The wait for The Last of Us Part 2 multiplayer will be worth it, says Druckmann

By Aaron Mamiit September 27, 2020

Naughty Dog has no updates yet for the multiplayer mode of The Last of Us Part 2, but according to the studio’s vice president Neil Druckmann, it will be worth the wait.

In The Last of Us Day, the renamed annual celebration of everything The Last of Us, Naughty Dog revealed a free new dynamic theme for the PlayStation 4, merchandise, and even a new board game. Players, however, were expecting information on The Last of Us Part 2 multiplayer, but the event ended without any announcements.

Druckmann, however, in a tweet expressing gratitude to The Last of Us fans, hinted at The Last of Us Part 2‘s highly anticipated multiplayer mode.

Thank you to all the wonderful fans for an incredible #TheLastofUsDay ! Your positivity and love is incredibly inspiring. Oh… and about that other thing… be patient. It’ll be worth it. ❤️

— Dr. Uckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) September 27, 2020

As players finished the controversial story of The Last of Us Part 2, the wait started for its version of Factions, which is the multiplayer mode of The Last of Us. Since Naughty Dog said about a year ago that The Last of Us Part 2 will not include an online mode upon release, speculation has been rampant on the kind of multiplayer gameplay that will be rolled out for the game.

The Last of Us Part 2 controversy

The Last of Us Part 2 set a new record as the fastest-selling first-party PlayStation 4 exclusive ever when it launched in June, with 4 million copies sold in its first three days. However, the game’s controversial story resulted in review bombing and death threats.

Naughty Dog has since re-introduced the Grounded difficulty setting, as well as added a Permadeath mode, to The Last of Us Part 2, while working with HBO on a TV show adaptation of the first game’s story.

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Gaming

The Last of Us finale makes a subtle change from the game to set up season 2

Joel holds the surgeons at gunpoint in The Last of Us' finale.

HBO viewers were rocked Sunday night by the finale of The Last of Us, which brought the iconic ending of Naughty Dog's critically acclaimed game to life in live-action. It was an extremely faithful adaptation, with no huge deviations from the source material. However, a key change was made that will help the show more gracefully transition into its adaptation of The Last of Us Part II.
Note: Spoilers for The Last of Us TV show and The Last of Us Part II video game to follow.
At the climax of The Last of Us Season 1's final episode, we see Joel annihilate most of the Fireflies and doctors at the Salt Lake City hospital as they prepare to operate on Ellie to get a cure, which would have killed her in the process. It's a chilling sequence that hits the same dubious, morally horrifying notes as it did in the game, and little is changed.
We see Joel kill the surgeon about to operate on Ellie after he picks up a scalpel and says he won't let Joel take her. Joel shoots him in cold blood, but does not kill the nurses assisting him. As he walks out of the room with Ellie, a shot lingers on the face of the now-deceased surgeon, punctuating Joel's massacre.

That may sound like a small cinematic altercation, but that lingering shot is very meaningful to those of us that played The Last of Us Part II. In the original game, we don't think much about Joel's victim; he's just some nameless doctor. In Part II, however, we meet that doctor's daughter, Abby, who's on a quest for revenge. What's a thoughtless action for Joel becomes deeply personal for someone he's never met.
By adding in that extra shot, the finale more confidently sets that up. Even if casual viewers don't know it yet, the groundwork is being laid for something that will be very important in the next season and makes it clear that the show knows where it's going.
The finale further teases what's to come with a smart bit of casting. Eagle-eyed fans may notice that one of the nurses during the scene is played by Laura Bailey, who portrays Abby in The Last of Us Part II. It's likely just the show paying tribute to the game's cast (as it did in episode 8 with Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the video games), but it's also another way to tease what's to come in the next season. Abby is coming for Joel. Prepare your golf balls.
Of course, when Naughty Dog released The Last of Us in 2013, it didn't yet know that this doctor would play such a pivotal part in the sequel's story, so not as much focus was put on him in the game. The developers retroactively tried to correct this with a retelling of the sequence from Abby's perspective in The Last of Us Part II and updated models in the game's remake.
Showrunners Craig Maizin and Neil Druckmann have the benefit of knowing this moment's importance from the start and not being locked to Joel's third-person perspective. They can now take the time to linger with a shot like this, emphasizing what Joel has done and laying the groundwork for what comes next. It's a short and subtle shot that slightly deviates from the original game, but it's also something that could only be done in this TV show and will certainly be hugely important for the show as we head into season 2.
The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO Max.

Entertainment

Now that The Last of Us is over, you should watch these TV shows and movies

Pedro Pascal stands in front of Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us.

It had to end sometime. Season 1 and episode 9 of The Last of Us just finished, and a lot of people are probably bummed they can't get more postapocalyptic drama. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, the show chronicles a lonely man who guides a traumatized teenage girl across an unrecognizable America in the hopes of finding a cure for a fungal virus that has turned most of the world's population into flesh-eating zombies.

With an impressive 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and a steadily increasing viewership week after week, The Last of Us has already become the greatest video game adaptation ever made and now ranks among some of HBO's biggest shows. In case anyone is anxious to see more of the series, here are some shows/films similar to The Last of Us that will make the wait for season 2 easier.
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Computing

Here’s how you can get The Last of Us for free from AMD

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AMD has just announced a particularly well-timed bundle. If you're a fan of The Last of Us, be it the game or the show, you might find this deal worth picking up.

Starting today, you'll be able to score a free copy of the upcoming The Last of Us Part I for PC if you buy an AMD GPU. The chipmaker is also throwing in a discount on one of its best graphics cards.