The Last of Us Part 2 has now been released and it’s opening reception has been divided. There seems to be a Marmite effect running rampant as many of the critics gave the title a 10/10 with the critics’ Metacritic score sitting at 95 whereas the user score is currently at 4.1 after being review bombed heavily upon release by the paying public. The critics call the game “Stunning and brave” and praise the developers embracing of female and LGBT characters and the dark themes it explores. The user reviews mainly criticise the storytelling and writing of the title with many saying that character’s from the original are made to act out of character and that the theme of hope, which ran through the original title, has been lost, leaving the new instalment a journey of misery. There have also been accusations that the trailers were misleading as one of the characters in a scene in the trailer was swapped for another character in the actual game with the character shown in the trailer playing a much smaller role than advertised in the game.
What has been universally praised is the title’s graphics, environment design and attention to detail. The gameplay is said to be very similar to the original with a few quality of life improvements. While disparity has been growing between critic reviews and user reviews for many years now, such a polar opposite reaction is unusual. Even some of the critics admitted in their review that the events and narrative portrayed in the title is divisive, and there is no doubt that a certain leak about one of the main characters from the original game would also have had an impact on public reception. Despite the review bombing the title has become the fastest selling UK PS4 game ever.
So, should you pick the title up? Well, that’s a difficult question to answer. Many users have said that if you liked the gameplay of the original games but weren’t too absorbed by the plot and the characters that you will love the second game. However, many opinions also say that if what you loved about the original game was the characters and storytelling that the sequel may leave you disappointed. For those of you who are new to the franchise, I would advise starting with the original title first. There are some very good deals on the remastered version right now and it is well regarded as a masterpiece and will give deeper meaning to the events in the sequel.
If you’ve played the game then feel free to drop us some comments about what you liked and/ or disliked about the title but try to keep them spoiler free.
