The Last of Us part II Review

10/10.  Succeeding and maybe even surpassing part one, part II is a cautionary tale of revenge and redemption - never has the phrase “there are two sides to every story” been so appropriate *MINOR SPOILERS*

The Last of Us part II is a heart-wrenching post-apocalyptic zombie survival game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, the sequel to The Last of Us (2013).  Neil Druckmann returns as creative director and co-wrote the storyline with Halley Gross.

Set five years after The Last of Us, Joel and Ellie (returning Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson) are still dealing with cordyceps zombies, but living a relatively peaceful existence in Jackson, Wyoming. Ellie’s relationship with Joel seems strained, explained via flashbacks throughout the game.

Whilst on a regular patrol, Joel and his brother, Tommy, rescue a stranger, Abby (Laura Bailey), from a zombie horde out in the snow …

Ellie travels to Seattle with vengeance in mind, accompanied by girlfriend Dina, Tommy and friend Jesse. Their mission takes them to the city, forests, underground sewers, high into abandoned skyscrapers, and into the path of the Seraphites, a cult at war with the Washington Liberation Front (WLF).

The game has the same fluid, intuitive controls and third person perspective gameplay as The Last of Us, in a part open world setting. The mixture of gameplay and cut scenes, including very insightful flashbacks, is seamless. Players use firearms and improvised weapons and stealth and listen mode to decide which tactics to use – sneak past or go in a blaze of glory.

Part way through you play as Abby, which feels very weird. The time is then split between Ellie and Abby with different storylines before their fates intertwine. They have different skill trees/ weapons and prone crouching is a new skill to use. Guard dogs can track the player's scent, monitored via listen mode.

The Last of Us part II is an emotional ride. They took a big risk with the storyline angle and split between characters, yet it succeeds and maybe even surpasses part I, as a cautionary tale of revenge and redemption - never has the phrase “two sides to every story” been so appropriate.  The storylines engage you and shows all actions have consequences, with 30 hours approx. for completion.

Ellie seeks revenge but at what cost?

The voice acting is superb and adds to the realism of the story.  It’s a beautiful but desolate landscape, and it’s clear true depth of emotion has gone into it’s creation. Abby is well cast and a formidable opponent for Ellie and Joel. I hated her at first, but she has her own history... 

Side characters have fleshed out stories. Yara and Lev are specific to Abby’s storyline, and help show her in a different light.

At times I couldn’t physically press the action buttons – Abbie against Ellie and vice versa by the end, and hurting the dogs.

The storyline is better than many films around. FTWD and The Walking Dead have a lot to learn from this. 

Will there be a part 3?  Will there be a DLC?

“…I would do it all over again”.