https://www.cybersport.ru/games/articles/the-last-of-us-part-ii-ispravila-oshibki-originala-pervye-vpechatleniya-ot-igry

Note: The developers asked to omit the plot details in this preview. In the text below I will talk about the gameplay of The Last of Us Part II, based on a segment of two hours of playing time from the middle of the plot. Impressions from this episode may not coincide with the overall assessment of the sequel – you can read a full review on June 12.

The loading screen is the first thing a player encounters in The Last of Us Part II. My old PS4 FAT consistently spent a good few minutes to cope with this screen. But here is an important clarification: this download is the only one in the entire two-hour period.

Seamless games are not new in the industry: in Max Payne 3, downloads were hidden under cut scenes, in Mass Effect they were disguised as elevators, and in God of War they were turned into meaningful limbo walks with Atreus. However, in The Last of Us Part II, everything is done at a qualitatively different level – and this is not empty praise. In the two trial hours of the game there is not a single download or cut-scene torn off from the gameplay – every second you will be an active participant in the events, and not just a spectator.

The episode begins with Ellie getting out of the shelter into the street, and right up to the final it will seem to you that you are in control of every step of the heroine – even if at that moment she is led by script rails ahead. The game literally sucks you in your narrative and does not let go until something is discharged – either the controller or your body.

Of course, it is not only the absence of the downloads themselves. The plot contributes much more to this, regularly changing conditions, scenery and enemies. When I just became interested in games, I constantly heard from my parents: “Put out the prefix, the best rest is a change of activity.” Ironically, the most vivid illustration of the effectiveness of the council turned out to be The Last of Us Part II – even a street in childhood could not offer me such a variety of activities.

For the two-hour segment proposed for the preview, Ellie managed to peacefully walk around Seattle, solve a couple of (very simple) puzzles with doors and safes, fight the nutcrackers, stalkers (but not those) and representatives of two warring factions, get an arrow (though not in the shoulder to the knee), silently crawl in the grass, and then shoot half of the ammunition in a protracted battle. Yes, all this can be done in other games – there are no revelations in this. But in the TLOU sequel, the duration of each scene seemed to be measured with a ruler: not only didn’t get bored, I even forgot to turn on a boring snob who used to scold all Naughty Dog games after Jak and Daxter.

Not so long ago, we published material in which I diagnosed Naughty Dog with a pathological inability to make interesting gameplay. It seems that now we need to apologize to the developers: they all knew how, just waited for the sequel to make a surprise. The Last of Us Part II is really fun to play – at least for the two hours that are available for preview. And this is already a lot! However, in addition to just a high tempo, the game can offer small, but very important corrections in the gameplay of the original. The Last of Us Part II cannot be called monotonous and boring even in standard scenes about clearing a location, and this is the main achievement of the developers.

When I, sitting in the headphones, heard the first shot in the game, then … let it not jump, but certainly shook my head distinctly. If in the original The Last of Us even rifles were fired with the sound of the corsair firecrackers (and not higher than the third category), then in the sequel even the starting pistol rumbles throughout the street, accompanied by a pleasant metal clang.

The effects from the hits are also in order – Naughty Dog clearly tried to make the opponents seem truly alive and tangible, and in every sense. From a technical point of view, this is due, for example, to the way opponents behave when they receive an arrow or a bullet in their face. Some stand still for a second, and then fall face down, others bleed for a long time, writhing in their death throes, and still others crash into the wall and dramatically crawl down it.

But there is another nuance here – rather narrative. All characters in The Last of Us Part II have names and some connections with this world. Yes, even for simple patrolmen and, moreover, for dogs. Because of this, by shooting a conditioned dog, Ellie launches a long chain of events each time. The owner of the dog at that moment will collapse next to the pet on his knees, shouting something like: “No, Rex, don’t dare to die!”, His friend will come to comfort the friend, and the squad leader will order the others to retreat and take a tactical position … or, conversely, send his fighters in search to avenge Private Rex – here it’s how lucky.

Between people, too, there are similar ties: noticing the corpse of an ally, one enemy cries out: “John? John! Get up! Yes, this can not be! What kind of thing could it do? ”, The other will quietly swear under her breath, and the third will calmly notify the others:“ John was killed, stay together, I will check where the shot came from. ” And this is only in one group – its competitors in the struggle for influence in Seattle look at life very differently, and this is felt not only in fixed cut scenes, but also in how they relate to each other and behave in shootouts.

These are very small pieces – hardly the information about who was friends with your last victim will somehow affect the perception of the game. However, they correct the main and, possibly, the only drawback of the original and allow you to see in the shootings not artificial arenas with mobs, but full-fledged story scenes, organically woven into a narrative.

After a couple of hours of playing the original The Last of Us, I began to spit every time when the smooth battle of the plot was suddenly interrupted by another battle with an army of faceless boobs. Damn developers are trying to stretch the game, I thought. However, during the scene from the preview of the existence of Naughty Dog, I did not even remember – the game dragged me on, and therefore I could think exclusively in-game categories.

Due to such changes in the preview episode, there is no division into gameplay and cut scenes, which was very noticeable in the original game. If in the first part you struggled forward to lie back in your chair and enjoy watching another video, then in the chapter in question from the sequel you won’t even notice the moment of transition: the game will keep you in suspense and toss up new types of tasks every minute.

Here you are walking around the city, quietly clicking the nutcrackers, and now you are crawling in the grass, trying to avoid the light of torches. Another minute – and you sneak through the outpost of the enemy, collecting a bag of cartridges, and then freeze in place and … start the photo mode. Because, among other things, The Last of Us Part II is also a real find for all game photography lovers. However, we’ll talk more about this after the release – the embargo is still in effect on screenshots.

In a two-hour scene for previews, the developers managed to show a city that really seems alive – in a game-hallway! During this short period I stopped several times to take screenshots of vivid landscapes, fought with several types of enemies, tried to slip quietly through locations and started long shootings myself, read notes, even engaged in platforming a bit – and, perhaps, for the first time in my game life I thought that the developers found the wrong proportion between all of these elements.

However, two hours is a small part of the game, and therefore many questions remain open. Did The Last of Us Part II manage to keep this pace to the end? Could screenwriters not ruin the legacy of the first part? Is Ally a lesbian? We will give answers to them in the review, which will be released on June 12.