The Last Of Us Part II (2020) [PS4]

“Controversy is part of the nature of art and creativity.”

-Yoko Ono

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

The Last of Us Part II is a polarizing game.

This is, perhaps, because it strives to be more than a game.

Although the concept of “video games as art” is hardly new, game makers continue to push the traditional boundaries of games, attempting to meld traditional gameplay elements with cinematic plotting and artful design choices.

The Last of Us Part II is one such game in which the developers have attempted to transcend the video game medium. The game can be viewed through two lenses.

The Last of Us Part II, as a piece of art, is beautiful and challenging. Its plot is filled with realistic human emotion and complex moral choices. Its settings burst with melancholy and familiarity, presenting a world that players recognize as not unlike their own – although one that has been torn apart by apocalypse.

The Last of Us Part II, as a video game, is flawed and divisive. The brutal violence and gut-wrenching tragedy of the game’s story are a jarring contrast to the relatively formulaic stealth and crafting gameplay loop.

A review of this game requires nuance and careful consideration. Does viewing the video game as an art medium require an adjustment of how we talk about games? Can a game fail as an enjoyable gaming experience but succeed as a piece of art or literature? Game makers have been attempting to rise above the medium’s reputation as “low” entertainment with increasingly ambitious plots and sky-high budgets, but artsy games are often brought back to earth by their trite gameplay elements.

The makers of The Last of Us Part II quite obviously had lofty motivations when developing the game. They sought to produce a challenging, thought-provoking piece of art. As a result, it would be impossible to write a review of The Last of Us Part II (“TLOU2”) without addressing the controversy surrounding the game.

Based on popular and critical response, TLOU2 is perhaps the most polarizing game of this generation. The original game in the series, released for Playstation 3 in 2013, was universally acclaimed. The PS4 rerelease of the game boasted “Winner of over 200 game-of-the-year awards!” on its front cover. The acclaim for TLOU2, meanwhile, has been far from universal. While Metacritic’s aggregate of video game critics’ review rate the game at 94 out of 100, over 120,000 user reviews have resulted in an average score of 5.4 out of 10. Some have loved the game – but many have hated it.

It is easy to understand why TLOU2 would inspire such a visceral response: it had the unenviable task of following up a beloved classic, which is perhaps the essential game of the entire zombie oeuvre. The game established its protagonist, Joel, as a classic American dad/badass figure, something like a zombie-killing Ron Swanson.

Before we go further, because it is essentially impossible to delve into what makes TLOU2 tick without spoilers, this review will contain some mild spoilers. Notably, two of the biggest reveals – the ones that caused the most consternation among TLOU fans – occur within the first hour or two of the game. Thus, they will be discussed here. If you want to be surprised during the early going of the game, stop reading here. However, if you’ve spent any time on the Internet in the past couple months, you’ve likely already discovered the plot points in question.

To be blunt, Joel is not the protagonist of this game.

That is because Joel is killed off before TLOU2 even really gets rolling.

Thus, the trajectory of the narrative in TLOU2 has inspired countless thinkpieces and angry YouTube comments. Joel’s death is the primary reason for this. As many disgruntled TLOU fans will tell you, it’s not that Joel died – it’s how he died. Which is jarringly early in the game, brutally, and at the hands of a character who is easy to dislike. “Joel deserved better” is a common refrain.

But the truth is that the writers of TLOU2 – including director Neil Druckmann – clearly intended to inspire these reactions. The goal was to get people talking with shocking plot decisions, and talk people have. Fans are rightly angry with what appears to be an attempt to toy with their emotions for the purpose of drumming up press for the game.

Nonetheless, the direction in which Druckmann has taken TLOU2 is far from unrealistic. Anyone who played TLOU knows that Joel’s actions in that game bordered on unforgivable in the eyes of numerous inhabitants of TLOU’s post-apocalyptic world. Certainly, there were going to be people seeking revenge, both for Joel’s crimes as well as for the blow he dealt to the future of humanity.

The writing in TLOU2 borders on “misery porn,” as some have described it, because it spends its time plumbing the characters’ emotional depths – the anguish of loss and the burning desire for revenge playing major roles in the script.

TLOU2 inflicts upon players a series of moral lessons, mostly dealing with the old adage “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Joel is killed by characters seeking revenge against him for his actions in Salt Lake City. Ellie, essentially Joel’s adopted daughter, spends TLOU2 seeking retribution against those characters for what they did to Joel. It’s a vicious cycle, and the game makes it perfectly clear that the game’s protagonists are not “good” people.

Druckmann and company likely hope that players will ponder the meaning of “good” in this context. Is anyone truly good? In a world ripped apart by a zombie apocalypse, is it possible to be good and stay alive?

As powerful as these questions may be, being forced by a video game to continually think about them can be an unpleasant experience. As I hacked my way through zombie hordes, executed sickeningly realistic stealth kills on human survivors, and watched the game’s violence unfold, I was reminded of films by Darren Aronofsky and Joshua and Benjamin Safdie – movies that deliver powerful messages by making viewers extremely uncomfortable.

For those of us who view gaming as an escape from the burdens of real life, TLOU2 can feel like an unwelcome encroachment on that safe haven. The world is difficult and stressful, why should a game be the same?

That’s a question that each individual player will have to answer for themselves. To me, it is best to consider the game in the same framework as those emotionally challenging films.

The uneasy feeling conveyed by the game to the player is compounded by its parallels to current events. When Ellie enters a building with a particularly heavy fungal infestation, she shouts “Spores! Masks on!” to warn her companions. This hits a little too close to home for any player relying on the game to provide an escape from the stress of daily life.

TLOU2 splits its time between two main player-controlled “protagonists”: the surly Ellie and the vengeful Abby. We are introduced to Abby early on, when the game’s perspective shifts from Ellie’s point of view to Abby’s. The transition between the two can be tough, since Abby is revealed quite early on to be the ostensible villain. It’s hard, because finding motivation to guide the enemy through pitfalls and obstacles is difficult while you think about how the game’s conflict would be resolved if you simply let her die. Nonetheless, the player cannot progress in the game without dutifully directing Abby to safety.

Control reverts back to Ellie, who is revealed to have a romantic interest in Dina, a fellow resident of the encampment in Wyoming where Joel and Ellie made their homes at the end of TLOU. This is another narrative choice that was decried by some as “pandering.” However, it seems fairly clear that Ellie was always a lesbian. Ellie even shared a kiss with Riley in a DLC for TLOU, so anybody who was surprised by this reveal likely wasn’t paying attention.

The violence and misery are generally a constant. Playing as Ellie and Abby serves simply to reveal that each character acts in ways she believes to be justified. The player can only spectate as the characters continually make morally questionable decisions, since although this is a game about moral choices, the choices themselves are generally pre-scripted.

Nonetheless, this review is also about how TLOU2 works as a game. It’s an impeccably produced, highly satisfying experience from the gameplay perspective. It’s up to the player to decide whether such a bummer of a game is worth playing, despite how bad it makes you feel.

 Visuals: 8/10

The settings in TLOU2 are stunningly rendered, lovingly crafted, and evocative of familiar settings seen through an apocalyptic lens. Some locations will seem almost like real life. A grocery store that appears early in the game, for example, eerily recreates a real-world store where I have shopped, from the font of the store’s logo to the layout of the interior.

Homes, offices, places of worship, temporary shelters, military encampments – all are packed with lifelike touches and evidence of humans simply struggling to survive in a chaotic world. Ellie will find tables set for dinner, notes written for passersby, and – often – scenes of carnage where survivors finally perished. The Fallout series wishes it could achieve the kind of post-apocalyptic ambience that’s on display in TLOU2.

Further, the emotions visible on the characters’ faces are lifelike and powerful. TLOU2’s characters spend a lot of time suffering through tragedy after tragedy, and the graphics convey the pain in their eyes. However, as video game graphics approach photorealism, they tend to fall into the uncanny valley – so close to realistic that they leave the player wishing that the cutscenes had just been filmed live.

 Audio: 9/10

The audio in TLOU2 is impeccable. The UI sound effects are endlessly satisfying. Players will find that their drive to find collectibles in the game is driven partially by the perfect little noises that occur when Ellie grabs a box of ammunition or a handful of parts. Those sounds are a constant positive feedback loop for the game’s never-ending collectathon.

The musical score is often sparse but always appropriate. Players are alerted to the occurrence of an “encounter” – when enemies are in the player’s immediate area – by a shift in the score to a more urgent and dramatic tone. The music reverts to a calmer, more sedate vibe when the enemies have been dispatched.

Players will spend a lot of time in TLOU2 listening – the R1 shoulder button activates a focused mode where the player character crouches and identifies enemy locations by sound. This feature also muffles any sounds that aren’t directly related to enemy movements. It’s a powerful tool that allows the player to get the drop on many enemies, which is essential for preserving scarce resources. The game perfectly captures the character’s focus on specific sounds and puts enemy noises on full display, ranging from the terrifying sonar-like call of the Clickers to the conversations of the uninfected human enemies.

Needless to say, the Infected all sound horrifying, their sounds perfectly capturing the torment of humans who have been infected with the mutant Cordyceps fungus that has run rampant in the world of TLOU2. Explosions pack a punch, with the perfect amount of bass to make the player really feel the percussive blast of C4. Stealth kill sound effects are almost unnecessarily realistic, recreating the stomach-turning gurgles of infected and humans alike as Ellie jams her switchblade into her victims.

 Gameplay: 6/10

Giving TLOU2 a 6 out of 10 for gameplay may border on heresy, considering that the game mechanics are largely similar to TLOU. However, it is important to keep in mind that seven years have transpired since the original release of TLOU. In that time, the stealth-and-item-scarcity-and-crafting gameplay loop has become a staple of AAA game development. TLOU2 still does it far better than most games, and there’s nothing quite as satisfying in TLOU2 as effectively utilizing the scarce resources available to work your way out of the game’s many jams.

However, I found myself often wishing that I could simply explore the highly detailed environments and immerse myself in the splendor and squalor of post-apocalyptic Seattle. I began to resent the constant presence of infected and enemy humans – how dare they encroach on my exploration? This may be an opinion that others do not share. Thus, add one or two points to this score if you personally enjoy item scarcity and nerve-wracking combat sequences.

 Accessibility: 8/10

TLOU2 never skimps on tutorial options and reminders as to the controls to be used in a given situation. Basically any object with which the player can interact is assigned a button – usually the triangle button for grabbing supplies or opening doors, the square button for fighting your way out of an enemy’s grasp, or the X button for performing actions such as a jump from a swinging rope.

An area in which TLOU2 particularly excels is its ability to make the player feel accomplished. The level designers masterfully nudge the player in the right direction, and an observant player will rarely get off track even in areas that seem confusing.

 Challenge: 9/10

One of the best features of TLOU2 is the difficulty settings menu. Players can change essentially every aspect of the game’s difficulty, ranging from scarcity of consumables to strength of the enemies. And – better yet – the changes can be made on the fly.

This is important because, as mentioned above, my favorite parts of this game were the calm, methodical exploration of abandoned buildings and the progression of the game’s plot. I grew tired of needing bullets when I had none, or wishing I had looked a little harder for Molotov cocktail components before proceeding into the next building swarming with infected.

Thus, I was able to adjust the difficulty settings mid-level – increasing Ellie’s endurance, decreasing enemy AI, and making items a bit more prevalent. Normally, I would feel ashamed to have decreased the challenge, but I felt fine about it in this instance.

 Replayability: 7/10

Although the twists and turns of the plot will lose their full impact after the first playthrough, the game has so many secrets that a single playthrough is likely insufficient to reveal all it has to offer. TLOU2’s strengths lie in its worldbuilding, and the little notes and evidence of the humans who passed through Seattle before Ellie and Abby are plentiful.

 Uniqueness: 6/10

As discussed above, things have changed with the modern AAA game industry since TLOU was released. The gameplay is far from unique, and although it is generally satisfying, players may find that it breaks no new ground. On the other hand, the game’s plot and approach to storytelling are largely new to video games. Whether the writers’ unique story choices are a positive or negative for the game must be left to the tastes of the player.

 My Personal Grade: 8/10

TLOU2 has an X-factor that bumped its score up for me. Although the story is consistently anxiety-inducing and depressing, with few happy or cheerful moments, the moodiness serves the game well. Even though the gameplay is familiar and uninventive, it is nonetheless pleasant, consistently rewarding player “ingenuity” (even when this is actually the game masterfully creating the illusion of ingenuity).
Any fan of TLOU who can get over the “Joel deserved better” mindset will find that TLOU2 is a worthy and impactful successor. The characters of TLOU were concerned with survival at all costs – and the characters of TLOU2 are forced to live with the consequences of those choices.

Whether it’s a piece of art that’s held back by its gameplay elements, or a strong game that’s held back by its artistic choices, TLOU2 succeeds in spite of its flaws to provide players with an enjoyable, immersive experience.

Aggregated Score: 7.6

The Law Mage is a writer, lawyer, and indie game developer with an affinity for print media, vinyl records, and retro games. Check out his various creative works at https://linktr.ee/chetstead.

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