Love it or hate it, The Last of Us 2 is still one of the biggest games to have come out all year. The Last of Us 2 has been divisive among fans, but it has sold millions of copies worldwide and earned widespread, near-universal critical acclaim. And now those that enjoy the game will have even more content to dig into, as Naughty Dog has announced the free Grounded Update for later this week, bringing new modes and more to the Last of Us 2 experience on August 13.
The Last of Us 2 Grounded Update was previously leaked thanks to its two new trophies appearing online, but now more details have been confirmed. The Last of Us 2 Grounded mode will up the difficulty significantly by removing most of the HUD elements, limiting resources, and making enemies deadlier. However, it will also add some new gameplay modifiers that Last of Us 2 players can use to further customize the experience. This includes things like infinite crafting, being able to kill enemies with a single touch, and playing the game in slow motion.
The Last of Us 2 Grounded Update will also add some new graphics modifiers, giving the game a significantly different visual look. This includes a mode that mimics 8-bit graphics, cel-shaded visuals, and much more. While these different Last of Us 2 graphics may just be a novelty, it may give subsequent playthroughs a little more personality than they would have otherwise.
Another big addition with The Last of Us 2 Grounded Update is the introduction of a Permadeath mode. Permadeath, as its name implies, gives players just a single life to complete the entire game. This is likely to be the most significant challenge Naughty Dog has given Last of Us 2 players yet, especially if they decide to play through the game in both Permadeath and with the Grounded difficulty setting enabled.
And finally, as previously leaked, The Last of Us 2 will be adding two new trophies for fans to unlock. One is to complete the story mode on Grounded, and other is to beat Permadeath on any setting. This means that fans will likely be able to beat Permadeath mode on the easiest difficulty and get the trophy, but the stakes will still be incredibly high.
Looking ahead, it's likely that there are even more big updates in store for The Last of Us 2. The Last of Us 2 multiplayer recently leaked online, suggesting that the mode is coming to the game sooner rather than later. However, Naughty Dog has yet to share Last of Us 2 multiplayer release date information, so fans should stay tuned.
The Last of Us 2 is out now, exclusively for PS4.