Joel and Ellie's emotional journey is usually the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions The Last of Us 2, as many wait patiently for the continuation of the revered single-player narrative. What doesn't come to mind for most people when thinking of The Last of Us is multiplayer, which was never a popular or defining aspect of the game at launch.
Regardless, The Last of Us 2 will once again receive a multiplayer addition, even if it is coming a bit later. The "Factions" multiplayer mode from the original The Last of Us was received relatively well during a time where almost every single player game had an extra multiplayer mode attached. Naughty Dog intends to introduce a more robust and ambitious version of its Factions multiplayer after The Last of Us Part 2 releases later this year, meaning fans should be excited for what's to come.
When the first game came out in 2013 on PS3, it was praised for having extremely high production value and a strong narrative. Game Rant's review of The Last of Us even praised the few multiplayer modes that came with the base game, despite their limited scope. Obviously, the incredible single player experience that came from The Last of Us was the star of the show, while Factions was often considered an afterthought.
Initially promised to return, Naughty Dog confirmed that The Last of Us Part 2 would not have a multiplayer mode attached to it. This came to the disappointment of the small but vocal community of fans who had continued to play the Factions multiplayer long after launch. Naughty Dog had cited that its single player experience in The Last of Us 2 was becoming very ambitious and, due to the time constraints the development team was under, it would have to cancel any multiplayer plans that were coming along with release.
Luckily, players weren't disappointed for too long, as fans later found out that multiplayer was coming to The Last of Us Part 2... Kind of. Confirmed on Twitter from an official update, Naughty Dog stated that a standalone multiplayer game separate from The Last of Us Part 2 was coming from the same team that crafted the original's Factions multiplayer.
Once again, Naughty Dog specifically cited the ambition of the ideas behind the multiplayer becoming too large in scope, and that "the vision of the team grew beyond an additional mode that could be included with our enormous single player campaign." Now the multiplayer mode becomes its own standalone project, and while it wasn't explicitly stated that the project will still be part of The Last of Us Part 2 directly, it's likely the experience will follow similar concepts.
Factions from The Last of Us became a much more impressive and definitive multiplayer experience in retrospect. Around the time of its PS3 release, The Last of Us' multiplayer was criticized for being a "tacked-on" mode, wasting precious development on a mode that wasn't part of the core experience. Many years later, thousands of fans still enjoy the Factions multiplayer and praise it for being very innovative and underrated. Many YouTubers and streamers took it upon themselves to highlight Factions' unique nature when compared to other traditional multiplayer games.
Factions' signature aspects are its focus on the gritty survival tactics introduced in its single-player component, and how these tactics factor into the multiplayer mechanics. There were only two modes released, Supply Raid and Survivors, which were both four-versus-four player deathmatch modes with slight variations between them. Both of these modes contributed to the metagame aspect of Factions, which involved each player becoming the leader of their own respective group of survivors. Players could align with either the Fireflies or the Hunters, the titular divisions that each represented different organizations of survivors in The Last of Us lore. From there players compete in these "12 week" seasons to survive and win the metagame, a microcosmic version of what many Esports games like Call of Duty do today.
With a completely new and greatly expanded multiplayer experience on the way from the same team, The Last of Us Part 2's standalone multiplayer has a lot of potential to be something very exciting. Assuming some of the existing design from Factions carries over into this new experience, iterating on Factions' core design on a greater scale will likely be the main focus of this standalone multiplayer game, hopefully in service of making the best multiplayer experience Factions was supposed to be.
The Last of Us 2's multiplayer will likely take the metagame aspect of the experience and expand it much further from Factions' current version. Factions' metagame component isn't the most fleshed out progression system in video games, but it's an interesting sort-of justification for player progress. The Last of Us Part 2's multiplayer will likely add more layers to its management of survivors, and how the player's actions in multiplayer affect the livelihood of their group. There may even be more lore-relevant interactions between the Hunters and Fireflies, hopefully making Last of Us 2 enemies not as easy to hate.
How Naughty Dog could potentially improve the challenges that influence a player's survivors is by implementing more objective-based challenges. Since the two modes in Factions were just different versions of a team deathmatch, many of the player's challenges involved doing a specific action to kill their opponents. An interesting twist on the new mode could be something more objective-based involving environment interactivity or exploration, not just killing opponents.
Another big thing in the original Factions multiplayer was its grounded tactical gameplay. Player movement was much slower and more calculated in The Last of Us multiplayer, meaning fundamentals from other multiplayer shooters like Call of Duty didn't exactly transfer well into Factions. Scenarios were much more tense because of the lower player count and smaller map designs. The Last of Us Part 2's multiplayer experience will likely hone in on that aspect that defined Factions previously. Map design will likely still be claustrophobic, and resource management will likely be prioritized as a primary issue mid-match. With The Last of Us Part 2 introducing new weapons and equipment, so too will the next iteration on Factions. Equipment variety will probably play a key role in team composition and strategy.
Lastly, stealth gameplay was an infrequent but viable option in Factions. Smaller player count can sometimes mean less average time players are engaged in firefights. Being snuck up on or assassinated in The Last of Us' multiplayer was a tangible concern for players, especially in Survivors when teammates only had one life per round. Assuming this new multiplayer experience is similar, stealth gameplay could potentially be incorporated more in certain scenarios.
A possible way to capitalize on this same sense would be the inclusion of multiplayer maps/modes that take place at night. Similar to Ubisoft's Splinter Cell multiplayer modes, Factions could incorporate maps/modes that force players to stick together in defensive scenarios. It could create an interesting tower-defense-style dynamic that would equate to a very pulse-pounding experience.
Even when multiplayer servers shut down for The Last of Us on PS3, several players kept coming back to the remaster to play Factions, so it'll be interesting to see how this new experience shapes up. Overall, there's plenty of other ambitious directions The Last of Us Part 2's multiplayer experience could go, but it would makes sense for Naughty Dog to focus on Factions' strengths. With larger scope likely influencing a more fleshed out experience, fans could be in for a big surprise when The Last of Us Part 2's multiplayer experience is officially unveiled.
The Last of Us Part 2 is coming to PlayStation 4 on May 29, 2020, with no known release date for the standalone multiplayer.