The Last of Us Part II Adds Permadeath and Grounded Mode

The Last of Us Part II released back in June, and the game has just received its first major update, which includes new features, trophies, the return of Grounded difficulty, and a new permadeath mode.

Fans of The Last of Us are probably no stranger to the Grounded difficulty, which was present in the first game. Now that difficulty setting can be applied to The Last of Us Part II. The combat and enemy encounters in the sequel have been expanded upon, making encounters with infected and humans even more dynamic and more of a challenge. There are certainly some frustrating moments throughout the second game, even when playing on its normal setting; so for players who are up for it, the Grounded difficulty in The Last of Us Part II makes enemies even more deadly and ammo, upgrades and crafting materials are far more scarce. The listening mechanic, which allows Ellie to hear infected and other enemies from a distance, is also disabled in the Grounded mode; and some elements of the HUD will also be deactivated.

The update also introduces a brand new mode: Permadeath. With this enabled, players must go through the entire game (which is nearly a 20-hour experience) without dying, or risk starting from the very beginning. If that’s too extreme, though, according to Naughty Dog, you will be able to enable checkpoints on a “per-chapter or per-act basis”.

This update also includes new audio and gameplay modifiers, and nearly 30 graphics rendering modes. For the full scope of changes coming to the game, check out Naughty Dog’s post on the official PlayStation Blog.

In the meantime, you can read our review of The Last of Us Part II here.