Last of Us 2 Video Suggests Combat Has Been Watered Down

The Last of Us 2is full of terrifying abominations, like thefranchise’s iconic Clickers, that can easily kill players. One enemy type from the originalLast of Usthat used to give players significant trouble was the Bloaters, who used to be some of the most formidable foes that players could encounter. However, it seems as thoughThe Last of Us 2has made Bloaters far less of a threat, and it’s mostly thanks to the introduction of one gameplay feature in particular.

For those that have yet to play throughThe Last of Us 2, the game expands on the original’s combat system in a number of major ways. One way is through the use of a dodge mechanic that players have to use to survive melee encounters throughout the game. And once players have figured out an enemy’s attack pattern, they can use the dodge mechanic to quite easily avoid being hit at all. This was demonstrated in a video uploaded to YouTube by Laika Pure Games, who uses the dodge ability to kill a Bloater using only melee attacks.

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By lettingEllie and otherLast of Us 2playable charactersdodge, it makes Bloaters far less intimidating. Beyond that, it makes other melee encounters much easier than they would be otherwise as well, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some fans may prefer that they have a bit more control when it comes to surviving enemy encounters, especially players who were frustrated by the stealthy Clicker sections in the original game.

While some may consider this “watering down"Last of Us 2’s combat, there’s no denying that the combat has otherwise been expanded in many ways. Players just have more tools as their disposal than they did in the originalLast of Us, allowing them to tackle situations from a variety of different angles to find what works for them.

It will be interesting to see howThe Last of Usfranchise’s combat continues to evolve moving forward. While Naughty Dog hasn’t said if it’s going to makeThe Last of Us 3, the massive sales success ofThe Last of Us 2means that this isn’t likely to be the last time that we’ll see the series. And with the PlayStation 5 right around the corner, one has to imagine that Naughty Dog could make some changes that makeLast of Us 3’s combat more immersive without sacrificing the tension.

The Last of Us 2is out now, exclusively for PlayStation 4.