Official PlayStation Magazine UK has revealed more info on Naughty Dog’s next project, The Last Of Us from the latest issue of US gaming magazine, Game Informer.
Recently, Game Informer revealed 3 new in-game screenshots for the game from their latest issue and if you have missed them, you can check them out by clicking here.
The new info that the guys at OPM UK have found reveals the backgrounds behind the two characters, Joel and Ellie. They reveal that Ellie is an orphan as a boarding house military quarantine zone and that Joel runs contraband through black markets and that he is sent to sneak Ellie out of the quarantine zone for an unspecified reason until everything goes wrong. They also state that the combat in the game is mainly melee with Joel using clubs to attack while Ellie goes for the biting method. Gunplay seems for the most part very limited although it states that it is involved within the game. Also mentioned in the article is the AI and the way it works. If Joel runs out of ammo for instance, the click of the trigger attracts the opponent in. Check out the full article below.
- According to the article there are still elements of government and organisation. Ellie is an orphan at a boarding house within a military quarantine zone while Joel runs contraband through black markets. At the start the two have never meet until Joel is asked to sneak Ellie out of the quarantine zone for an unspecified reason. For some reason it goes wrong with the military getting involved and because Joel had been asked by a dying friend to help Ellie, he stays with her when the ’safe haven’ he was meant to escort her to ‘doesn’t work out’. As a result they end up travelling across the US.
- The fungus needs a high dose of spores in a small area to infect a person. In dangerous areas gas masks can counter the threat. Those that test positive at military checkpoints are executed instantly.
- The demo sees Joel and Ellie being ambushed by scavengers in Pittsburgh. The pair were driving through town in a truck. When an attacker’s attempt to lure them in by pretending to be wounded doesn’t work a bus crashes them into a shop. Here they’re pulled out of the truck and attacked.
- The combat is mainly melee with Joel wrestling clubs from opponents and Ellie biting someone who grabs her. Both can throw objects like bricks to stun opponents. One of Ellie’s main roles revealed so far is calling out enemy locations while her skill set will develop over time. Gun combat seems limited with Joel only having a couple of bullets to fire. Later he’s able to scavange a few more shells from a defeated opponent. It doesn’t shy away from violence with victims begging for mercy before Joel bludgeons them to death. There’s also plenty of swearing.
- The AI uses a system called Balance Of Power. Human enemies react according to the weapons you weild. When Joel has a gun they hide and flank. During the demo when Joel runs out of ammo the empty trigger clicks draw opponents in. There’s no recharging health either, damage is persistent and requires health packs to repair.
- After the battle the two search the area. At one point Ellie crawls through a door as Joel holds it up so she can find something to wedge it open. On the other side they discover possessions, bodies and supplies that reveal the scavengers have been ambushing and killing people for years. When Ellie asks Joel how he knows so much he replies that he’s ‘been on both sides’.
- There’s mention that you’ll face humans far more than infected and that there are multiple factions, not all of which will be hostile.
Source: OPM UK.
The Last of Us will be released exclusively on the PlayStation 3, but at present no official release date has been announced.
