With the latest untitled multiplayer project from The Last of Us confirmed to still be in development, Naughty Dog should look to the likes of Left 4 Dead or Call of Duty in order to adapt its story- and character-driven focus to the zombie survival format. Though this wouldn't be the first attempt to bring multiplayer to The Last of Us, the mode is usually overshadowed by the narrative-rich single-player campaign. But since Naughty Dog remains tight-lipped about its upcoming spin-off and with multiplayer absent from The Last of Us Part 2, players can only struggle to envision what a standalone The Last of Us multiplayer game might look like.

While it's currently relegated to The Last of Us and The Last of Us Remastered, Naughty Dog's Factions multiplayer was fundamentally limited to PvP. Though it may have been the most straightforward approach that maximized player engagement, the Infected are nowhere to be seen across the various multiplayer modes. As the Infected remains one of the series' defining features, Naughty Dog should look to games like Left 4 Dead to understand how it too could add PvE gameplay alongside PvP, ultimately broadening its appeal to players while ensuring that The Last of Us' multiplayer doesn't lose sight of its Infected.

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Confirmed The Last of Us Multiplayer Details Complicate Things

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Despite being in development since 2020 and announced in mid-2022, there isn't much that's officially known about The Last of Us' multiplayer, which has let fan speculation run wild from smaller details such as returning gameplay mechanics to bigger expectations like an encounter with The Last of Us Part 2's Rat King. However, recent comments by Neil Druckmann have finally given an insight into the upcoming spin-off where he states that it's Naughty Dog's most ambitious title to date and that like other The Last of Us games, it will have its own story.

Though this might be good news to fans of Naughty Dog and its single-player legacy, it does raise questions as to how The Last of Us' multiplayer will negotiate multiplayer gameplay while delivering the same caliber of story-telling the developer is known for. While it's not completely impossible to create a working narrative that's malleable to balance with multiplayer gameplay, The Last of Us Factions has demonstrated how well it can afford character-building and high-stake narratives with meaningful consequences in PvP alone.

The Last of Us Multiplayer Should Go Cooperative

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At present, it does seem that The Last of Us' multiplayer has been primed to be PvP with The Last of Us Part 2 expanding the number of factions in the series, such as the likes of the Washington Liberation Front, the Seraphites, and the Rattlers joining the Fireflies and FEDRA. But similar to the rise in asymmetrical horror games that pits predator against prey, some have already called for The Last of Us' multiplayer to reintroduce the infected by learning from Left 4 Dead's Versus Mode with teams taking control of humans and Infected.

However, while this might add some diversity to the style of gameplay to be had, this still limits The Last of Us' multiplayer to a PvP format. Arguably, the project should go further with Left 4 Dead's approach or Call of Duty's zombie modes by incorporating a PvE co-op campaign as part of its multiplayer, where players face off against the infected. Not only could this help retain the series' emphasis on stealth and strategy, but it would give Naughty Dog's storytelling the room to thrive and less competitive players a chance to still experience the latest The Last of Us game.

The Last of Us' multiplayer project is currently in development.

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