The Last of Us Part II Director Discusses New Infected

A new Infected emerges in The Last of Us Part II and game director Neil Druckmann is here to talk about it. We previously talked about how players will most likely end up killing a lot of dogs in future playthroughs but now the game’s director is talking about what types of new Infected fans will run into when the sequel debuts next year. 

In a recent sit-down interview for the official PlayStation Blog, Druckmann talks about the new types of Infected players will have thrown at them, but also how each new addition was well-thought-out and not carelessly tossed in. “In the first game, there is all this documentation about the different stages [of the infection],” Druckmann says. “Now we have to justify why there are different stages. Why are there mutations of these things? Without getting into it here, there is something about the environment and how much time has passed that has allowed these mutations to occur.”

Shamblers are something that players will probably quickly hate if what he had to say is anything to go by, adding “We have Runners that close the distance quickly,” says Druckman. “We have Clickers that move slowly but are one-hit kills. Shamblers provide this area of attack, where they have this cloud of gaseous acid that burns materials around it. It burns your skin. The way you saw it in this demo is that they’re mostly on their own. It gets really interesting because you have a cloud that hurts you when you enter it, but it also blocks your view, then Runners burst through it. So the combinations get really interesting.”

For games like The Last of Us, stealth is key and that’s something I have never been good out. I’m a guns-blazin’ kinda gal, so these Shamblers sound like they are going to make me pee myself on more than one occasion. 

Ah, the things we do for an incredible story.