Entertainment

Games: The Last of Us Part 2 puts the fun into fungal apocalypse

The Last of Us Part 2 betters the original, itself one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time
The Last of Us Part 2 betters the original, itself one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time The Last of Us Part 2 betters the original, itself one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time

The Last of Us Part 2 (PS4)

By: Sony

AN OVERLOOKED word in the title can make all the difference. The sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time isn’t just The Last of Us 2 – it’s “Part 2”, in a conscious reference to the equally revered Godfather Part II.

And much like Francis Ford Coppola’s follow-up, the PS4’s marquee swansong continues an epic tale of violence and family that’s even deeper and more majestic than the original.

Another grim road movie that still manages to put the fun into fungal apocalypse, the intoxicating sweep of LoU2 is gripping, intricate and dense, ensuring Sony's PS4 goes out with a bang. Just as the original bade farewell to the PlayStation 3 in 2013, its sequel represents one helluva headstone for the current hardware.

And, as HBO prepares a fittingly bleak TV adaptation from the grief-monger behind Chernobyl, LoU2 continues the tale of a world gone to hell in a handcart, with the (now scarily familiar sounding) cordyceps virus having changed life forever.

The rabidly awaited follow-up to the seven-year-old benchmark reunites players with the grizzled Joel and young Ellie, whose immunity to the virus fuelled the original’s plot. And while I won’t spoil any surprises, its lesson in the futility of tit-for-tat revenge (that we’re all too familiar with in this part of the world) is breathtaking in scope, and not only lives up to the artistic and dramatic excellence of the first, but shatters it with a mid-game rug-pull that shifts focus to mind-blowing effect.

A complicated time-shifting narrative follows the same grubby, brutal gameplay beats of the original, with much scurrying through buildings, snuffling for combat treats, and shank-heavy ultraviolence against the infected and rival gangs. Once again the gameplay is gloriously cinematic, seamlessly switching between cut-scenes and gameplay, with peerless setpieces and lashings of totes emosh helped by a little guitar noodling from A-ha.

Battling the more aggressive strains of your fungal foe, there isn’t mushroom for error – while a waddling mattress of growths will soak up your precious ammo, the nippier, snarling types can overwhelm you en masse. But while the game's grotesquery was the original’s headline act, infected take more of a backseat for the sequel, with various human factions (inexplicably still able to rock cool canvas workwear) your main foe.

Some of the dramatic beats are a bit on the nose and, to be fair, it’s more of the same – and though its environments are much bigger, those hoping for a more open-world take on the action will be disappointed with what’s still a fairly linear effort.

Its incredible tech grunt, however, bridges the divide between this generation and the next, with even oft-overlooked things like the myriad options for in-game subtitles showing just how much thought and polish has been lavished on one of the PS4's last hurrahs. Much like the Godfather, Last of Us Part 2 manages to better a stone-cold classic. Here’s hoping Part 3 doesn’t follow that particular film series' template.