With over 200,000 views in under two hours, it's evident fans have flocked to the latest look at The Last of Us Part II. But it's hard to gauge the reaction because Sony has disabled comments. | Source: Naughty Dog/YouTube
As teased yesterday, Naughty Dog has released a brand new story trailer for the upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive The Last of Us Part II.
As a snapshot of what players can expect come June 19 when the game launches, the trailer is as brutal as it is unsettling. We witness Ellie stabbing someone in the neck and discharging a shotgun at point-blank range, among other eerie scenes.
The violence on show, while not wholly gratuitous, promises a bleak world steeped in brutality and an appropriately macabre narrative to match. Interestingly, much of it appears directed at other humans rather than zombies.
With already over 200,000 views in under two hours, it’s evident fans have flocked to the latest look at The Last of Us Part II to tide them over until launch. But it’s hard to gauge the reaction because Sony has disabled both the comments and the like/dislike feature on the YouTube video.
Looking for a reason behind this, we presume Sony wants to allow would-be fans a chance to experience the trailer free of spoilers.
Last week, massive leaks surfaced online courtesy of hackers pillaging Naughty Dog’s servers. These included story beats, cut scenes, and more than a few surprises.
As someone who unfortunately came across these, I’ll say they are potent enough to spoil the game. Avoid them at all costs if you want an untarnished experience.
As has been well-documented, people have taken to dropping The Last of Us Part II spoilers in unlikely places as far-reaching as unrelated Twitter threads and even the live-streamed premiere of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
It’s safe to say much the same would have surfaced had Sony enabled the comments under the latest trailer. Dispossessing the trolls of their most powerful weapon to spread spoilers seems like a wise move in this instance.
The act of removing the like/dislike buttons is a little more curious. Are Sony and Naughty Dog trying to pre-empt numerical proof of the backlash to what will surely be yet another controversial The Last of Us Part II trailer?