The Last of Us Part 2 is an elusive beast, popping up at various gaming events with a mind-blowing trailer, and then fading back into the darkness without so much as a release date for us to hold on to. The fact that Sony isn't holding its usual PlayStation Experience this year means that we're unlikely to get another substantial look at the game until 2019 too. Luckily what we have seen has been beautiful, brutal, and already has us invested in Ellie's mental, physical and romantic well-being as she struggles in the post-post apocalypse. There's still so much we don't know - How does Ellie feel about the choice Joel made to save her at the end of the last game? Where is Joel, and why hasn't he appeared in any of the trailers yet? Who are the strange cult that have made such an impression in the footage we've seen so far? Naughty Dog has a history of delays, and it's understandable that the studio might not want to commit to a Last of Us Part 2 release date yet. Both The Last of Us and were pushed back on more than one occasion, so it seems wise that Druckmann and co. Given that we've only just seen a gameplay demo as of E3 2018, this one might still be a way off. Read more: The Last of Us Part 2 story will focus on Joel and Ellie. Still, that doesn't name Joel explicitly, so there's still a chance his presence will be a psychological one rather than a literal one. Naughty Dog before its big games release. We just don't yet know in what capacity. Joel's daughter, Sarah, was the driving force of the first game, and, well... Seeing as the last game ended on such a wonderfully ambiguous, quasi-cliffhanger, we expect The Last of Us 2 to deal with the lie Joel told Ellie during that emotional epilogue. Whether or not Ellie bought Joel's lie is currently unknown, but what we do know is that she seems really, really angry - though not without humanity. Whatever's going on, Ellie is in an interesting place. Read more: The Last of Us Part 2 gameplay shows Ellie meting out a whole lot of bloody violence As of Sony's E3 2018 presentation, we've now, finally, had an intensive look at some The Last of Us Part 2 gameplay. Very much taking its cues from the first game's meaty, improvisational, evasion-driven guerrilla combat, The Last of Us Part 2 looks to take a somewhat quicker, more nimble approach with Ellie as its protagonist - she can grab bottles and hurl them seamlessly at attackers without breaking a sprint, for instance, and her transitions between various types of cover and combat look a lot slicker than Joel's. That said, the level of graphic violence has clearly gone up. The Last of Us was no slouch when it came to uncomfortable gore, but the Last of Us Part 2 gameplay demo is on a whole other level. Following a tender scene of friendship and romance, we starkly cut to Ellie, knife already in a man's throat, gutting him like a fish. It only stays messy from there on out, the violence depicted as hovering somewhere between extravagantly graphic bloodletting and gritty, anatomically realistic unpleasantness. It's nasty, crunchy, choking, gurgling, and wheezing stuff throughout. Hopefully there's a reason for that. The first game was, after all, a violent game about violence, in which the unglamourous depiction of killing with repercussions formed a great deal of the point. With so little context for Ellie's actions so far, it's hard to know whether The Last of Us Part 2 is doing something clever here, or just trying to win a 'maturity' arms-race with itself. We'll probably only know for sure when we get hold of the final game. The Last of Us Part 2 trailer selection is high on mood and threat, low on context We've actually now had a few different The Last of Us Part 2 trailers, yet still, somehow, we have very little idea of what's going on. The first was an ambient piece, reintroducing Joel and Ellie while giving very little detail of the scenario. The second was a sustained, gruelling bout of violence, depicting a bunch of characters we don't know, but hinting at a far more tribalised society with at least one murderous cult in its midst. As of E3 2018 though, we have a proper, focused look at Ellie and her story, told through both cutscene and The Last of Us Part 2 gameplay. Though you probably watched it on the way to scrolling down here. No, we're still not sure what's going on either. The original began in Boston then went on a journey across the United States as far west as Salt Lake City. When we last saw Joel and Ellie, they'd headed back east a ways to Jackson County in Wyoming, planning to stay at the settlement led by Joel's brother Tommy. We don't know how long that arrangement lasted, but Ellie's clearly done more traveling since then. It seems unlikely that The Last of Us Part 2 will remain rooted in the Pacific Northwest after how much roving the first game did. Maybe Ellie will make her way down the coast? We don't know if things are as bad on the western seaboard in terms of infection and military oppression. But it wouldn't be much of a survival story if Ellie just traipsed down to Portland and lived happily ever after. Couldn't be prouder to be a part of this! Update: Bruce Straley has since left Naughty Dog, so he definitely won't be joining back in on the company's future projects, either. Read more: The Last of Us 2 soundtrack will feature the original game's composer Gustavo Santaolalla is the man. Specifically, a man who is very, VERY good at writing music. He has these passion projects he just picks and chooses. He started writing some new themes for us, and for this trailer you hear some new themes at the beginning, and a new rendition for the original theme at the end.
