SONY
The Last of Us 2 PS4 Release date News: Outbreak Day Updates, Gameplay Trailer and Rumours (Pic: SONY)
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OUTBREAK DAY
We're now just three days away from Outbreak Day, the yearly celebration for Naughty Dog's end of the world epic.
For those who don't know or remember, September 26th is the official date of the outbreak in The Last of Us.
That's when the world went to s**t and the mushroom zombies started to run rampant. Ok, so not exactly a celebratory event, but for fans of the game it's a chance to rejoice at everything the game and world has given us.
As far back as 2013, developer Naughty Dog has celebrated Outbreak Day with loads of deals and promotional bits and pieces. And true to form, Outbreak Day 2018 will be no different, with the team preparing some special pieces for their fans.
As per the Outbreak day website, there are eight special blocks of content already prepared. Some we already know (listed below) and others are still a secret.
So far we know that Naughty Dog has prepared an avatar set, a new PS4 theme, various device wallpapers as well as the “Last of Us (Cycles)” official theme song for The Last of Us Part 2.
Who knows, maybe one of the remaining surprises will unearth some new clues for the game. Only time will tell, so stand by for updates in the coming days…
The Last of Us Part 2 Screenshots
From the developers at Naughty Dog comes the sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed games of the generation. Watch the world reveal trailer that made its debut at PlayStation Experience 2016. 
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THE LAST OF US PART 2 – Overview
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Naughty Dog
Format: PS4
Genre: Action/stealth
THE LAST OF US PART 2 – What we know so far
The Last of Us Part 2 is a sequel to Naughty Dog's critically and commercially successful The Last of Us, which launched for PS3 in 2013.
The game will contain elements of action-adventure and survival horror, similar in tone to its predecessor.
It will follow on from the events of the first game and will feature the return of protagonists Ellie and Joel five years after the events of The Last of Us.
The game has already received awards, despite only being in development since 2014: the PlayStation Blog has already rewarded the game with the 'Most Anticipated Game of the Year' award, and the title has also been awarded 'Most Wanted' by the Golden Joysticks.
The game was originally announced at the PlayStation Experience event in December 2016.
It's also (obviously) a PS4 exclusive (undoubtedly with enhancements for PS4 Pro players) and will likely push the boundaries of what the PS4 architecture can achieve.
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The Last of Us Part 2 – Release Date
There has been no official word on when we can expect The Last of Us Part II to release on the PlayStation 4.
However, we do know that development on the game started back in 2014, and motion capture for the title started in 2016, so a lot of the pieces are certainly coming together.
Also, in a recent interview with Argentinian radio station Vorterix, The Last of Us Part II's composer Gustavo Santaolalla stated the title is planned to launch exclusively for PS4 in 2019.
This has not been confirmed by the studio or by anyone at Sony and could be outdated information, so don't take that information at face value.
Naughty Dog noted the game was around 50-60% done in December 2017.
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The Last of Us 2 – GAMEPLAY
In our first look at The Last of Us Part 2's gameplay at E3, we got an extended trailer.
It opens with an older Ellie standing at the bar, cynical and looking on a barn dance. The cinematic quality definitely reminds us of Uncharted – and we get to see Ellie's more personal side (it appears she may be gay – or at least not straight).
The graphics look amazing, and the music from Gustavo Santaolalla plays in the background to really compliment the story and the narrative beats. This is Naughty Dog storytelling at its finest.
The contrast to the next scene – where Ellie is stabbing a man in the neck – is staggering. Now we have gameplay.
The animation is smooth, realistic. The dynamic real-time lighting engine shows the importance of light sources and stealth. Ellie's motion-capture is industry-leading – we're confident about saying that now.
It's clear that there's a renewed focus on melee gameplay this year compared to what we got with The Last Of Us – stealth into melee is fluid, seems both are just as important as each other.
A series of new mechanics in the game – gunplay whilst crouched, struggle mechanics, and much quicker moment-to-moment action (think of this as a 'popcorn film' – story-driven but very gameplay and action based. White knuckle.
Ellie now has an exploding bow that she can use to take out clusters of enemies, and a variety of brutal takedowns with machetes, daggers and guns. She's not the girl we knew from the first game. She's terrifying… as the flashback that goes back to her shows.
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The Last of Us Part II – Multiplayer
Naughty Dog has revealed that The Last of Us Part II will have multiplayer… sort of.
Anthony Newman, the games co-director, told Polygon that a form of multiplayer will be in the gaming during an interview at E3 2018.
“There is going to be multiplayer with the game,” Newman said. “Were really excited to share details about it, but thats going to be at a later date.”
Speaking to Gamespot, game directors Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau noted that Factions mode will be returning to the game, too – that's a mode that was included in the original game, and saw survivors compete in Deathmatch style games with a metagame added over the top.
Factions will be making a return, though we don't know what form that will take yet… we expect to hear more in 2019 closer to release.
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The Last of Us 2 Part 2 story
All we know so far is that The Last of Us II takes place five years after the events of the first game.
This means main character Ellie will be 19 years old in this game, and will be watched over by Joel – who is slowly ageing and losing the energy he once had.
Ellie is remarkably angry – that much is clear from the marketing material released for the game so far.
The game's story is written by Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross, and Druckmann has stated that in contrast with the first installment, which was centered around love, The Last of Us II will be centered around hate.
Expect Ellie's story in this game to revolve around revenge or something similar – maybe we'll see more human enemies in this game than infected enemies as a result.
The Last of Us 2 – Narrative Crafting
The Last of Us 2 won't be pulling any punches when it comes to delivering a hard-hitting message.
A new interview with game director Niel Druckmann and co-writer Halley Gross has revealed that Naughty Dog won't be shying away from big themes in the much-anticipated sequel.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Druckmann was keen to outline this is a different flavour of game to your usual post-apocalyptic setup.
“What we do different at Naughty Dog is I think we have a radically different approach than most studios, and that is that were very character driven," he notes.
"What makes us unique is everything we do from gameplay to art to story is ultimately in service of a message; theres something were trying to say. And second to that is that we say that thing with honest, well-told, strong characters.”
Continuing when asked about the problem of making violence 'fun', Druckmann notes:
"We dont use the word fun. We say engaging, and it might seem like a minor distinction, but its an important one for us, which is, we believe that if we're invested in the character and the relationships theyre in and their goal, then we're gonna go along on their journey with them and maybe even commit acts that make us uncomfortable across our moral lines and maybe get us to ask questions about where we stand on righteousness and pursuing justice at…ever-escalating costs.”
Don't expect this game to go easy on your emotions.
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The Last of Us Part 2 – Development
Troy Baker speaks:
The Last of Us Part 2 release date might still be some while away but after this latest news, it feels that little bit closer.
According to Troy Baker, the world famous voice actor who plays Joel in The Last of Us, they've just finished a playtest for the game.
Baker was speaking at a press panel – along with Nolan North – at the MCM Comic Con in Birmingham, when he revealed the news, along with usual plaudits saying how awesome the game looked. He said:
"We just finished a playtest and its looking awesome, I cant wait for it to be on shelves”
As Redditors pointed out, a playtest is a great sign for the game. One even said: “A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before bringing it to market”.
You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
The Last of Us Part II (PS4)
The Last of Us Part 2 – Naughty Dog staff
Naughty Dog made some big appointments in March 2018 and some of the changes inside the company relate directly to the release of the companies next big game release, which is of course, The Last of Us Part 2.
Writing on a new post on Naughty Dog's website, president Evan Wells announced that Neil Druckmann – who has had key roles in the development of the first two Uncharted games and as the creative director for both The Last of Us and Uncharted 4 – has been promoted to vice president.
Despite the change in role, Druckmann will remain as The Last of Us Part 2's creative director.
Wells' also revealed the joint game directors for The Last of Us Part 2, revealing that Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau, previously lead game designers on Uncharted 4 and with experiencing working on the first Last of Us game, would take the lead.
"Both Kurt and Anthony joined Naughty Dog during Uncharted 2 and have been instrumental in leading the design department, and have been key contributors on our subsequent games," Wells said.
Most recently Margenau was integral as the joint director for Uncharted spin-off Lost Legacy.
Finally, it was announced that Emilia Schatz and Richard Cambier will serve as the lead designers for the new Last of Us game, again having showed their pedigree previously having worked on multiple Naughty Dog games, including Uncharted 4 and the original Last Of Us title.
The Last of Us 2 – CGI DOGS
Hold the front page. The Last of Us 2 is probably going to include a CGI dog.
In a tweet celebrating the start of the Chinese Year of the Dog, Naughty Dog director Neil Druckmann posted a picture of himself sitting with a dog in a motion-capture suit.
Whilst Druckmann doesn't detail what role the dog will have in the game, it's safe to say it'll be a fairly big part – otherwise why would the studio go through the hassle of motion-capturing the animal?
Whether the dog will be a friend or foe, however, is yet to be revealed. It could be that the dog is going to be your 'buddy' – something Naughty Dog is a fan of including in its games.
In the first The Last of Us title, we saw Ellie act as your buddy, whilst Uncharted 4 saw Nathan's brother Sam take up that role for the most part.
The Last of Us 2 – Druckmann on his Inspiration
The Last of Us 2 director Neil Druckmann took to the stage at the DICE Summit last week for a talk called Crafting Narratives for Video Games, Film, and Television.
Though Druckmann touched on numerous topics, including content that was cut from Uncharted 4, he did provide something of an update on The Last of Us Part 2.
More specifically the director opened up about the inspirations for the game and one of those concerned the award-winning graphic novel turned Netflix original series, The End of the F***ing World.
“Theres a show on Netflix called The End of the F***ing World, which is so well written and acted and quirky, and has been totally inspiring for some of the stuff were doing in [The Last of Us 2]—more on the dialogue stuff.”
He also noted how the studio drew a lot of inspiration from Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 dystopian thriller film, Children of Men.
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