It’s pretty likely that The Last of Us Part III is coming one day, given how many hints franchise head honcho Neil Druckmann has dropped.

While Part II could easily serve as the final game in a duology, most fans will likely agree that The Last of Us feels as if it should be a trilogy.

After all, Ellie hasn’t yet had time to explore what her immunity means to her now that she’s left her thirst for revenge behind following Joel’s death.

Naughty Dog is hard at work on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which sadly hasn’t surfaced since 2024.

It’s also believed that Shaun Escayg, of The Lost Legacy fame, might be leading development on an Uncharted reboot.

Beyond that, though, it feels like a near given that The Last of Us Part III is next.

That does mean we’ll likely be waiting many, many years for it, so here are five game recommendations to fill the gap that share at least one similarity with Naughty Dog’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic franchise.

Days Gone

While this list has some left-field recommendations, let’s get one of the more obvious options out of the way.

When you think of zombie games, Days Gone is arguably what might spring to mind if you push The Last of Us to one side.

Is Days Gone among the greatest games of all-time? Absolutely not, but it’s still a decent game that really picks up once you’ve made it through the meandering opening hours.

Facing off against hordes of zombies should offer you a thrill that perhaps sometimes exceeds what you’ll find in The Last of Us, plus the game’s photorealistic visuals offer the same kind of tonal mood.

Days Gone dropped a shiny new remastered edition last year, which is often on sale, or you can enjoy the original on PlayStation Plus’ extra tier.

Directive 8020

Directive 8020, Credit: Supermassive Games

Supermassive Games’ latest release may not seem like an obvious adjacent gaming experience, but Directive 8020 shares quite a lot in common with The Last of Us franchise.

Its alien creatures look a lot like clickers or bloaters from The Last of Us games, with sneaking past them proving to be just as tense as stealth is in Naughty Dog’s franchise.

Again, photorealistic visuals here ramp up the tension as everything feels so visceral and grounded. In fact, Directive 8020 is one of the most visually impressive games I’ve played.

It’s set aboard a spaceship which is infected by an alien organism. Your job is to make key decisions that’ll determine how many of the crewmates survive.

If you don’t typically like horror, worry not. There are perhaps two jump scares where a body will suddenly drop down, for example, but this is no scarier than The Last of Us Part II.

God of War (2018)

God of War, Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Santa Monica Studio and Naughty Dog share a lot in common beyond both being PlayStation first-party studios.

They’ve both mastered the art of creating moving, thrilling third-person action-adventures.

For me, The Last of Us Part II is the best example of the genre, but God of War is a close second place - and it’s likely the winner for many gamers.

Just as you do in The Last of Us Part I and Part II, here, you’ll find an engaging story backed up by a solid combat system, a lore-rich world, and overall industry-leading gameplay design.

The same can be said for God of War’s excellent sequel, God of War Ragnarök.

Sure, there are no zombies, but I wouldn’t say it’s the undead that defines The Last of Us. For me, it’s the affecting narrative that keeps me coming back for me.

You’ll get the same experience here, and with God of War Laufey having been announced, there’s no better time to catch up.

Both God of War and God of War Ragnarök are currently included in PlayStation Plus’ extra tier.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, Credit: DON'T NOD

This is another unusual recommendation, but Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is one of my favourite underrated AAs.

It follows banishers Red and Antea, who arrive in New Eden in 1695 in order to deal with a ghostly threat, The Nightmare, that’s plaguing the town.

Antea is killed by The Nightmare in the game’s opening, which sets up the remainder of the game’s story.

You’ll work your way back up to facing The Nightmare by completing hauntings; in other words, you’ll help folks out with their undead problems.

In each haunting, you can either blame the living, allow the spirit to ascend, or banish the spirit.

Blaming the living will essentially see you murder them, stealing their life essence for Antea in the hopes that she might be able to come back to life by the game’s end.

Allowing a spirit to ascend makes it more likely that Antea will also ascend, but Red will need to accept losing the love of his life.

Banishing the spirit is somewhat of a middle ground. As such, you can see that it’s a game of very, very tough moral decisions that will rip your heart out with combat encounters in between.

While The Last of Us franchise doesn’t offer as much choice, it’s also a franchise known for being emotionally devastating. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden taps into the same effect.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment

If you’re a fan of The Last of Us, it’s perhaps obvious that you might also enjoy Naughty Dog’s other major franchise, Uncharted.

While Uncharted is, for the most part, more light-hearted, it shares much of its DNA with The Last of Us.

Uncharted is another series that leads with a strong narrative, with an engaging combat and traversal system that backs that narrative up.

You should expect the same level of immersive detail here in the game’s world; you’ve likely seen everyone rave about the rock physics in the Scotland chapter of Uncharted 4.

While I’d recommend all Uncharted titles, I’ll direct your attention to the lesser praised The Lost Legacy, a spin-off which landed in 2017.

It’s best experienced after playing the other games, but you could go in blind. Centring around Chloe and Nadine, this is, for me, the perfect Uncharted game.

The landscapes are stunning, and the gameplay takes a step forward with a small open-world hub.

It’ll leave you in awe, much like The Last of Us.

HBO’s The Last Of Us first episode is longer than some movies

HBO’s The Last Of Us first episode is longer than some movies

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