Pop punk luminary Mark Hoppus of blink-182 fame has covered one of the band's earlier hits while playing Naughty Dog's latest, The Last of Us 2.
Streaming the game via Twitch, the vocalist and bassist, took some time away from The Last of Us 2's post-apocalyptic narrative to strum out the chord progression of its popular song "Dammit" from blink-182's 1997 album Dude Ranch. As Ellie sits in Seattle's Valiant music store, Hoppus decided to treat his audience to a slower, more somber impromptu version of the band's song.
His attempts at a more soulful rendition of the song were mired slightly, however, after Hoppus forgot a line to the song he actually provided vocals for. This forced him to momentarily turn to his Twitch audience for help in reminding him. Thankfully, fans were clearly on hand to give him the nudge and Hoppus was able to get back on track to complete the chorus. He ended the performance by joking how he would then smash the guitar as his Ellie stands, returning to the game's story and a world inhabited by infected and the dangerous Washington Liberation Front.
Although he was able to play through the chorus' four-chord progression using the PlayStation 4's DualShock controller, Hoppus didn't play the song's popular riff that helped worm "Dammit" into the ears of impressionable pop punk fans worldwide, subsequently influencing a generation of pop punk bands in the process. However, given the player's ability to pluck individual strings as well as ring out chords in the game, coupled with the plethora of impressive covers fans of The Last of Us 2 have been able to perform as Ellie -- including Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and The Beatles' Here "Comes The Sun" -- it's hard to imagine someone won't soon be rocking out the blink-182 song in full.
For guitar playing fans of The Last Of Us 2, it's worth noting that Sony collaborated with guitar company Taylor to create two unique guitars inspired by the game. One features Ellie's tattoo emblazoned across the face of the guitar's body, whereas the other replicates her in-game guitar down to the moth on the neck's fretboard. They don't come cheap, however. The tattoo-themed guitar is currently priced at $699 and the game accurate version comes in at a hefty $2,299. Available on the PlayStation Gear Store, they join a range of other merchandise options including clothing, badges and stickers, and several different figurines in different styles.
The Last Of Us 2 is available now exclusively on PlayStation 4.