James Lynch 
PlayStation opened their 2018 E3 conference with a haunting, if somewhat random, banjo performance, before jumping straight into an extended look at Naughty Dog’s much anticipated sequel to The Last of Us. Ellie is older, and seemingly spending her nights playing tonsil tennis with her girlfriend, and her days brutally murdering raiders. The gameplay trailer showed off some pretty nice visuals, as well as some fairly gnarly torture and execution scenes.
The combat looks good and chunky, with some fairly violent confrontations remaining at the forefront of the experience. The sneaking and flanking looks nuanced, with the ability to hide under cars and listen to enemies, who also have dynamic conversations, really adding to the feel of the game. The quick-time events are what they are, but the way they are concluded looks particularly crisp and cinematic. The ability to make use of a human shield was a particular highlight.
The original game, like the sequel, is a PlayStation exclusive, and remains one of the highest rated titles on the platform. The extended trailer for The Last of Us 2 was longer than almost anything featured at Microsoft’s event yesterday, which would suggest we aren’t going to get the insane range of titles featured there, but if this has started as it means to go on we are in for a treat.
The Sony conference is now well underway so make sure to tune into the coverage here, and don’t forget to follow the website for all the latest updates throughout E3.
