The Last of Us Part 2 press demo is released

Naughty Dog revealed a 3-hour long media/press demo of The Last of Us Part 2 for early reviews and feedback. As Naughty Dog let the media find out what happens to Ellie in her new adventure, they also released a behind-the-scenes video for the demo. The behind-the-scenes video includes commentary from the game's two co-directors Anthony Newman, Kurt Margenau, narrative lead Halley Gross, and of course the director Neil Druckmann.

The Last of Us Part 2 press demo is released

Druckmann opens up the video by saying “We've been heads down, quite, because we wanted to make sure that we have proper time to do this game justice.” Heads down quite part really means what he says because The Last of Us Part 2 developers haven't been releasing any footage from the game for nearly two years. Yesterday was the Outbreak Day as they are calling it because it was their scheduled time to release new footage from the game. It also represents the first day the plague happened in the fictional world of the Last of Us.

How far would you go for the exact revenge?

The whole theme and cycle of violence building around the Ellie comes from this idea, says Druckmann. How far would you go to exact revenge to bring justice to the people you love? Before all the revenge plot starts, the demo shows Ellie in a town called Jackson with her best friend Dina 5 years later from the first game. As the players patrol the outskirts of Jackson with Ellie and Dina, they discover the underlying romance between the two characters. The demo takes place the day after the two characters kissed at the festival back in 2018 E3 demo showcase. So their feelings to each other is still fresh. As the demo builds up the strong bond between Ellie and Dina, they ran into some trouble. And as a perfect time, The Last of Us Part 2 shows us Dina is as experienced as Ellie in this post-apocalyptic world. She knows how to deal with Runners, other survivors and of course, the Clickers.

New enemies types, superior tension, and Ellie's survival

Naughty Dog clearly approached the Last of Us Part 2 with a fresh page. Aside from building the story furthermore, they updated the enemy types and their mechanics. The Runners are now far more stronger, Clickers are scarier than ever and the srvivors are ruthless. As the demo goes on, we jump on to Ellie's revenge arch, where she is looking for people that is responsible for what has been done to her and see Joel join her. The demo introduces new mechanics like dogs and squeeze throughs during this time. Ellie can now fit through small places, she is far more athletic and agile but the new enemy type dogs can now smell Ellie's scent and track her down. Another layer added to the tension by Naughty Dog that boosts the survival feeling on the player.

Halfway through the demo, the developers introduce two new infected types. The Stalkers, that can go toe-to-toe with Ellie, and Shamblers, an enemy type that tries to run Ellie down and burst out a corrosive cloud. Druckmann says that these enemies create a mini-boss like feel, all thanks to Ellie's new movements in her kit. She can now evade, strike back, and barely survive with the edge of her abilities. What happens to Ellie in her survival will stay as a mystery until release. 

The demo is not available for players yet as it is a press exclusive, but we will have a hands-on review as soon as we get it. The Last of Us Part 2 comes out on February 21st, 2020. It is available for pre-order now.

The Last of Us: Part 2 Game Event Video