Naughty Dog has announced their upcoming documentary titled Grounded II: Making The Last Of Us Part II, which will arrive as part of a post-launch update for the impending remaster.
Grounded II is a sequel to the 2014 documentary (Grounded: The Making Of The Last Of Us) which chronicled the trials and tribulations of bringing Ellie and Joel’s story to life in the first game across an 85 minute film, also available on YouTube. This new documentary doesn’t yet have a release date, but will be coming to YouTube on launch and is likely to come out some time after The Last of Us Part II: Remastered drops on 19 January.
“Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II is coming! It will be available on YouTube and as part of a post-launch update for #TLOU2Remastered,” the official Naughty Dog Twitter account revealed over the weekend, alongside the trailer, which, for those who have yet to play the TLOU sequel or don’t want the TV show’s second season spoiled in advance: fair warning: story spoilers ahead in both the trailer and this article.
The two-minute trailer for Grounded II: Making The Last Of Us Part II shows footage from 2016 onwards, with snapshots of work on the critically acclaimed 2020 title. There are interviews with team members including director Neil Druckmann, and glimpses of the obstacles that stood in the way of The Last Of Us Part II as it crept closer to release – including story leaks, developer burnout and crunch, and the elephant in the room for anything occurring in 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic. “Are people going to want to play a game that takes place in a pandemic when there’s a real pandemic?” an offscreen voice asks in the trailer as the empty Naughty Dog office is shown.
Grounded II was abandoned during the pandemic, however it looks like Naughty Dog has decided for it tocoincide with the launch (even if it’s set to release afterwards) of The Last Of Us Part II Remastered is prime time to share the tale of how one of 2020’s most-lauded (and divisive) titles came to exist. The trailer also explores the decision to kill Joel off from the jump – the character’s voice actor and motion capture Troy Baker says the move is “gonna piss a lot of people off,” and as we know in hindsight, it sure did.
The Last Of Us Part II Remastered is set to release on 19 January, so there’s not long to wait if you’re keen to jump back in to Ellie’s story (or try it for the first time). Beyond graphical improvements, DuelSense integration, Guitar Free Play mode, and a number of other improvements and new features, it will also introduce a roguelike gameplay mode called No Return.
Will you be picking up The Last Of Us Part II Remastered when it drops?
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