Back in 2013 is when I bought my first copy of The Last Of Us (TLOU). I was in college back then and as soon as I got my hands on the game, I forgot what sunlight, dinner and people were. I was confined to my room and was heavily engrossed in the game. Luckily, both my parents were out of town. I just realized while I was writing this, that a normal kid my age would have had a huge house party. Okay, I probably could have hosted a party for one night instead of spending all those nights playing TLOU. Actually, fuck that. I have no regrets. 

I had never experienced this level of deep story-telling in a game. Maybe the closest I came to that was Heavy Rain or Beyond Two Souls. You don’t expect to be engulfed by a video game, right? TLOP is the game that made me fall in love with gaming. 

Fast-forward to 2018, Sony and Naughty Dog Studio unveiled the first look of TLOP 2 at the E3 Summit. The beautifully edited theatrical clip left fans emotional and excited at the same time. But now, we have the official first trailer and release date.

The trailer picks up where the E3 clip left off. Dina, who seems to be Ellie’s loge interest and partner in the game is missing. We see Ellie searching for Dina but then, a sound comes out of the dark. That terrifying, gut-wrenching sound from the clickers from the first game. The trailer shows off a few gameplay shots and the kinds of settings we’ll be playing in. All look almost similar to the first game, which is great.

In the first game, Ellie was struggling to survive, but this time, she’s the one hunting. A group of rogue survivors look like the primary antagonists in the game that we’ll be dealing with most of the time. Along with terrifying creatures who want to tear your flesh apart, of course. But the best sight of it all was saved for the end. A hand holds Ellie, stopping her from doing anything. In a world where an action like this would bring out an intense reflex of a gunshot or a stab, she stays calm. The camera pans to reveal an old-looking Joel who reassuringly says, “You think I’d let you do this on your own?”

Well, Joel is back, Ellie isn’t a kid anymore and has grown up to be more of a killing machine. So it’s safe to say, The Last of Us ll is going to be twice as good as the first.

Watch the trailer below:

The Last Of Us ll releases on February 21, 2020 only on PlayStation.