We’ve all been waiting for a new The Last of Us 2 (opens in new tab) trailer, and Sony finally delivered in its latest State of Play broadcast. The three-minute long video closed out Sony’s presentation, and it was a helluva capstone. On top of delivering a The Last of Us 2 release date (opens in new tab), this trailer finally gives us a greater context for the driving force behind Ellie’s apparent murderous rampage – and it’s the first time we’ve seen Joel, in the flesh, and ready to join Ellie for another dangerous journey (whether she wants his assistance or not).
The trailer begins the day after that dance (opens in new tab). Ellie and Dina joke about sharing a kiss before heading off on their patrol route, an unseen voice warning them about running into “anything they can’t handle” before they immediately run into something they can’t handle. It looks like their patrol goes wrong, it may be Ellie’s fault… and Dina seemingly gets captured by a hostile group and executed.
Despite warnings from Tommy (Joel’s brother, who helps lead the settlement), Ellie still sets out to get revenge on the people who killed Dina. We see a whole lot of survivor and zombie slaying action before somebody grabs Ellie from behind, silencing her protests… and there’s Joel, ready to help Ellie out with her terrible plan of terrible vengeance. He looks like he’s aged about 30 years, but hard post-apocalyptic living will do that to you.
“We know how much you love this world and its characters – especially Ellie and Joel,” director Neil Druckmann wrote in a post on the PlayStation Blog (opens in new tab). Believe me, we’re fans as well. We love them. Which is why we spent years crafting a game that we feel will do them justice, telling a nuanced story that deals with the core question: how far would you go to exact justice against the people that hurt the ones you love?”
“It’s a highly emotional story with complex themes that befit the world of The Last of Us. What we realized pretty early on is that we were putting together Naughty Dog’s most ambitious and longest game in our 35 year history. To tell this kind of story the game needed to be massive.”
The game will hit PS4 on February 21, 2020, but you won’t have to wait that long to hear more about it. We’re seeing generous chunk of the game in LA and you can look forward to our hands-on coverage later this week.
Find more to play on our list of the best PS4 games (opens in new tab).