Today, Sony’s State of Play produced the moment we’ve all been waiting for since the game was first announced in what feels like a lifetime ago in 2016 – The Last of Us Part II will release on Feb. 21, 2020 on PlayStation 4. We did have to sit through some comparatively docile announcements, but we finally got there.
Sony and developer Naughty Dog packaged the news in what is the most revelatory three-minute trailer for The Last of Us Part II to date. The impetus behind Ellie’s revenge mission hinted at in past teasers finally takes shape as we see her embark on a scouting mission through snow-covered ridges and valleys that soon turns ugly.
A bit of torture later with a few jump scares thrown in for good measure and the heavily implied death of her budding lover, Riley, Ellie is out for blood downing everything from rabid dogs to infected mutants, by way of a heavily organized contingent of human enemies. The clickers are back too, and they look terrifying, more so than ever before thanks to six years of graphical and technical advances.
It’s violent and doesn’t hold back, harking to previous trailers and their hyper-violent imagery. Darker themes and a decidedly more mature slant are set to define the sequel going by what we’ve seen today.
The cherry on top has, however, got to be the expertly choreographed appearance of none other than The Last of Us protagonist Joel. With weathered wrinkles and gray hairs to match, he reveals Ellie won’t be going at it alone.
After leaking via a Swiss retail site slip-up last week, albeit in incomplete form and with the wrong box art, we got our first look at the various editions of the game. Sony also revealed that The Last of Us Part II ships in five distinct editions: the standard edition, digital deluxe edition, special edition, collector’s edition, and the Ellie edition. The Ellie edition packs a selection of goodies, including a replica of Ellie’s backpack, a 12” statuette, and a whole host of other paraphernalia.
There you go ladies and gentleman; it’s been emotional, but we’ve finally got a release date. And, as we wait for that faithful late winter morning next year, we can find solace in the fact that Sony and Naughty Dog are about to crank the hype machine into overdrive in the months ahead.