IGN: So, I hear you've changed Ellie. How? I'm watching this trailer and I don't notice any "Cole"-like V-necks or anything. Why'd you change her?
Neil Druckmann (Creative Director): When we came up with the character of Ellie we put a lot of thought into what we wanted her to look like, researching the facial proportions, coloring and bone structures of dozens of faces and bodies. In addition to this, we held numerous casting sessions to ensure we had the right performance capture artist to represent Ellie, eventually selecting actress Ashley Johnson. As we’re still in the midst of development with The Last of Us, the team has been continuing to put a lot of thought into the creation of Ellie. After delving further into the game’s narrative over the past few months, we decided to modify Ellie’s model to better reflect Ashley’s personality, and also resemble a slightly younger teen more fitting to the story. We're happy with the final result shown in the cinematic we have released today, and hope the fans like her too.
IGN: What has it been like at Naughty Dog since the VGA announcement?
Bruce Straley (Game Director): It’s been a flurry of activity. We’ve been hard at work on The Last of Us for quite some time, but the VGA announcement really lit a fire under our asses. It signaled to the whole team that this is real now that everyone knows about the game, now let’s go finish it!
IGN: It can be hard to get people behind a new game, but everyone seems to have taken to The Last of Us. Were you expecting that? Were you expecting the Naughty Dog name to mean so much to people?
Bruce Straley: From the beginning we were trying to do something different, a darker look at the world, but with the depth of character and performance that Naughty Dog has been known for. Somehow we managed to take everyone by surprise by revealing that Naughty Dog has a new game in the works.
We knew people would be stoked once they found out Naughty Dog was developing the game, but we never expected the kind of reaction we felt first hand at the VGAs. It’s humbling and stressful as now we have to live up to our fan’s expectations.
IGN: Now that Game Informer and other sites have peeled back some of the layers to The Last of Us, how do you describe this title to people who don't know about it? What exactly is going on in this world?
Bruce Straley: It’s a game about the human condition. 20 years after a plague has decimated our society, how does man survive? When all moral and ethical codes have been stripped, who do you trust? After watching your friends and loved ones pass, do you think you could still love? What is life without hope? We’re trying to make you feel these dilemmas while you’re playing The Last of Us.
IGN: Who is Joel and who is Ellie?
Neil Druckmann: Joel is a brutal survivor of the world you see in The Last of Us. He’s seen what life was like before the pandemic. He’s had to do some horrible things to survive, and he has few moral lines left to cross. Ellie has only known life inside the military quarantine zone. Much of her knowledge of the world as it was comes from pop culture items like comic books and magazines —relics left over from “the old world.” She’s a young teenage girl that’s wiser and braver beyond her years. She’s been toughened by the harsh realities of her environment.
IGN: What's left of the world right now in the wake of this virus? Joel and Ellie have escaped a quarantine zone, but how safe is even that place?
Neil Druckmann: Civilization as we know it in present day has been radically changed after the pandemic. The human population has been decimated and most cities have been abandoned, left to be reclaimed by nature. Now city streets are flooded and covered in moss, vines, and newly grown trees. Quarantine zones were set up by the military as outposts for survivors – a way to escape the ever-growing numbers of infected. Martial law, however, presents its own set of dangers. Citizens are constantly monitored, supplies are scarce, and anyone caught breaking the law is executed. In the world of The Last of Us, safety is a relative term.
IGN: How are people able to survive outside of these safe zones?
Neil Druckmann: Those on the outside must be especially tough to deal with the constant threat of the infected. During their journey Joel and Ellie will meet several factions of survivors that manage to live outside of the Quarantine Zones through different means.
IGN: Why release this cutscene -- Joel and Ellie taking on some drifters? What about it makes it your showcase?
Neil Druckmann: We wanted to whet people’s appetite before E3. This trailer is a nice little teaser that shows a good look into the world of The Last of Us. It also hints at the layers in Joel and Ellie’s relationship and frames their different perspectives on this world.
Beat it.
IGN: What is the status of the rest of the world? Has any country or significant enclave avoided infection, or is this a worldwide pandemic?
Neil Druckmann: Communication and fast modes of transportation (like flying) quickly disappeared once the outbreak occurred. 20 years later, everyone that is still alive in the U.S. assumes that the rest of the world is in shambles.
IGN: How slow was the infection to drive humanity back to these hideouts? Did it all happen in a flash or was it a gradual process? How much of this history is in the game?
Neil Druckmann: The Infection was quick in driving mass migrations towards Quarantine Zones. While some made it, many failed in their escape. Much of that backstory will be left for the player to piece together between the environmental storytelling and conversations between the characters.
IGN: What is the status of the United States government? Are the enclaves independent, or are they taking orders from a centralized organization?
Neil Druckmann: The Quarantine Zones used to be under the centralized control of the military. Over the years most of the Quarantine Zones collapsed leaving many survivors to fend for their own. At the outset of the story Joel and Ellie are in one of the last remaining Quarantine Zones. While it’s still run by the military – this Quarantine Zone has no contact with any of the other Zones.
IGN: What are the major economic focuses of the enclaves? How do they survive?
Neil Druckmann: Each enclave has their own way of procuring food and supplies for survival. So far we’ve talked about the military quarantine zone that forces its citizens into hard labor, producing goods. With this cutscene, we’re revealing a second enclave of hunters – survivors who ambush and kill others for their precious belongings. Joel and Ellie will encounter these and other enclaves and bear witness to their methods of survival.
IGN: How's making The Last of Us different from making Uncharted? You can't really go on location for these environments...
Bruce Straley: Actually, you can. We had a rainy day field trip to a hospital that was being torn down. The whole bottom floor was flooded and the power was out. It was so creepy! But yeah, there’s a wealth of stuff out there – just do a quick search on the Internet – where abandoned buildings and ruins have been slowly retaken by nature. It’s been well documented by photographers with an interest in this kind of locale, and there’s a whole genre of photography dedicated to this. It’s really beautiful stuff. The funny thing is, anybody that’s had to deal with a leaky roof has good reference for The Last of Us.
Sorry, bro!
IGN: Why didn't you make this a co-op game? You have two main characters.
Bruce Straley: Well, to put it simply, it’s just not the type of game we Dogs are choosing to make right now. We’re interested in telling a very tight, well-constructed, narrative-driven gaming experience that (if we do our jobs right) successfully parallels the player’s feelings with our main protagonist. And in co-op it’s very difficult to align both of the players’ intentions with the narrative, or even the gameplay goals. A lot of this has to do with play styles of each individual. Not everyone wants to play the game the same way, and this breaks the other person’s experience. It’s certainly an interesting challenge, but for now we’ve chosen a hard enough path just making the single-player game.
IGN: Uncharted's combat is all about wasting bullets and then just finding more. If we're scavenging in this apocalypse, is that style of fighting out the window?
Bruce Straley: Not completely, but it will have a much different feel, and greater consequence if you choose to play that way. The Last of Us takes place in a much darker, more brutal world. There has to be realistic tension between the characters, and a sense of danger and consequence when you are in combat. Civilization and the production of goods as we know it have ceased, and many things are in short supply – especially expendables like bullets, or first aid supplies. Because of this, you’re going to have to make judgment calls on when to use and when to conserve your supplies. But there still will be avenues the more action-oriented player can take to make their way through the game. That creates very different combat scenarios from most shooters out today.
IGN: What can people expect from The Last of Us at E3?
Bruce Straley: Our team has been working hard to have something ready at E3 that will please our fans. We’d love to say more, but we don’t want to spoil anything.
Those animations, graphics and sound efects are out of this world! Why the hell did I sell my Ps3?! Might have to buy a new one only for this game.