Naughty Dog struck gold last year with The Last of Us; a gritty, bloody adventure set within the dilapidated remains of a post-apocalyptic United States. Praised for its superb storyline punctuated with genuine moments of raw emotion and grisly combat, The Last of Us undeniably works well as a standalone affair — but there’s ample room for a sequel all the same.
Whether or not this materializes is another thing altogether, but with rumors circulating that The Last of Us 2 is in the works for a 2015 launch on PS4, PSU.com decided to put our thinking caps on and come up with 5 things we want to see from a potential follow-up to what is unequivocally one of the greatest games of the PS3 era.
Check out our wishlist below.
Better puzzles
The Last of Us nailed pretty much everything aside from environmental puzzles. As noted in our review, we found the barrage of planks, rafts and ladder-related puzzles rather monotonous after a short while, and we think Naughty Dog could do a bit better in diversifying this particular avenue for a potential sequel. We’re not talking Resident Evil-esque riddles with mysterious gems and hidden doors, but just something that feels natural to your surroundings while keeping things fresh. In a world that is broken apart, there’s bound to be hundreds of makeshift ideas to be thrown around — perhaps using your inventory to craft useful tools to aid in exploration? Or maybe having you tasked with securing a property to lay low for a bit? As long as it doesn’t involve lugging ladders and planks about all the time, we’re happy.
Larger environments
The Last of Us was a tight, linear adventure that worked brilliantly for what it was, but we can’t help but wonder what it would have been like with a more open world. We’re not talking a complete sandbox, but certainly opening up the game environment to encourage exploration could really inject more freedom into the gameplay. Perhaps Naughty Dog could plump for fewer urban locations and instead take things into the open road for a cross-country jaunt, which would really test gamers’ survival skills as they hunt high and low for crucial supplies and ammo — something which admittedly would be more difficult than the middle of a once-bustling metropolis. Even a game like Silent Hill: Downpour took a traditionally linear series into a more open path with optional areas to dig into. Indeed, the ability to tackle side quests would be welcome too; again, not at the expense of making the whole experience open-world, but just to stretch our exploration muscles that bit more.
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More infected
Naughty Dog made a concerted effort to ensure its fungal-infected victims were far from rudimentary zombies. However, as effective as they proved – especially the fearsome Clickers – there wasn’t enough variations of them to our liking. The early stages of infection are far more human-like, and it’s only the other two that exhibit some of the more severe signs of infection. Of course, the Bloater also makes an appearance, but they are few and far between. Another couple of regular enemy types, perhaps as replacements for the more human-like foes, would be more than welcome. Perhaps they could even stretch to animal life becoming infected? Or they could explore the full extent of infection in humans, going beyond the Bloaters to something that barely resembles any sign of humanity. More enemies would also bring more strategies in regards to how players must defeat them, perhaps more than a well-placed Shotgun blast or Molotov Cocktail.
Branching story paths
A world like The Last of Us is a melting pot of potential outcomes, decisions and on-the-spot choices. Therefore, it was a little disappointing that despite all the trials and tribulations that Joel and Ellie went through, we weren’t able to influence the outcome at all. As such, we feel that injecting a modicum of player choice in a sequel would really spice things up a bit, increase tension and also elongate the game’s replay value. Again, it doesn’t have to be anything too drastic; Resident Evil 1 offered multiple endings way back in 1996, and that was a linear action-adventure, so we’re sure the House of Nathan Drake could inject a bit of variation in The Last of Us 2.
New characters
Perhaps the most obvious but no less crucial element for The Last of Us 2 – or rather, a potential sequel – is the cast. As much as we loved Ellie and Joel, their story felt like it came to its natural conclusion in the original game — and as such, we’d like to see them replaced by an all-new cast. That’s not to say Naughty Dog couldn’t make a new game with E&J in it; The Last of Us’ deadly universe could support all manner of stories, but we think an all-new story would be best. Again, keeping the main characters as everyday folk – Ellie being a school girl and Joel being a dodgy smuggler – keeps things grounded, as it wouldn’t be the same mowing down infected as some battle-hardened veteran. How about surviving as an ordinary couple? Or maybe a father and son duo? The possibilities are endless.
What features would you like to see in a potential follow-up to The Last of Us? Give us a shout in the comments section below.