals that allow you to unlock new paths in the character's skill trees. The more time you take to explore a place in The Last of Us 2, the more likely you are to discover unsuspected resources that will greatly facilitate your progress, including new weapons of course. Also note the presence of collectibles to collect such as superhero cards for example.
A word on the lifespan of The Last of Us Part 2:
The adventure is relatively long for the genre, we took exactly 29 hours to complete the adventure on "normal" difficulty mode knowing that we still spent a lot of time exploring the houses and the different nooks to find collectibles and resources. We therefore estimate that in a straight line it would take between 22 and 25 hours to complete the story for the first time without knowing its structure and from 35 to 40 hours to get your hands on all the game's collectibles, collectibles which are relatively numerous, we have indeed found more than 140! Be careful, we still have to qualify our comments on this subject, because this number can be scary... The game actually counts as artifacts the notes, trading cards, old coins and points of interest that Ellie lists in his personal diary. A notebook that you can open and consult at any time, Éllie draws things, makes sketches and leaves a lot of information describing in passing her emotions on certain events. Be aware that the artifacts you find allow you to earn points that you can redeem from the title screen in a "Bonus" section where many visual elements are to be unlocked.
Of course, you will have plenty of time to be able to relive the story in higher difficulty modes, the game offering modes ranging from "very easy" to "survivor" (which is really a tall order it must be admitted) without forget the traditional unlockable trophies for completionists. Note that a "custom" mode allows you to set the difficulty of the game according to your wishes by modifying different aspects of gameplay.
This lifespan could be raised by a hypothetical multiplayer mode which would apparently be under discussion at the premises of Naugthy Dog. And clearly, it would be a shame to deprive yourself of it when you think that that of the first game was a real success. For now, let's be clear, The Last of Us Part 2 is an entirely solo experience.
★ Note – The Dogs have worked quite a bit on the accessibility of the title by offering players a whole slew of options allowing them to better configure the different aspects of the game for better comfort. If you feel any discomfort while playing it for any reason, you should definitely take a look in the game options which has a huge number of settings that can be changed.
A PS4 at the end of its life, watch out for takeoff!
A word on the PS4 and even on the PRO model on which we tested the game… How to tell you things clearly? You MUST play with headphones on your ears to get the most out of the experience. From the first minutes until the end, the console spits its lungs like never before to the point of literally covering the action, the music and the dialogues enough to ruin your game session and leave you with a bitter taste. Sony's console is at the end of its race and we're not going to lie to each other, it's really time for the PS5 to show up.
If the bike is blowing very hard, the software remains beautiful in all circumstances, we have not noticed any problems with the displays, the vegetation, the decorations, the color filter which gives its character to the game, nothing to complain about the rendering on screen is really flawless. It should be noted, however, some drops in the framerate which is still quite visible. It happens when you're in tall grass and you're using the listen mode to look around you where the framerate fluctuates a lot and it's also the case in areas where there is water. The rest of the time, everything seemed relatively stable to us.
Extreme violence and shocking scenes, the Naughty Dog teams do not do things halfway:
Gone are the days of collecting orbs and stacks of energy in Jack And Daxter and its colorful universe. Naughty Dog today is clearly another Level. Everything has been done to make you feel the cruelty of the world in which survivors live since the pandemic hit. It is no longer a question of hesitation when your life is in danger, the survivors have fortified their shell to all types of tests. Every action, every decision must put an end to the danger that threatens your life, human or not. Ellie has forged this shell, not hesitating for a moment to stab an enemy who threatens her in the heart without measuring the consequences of such an act... It's something really highlighted in the game, the developers played a lot on the moral sense of the players, are you really going to do this action and end lives so easily?
You can see it in the cries of those you face, they scream in pain when you hurt them, shout the names of their friends when they fall under your blows or your shots, constantly reminding you that this “virtual obviously” person may have being a family, friends… It's a rather strange feeling which becomes almost moralizing at a certain stage of the narrative and which you will certainly feel while playing. No doubt you will think about it again when you see certain details of the game and the turn the thread will take. It should also be noted that you hear many sound effects during your confrontations with humans, the spurts of blood, the cries of agony, the squealing of dogs, the violence does not pass only by the visual, but well by the sound or there seems to have been a particular work.
★ Note - About PEGI 18, more than ever, if you're a parent of young children (and even teenagers) don't let them in the same room as you while you play "The Last of Us Part 2". The game is of a rare violence with truly realistic bloody scenes that could have consequences in the mind of a young audience. Even an adult could have trouble watching certain scenes in the game, it's a fact and it needs to be clarified (from our point of view). We know how it goes in general, we see a PEGI 18 on the box and we imagine that they have exaggerated again and that it is not that impressive. However, things are very different in the case of The Last of Us 2, the Dogs have not been there with the back of the spoon by proposing an escalation of violence quite rare for a video game, and this violence is just as visual than sound.
The Last of Us Part 2 is a real emotional lift:
Everything has been made for you to be negligent at one time or another. The game is just waiting for that, the moment when you will lower your guard, believing that you are alone in a dead silence to better surprise you the next minute. It is therefore very difficult to predict what will happen in The Last of Us Part 2. We have lost count of the number of times we have been surprised, triggering a real adrenaline rush and of stress. The music racing, noises coming out of nowhere, the danger is imminent and you no longer have time to think about "how to get me out of here", you must react and "QUICKLY", because your enemies they are not there to joke and are VERY well organized. You can certainly tell yourself that we are exaggerating a minimum, however, you will learn the hard way that the world of “The Last of Us Part 2” is a constant danger. Keep this passage in a corner of your head, because it is a reality that you will face while playing it. We found the enemy AI to respond very well to different situations.
They communicate with each other, organize themselves, track you, you gradually feel the pressure tightening on you like a vice. The game always allows you several approaches, the one that is direct or you shoot at everything that moves knowing that things can turn against you more than ever. Or you can choose the path of discretion. For this, you can use the environment by sneaking through tall grass, hiding behind walls or even sneaking under an object, vehicle and others. But be careful, your enemies are far from being stupid, they can spot you from very far, especially since they will be on alert when they discover you in the tall grass. And yes, although the vegetation has reasserted itself more than ever, you are never completely camouflaged. It's not like those games where you just have to step into a clump of grass and suddenly become completely invisible. No no, you can hide and crawl in the grass, tall plants and others, but an enemy who passes close to you has every chance of seeing you. Knowing that there is a wide variety of enemies in the game with different behavior forces you to adapt according to the group you face.
But no matter how you approach, sooner or later you will have to face the enemy and you should not be surprised by his weapon. There has been a lot of work to make you feel the weight of a weapon and its recoil, you must also always have an eye on your ammo supply, take into account that some weapons require a real delay before reloading and that change of a gun may involve opening his bag to choose another one. In these cases, you should always have good cover and look around so that you don't end up with an enemy behind you. The areas are often large with multiple entrances to the buildings and some clashes offer verticality being played out over several floors of a ruined building, for example. One thing to remember, if you are walking in unfamiliar territory, your opponents know the area very well! You will have to face several factions with operating modes that differ quite a bit and which are sometimes accompanied by dogs that are able to track your trail. You will also be confronted with a lot of types of infected, including some new mutations that we will leave you plenty of time to discover, the surprise is big!
But beware, if the humans are rather organized, we will however regret a small technical limitation on the side of the infected... If one of them spots you, alerts you and catches you, a clicker who will be present in the same place will immediately stop his race while he too had the idea of ripping your neck off, patiently waiting his turn. He will wait until his boyfriend is done with you or you finally manage to get out of there to resume the assault. You have to admit that for a game that has a modeling that pushes realism, for once it's quite a stain. Take the Resident Evil 3 remake for example, two or three zombies can grab you at the same time which will cause you to fall to the ground leaving you with very little chance of survival. Well, just tell yourself that's not the case in The Last of Us Part 2. It doesn't detract from the feeling of oppression that is pervasive in the spore-filled areas, but hey, that's it also to be noted. We also regret that the allied AI is quite perfectible at times. During the adventure, you will be able to have allies by your side... They tend to get in your way in the exploration zones while having a strange behavior when in contact with you (little jump back) as well as when you are in an area where you are looking for stealth, your ally's AI sometimes has trouble finding or positioning itself.
In the end, The Last of Us Part 2, the sequel everyone was waiting for?
There are still a lot of things we would like to say about this new work from Naughty Dog, but at some point we have to draw a verdict from all of this, and for us it is really positive. Even if some will find fault with the bias of the scenario or the ease with which events can occur, The Last of Us Part 2 is clearly the worthy sequel that we all expected. The technique is superior and allows the game to gain in realism and coherence, the story is brutal, bloody, you will go through all the emotions while playing it. Anger, sadness, fear… The Naughty Dog studio teams once again prove what level of talent and excellence they have reached. No doubt players will remember The Last of Us Part 2 for a very long time. Well done Naughty Dog!
The Last of Us Part 2
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9.5 
