Review: The Last of Us: Part II – One of the best game of 2020

Review: The Last of Us: Part II – In December 2011, the moment had arrived: Naughty Dog showed the first teaser of The Last of Us. A brand new game that would do something different from the now well-known Uncharted franchise. The result was a 2013 game that told a beautiful story about a gruff man who saw his daughter die before him and a young energetic girl who was the only one in the world to be immune to the infection that ravages humanity. A solution was in the offing, but for that the duo had to cross the country. That adventure had many highlights in beautiful surroundings and of course the development of the bond between the two protagonists. Now seven years later, the sequel is here. Everyone is older, the world has changed and Ellie faces a new challenge.

The story does something

The Last of Us: Part II is a sequel, but it tells a new story in its own way. We won’t say a word about its content in this review, as literally anything could detract from the experience. What we do want to tell you is that Naughty Dog has created a story and an experience that will affect you. Naughty Dog wanted to make a game that would be more than just a sequel and they succeeded. Obviously the story has plenty of references to the first part, but as we leap forward in time, much is different now. That cute, witty young girl back then is now an educated young adult who is clearly making her own plan.

With about 25 hours you get a long game on your board and although it may feel a bit long-winded at times – especially in the first eight hours – the whole thing accelerates afterwards. Then the story knows how to suck you in even more and that is where the really interesting situations present themselves and it is never as black and white as it seems at first. They do this in a creative way, making it almost two games in one. That also gives the story so much more meaning and value, which makes you think about what you have experienced afterwards. And no, that has nothing to do with the diversity that they have incorporated into the game, which is only an underlying element in a much larger whole.

Naughty Dog has always been good at telling compelling stories, but they take it to a new and higher level with The Last of Us: Part II. It’s also the ultimate proof that games aren’t just pure entertainment; they add something and make you think in a way, making it so much more than a fun pastime. Naughty Dog is of course saying goodbye to the PlayStation 4 with this title and while we still have a lot to discuss, the final conclusion is that they are doing that goodbye in an extremely dignified way. They create a game that is fantastic to experience in terms of adventure, the story forms the strong foundation in it and the characters are all of great value, whereby the elaboration is sublime in the context of the whole.

Magisterial world

It’s a shame we can’t get into it any deeper, because we realize we’re really writing around it. However, as mentioned, any detail could detract from the experience, so we leave that important aspect in the middle. The Last of Us: Part II is of course more than just a story and one of the things that stands out is the world you are in. From mountains to forests and from cities to other beautiful locations, we’ve never experienced a 25-hour single-player game in which literally every environment is detailed in detail. The eye for detail is unprecedented and all of that is brought to a level that you have rarely seen before on the console.

In fact, this game is so beautiful that if Sony presented it as a PlayStation 5 launch game, you’d believe it. It is unprecedented that a console (originally) of seven years old can continuously maintain this level of graphics without any kind of technical limitations or hindrances. Naturally, the game runs like a charm on the PlayStation 4 Pro, but also the normal – older – PlayStation 4 has no trouble with The Last of Us: Part II. In fact, you hardly ever have to deal with loading times during gameplay, because the gameplay seamlessly transitions into cut scenes and vice versa, with no visual difference whatsoever. Gone are the days when cut scenes are more beautiful than actual gameplay. Naughty Dog maintains that high level throughout the entire adventure.

No frame drops, no glitches, no technical issues. Nothing. The only thing we’ve seen during 25 hours of play are some graphical glitches that can be counted on one hand. So you could almost speak of a perfect game, because never before have we played a game of such duration without experiencing technical shortcomings. And what we’ve seen are blemishes that have zero impact on gameplay. Bugs? They will probably be there, but we have not seen them. In fact, we started over right after the first playthrough and are halfway through at the time of writing. And in a second play session you always look at a game a bit differently, since you already know everything, but even now we don’t see anything crazy.

It’s technically a masterpiece in that respect and saying goodbye to the console like that… it simply couldn’t have been better. It is very beautiful graphically and it is nice that there is a photo mode in the game, because you will regularly stop to take a picture. The game offers you a photo mode by default, so it won’t be long before we will see all kinds of great community content. Together with the high graphics quality, we can say the same about the audio. The voice acting is fantastic, believable and noticeably voiced with emotions, which makes it all true to nature. This does not only apply to the various important characters in the game, all background figures are also provided at the same level with good voice acting.

A new journey

The gameplay in The Last of Us: Part II is the only thing that has somewhat of a ‘negative undertone’ and that is simply because it is more of the same. You don’t have to expect real innovation, because the gameplay is almost identical to the original. You will have to move a lot from A to B, loot various locations for items you need to craft ammo, throwables and health kits, and you will also find pills here and there that you use to upgrade your skills. Furthermore, you can still find ‘scrap’ everywhere you need to upgrade your weapons arsenal. Think of a larger magazine for your shotgun, a sight on your rifle, explosive arrows for the bow and that sort of thing.

All those things are identical to the original in The Last of Us: Part II, which makes it feel very familiar. This time in an even larger shell in the form of the world that you are presented with. You will visit a wide variety of locations, ranging from large apartment buildings to overgrown highways, dilapidated apartments, mountains and much more. In many cases the game is linear in design, but with some fallback options here and there. So the bottom line is that time and again you end up in an open area where you can enter multiple buildings before going to the next area and backtracking is not possible in many cases. So if you also want to take all collectables with you, it is advisable to comb out every location very well, so that you don’t miss anything.

The primary variation in your journey is that you have to deal with battles. The well-known Clickers are of course present, but you also have to deal with new factions that are not so fond of foreigners. More than once that will end in a showdown and while you will be able to take out enemies effectively, you will often lose out when faced with odds. The game provides you with all kinds of weapons and other attack options, giving you plenty of choice to fight you out of a dire situation. Nevertheless, stealth is the best way to deal with the enemies. This is because human enemies with live shooting and the Clickers are extremely deadly.

Do you have enough ammo for all your weapons and accessories? Then you can try, but it is and will remain difficult. Not only because infected and Clickers have nothing to lose and all rush towards you, also because enemies are not retarded and try to flank you. The fights are challenging and you are almost always in the minority. Fortunately, your companions’ AI is good, as they fight with you in the event of a confrontation and they actually help you with shots that hit. But even then the fights can be tricky at times and with a stealth approach you can take out a lot of enemies without it costing your ammo. This means that a possible later confrontation is easier, because you have less resistance.

Another aspect that can make the fights a bit (unnecessarily) difficult is that Naughty Dog is very focused on the details. So if you have multiple firearms you can’t hang everything on your pants and so it disappears in your backpack. In that respect it is also identical to the previous part, but this can be a bit awkward in fierce battles. You have to remove weapons that are in your backpack and that takes time. Realistic, absolutely, but the menu that goes with it just isn’t fast enough and can be a bit frustrating. Now there is a hotkey to switch to another weapon, but in the heat of battle that can cause you to switch to the wrong weapon more than once. You will get used to it, but that’s the only thing we think could have been a bit more efficient as it sometimes hinders the smoothness a bit.

Novelties

With The Last of Us: Part II, Naughty Dog has put the focus very much on the story and creating an unprecedented beautiful world around it. That alone is enough reason to play the game anyway, so in that sense it is not so bad that it is mainly more of the same. In terms of gameplay you do not have to expect shocking things and as already indicated it is not very innovative, but that is not necessarily what this game needs. So don’t be fooled by the ‘more of the same’, because this makes the gameplay very familiar and therefore fits perfectly with the previous part. However, there are some novelties to be found, but that is also more in the details. For example, Ellie can now swim and play guitar, she sails a boat and of course you have to deal with new enemies, including some pretty terrifying variants.

The game also encourages creative play with the items and resources you have, for which you get new attack options. This will allow you to tackle the battles in a more diverse way and that makes a second playthrough via new game + definitely worthwhile. This is because you can use many weapons that you only unlock later than immediately and that changes the dynamics of the combat somewhat. Because where you first had to tackle the enemies with limited weapons, you can work much more creatively on a second turn. In addition, the game is richly filled with collectables and there are some nice Easter eggs that are worth looking for and discovering. Nevertheless, Naughty Dog plays it safe in terms of gameplay, so little new under the sun. But don’t worry, The Last of Us: As a total package, Part II is a sublime adventure that will keep you glued to the image. In other words, you have to play this game.

The Last of Us: Part II – Conclusion

The Last of Us: Part II is the perfect farewell from Naughty Dog to the PlayStation 4. With the first part, this developer managed to pull the most out of the PlayStation 3 at the end of the cycle and they are now repeating that trick with this new adventure. . In terms of gameplay it is mainly more of the same, but that gameplay is good. The story is very strong and makes you think in a way that I have never experienced after playing a game. The environments are incredibly beautiful and of a level that we rarely see in other games. All this together makes The Last of Us: Part II a game that everyone should play. You won’t be bored for a second. Naughty Dog does it again: deliver a long single-player game that you’ll enjoy and when you’re done you’ll want to start over right away. We guarantee you will not be disappointed. This is Triple-A at its very best.

Positives of The Last of Us: Part II

• Fascinating story
• Strong characters
• Unprecedentedly beautiful environments
• Long playing time
• Excellent voice acting
• No interruptions

Negatives of The Last of Us: Part II

• Switching weapons is a bit clumsy