It is a mere 30 days until the highly anticipated Last of Us Part II drops. It is the long-awaited sequel to Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us, a pandemic game whose stunning visuals and plot-driven retelling of a not-so-typical zombie story brought it critical acclaim.
Part II takes place five years after the conclusion of The Last of Us. The protagonist will shift from Joel, who the player played as in most of the first game, save for some downloadable content, to Ellie, the young girl who is Joel’s companion.
The entire premise of the first game is that Ellie appears to be immune to the zombie infection, as she is bitten early on and does not contract the virus. Joel’s entire journey is to try and bring Ellie to a lab where she might help make an antidote or vaccine. After learning that the experimentation process on people who are immune often kills them, he diverts at the very end back into the apocalypse with Ellie.
In Part II, the pair settle with other survivors in Jackson, Wyoming, and find peace. It appears Ellie even finds herself a girlfriend, which is both sweet and a win for diversity.
However, an unexplained violent event causes Ellie to set out for revenge and justice. It is unclear what happens in this event. Will we lose her father figure, Joel? Are we ready for that?
Which begs a bigger question.
In this actual pandemic world, are we ready for a game that dramatizes a lot of our current realities?
The internet seems ready (as ready for a video game that will undoubtedly make you cry as you can be):
And I will tell you why I am: Video games have always served the purposes as a respite from real life and I think there is still room for entertainment even as the world sits sort of flipped on its head. If video games are how you choose to spend your spare time, then do you. I loved The Last of Us, it is one of the few video games I find myself returning to play over and over again. I think the Last of Us Part II has great potential.
Let me know what you think. I’m over on Twitter @hello_destiny.
