The Last of Us Part II : Videogame review
- Kaitlyn Cowling
- Oct 21, 2020
- 7 min read
Some background
I have been a fan of The Last of Us (TLOU) since the first game was released in 2013. I first experienced the game as a ‘let’s play’ on YouTube, but once I’d finished it, I knew I had to play it for myself. I wasn’t (and still aren’t) much of a ‘gamer’ unless you count hours and hours in Sims 4 and Animal Crossing New Horizons. However, there have been a few narrative based games that have a fond place in my heart and TLOU has the top spot. It was probably the first game to make me consider videogames as an art form - a platform to tell stories through in an exciting and engaging way. I LOVED TLOU – I would go months without playing it and still be doodling clickers and fireflies in the margins of my school books. So, you can imagine my excitement when the trailer for The Last of Us Part II (Part 2) was released in 2016. Back then I couldn't even imagine what Part 2 would be like (and I thought TLOU was an emotional roller coaster ha!). It goes without saying that this review will contain MAJOR spoilers for both TLOU and Part 2 so please, if you haven’t watched playthroughs or played them yourself proceed at your own risk.
Also check out my review of The Last of Us: https://katecowling2199.wixsite.com/myblog/post/the-last-of-us-video-game-review
The review
The Last of Us Part 2 is first and foremost a story of revenge and grief. Such a powerful, emotionally driven story required a ballsy and controversial decision that would really matter to the characters. This is how Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross ultimately came to the decision to kill one of the beloved main characters of the first game – Joel. This decision caused much controversy among fans, driving some to completely disregard the narrative genius of Part 2, blinded by their rage. While I adored Joel and SOBBED as I watched Ellie go through his belongings (the watch broke my heart), I completely understand why they did it. This game has so much emotional drive and impact that wouldn’t exist if Joel hadn’t died, especially in the way he did - it was brutal. The scene of Joel’s death was painful to watch and definitely warranted an angry response. You immediately empathise with Ellie – you are ready to kill Abby and anyone who tries to stop you. This is why it is such a genius choice to have a narrative structure that provides both sides of the story. By building empathy for both the characters of Ellie and Abby, Naughty Dog made every decision so much more demanding.
However, despite this darker tone I still fell in love with the narrative and the details that went into this seven-year labour of love. First, I want to talk about the enemies. The enemies feel so much more human, making the morality of killing them more difficult. The enemies in Part 2 shout out to each other using names, react to killed allies, scream out in pain and choke on their own blood. The writers also introduced dogs as enemies making animal lovers (or let’s face it, anyone with a heart) apologise and grimace at every puppy dog whimper and cry from a devastated owner. The whistling communication used by the Seraphites makes combat harder, since you no longer know what the enemies have seen or what they are planning. As well as changes to enemies themselves, new capabilities were added such as: smashing glass with bricks and bottles, going prone, and using ropes. These abilities create opportunities to explore environments and defeat enemies in your own unique way. Other smaller details that mostly served as improvements from the first game still impressed me. New details such as: the character actually putting a bandage on when they use a Medi pack, physically putting items away in their pockets and backpack, the new workbench system that shows how the upgrades are made to a weapon, learning skills from sources such as chemistry books and hunting magazines, as opposed to manuals as well as the puzzle element of finding safe combinations hidden in the environment and manually entering the numbers. Not to mention little moments like Ellie putting her hood up after stepping out into the rain or the edges of Abby’s vision becoming blurred because of her fear of heights. Even the laboured breathing from a character after you have made them run. All of these details add to the level of realism, elevating the immersion of the story.
These improvements and subversions from the first game make Part 2 feel fresh and elevated without forgetting its roots. Combined with the stunningly realistic graphics (the overgrown environments, museums, aquariums, arcades, stormy seas, I could go on and on) and sound design (the thunderstorms were so atmospheric) these details are what dignify Part 2 as an art piece in its own right.
While Part 2 is often described as a ‘dark game for a dark time’, it also contains pockets of light which provide brief respite from the brutal narrative and environments. Moments such as, the flashbacks with Joel in the museum shine through the darkness, giving us more of the father + daughter bond we love so dearly from the first game. Ellie’s love of space, developed from the Savage Starlight comics, is evolved and displayed. I couldn’t stop smiling but I of course shed a few tears knowing Joel was gone. Other light-hearted moments come from Ellie and Dina’s relationship and Abby’s willingness to help Lev and Yara.
A few of my favourite scenes in Part 2 centre around the firefly hospital at the end of TLOU. The first being the scene that reveals that 2 years earlier, Ellie went back to the hospital and uncovered the truth. I began to feel emotional as soon as I realised what was happening, but what made me cry was seeing Ellie’s face as she pleaded with Joel not to lie to her again. At this point the player realises that Ellie knows what Joel did - yet she is still seeking revenge, making the player question Ellie’s morals. The second scene was when I realised who Abby’s dad was. It suddenly all made sense and was SO powerful. They could have made Abby’s dad any random firefly but, to make him the surgeon tasked with operating on Ellie, changed everything. It even, in a way, affects how the player would re-play TLOU, now knowing Abby and her story would killing the surgeon be any harder or would you still do anything to save Ellie?
Another extremely dark section of the game that remains vivid in my mind is on the Seraphite’s Island when they are under attack from the WLF. Everything is on fire and there are screams and violence in every direction like some sort of hellscape. At this point in the game Lev has an extremely traumatic confrontation with his mother where he accidentally kills her and not long after that, he loses his sister Yara after everything they had been through. I often find that scenes that make me emotional have a lasting effect on me and having connected with Lev’s character, this section of the game has stuck in my mind. When a game can make you care about the characters to such a degree that you care about their suffering, you know it is effective.
The main characters of Part 2 each have successful dramatic arcs realised and shown through their actions. Both Ellie and Abby are dealing with the grief of a father figure through revenge. They both push the people they love away through their obsession with killing those who have wronged them. Abby loses Owen forever and when Ellie returns at the end of the game, Dina has left. Abby is the first to overcome her grief that wasn’t absolved by killing Joel by saving and helping Yara and Lev. This shift is shown through Abby’s recurring nightmare of failing to save her father that one-night changes to feature Lev and Yara being hanged. The change in the nightmare compels Abby to go back for them. Ellie’s arc takes the entire game to be realised. For a moment we are led to believe that she may have finally accepted Joel’s death when we are on the farm with Dina and JJ. However, we soon realise she is not yet over it through her PTSD attack in the barn. Tommy’s pressure on her to continue hunting Abby down gives her the push she needed to act. In the end, Ellie finally finds relief by letting Abby and Lev live on, likely to form a maternal – mother and son bond not unlike Joel and Ellie’s father and daughter one.
I found the end fight between Ellie and Abby extremely traumatic. Having just spent the last few hours of the game learning who Abby is, her story, and empathising with her loss, as well as seeing her put her differences aside to help Yara and Lev. Being made to play as Ellie, cut Abby and Lev down from their posts to then fight and almost drown Abby was devastating. In a video essay about Part 2, Nathan Zed said he has never gotten to a boss fight and not wanted either of the characters to die until this instance and I couldn’t agree more.
There is much to be said about the first game’s theme of humanity, but I feel, with Part 2’s narrative structure and difficult moral decisions - Part 2 says so much more about human nature and the capacity to have both good and evil within us. If you allow it to affect you, by the end of the game you have empathy and understanding for both characters. No one is right and no one is wrong. You feel neither of them deserve to die and that last fight is so much more emotionally challenging than the average ‘let’s kill this pure evil person we have hated this entire game.’
Is The Last of Us Part 2 the perfect game? No. Of course not. Just like all art forms it is impossible to make something ‘perfect’ especially since the ‘perfect’ will always be subjective. But does the whole game deserve to be written off because they killed your favourite character, or you feel that Abby’s muscles aren’t realistic for a ‘feminine figure’ absolutely and irrefutably not. This game was well worth the seven year wait – it is an impactful, emotionally driven narrative full of dark, complex morals and moments of light. I can say with confidence that the story of The Last of Us Part 2 will stay with me for a long time.
Kaitlyn.
Sources:
The Last of Us Part II
My personal playlist of The Last of Us related videos
Nathan Zed's video essay
The Last of Us Part II behind the scenes
While you're here go follow these lovely people who worked on the game:
Neil Druckmann (Writer)
Halley Gross (Writer)
Ashley Johnson (aka Ellie)
Laura Bailey (aka Abby)
Shannon Woodward (aka Dina)
Troy Baker (aka Joel)
Thanks for reading :)
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