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Last of Us 2 Director Wants Players to Be "Repulsed by the Violence They Are Committing"
Last of Us 2's brutality is supposed to make you think.
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by
Nadia Oxford,
06/13/2018.
Sony's E3 2018 presentation showcased The Last of Us 2, and we all watched as a sweet kiss melted into footage of the protagonist, Ellie, killing several people and watching a man get disemboweled. It was a disturbing reel, to be certain, but The Last of Us 2's creative director, Neil Druckmann, wants players to feel uneasy.
"We’re making a game about the cycle of violence and we’re making a statement about violent actions and the impact they have on the character that’s committing them and on the people close to them," Druckmann told Kotaku in an interview at E3. "And our whole approach is to say, 'We want to treat this as realistically as possible.' When you stab someone—if you watch reference videos, which we have, it's gross and it’s messy and it's not sanitized like you see in most movies and games. And we wanted to get the player to feel that."
Indeed, outside of Ellie's kiss, the footage we've been shown of The Last of Us 2 has been disturbing. We've seen women's arms get broken. We've seen men hanged and disemboweled while screaming in agony. We've seen Ellie cut down enemy after enemy swiftly and brutally using several different weapons—and whatever she can find on the ground. Druckmann says the idea is "for the player to feel repulsed by some of the violence they are committing themselves. It felt like that is the most honest way to tell this story."
Our guide to The Last of Us 2 has everything you need to know about Naughty Dog's upcoming brutal and bloody adventure.
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Comments 21
I’m sure someone will pat their backs and hand them a trophy, but I thought the whole thing was disgusting.
Anyway. I don't want to come off as combative or put people down for what they like or create, but for me it was just so over the top.
Thanks for your comment, it put a little perspective on things for me.Edited 2 weeks ago by jeffcorry
I find it a bit absurd that anyone would criticize this sequel for its violence since that violence is to be expected after its predecessor. There is an unnecessary and unfortunate prominence of violence among video games, but this is one place where it absolutely belongs. Critics and audiences who feel repulsed and find no compelling creative purpose behind that experience are free to condemn the game once it's released if they are so inclined. But, until then, I think it's a little silly to try and judge the merits of out-of-context gameplay demos and cutscenes. Hasn't Naughty Dog earned a bit more faith than that?
I think it's a good thing to question whether this level of violence belongs in a broader conference like E3 (although there's plenty of other violence there to go around), and I am sympathetic to journalists who don't want to see it but have to for their jobs. The better choice would have been for Sony to hold one or more specific events for the game where these kinds of trailers are released. But no matter what pre-release marketing we're shown for the game, it's going to be violent because it's a violent game; no getting around that. Although... with The Last of Us's clout sure to drive sales I guess they could do something bold like a total media blackout. They could have just never released a gameplay demo or cutscene. That would have been gutsy and considerate. I doubt Sony would let ND do it, though.Edited 2 weeks ago by internisus