Featured Image Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Topics: The Last Of Us, The Last Of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony
Topics: The Last Of Us, The Last Of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony
It’s widely believed that there are three games in development at Naughty Dog.
There’s the confirmed Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, a rumoured new Uncharted entry from director Shaun Escayg, plus the rumoured The Last of Us Part III.
In recent weeks, several insiders have surfaced claiming that Part III has finally entered early production.
Add in the fact that series creator Neil Druckmann recently voiced his excitement for the final “few stops” on the road ahead in the franchise and his departure as showrunner on the HBO TV adaptation and suddenly, Part III feels like an obvious given.
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What we don’t know is where the game might take us.
The Last of Us Part I was a story of love and the things we’ll do to protect that love. The Last of Us Part II focused on ideas of revenge and the cycle of violence.
It feels apt, perhaps, that The Last of Us Part III should be a story of redemption or closure, but it’s nigh impossible to determine where Druckmann’s third and final instalment will take us.
There is one aspect of the plot though that might have leaked courtesy of a former Naughty Dog developer.
Gabriel Betancourt previously worked as a lighting artist at Naughty Dog and told Kiwi Talkz that ideas were circulated about an entire community of immune people.
In the interview, Betancourt reflected back on a conversation with Druckmann where the latter revealed that “several people are immune”.
“There’s a whole congregation of that kind of person,” Betancourt said, recounting the conversation.
“What I want to do is I want to tell a more sophisticated story [with] multiple characters and kind of expand on that,” Druckmann reportedly said, according to Betancourt.
There are a couple of things to consider here.
It’s been several years since Betancourt departed the studio so, of course, plans may have changed so all of this should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Even still, there’s a very high chance that Part III will once again address Ellie’s immunity.
This is the first time Ellie will really have time to consider what it means to her now that she’s somewhat gained closure on Joel’s death.
Within Part II, Ellie was too wrapped up in ideas of revenge. That period in time, however, may in retrospect help her understand how and why Joel did what he did at the Firefly hospital.
There’s then Abby to consider. Abby ended the game in search of the Fireflies at Catalina Island.
Given that the loading screen changes upon completion of the game to Abby’s boat on the shore of the island, it’s implied that she finds them.
The Fireflies’ goal is to create a cure and even with Jerry, Abby’s father, dead, there surely must be someone else capable of carrying out the procedure to make it happen.
It’s highly likely that these unfinished threads will all factor into The Last of Us Part III’s story.
As for whether there’s a whole community of immune people, I find it slightly harder to believe simply due to how the HBO adaptation finally explained Ellie’s immunity.
For context, Ellie’s mum was bitten by an infected on the inner thigh while giving birth but was able to quickly cut baby Ellie’s umbilical cord.
It’s implied that a tiny dormant piece of the cordyceps fungus infected Ellie before that happened.
READ MORE: Uncharted Return Teased By Last Of Us Developer
It goes without saying that The Last of Us Part III isn’t likely to come to light for some time with Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet remaining the studio’s key focus.
Even still, fans of the franchise like myself will be thrilled to know that after all these years of waiting, it finally looks to be making slow and steady progress.