The Last of Ushas perhaps one of the most intriguing worlds in gaming. More often than not, expansive universes in gaming are often restricted to the sci-fi or fantasy genres, with modern-era action games very rarely getting carefully crafted worlds. That’s not the case forThe Last of Us. Over the last decade,The Last of Us' horrifying worldhas continued to get fleshed out via both games and a new TV show, and now the upcomingThe Last of Us Multiplayerspinoff has the perfect opportunity to continue the pattern.
The Last of Us Multiplayeris set to drop players into the cordyceps-infected world once more, this time with some real-world friends and foes alongside them. Though no major plot or gameplay details have been revealed so far, it seems likely thatThe Last of Us Multiplayerwill continue to explore this desperate and dilapidated world in new and interesting ways, and there’s one area in particular that the game should focus on that was brushed over a little too quickly inThe Last of Us Part 2:well-rounded faction lore.
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The Last of Us Multiplayer Should Explore New Factions and Gangs
The world ofThe Last of Ushas no shortage of horrors. WhileRunners, Clickers, Stalkers, and Bloatersall flood the streets, they’re not necessarily the most brutal foes players will face off against. Instead, much like every other popular zombie franchise, it’s the rest of humanity that people need to be wary of. In the firstLast of Us, players came into contact with the authoritarian military force FEDRA, as well as their direct opposition, the Fireflies. In typicalLast of Usfashion, neither side is the hero of the story, with the Fireflies being willing to put innocent lives at stake in the name of “freedom,” while FEDRA was content with public executions and mandated curfews.
The Last of Us 2takes things a step further, introducing three new factions, each one more brutal than the last. The first of these is the Washington Liberation Front. Originally a group very similar to the Fireflies, the WLF, often referred to as the Wolves, grew resentful ofFEDRA’s rule, and decided to fight for their freedom. The WLF were one of the few groups that managed to successfully overthrow FEDRA, though this coup resulted in the brutal deaths of many soldiers. The WLF only got more brutal when they met another faction, the Seraphites.
Often nicknamed Scars due to their practice of self-mutilation, the Seraphites are a group of religious zealots that reside on an island just off the coast of Seattle. For years,the WLF and the Seraphiteshave been engaged in a bloody conflict, resulting in the deaths of countless people on both sides. While both of these factions share plenty of screen time inThe Last of Us Part 2, with all sides of the story being explored, the game’s third and final faction, the Rattlers, isn’t so well-developed, with the player only really knowing that they keep any prisoners as working slaves.
The Last of Us Multiplayershould double down on its world-building and really hone in on new factions. Any new groups should have some kind of distinct trait that separates them from the other factions fans have seen so far, albeit one that’s justifiable for the in-game universe. Each of these groups should also have a clear ethos that it strictly adheres to, preferably one that makes its actions seem justified from its point of view. WithThe Last of Multiplayerstemming fromThe Last of Us: Factions, it seems likely that Naughty Dog will lean closely into this element of world-building.
The Last of Usmultiplayer game is in development.
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