As promised, Naughty Dog's latest livestream has served up another (grisly) helping of The Last of Us Part 2 footage for players to pore over ahead of the game's June launch; there were refreshers of previously revealed mechanics, a smattering of new details, and the whole thing culminated in a sizeable slab of gameplay, showcasing stealth and extremely visceral combat.
Setting the scene with some basic story details, director Neil Druckman explained The Last of Us Part 2 picks up several years after the events of the first game, with Ellie, now 19-years-old, settled into a thriving community of survivors, situated in Jackson, Wyoming. However, after a violent incident within the commune, Ellie sets out for retribution and justice, embarking on an adventure spanning seasons and numerous gorgeously realised locations, from the the snowy mountains of Jackson to the lush Pacific Midwest.
The bulk of the action, however, is said to unfold across the former quarantine zone of Seattle, where a battle between two warring factions - the well-armed, well-trained Washington Liberation Front, which formerly resisted Seattle's military occupation, and a religious cult known as the Seraphites - rages on. The latter, also referred to as Scars due to their self-inflicted wounds, are more reliant on stealth and silent weapons when encountered in the wild.