Hands-on preview: The Last of Us Part II
The Last of Us in 2013 was one of the best games I had ever played for the PS3 system, so the announcement of a sequel got me very excited. I had a chance to play through an early section of The Last of Us Part II, and I'm glad to say the gameplay is just as good as the first.
Ellie is now four years older than she was in the first game, and she's much tougher than before. In this segment of the game, Ellie is in Seattle in search of a character named Nora who's hiding inside of a hospital.
Humans are not the only thing roaming around Seattle because Ellie will also have to face up against the many 'Infected' beings. Seattle is littered with the infected being called "stalkers" and they love to hide in the dark to surprise Ellie every time they pounce to attack.
In terms of gameplay, The Last of Us Part II will still feel familiar to those that played the first game. You can still press the R1 button to listen to the enemies. This is a helpful tool because it allows the player to scout the location of enemies.
Stealth is also an important technique to perfect in this sequel because racing head-on to kill enemies will always lead to Ellie's death. If you try to approach enemies face-to-face all of the time, you're not going to have a very pleasant experience.
What I do admire about the sequel though is that Ellie always has access to a small knife. She can stab enemies with it, so you're not required to find melee weapons all the time. That being said, melee weapons still do more damage although they break easily the more you use them.
Much like the first game, resources and ammo are scarce so you need to look everywhere in order to scrounge anything that Ellie can carry. Ellie can also craft things like bandages to heal herself up, or she can make special grenades and Molotov Cocktails to throw too!
Graphically, The Last of Us Part II is still atmospheric and scary much like the original game was. Ellie will wander around very dark corridors and enemies are always lurking behind the shadows in order to surprise her!
Anyway, if you loved the first game I'm pretty sure you'll fall in love with The Last of Us Part II. This is all I can say about the game in this preview, but check back with us next week in order to read our full review.
