Ahh..episode 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us. Those good old times, when we still had 8 episodes to go. Now that the series is over, I look back on it with reminiscence.
Beware: this article contains spoilers about events taking place in the 2nd episode of HBO’s The Last of Us.
Episode 2 was aptly named ‘Infected’. To refresh your memory: it was the episode in which Tess nobly sacrificed herself by French kissing an infected. Now that’s what I call ‘taking one for the team’! But before Tess went out with a blast, she first acted as Ellie’s mentor. Earlier in the episode, there was a scene where the trio looked out over tons of infected and Tess explained that they are connected by a hive mind. If you stand on a tendril, the connected infected will feel it, and you’d be swarmed.
The hive mind appeared out of nowhere and then quickly disappeared into the background. However, writer Neil Druckmann and showrunner Craig Mazin don’t do anything without a reason, so we can expect that the hive mind will play a bigger role in the upcoming seasons.
In HBO’s The Last of Us Podcast, Ashley Johnson (the voice actress of Ellie from the game) briefly mentioned the hive mind, saying: “When I watched that, I was like, I want to play that. Because that’s terrifying!” Host Troy Baker (the voice actor of Joel) and Craig Mazin expressed a lot of interest in the idea. Mazin went on to say that they will further explore the hive mind in the upcoming season(s). But what if they also explore it in The Last of Us Part III?
The impact of the The Last of Us series on the game
In the games, we encounter spores every now and then. These airborne particles are one of the ways in which cordyceps spreads. People wear masks when entering areas where these spores are floating around. Similar to the bites, Ellie is immune to spores as well.
The spores are absent in the television series. One of the reasons given by the creator was that the virus would spread too quickly if it were actually spread through airborne particles. However, the fact that the series differs from the game does not mean that the series cannot have an influence on the future of the games.
If Neil Druckmann is inspired by his partner, it could have a significant impact on the third installment of Naughty Dog‘s The Last of Us. Let’s face it, now that the franchise is even more widely known and loved, a third part is only a matter of time. A Long, Long time. But still.
The hive mind as a gameplay mechanic in The Last of Us Part 3: how would it work?
In The Last of Us Part I and Part II, we had to fend off runners, stalkers, clickers, and bloaters, which was already challenging and scary enough (especially those damn stalkers). But when Naughty Dog chooses to introduce a hive mind, everything becomes much more dangerous. Part I and II already added a kind of “watch your step” gameplay at certain moments.
For example, Bill’s town in the first game was full of dangerous tripwires. As a player, you had to pay close attention to spot and avoid them in time, or else you would be toast. Similar gameplay and explosives were also found in the second game. In Capitol Hill, we could lure in infected and take them down with those traps in a satisfying way. Unfortunately, I also fell prey to those things more often than I’d like.
A hive mind could be a new motivation to keep a close eye on your surroundings in Part III. Naughty Dog could use this element in certain chapters to introduce extra pressure. It would be more forgiving than the explosives from the earlier games. If you stepped on those, it was game over and you were sent back to the last checkpoint.
But stepping on a tendril wouldn’t kill you immediately. Instead, a hellish screeching could be heard from afar as soon as you take a wrong step. Our protagonist (let’s assume it’s Ellie again, or maybe Abby?) would comment and the music would swell.
If you’re lucky, you still have some time to quickly make some bombs, scavenge some ammo, and get ready.
Naughty Dog could strategically place tendrils where there are a few good hiding spots. If you find them in time, you might be able to wait out the approaching horde. But of course, this mechanic can’t be too forgiving, so the chance of staying hidden is small. No, when you step on a tendril, it’s highly likely that you’ll face a huge and intense battle against countless infected in all shapes and sizes.
Perhaps there could be another way out as well. Naughty Dog could, for example, include one fantastic and deadly weapon in the relevant chapters. Through clever dialogue like “This might come in handy. I should save that for a rainy day,” Ellie would warn players to save the weapon for moments like these. When the infected come swarming around the corner, you would unleash hell on them with your weapon. I can totally see it!
Stealth and exploration
It could also make the stealth gameplay even more nerve-wrecking. You may see certain ways to sneak up on that annoying clicker and stab it in the neck, but don’t forget to scan your path carefully. After all, you don’t want to step on a tendril and alert all the infected in your immediate vicinity. It could increase the difficulty level of certain chapters and put players in a state of intense concentration.
In the previous installments, you could make your human enemies fight the infected by throwing the well-known bottles and bricks. This could now be portrayed on a grander scale by throwing such an object at a tendril from (a great) distance. That way, you could make dozens of infected fight against a legion of human enemies. That must be a satisfying sight to behold!
Furthermore, tendrils could provide a certain platforming and exploration element. They could block certain paths and force players to find another, more creative route.
Of course, game design is all about balance, so the tendrils should be used sparingly. After all, players don’t want to spend all their time looking at their feet, as the environments are too beautiful for that.
Consequences of the lack of spores in the series
Spoiler warning for season 2, as I will be discussing an important event from The Last of Us Part II… Feel free to skip to the last paragraph if you don’t want spoilers, as I will be speculating a bit.
An important moment in the second installment is when Dina discovers Ellie’s immunity. Despite not needing a mask in areas with spores, Ellie must still pretend to wear one when others are around. At one point, fate strikes and Ellie’s mask suffers serious damage. Dina immediately offers to share hers and wants to take it off, but Ellie stops her. She takes off her own mask and shows that she can breathe in the spores without coughing.
Discovering Ellie’s immunity is obviously a crucial moment in their relationship. Besides Joel, Tommy and Maria, no one knows about Ellie’s secret. With this, Dina truly joins the most trusted circle. I’m very curious to see how this discovery will come about in season 2. Perhaps Ellie will get bitten in front of Dina? The makers have promised more infected for the second season, so who knows!
In case you’d like to know more about some key differences between the series and the game, take a look at my article about it here.
A final, somewhat out of control brainstorm
In episode 9 of The Last of Us, we finally found out after thirteen years why Ellie is immune. This has never been explained in the game and is likely to become canon for it. But what if this news ever leaked out to the community?
Perhaps I’ve seen too many maniacal communities in The Walking Dead, but I can imagine camps where this is mimicked. People will have no boundaries to save humanity and will not hesitate to make the most terrible sacrifices.
I envision camps where women are impregnated as often as possible. Nine months later, they give birth in front of chained infected. While the babies are being born, the infected are released, and the new mother is bitten, with the umbilical cord still attached.
Okay, this sounds incredibly psychopathic. I know. But the post-apocalyptic world is full of psychopaths. Just look at our cannibalistic friends from episode 8. David would undoubtedly have been capable of it if he hadn’t been hacked into a thousand pieces. In fact, there are probably even women who would sacrifice themselves to provide immunity to future generations.
Do you think the series will have an effect on the game? If so, in what way? Do you think adding a hive mind to the game is a good idea, or not? I’m curious about your expectations, so let me know in the comments!
