Game developer Naughty Dog got a major fan backlash in June during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2016 in Los Angeles when it did not make any announcement regarding its highly-anticipated action-survival horror video game “The Last of Us 2.”
Many were expecting that Naughty Dog will have the time to prepare for “The Last of Us 2” since it has already taken out on its plate the “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” video game when it was released on the PlayStation 4 in May.
As if to appease the fan enthusiasm and excitement for the game, Director Neil Druckmann recently came out to shed details on the sequel to the popular “The Last of Us” game.
It could be recalled that “The Last of Us” had a rather morally ambiguous ending, which means that the sequel might see that one of the two main characters has to go while the other one has to pull the trigger on the other, details Movie News Guide.
In “The Last of Us,” Ellie willingly offered herself to undergo surgery in order to help the renegade Fireflies find a cure for the disease that has plagued the world since Ellie is immune from the virus. But if she goes under the knife, she will die in the process.
Joel did not want Ellie to proceed with her plan because he believes that there is still an option. So he killed everyone at Fireflies then lied to Ellie when she woke up.
He said that there are others like her and a cure will most likely be found. The credits of the video game followed shortly and gamers really felt that they were given a cliffhanger, similar to watching a season finale of a TV series.
The motivation to kill
According to critics, “The Last of Us 2” may see Ellie getting the right motivation to kill Joel, which is why there are also rumors that Joel shall no longer be part of the sequel.
While Druckmann did not confirm the death of Joel, he did say that the violence in the game had weight with that of the real world.
“The Last of Us” showed to gamers the various repercussions of resorting to such actions.
Druckmann made the statement while being interviewed by the Southern California Public Radio where he also said that the way he creates the narrative for Naughty Dog video games is quite different from how movie productions go.
The game director says that his method works best in defining the character as they are and that the voice actors of the game can very well attest to it.
Possible release date
According to rumors, the earliest that “The Last of Us 2” could come out in the gaming consoles is in late 2019 or early 2020 because it actually took Druckmann four years to complete “The Last of Us” before it was released to the consoles in 2013.
There were rumors before that “The Last of Us 2” was already in the works especially in light of the hint by voice actor Nolan North during a Q&A portion at MertoCon a few months ago, notes Game & Guide.
Before the E3 2016, fans were somehow made to believe that “The Last of Us 2” will be announced at the event because of what seemed like a “The Last of Us 2” Easter egg in the action-adventure third-person shooter video game “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” released in May by Naughty Dog exclusively on the PlayStation 4.
Some gamers and critics subsequently came out with theories that Ellie may already be pregnant in the sequel to “The Last of Us” while Joel might already be dead.
Despite the non-appearance of “The Last of Us 2” at the recent E3 2016, gamers are still confident that the game is now in development.
The notion grew further after Naughty Dog lead game designer Emilia Schartz posted Naughty Dog’s latest job offering on Twitter.
The job offering says that the game developer is looking to hire several level designers, a feature that is very prominent in “The Last of Us 2.”