When I woke up this morning, feeling a little worse for wear after a night of drinking with my friends while dressed as Harley Quinn (a usual Saturday night then), my fiance turned to me and one of the first things he said was that Naughty Dog had announced they were releasing a follow up to the Last of Us.

The Last of Us is one of my all time favourite games, up there with Bioshock, Uncharted and the latest Tomb Raider reboot. It’s an immersive storytelling feature, that makes you feel deeply for its characters, become immersed in this new world and strive to have quads as strong as Joel’s that allow you to crab walk for hours on end.

But seriously, it’s a triumph of a game that gets the ‘zombie apocalypse’ setting so right and is deserved of a sequel after its ambiguous ending.

The trailer features an older Ellie, who is looking a little rough around the edges, playing guitar. There’s a lot of blood, dead bodies and we see a glimpse of and hear the voice of a familiar character – Joel.

From the looks of things, Ellie and Joel are either being pursued or the community they were living in has been ransacked and their friends murdered. Was it the community built up by Joel’s brother? Or another that they came across along the way?

The first game was bleak, but Ellie’s personality brightened every situation, as she cajoled Joel into opening up, made jokes about tough predicaments and found courage in the darkest of times.

However, the Ellie we may have grown to love could be gone, as she’s hardened to the world and her situation. Her hand trembling at the start of the trailer before she begins playing guitar suggests she’s seen some things and has got through some tough situations. The machete on the floor at her feet, covered in blood, confirms this.

Will Ellie surpass Joel and become the main, playable character in this follow up? After all, he must be nearing his late 60s by this point, he won’t be up to shimmying along ledges or crab walking now.

The truth about what happened at the facility will come out too, as I imagine the Fireflies are trying to find her and Joel as they seek revenge for Marlene’s death and the pursuit of a cure.

Whatever the plot, I know Naughty Dog and its writers won’t disappoint. I can’t wait for its release now and I definitely need to play through the remastered version before it comes out.

Jade