The 2020 Game Awards are almost here, and many gamers are excited to see which games will be taking home the awards for the year. Some of the year’s biggest games, like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ghost of Tsushima, and Half Life: Alyx have all received award Game Awards nominations, but the game that has gotten the most nominations of all is one that is causing a bit of controversy from some fans. Naughty Dog’s newest title, The Last of Us Part 2, has received a whopping nine award nominations in total, including Game of the Year.
Not all gamers are happy with this outcome, as some were left disappointed and unsatisfied by the long-awaited sequel to 2013’s The Last of Us. But when it comes down to it, The Last of Us Part 2 is a great game that fully deserves the number of nominations that it has received, and it rightfully is one of the best games to come out of 2020 for many reasons.
Overall, The Last of Us Part 2 has been nominated for a grand total of nine different awards — Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Audio Design, Best Performance, Innovation in Accessibility, Best Action/Adventure, and Game of the Year. With so many nominations for one single game, critics and gamers clearly have a high amount of praise for the title.
Compared to the original, The Last of Us 2 is a much bigger game. In terms of length, the game takes an average of 24 hours to beat versus the first game’s 15 hours average. But outside of length, Part 2 simply features a bigger world, and a grander and more complex story, and a lot of extra world-building. The game’s world is also incredibly beautiful, and is likely to go down as one of the more visually stunning games to come from the eighth console generation. Everything from small things like the texture of the snow on the ground to character’s faces, The Last of Us Part 2 is rich with detail at every corner and as a result, it’s easy to get lost within the world while exploring it. Therefore, it’s easy to see why the game was nominated for Best Art Direction, the game’s visuals and the world are just a marvel to look at.
The most divisive part of The Last of Us Part 2 is undoubtedly the game’s story. While it won’t be spoiled here, some were upset with story decisions in the game that, while controversial, are also thought-provoking. Most games wouldn’t dare to risk going the direction that Last of Us 2 went, but it ultimately paid off in the game’s favor. Part 2 has an exciting story that builds off of the original game and isn’t afraid of taking risks. It’s therefore understand how the game is nominated for Best Narrative and Best Game Direction.
Additionally, top-tier performances help elevate it even further, providing characters that feel realistic and relatable. The performances by both Ashley Johnson as Ellie and Laura Bailey as Abbey were some of the best this year in gaming, so much so that both of them got nominations for Best Performance. This is the only category that has received two nominations for the same game this year, which just goes to show how great the performances these two actors provided were.
The Last of Us Part 2‘s music and sound are another great aspect of the game, and it’s understandable why it’s been nominated for the awards of Best Audio Design and Best Score and Music. Set within a post-apocalyptic world, the game incorporates plenty of survival horror elements just like the first game, but improved over the first game in this realm. Playing Ellie or Abby, the player must carefully listen for danger while exploring dark rooms, forests, and tunnels, while also always being on the lookout for the infected. This gameplay gets further enhanced by the sound design, which is incredible. Going from dead silence to the face of danger makes for a tense experience, and the game’s incredible sound makes it that much better. The music in the game is also beautiful, with Ellie’s performance of “Take on Me” as a prime example.
One of the more interesting nominations that The Last of Us Part 2 has received is for Innovation in Accessibility. This award is for the game that offers features or content that helps the game to be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience, including those with disabilities or impairments. Part 2 got a lot of attention upon its initial release over the fact that the game offered a ton of accessibility options, including features that allow the game to be played by those who are blind or deaf, with one blind gamer making the news after they beat Last of Us 2 by using the options available to them. This nomination feels particularly earned, as these accessibility options further expand the reach of video games to groups that previously would be incapable of experiencing them. These options can also serve as an example for other game studios, and will hopefully inspire future developers to incorporate similar features in their own games later down the line.
The Last of Us Part 2 is a fantastic game, to say the least, and more than deserves all of the nominations that it’s received for the 2020 Game Awards. Though it’s unknown whether the game will take home every award that it’s been nominated for, its award nominations certainly feel earned. Gamers will just have to see what happens when the pre-recorded event airs on December 10, 2020.
The Last of Us Part 2 is available now for the PlayStation 4.
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