The Last of Us Part II stuns audiences in extended gameplay reveal

To use the phrase “stole the show” may be an understatement. Sony has kicked off their E3 2018 press conference by giving us an extended look into The Last of Us Part II.

The original game released back in 2013 and impressed players and critics alike with its amazing storytelling abilities, characters, script writing and voice acting. Naughty Dog have big shoes to fill if they are trying to outdo the original although if the new trailer is anything to go by, they are certainly on the right path.

The new trailer puts Ellie front and centre. In fact, Joel is absolutely nowhere to be seen. We start with a cutscene that really helps humanise Ellie. The cutscene also reaffirms Ellie as an LGBT+ character, probably the biggest LGBT+ character in all of gaming history. We then jump into gameplay and from here things get dark, bloody and violent. Amazingly it seems as though Ellie will be the game’s main playable character. At least if this trailer is anything to go by.

She is being hunted by some terrible people and must sneak and stealth her way around. The bow she uses in the first game makes a return and helps with some stealth takedowns. Although pretty quickly things get less stealthy as she runs and guns for her life.

Although the gameplay sequence is very “scripted”, the game still looks tremendous. The seamless transitions between mini-cutscenes and gameplay is impressive and the game seems to be incredibly strong when it comes to cinematography and visual storytelling. There’s also a lot of blood and uncensored violence, so be aware if you’re more squeamish.

The game will release onto PS4 although we don’t have a release date just yet.