Despite The Last of Us 2 being over a year old, gamers are still finding some neat details within the critically acclaimed game. Many of these are tied to combat, including a new touch that sees enemies in The Last of Us 2 being half-burned.
Ellie can craft plenty of weapons to help her out as she fights against Clickers and scavengers. While explosive arrows and stun bombs are amongst the most popular, it is hard to top the effectiveness of The Last of Us 2’s molotovs. Great at crowd control, the fiery bottles can clear out a pack of infected just as easily as they can bring down a human foe. However, their effect on the latter is particularly impressive, as Naughty Dog has added a special detail for burned enemies.
Normally, throwing a molotov at an enemy will result in them instantly being killed. However, sometimes the flames are not enough to do the trick, with a glancing blow only injuring a human enemy. If this does happen, they will continue to fight against Ellie, with the Last of Us 2 protagonist needing to finish them off with a gunshot or melee attack. However, it turns out that the enemy will feel the effects of the molotov, as Redditor FrenchKush420 has pointed out an awesome animation only seen with burnt foes.
In the screenshot, Ellie can be seen grabbing an enemy from behind. While she has a gun held to their head in the usual manner, there is something a bit different about this body shield’s arm. Having been set on fire from a molotov prior to Ellie’s melee attack, the survivor’s right arm looks burnt and mangled. A darker red than his other arm, the scarring is clear, as the other side of the enemy’s body remains unharmed. As it turns out, this same The Last of Us 2 detail extends to named characters as well.
In the comments of the post, a Redditor named BrennanSpeaks points out a clip they saw where Joel’s brother Tommy was burnt in a similar fashion. Happening via Abby’s incendiary shell, the wound stayed throughout their fight, sticking around during the cutscene where Abby throws him into the water. This attention to detail is one of many reasons that The Last of Us 2’s visuals have received so much love, as the game’s graphics are top notch. Further, with incendiary shells and molotovs usually insta-killing enemies, many may miss out on this special charred effect.
With Ellie's molotovs and Abby's incendiary shells possibly featuring inside of The Last of Us 2’s Factions multiplayer, it will be interesting to see if these burned bodies accompany them. Regardless, this gnarly and easily missable detail is worthy of some appreciation.
The Last of Us 2 is available now on PS4.