The Last of Us Part II Update Adds Grounded Difficulty, Permadeath Mode, and More - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 11 August 2020 / 2,114 Views
Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer Naughty Dog announced update 1.05 for The Last of Us Part II will release on August 13. The update adds the Grounded difficulty, Permadeath mode, new features, Trophies, and more.
View the trailer of the update below:
Read the details below:
Grounded Difficulty Returns, Plus New Permadeath Mode
For veteran The Last of Us fans, “Grounded” difficulty represents the ultimate test of skill. This difficulty raises the stakes by not only making enemies deadlier and ammo, upgrade, and crafting materials incredibly scarce, but also removing invaluable tools for survival, such as disabling Listen mode, deactivating elements of the HUD, and more. Beginning with the update, Grounded will become one of the base difficulty options available when starting the story, so you won’t need to have beaten the game once already to access it.
As an additional layer of challenge, we’re also introducing a brand new “Permadeath” mode. With this custom mode enabled, there are no second chances—you must complete the entire game without dying or start over from the beginning. However, if taking on the whole game is too daunting, you can choose to enable Permadeath mode with checkpoints on a per-chapter or per-act basis. In other words, if you die at the end of Day One, you’ll have to play the entire day over again.
You’ll also be rewarded for your efforts. The Grounded update introduces two new Trophies: one for completing the game with any Permadeath mode enabled and another for beating it on Grounded difficulty. Don’t worry, though, neither of these Trophies will be required in order to earn the Platinum.
New Graphics, Audio, and Gameplay Modifiers
Have you ever wondered what The Last of Us Part II would look like as a cel-shaded adventure or if it was made in the retro 8-bit era? How about if it was a black and white noir thriller or sepia-toned classic? With this week’s update, we’re adding nearly 30 new graphics rendering modes, as well as several new audio modifiers that allow you to change the look and feel of the game
We’re also debuting new unlockable gameplay modifiers, like One Shot or Touch of Death that enable one-hit kills or Infinite Ammo, Infinite Crafting, or Infinite Listen Mode Range to add a new twist to gameplay:
- Mirror World
- Mirror on Death
- Slow Motion
- Bullet Speed mode
- Infinite Ammo
- Infinite Crafting
- Infinite Melee Durability
- Infinite Listen mode Range
- One Shot
- Touch of Death
- 8-bit Audio
- 4-bit Audio
- Helium Audio
- Xenon Audio
All of these modifiers can be accessed via the Extras menu and unlocked after completing the game.
New Options and Improvements
Alongside these new modes, we’re excited to introduce a number of frequently requested improvements to the game, including the option to disable Listen Mode, adjust Film Grain levels, additional display options, improvements to accessibility features, and more. For our friends in the speedrunning community, we’re also adding the ability to see playtime up to the second in the saves menu, making it easier to track and verify your runs. Here’s a quick overview of the new features that will be added with the Grounded update:
- Saves now display playtime up to the second
- Film Grain Adjustment option
- Disable Listen Mode option
- Motion Sensor Function Aiming option
- Arc Throw HUD Display option
- Aiming Acceleration Scale option
- Aiming Ramp Power Scale option
- Accessibility improvements to Ground Zero encounter, collectible tracking, Enhanced Listen Mode for collectibles, and rope gameplay
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Free is great :) Game of the Year, currently - together with Persona 5 Royal and Ghost of Tsushima.
This is the first Sony AAA game to use Motion Aiming, hopefully this becomes the norm next gen
amazing update,
thanks SONY and NAWTEA DAWG!
NAUGHTY DOG FTW!
These are some pretty interesting additions. I'm surprised they put some fun modifiers in the game
Thought grounded and permadeath were the only additions but they added much more.
A lot of companies charge extra money for these kind of add-ons.
"Motion Sensor Function Aiming option"
I'm really curious to learn what this is...
Great update. Love these features in ND games.
sweet!! i was about to play it on survivor. cell shaded, yes!! amazing update!!
