Making a big budget, ultra-violent video game about the harmful consequences of violence is a bold move. It can be difficult to convey nuance and subtext when your photo realistic world is awash with the virtual entrails of vanquished enemies and your player character’s clothes have turned crimson with other people’s blood. In this respect, The Last of Us Part II doesn’t so much have its cake and eat it as smear the confection around its face and dare you to disapprove.
If the 2013 original was, at heart, a story about unconditional parental love and the sacrifices we’re willing to make for our children then this equally powerful sequel looks at the reverse of the coin, hate, and asks the question: if vengeance is pursued at all costs, what happens to those who end up paying the price?
It’s practically impossible to go into specifics without stumbling into spoiler territory and The Last of Us Part II is very much an experience enriched by entering with as little advance knowledge as possible. Suffice it to say that something very bad indeed happens to returning heroine Ellie at the outset, triggering a gripping 25-hour descent into the heart of darkness (or rain-lashed Seattle as it’s also known) which is every inch the equal of Conrad and Coppola’s work in their respective media.
The crucial difference here, of course, is agency. The victims of Ellie’s murderous odyssey die by your hand as well as hers, and developers Naughty Dog employ an impressive suite of mechanics to ensure you, the player, is aware of the blood on your thumbsticks. These vary in size and scale, from rank and file enemies referring to each other by name to reinforce their humanity, up to some genuinely unsettling set piece stunts which recall similarly genre-defining moments from games like Bioshock and SpecOps: The Line.
