Naughty Dog recently let a group of fortunate players
. During the hours-long session, we got to know Ellieâs more mature, vulnerable side, as well as her capacity for brutality. The dizzying highs of the sequelâs stunning visuals and captivating storytelling are matched by the guttural impact of its intentionally disquieting violence.The appeal of The Last of Us Part II is more than a list of exciting new gameplay features, visual enhancements, and continued storylines.
Neil Druckmann, Director of The Last of Us Part II, sheds light on the ambitious sequel in an insightful interview.
First ideas
When did The Last of Us Part IIâs story come into focus? Druckmann chuckles at this question. He recalls a meal shared with the masterful actress behind Ellie, back in 2013.
âI met with Ashley Johnson and I pitched her the idea for Left Behind,â says Druckmann. âAnd I told her I had something else I was working on and I pitched her that idea. So sheâs there in the restaurant crying, and Iâm thinking âI hope people donât think Iâm doing something horrible.â But thatâs the first time I remember having some strong idea.â
As early as 2013, Druckmann had the basic beginning, middle, and end of the story in mind. That ending would ultimately change during the course of development.
âThatâs how it starts. Itâs a kernel of an idea. Then you bring more people in and it becomes a shared vision,â Druckmann says. âVideo games are this collaborative medium and we all march towards this focused idea.â
The evolution of Ellie
The seriesâ canvas shoe-wearing protagonist has changed a lot since her cross-country journey with Joel. âI think sheâs really come into her own,â Druckmann says.
âIn the first game sheâs trying to find someone to rely on,â Druckmann says. âShe tells Joel that âeveryone Iâve ever known has died or left me, everyone except for you.â She kind of latches onto Joel.â
Ellie and Joelâs relationship is strained at the beginning of The Last of Us Part II. Her new life in Jackson, Wyoming affords her a chance to make new connections with the survivors living there. And sheâs grown especially close to one fellow resident.
âDina becomes this best friend sheâs now had for years,â Druckmann says. âThey flirt with each other, but Ellie doesnât quite know where this girl stands. We see that Dina feels very similarly to Ellie.â
Ultimately, Ellieâs relatively comfortable, ânormalâ life in this post-pandemic world isnât destined to last. Druckmann alludes to a terrible incident that ignites Ellie on a deadly quest for revenge.
âEllie wants to make it right by bringing the people responsible to justice, even if she has to go at it alone,â Druckmann says.
A new infected emerges
Many sequels come with the thrill of facing new challenges. But Naughty Dog doesnât want to throw in new infected types for the sake of it. The studio has carefully thought out how the new Shambler â a grotesque mutation bursting with hazardous vapor â fits into the worldâs lore.
âIn the first game, there is all this documentation about the different stages [of the infection],â Druckmann says. âNow we have to justify why there are different stages. Why are there mutations of these things? Without getting into it here, there is something about the environment and how much time has passed that has allowed these mutations to occur.â
Shamblers do more than enrich the world of The Last of Us â they also thrust players into tense new combat encounters.
âWe have Runners that close the distance quickly,â says Druckman. âWe have Clickers that move slowly but are one-hit kills. Shamblers provide this area of attack, where they have this cloud of gaseous acid that burns materials around it. It burns your skin. The way you saw it in this demo is that theyâre mostly on their own. It gets really interesting because you have a cloud that hurts you when you enter it, but it also blocks your view, then Runners burst through it. So the combinations get really interesting.â
Expanding the grounded gameplay experience
Creating a grounded experience is a pillar of Naughty Dogâs vision. For this game, the team seeks to retain that principle while also expanding Ellieâs gameplay options with a wider variety of weapon customization, abilities, and mobility.
âWeâre after a grounded experience, but that doesnât mean reality one-to-one,â Druckmann says. âFirst of all, you donât have all the inputs youâd have in real life. Your inputs are limited to a controller. So with that, how do we create systems and an aesthetic that feels grounded? So Ellie couldnât kill as many people as she does in the demo in real life, but we need that number to create the tension. The tension is more important than a realistic body count.â
âAnd likewise with the system, if you had these weapons your life and death would rely on them,â Druckmann continues. âYou would clean them, you would tend to them. So we created systems and aesthetic â we really zoom the camera in and show you the weapon and how she works them to improve them â to make you feel the connection she has to these instruments of death, in a way. What it means to survive in this world.â
In addition to challenging playersâ skills, Naughty Dog is also adding new gameplay mechanics with the goal of eliciting an emotional response from players. For the first time in the series, Ellie will face animal threats.
âDogs are a way to evolve human enemies to give them a new sense to sniff you out â no pun intended,â Druckmann says. âThey can rely on the sense of smell and as Ellie moves around she leaves behind this [scent] trail that fades over time, but if the dog picks up the trailer he can find you wherever youâre hiding in a way that a human on their own canât. But there is something when you kill a dog that makes you feel worse than when you kill a human.â
Believable human enemies
Fighting guard dogs is just one example of how Naughty Dog is making technical strides to create a more authentic and grim action game. The attention to detail in connecting playersâ emotions with their in-game actions extends to human enemies.
âWe want to treat violence as realistically as we can in an action game,â Druckmann says. âOne example is that every human enemy in the game features a unique name, such as Omar, or Joe. For Naughty Dog, implementing this was a nontrivial task. â[This was] a big effort that required not only new tech, but a lot of recording investment âŠ. The way they communicate is much more sophisticated.. We do that in order to make you feel itâs not just like an NPC or braindead obstacle.â
If you take out an enemy, their friends may scream their comradeâs name in grief. Overcome by emotion, enemies may also become enraged and unpredictable in combat. It all blends together to create a brutal, yet believable experience.
âYour thoughts are provoked in really interesting ways in the way some of the best stories are done.â says Druckmann says. âThatâs what weâre striving for.â
Choosing when to fight
Naughty Dog wants players to feel the consequences of Ellieâs actions more deeply, so itâs natural that some may wish to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. The team is accounting for that.
âWe wanted to have whole sequences that you can be spotted, engage in some combat, and escape without clearing the area,â Druckmann says. âLikewise, we wanted to have way more sequences where you could ghost completely. Itâs very challenging and very hard, but itâs possible to leave areas. Then there are certain situations where we want you engaged, we want you to partake in certain actions that are going to make you uncomfortable. But thatâs part of the narrative,thatâs part of Ellieâs journey.â
However, avoiding bloody combat encounters doesnât mean youâll totally miss out on interesting areas to explore.
âAs you saw with Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy, weâre experimenting with much larger layouts,â Druckmann says. âWeâre going to do that with this game, and find ways to use that to mirror the story. When we want tension to drop, and we want you to think âWhat do I do next? What do I want to explore here?â We have that.â
Fearsome fidelity
The Last of Us was a high watermark for PS3âs technical capabilities, which makes returning to this world with the power of PS4 even more enticing.
âJust as with The Last of Us, we were hitting the limits of memory, of computational power, how many enemies we could have on screen, and the size of levels,â says Druckmann. âNow weâre able to have much wider environments, sequences with a horde of infected, several squads of enemies looking for you in big spaces.â
âLikewise, Ellie has this whole new animation system called motion mapping. Not just Ellie, all the characters. It makes movement more responsive, but also more realistic at the same time. So I think Ellie is one of the best controlling and looking third-person action characters out there.
âThe fidelity we can get in the faces and the motion capture â we can better translate what the actors are doing on stage into the game, and get these nuances so we can rely more on the way someone blinks or the way they squint instead of lines of dialogue. It allows the writing to be much more nuanced than itâs been before.â
A message for PlayStation fans
Gamers around the world are dying to get our hands on The Last of Us Part II. Where is Naughty Dogâs head?
âWeâve been on this journey for a few years now making this game,â Druckmann says. âWe know weâve been quiet, and we know how engaged our fans are and the PlayStation community is behind us. They inspire us in ways theyâre probably not even aware of.â
âWeâre on the home stretch and weâre so excited to finish this game. Weâve been very protective about what weâre showing, and even though people here are playing the demo and weâve put out a story trailer, weâve been very mindful not to spoil the story and what makes the story special, and what twists and turns are in store them. We just canât wait for them to play it.â
launches for PS4 on 21st February 2020.
The post Neil Druckmann discusses new The Last of Us Part II details appeared first on PlayStation.Blog.Europe.
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