The Last of Us Part II director Neil Druckmann reveals new information about the upcoming video game sequel including the new infected.
The Last of Us Part II will have new infected enemies
Druckmann said in an interview that game protagonist Ellie will face new challenges. Game developer Naughty Dog developed new infected enemies for her to face, but they did not make new types for the sake of it. In doing so, they created the new Shambler – a mutation bursting with hazardous vapor.
In the first game, there is all this documentation about the different stages [of the infection]. Now we have to justify why there are different stages. Why are there mutations of these things? Without getting into it here, there is something about the environment and how much time has passed that has allowed these mutations to occur.
Aside from giving the game more enemies to fight, Shamblers will also make encounters intense due to its dangerous abilities.
We have Runners that close the distance quickly. We have Clickers that move slowly but are one-hit kills. Shamblers provide this area of attack, where they have this cloud of gaseous acid that burns materials around it. It burns your skin. The way you saw it in this demo is that they’re mostly on their own. It gets really interesting because you have a cloud that hurts you when you enter it, but it also blocks your view, then Runners burst through it. So the combinations get really interesting.
Human enemies more believable
Druckman also revealed that the game will have believable human enemies. They want it to make a more authentic and grim action game.
We want to treat violence as realistically as we can in an action game. One example is that every human enemy in the game features a unique name, such as Omar, or Joe. For Naughty Dog, implementing this was a nontrivial task. [This was] a big effort that required not only new tech, but a lot of recording investment …. The way they communicate is much more sophisticated.. We do that in order to make you feel it’s not just like an NPC or braindead obstacle.
Players will notice that if Ellie takes out an enemy, their enemies will cry out in pain due to grief. Due to this, they will become enraged and become a very unpredictable enemy to fight. It becomes a more brutal yet believable experience.
The Last of Us Part II will be launching on PlayStation 4. It will be released on February 21, 2020.
Source: PlayStation Blog