Pre-order The Last of Us: Part II

This past week, footage from Naughty Dog's The Last of Us: Part II leaked across various sources online. Sony has been proactive about taking down any videos as quickly as possible, but I watched a lot of the footage before it was removed. The videos contained a number of interesting tidbits, including chapter names, key cut scenes and level lists with seemingly major spoilers, and there's a decent chunk of new gameplay. The spoilers in the leaked footage have clearly gotten Sony's attention. After announcing the game has been delayed "indefinitely" just weeks ago, Sony has now set a new release date of June 19, 2020, for The Last of Us 2.

As our teams at Sony Interactive Entertainment and Worldwide Studios approach development milestones and confront a world changed by COVID-19, we find ourselves having to adapt to today's ever-changing environment. Amidst some disruptions to our working styles, we wanted to provide an update to PlayStation gamers who are eager to learn when our next exclusive titles will arrive to PlayStation 4.

As we begin to see an ease in the global distribution environment, I am pleased to confirm that The Last of Us Part II will arrive on June 19. And Ghost of Tsushima will follow on July 17.

From the leaked footage, one of the videos depicts a long list of chapter names and their related environments to hint at some critical plot points. If this list is reflective of the final game, I'd estimate the game length will be 10-12 hours on average if we use the length of The Last of Us as a baseline. With 10 chapters (including an intro and epilogue), there's the potential for The Last of Us 2 to be a bit shorter than its predecessor.

Considering the level of quality in the leaked footage, the shorter length shouldn't deter gamers from what appears to be a fantastic-looking video game. Between Uncharted 4 and its related expansion, Naughty Dog has clearly gotten comfortable developing on the PS4 because the game looks stunning. The accomplishments in animation (particularly facial animations) for The Last of Us are applause-worthy, but The Last of Us 2 appears to be even better in that department. Ellie, Joel, and a number of other characters both new and old show great depths and emotion in each of the cut scenes. The leaked cut scenes indicate a viciously haunting and emotional game, so in that respect, it's no different than the first.

Without spoiling too much, it seems that Naughty Dog isn't shying away from making this game a direct continuation from the first title. I thought that The Last of Us ended perfectly, with a morally ambiguous ending for a morally ambiguous antagonist. A sequel seemed like a fool's errand, and while there's still plenty of narrative to see when the game finally releases, it's encouraging to see the confidence Naughty Dog seem to have with the storytelling in The Last of Us 2.

Players may also be happy to hear that the gameplay appears to remain similar in nature to the first one. If the leaked gameplay bits hold true, there should still be plenty of drawers to search, resources to gather, and items to craft. Combat wasn't shown in the leaked footage, but based on prior E3 demos, it should remain similar to the first game as well.

From the footage shown, despite one massive plot point being spoiled for me, I'm very excited for The Last of Us: Part 2. Yes, in many ways it looks like more of the same, but that's not a bad thing. Considering the quality of the original game, I'm happy to see Naughty Dog isn't messing with the formula too much. Fortunately for those as excited for the game as I am, the wait won't be much longer.