It’s been four years since Naughty Dog launched its last truly original game, The Last of Us Part II.
You see, since then, the studio has released the remastered Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, the remade The Last of Us Part I, followed by The Last of Us Part II Remastered.
I’m guessing you’re seeing the pattern here.
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I have to say, as a major The Last of Us fan, I wasn’t disappointed by either of those aforementioned re-releases, but it would undoubtedly be nice to hear of something new.
Naughty Dog is a two-team studio now, so we know that devs will have been beavering away on something else while, say, The Last of Us Part II Remastered was in production.
We cannot forget the amount of time that was wasted on the cancelled The Last of Us multiplayer game though, so how far along the studio’s next major game is is hard to say.
According to one insider, however, we’re in for a treat as whatever is being cooked up has been described as “amazing”.
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ICYMI: The trailer has landed for season two of HBO’s TV adaptation of The Last of Us.
This tidbit comes from Ben Hanson of MinnMax, formerly Game Informer, who isn’t exactly known for spewing information for clout.
“I heard from somebody very in the know who worked on the game that they’re like, ‘Jesus Christ’, … the tone was like, ‘You are all not ready for how amazing this is going to be,’ [...] I’m not going to say the game that they referenced to, but they compared it to a game with a lot of player freedom,” he said during an episode of The MinnMax Show.
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Naturally, Naughty Dog fans are keen to see The Last of Us Part III land, as are they to see Uncharted rebooted.
I should think that both of those things will eventually manifest but I’m not convinced either are Naughty Dog’s next project.
Hanson’s mention of “player freedom” is what’s led me to that conclusion.
Both The Last of Us and Uncharted are linear franchises.
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Both experimented with small open-world hubs, perhaps Uncharted more-so - particularly during the Madagascar segment of Uncharted 4.
But unless Naughty Dog has chosen to push this further, it sounds as if the new project could be something, well, new.
As confident as I am in Naughty Dog, the idea of the studio wading into new waters makes me a tad nervous but I think it’s time for them to do so.
And if this project is simply the next Uncharted or The Last of Us instalment, it’s a win-win.
Topics: The Last Of Us, The Last Of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog, Uncharted, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony