The Last of Us Part II: latest trailer, new features, plot details and release date

Fans of hit survival game The Last of Us were celebrating earlier this month after developer Naughty Dog revealed that the long-awaited sequel would arrive early next year.

First announced alongside the PS4 Pro at the PlayStation Experience (PSX) product event in December 2016, The Last of Us Part II returns players to the post-apocalyptic world of the 2013 original and is set to feature Naughty Dog’s longest single-player campaign to date.

Gamers will step into the shoes of Ellie, one of the main characters from the first game, who has to fight to survive in a nightmarish version of Seattle, says TechRadar.

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Players will once again be tasked with battling through hoards of the zombie-like “Infected”, while also meeting and establishing relationships with new characters.

More details about the PlayStation game are expected to following in the coming months, but for now, here’s what we know about The Last of Us Part II:

Release date

The Last of Us Part II will arrive in shops on 21 February, almost seven years after the release of the original.

The new title has only been confirmed for Sony’s PlayStation 4 system so far. But as the rumoured PS5 is expected to launch towards the end of next year, The Last of Us Part II may find its way onto the next-generation console.

Where to pre-order

Sony will launch two editions of the game, both of which are available to pre-order from Amazon.

The standard edition starts at £49.99, while the £69.99 Special edition includes a steenbook game case and a 48-page art book.

What’s new?

“Just about everything fans remember from the original has been adjusted in the sequel”, including new enemy types, improved stealth gameplay and tweaks to the game’s core mechanics, says GameSpot.

One of the key changes in The Last of Us Part II is how Ellie handles compared to Joel, the original game’s lead character. The gaming site says Ellie is “much more mobile and agile” than her predecessor, and is able to “climb over things and crawl underneath them”. As well as being vital in solving puzzles, this improved mobility adds another layer to combat scenarios.

Among the new enemies that Ellie will face are attack dogs, which are “very well-trained” and are typically paired with a human foe, says Polygon. Like a real dog, the video game versions will latch onto Ellie’s scent, which the human enemy will then follow.

There’s also a new type of Infected enemy know as a Shambler - described by IGN as “a fungal mess of upper body mass” that players will have a hard time taking down.

But players can dart out of the way of Shambler attacks thanks to the new dedicated dodge button. “It’s not all that revolutionary of an addition, but having more flexibility in battle makes for more interesting encounters,” the gaming site adds.

In a recent post on the official PlayStation blog, game director Neil Druckmann said the The Last of Us Part II goes into more detail about how the Infected came to be.

“In the first game, there is all this documentation about the different stages [of the infection],” he said. “Now we have to justify why there are different stages. Why are there mutations of these things? Without getting into it here, there is something about the environment and how much time has passed that has allowed these mutations to occur.”

Will there be a multiplayer mode?

No. Although the original game launched with an online element, Kotaku says that Naughty Dog has done away with multiplayer games modes for the sequel.

In a statement posted online, Naughty Dog said it decided to scrap the new game’s multiplayer element in order to focus on building an “enormous” single-player campaign mode.

However, the studio hinted that gamers will be able to “experience the fruits of our team’s online ambition” outside of The Last of Us universe.

“When and where it will be realised is still to be determined,” the statement says.