Tech,Space,Gaming, and Science Fiction News to wet your whistle
First 'The Last of Us: Part II' gameplay shows off refined combat
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
It's been 18 months since Sony and Naughty Dog first revealed The Last of Us: Part II, but despite a few enigmatic (and disturbing) trailers, we haven't heard much about the overall plot or seen any gameplay. That's changing today, as the forthcoming game is making up a major part of Sony's E3 2018 press conference.
However, before we got to the game details, composer Gustavo Santaolalla took the stage to perform a new rendition of the Last of Us theme -- in a strange, church-like area that's far different form the average E3 press conference room. Sony's Shawn Leyden explained that this year's event would take the audience on deep dives into each game, with special environments and experiences tailored to each. After Santaolalla's performance, the lights went down, and we heard more music and saw the game's first footage -- someone singing in the very same church environment the crowd was sitting in.
This initial preview shows a much calmer scene than either of the previous trailers, focusing on a community relaxing and having a good time at a dance in the church, as Ellie talks with a few friends about upcoming patrols. Indeed, Ellie ends up dancing closely and eventually with a female companion, a nod back to the Left Behind DLC and its reveal of Ellie's sexuality. "I'm just a girl, not a threat," Ellie says.
After that tender kiss, things get significantly darker, as Ellie chokes out a man in a forest -- and we finally get to see the first true gameplay footage. Ellie's sneaking through a forest after her kill, eventually coming upon a large group of men torturing a poor soul tied to a post. It's hard to tell just how good the graphics are from the preview, but so far both the lighting and detail of the character's faces have been outstanding.
Naturally, the first weapon we see Ellie pull is her trusty arrow, as she begins sneaking through the encampment to take out the crew she spied. Before long, though, she's spotted and has to engage in some brutal hand-to-hand combat, using her trusty knife. Ellie hides in the grass, but the enemies are smart enough to know where she's hiding this time. Fortunately, there's another new hiding place in this game -- you're able to crawl under abandoned cars and shoot out your foes from there. Fans of the game will also be happy to know that the trusty brick makes a return.
Eventually, Ellie gets pretty well cornered by her attackers, hiding in a store three against one. However, there's a good way to even the odds: for the first time, you can craft additional arrows, in this case an explosive one. The encounter also showed off some new dodging mechanics, something that wasn't terribly easy in the original game. Indeed it looks as if Naughty Dog has transplanted some of the mechanics and combat from Uncharted 4.
After Ellie brutally kills the last man, the trailer cuts back to the church, with Ellie's moment with her companion continuing in relative peace. And that was it for the first look at The Last of Us Part II. Unfortunately, we didn't hear anything about a release date for the game -- chances are it'll be sometime in 2019 if we haven't heard anything yet.
The first announcement of The Last of Us: Part II came about three and a half years after the first game arrived and showed protagonist Ellie grown up by about five years from when we last saw her, singing a song and promising to kill on "every last one" of some unknown group that has wronged her. It was a dark but familiar tone to reintroduce Ellie and her companion Joel -- but the second trailer went in an entirely different direction. It showed off some entirely new characters, dispensing some utterly disturbing violence, even for The Last of Us. Today's look was more varied, but no less mysterious, as we're privy to some new relationships in Ellie's life beyond Joel, and got a look at just how dangerous she has become.
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Comments
Post a Comment