Extended Gameplay, New Location Featured in The Last of Us Part II State of Play

Today’s latest State of Play was focused entirely on The Last of Us Part II, giving fans an extended, never-before-seen look at a moment of gameplay, as well as the game’s primary location of Seattle.

VP of Naughty Dog and The Last of Us Part II’s game director Neil Druckmann provided the commentary for our nearly thirty-minute look at the game, breaking down the State of Play into sections about the narrative, the world, and brand new combat mechanics and systems that players will be able to take advantage of while playing as Ellie.

Druckmann began by reminding fans the game picks up Joel and Ellie’s story five years after the events of the first game, making Ellie nineteen years old. They’ve found shelter and peace in Jackson, Wyoming, and Ellie has even formed a new romantic relationship. Soon, though, the peace within the community is shattered when Jackson suffers a “violent and traumatizing event.” Ellie sets out into the world for revenge, navigating the dangers of the environment, two major factions, and of course, the infected.

There are three new mechanics in The Last of Us Part II: prone, jump, and dodge; and all three were highlighted to some extent during the State of Play. We see Ellie moving through the grass, while still having full access to her weapons and the crafting menu, with moments of her jumping interspersed throughout the video.

At its core, the crafting and weapons upgrading systems look like they still function in the same way they did throughout the first game, so fans of The Last of Us should feel right at home there. That being said, the crafting menu does look like it has been given a few modern and sophisticated tweaks, based on the layout we saw today.

Following the commentary, fans got an uninterrupted look at an extended gameplay sequence that captured some of the new mechanics Druckmann mentioned, and which also included some new enemies like dogs.

The Last of Us Part II releases exclusively on PlayStation 4 on June 19th.