The Last of Us Part II is arguably the most hyped game of 2020 alongside the likes of Cyberpunk 2077 and Halo Infinite. The game follows the story of Ellie and Joel after the events of The Last of Us which left a lot to be answered.
In The Last of Us Part II, however, circumstances have changed a bit as the zombie threat is no longer the main issue at hand. Society has started to bounce back from the outbreak and people have started to regroup in numbers. However, there are still some conflicts between these groups for reasons unknown.
The game takes place many years after the first one so players will be taking control of a grown up Ellie as she fights for survival and revenge. While most details about the story are still rather vague, we do know that Joel is indeed still alive and kicking.
There is no doubt that the game will actually turn out to be incredible. Naughty Dog’s amazing reputation and portfolio of games already proves that the studio is very much capable of developing some of the best games of all time. However, this time around, the developer is ready to turn it up to 11 and alter the way we classify games.
According to Anthony Newman, the Co-Game Director on The Last of Us Part II, this game will redefine what it means to be a AAA game. Usually, AAA games are games with very high budgets and production value leading to a very well-polished final product.
we bout to redefine triple-a in 2020 ¯_(ツ)_/¯
— Anthony Newman (@BadData_) February 14, 2020So, what does it mean when someone says that they’re about to ‘redefine’ AAA? Well, since the industry has already kind of developed a category for games that are even bigger than AAA games, it would be safe to assume that The Last of Us Part II being bigger than traditional AAA means that it will be a AAAA game.
While the naming is getting ridiculous quite frankly, AAAA studios are popping up with massive games carrying massive budgets built by teams of thousands of people. For instance, Rockstar comes to mind when you think of a AAAA developer with games taking almost a decade to develop at times.
Also Read: Combat is a major focus in The Last of Us Part II
The new studio by Xbox called The Initiative has also been set up as a ‘AAAA’ studio to develop something special and big for the Xbox platform.
However, the redefining AAA thing could just mean that Naughty Dog has a few new tricks up its sleeve that don’t necessarily relate to having an incredibly high budget.
It has to be noted though that The Last of Us Part II saw a few hiccups along its development path with the developer having to delay the release date for further polish. In addition to that, the multiplayer mode for the game has also been abolished for the time being, which is a massive bummer since it was such an amazing part of the first game.
Also read: No multiplayer for The Last of Us Part II
However, what that means is that Naughty Dog is fully focused on the single player experience of the game with the studio putting much more effort into the combat mechanics as well, which was probably the weakest part of the previous entry.
Naughty Dog has also stated that it is just putting the finishing touches on the game now and the development cycle for it is on its last stretch.
In any case, The Last of Us Part II looks like it is going to be one of the best games of this year and we’re only a few months away from the eventual release.
The Last of Us Part II releases May 29, 2020 on the PlayStation 4.