One way in whichThe Last of Us 2builds its world is through the regular placement of landmarks seen throughout the city of Seattle. A staple of Naughty Dog game design, its placement of distinct structures – termed “weenies” – often mark points of interest that players are encouraged to explore or make their way to. InThe Last of Usseries, some notable weenies have been the gold-domed Capitol Building in Boston, the yellow suspension bridge in Pittsburgh, and even the Space Needle itself in Seattle.
While these weenies serve a notablegameplay function in many Naughty Dog gamesby subconsciously guiding the player’s eye and providing them with positional information,The Last of Us 2differs from many of its contemporaries in this respect. Taking place in a single city over the course of three days, the game’s non-linear structure allows players to not only focus on the objective before them but also see places they’ve previously explored, and locations they will encounter later.
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One Reddit user, TheLordofStarfall, highlights one such instance of weenies from later in the game appearing much earlier than when the player explores them. During Ellie’s first day in Seattle, she and Dina explore the downtown area on horseback as they search for gasoline to power the gate to the Serevena Hotel where they hope to findthe Washington Liberation Front.
During this semi-open world section of the game, players are given free rein to explore and gather resources before moving on. As TheLordofStarfall shows, after some careful jumping across a broken highway, players can seethe Lakehill Seattle Hospitalthat both Ellie and Abby visit on their second day. From this elevated platform, by using the photo mode to position the camera and set a wide field of view, players can also see the Seraphite Sky Bridge that Abby and Lev traverse on their way to get medicine for Yara.
As numerous commenters point out, this isn’t the last occasion this happens, as the Pinnacle Theater where Ellie and Dina make camp at the end of day one can be seen from the TV station that they explore earlier. The very next day, Ellie can see the entire downtown area that she and Dina explored as she nears the hospital, andEllie can see the Space Needlewhen she arrives at the Aquarium on day three.
The sheer amount of detail present inThe Last of Us 2goes a long way toward making Seattle feel like a lived-in, perilous place on the brink of all-out war. Where many developers would, understandably, cut corners and skew the geometry of the world to save the precious few resources available on PlayStation 4 hardware from 2013, the world ofThe Last of Us 2demonstrates the insane talent and dedication found at Naughty Dog.
The Last of Us 2is available for PS4.
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