3 years 9 months ago
The Last of Us Part II sees Ellie facing off against new human threats as she ventures into Seattle, Washington, but of course the world of Naughty Dog's post-pandemic series is home to plenty of infected enemies as well. And while the familiar forms these foes take return in the sequel, they've changed in some notable ways, as new types have also begun to appear.
While you can check out
IGN's The Last of Us Part 2 final preview for a breakdown of how the new and improved combat can play out, Part 2 Director Neil Druckmann spoke to IGN about how the development team approached the return of the Clickers, Bloaters, Stalkers, and the new Shamblers.
"Like everything we do in The Last of Us, it has to feel grounded and believable in the world we built in the first game. With this game specifically, we wanted to find ways to add greater mechanical depth than any previous Naughty Dog game," Druckmann said. When it came to adding a new type of infected enemy, the Shambler, Druckmann noted that it has to "have a lineage, it has to have the same physiology that we established in the first game," to feel believable as something new in this world.
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Shamblers have the ability to hurl noxious gas bombs at the player, which explode into a damaging, sight-obscuring cloud of smoke, and the foe does the same thing itself when defeated. Druckmann said this enemy idea played to the team's combat ambitions for the sequel.
"One [reason for the Shambler] is it gets you to move, and the corrosive damage is [useful] when we don't want you to just stand still, we want the fights to feel dynamic," he said. "And, two, like any good horror [enemy], it limits your senses, it blocks your vision.