The Last of Us season 2 introduces super smart stalkers

The Final of Us seems to introduce a new type of infected — new, a minimum of, to individuals who have but to play developer Naughty Canine’s online game. It’s early on in The Last of Us season 2 when Ellie and Dina, on patrol, enter an deserted grocery retailer to choose off a pair contaminated. When Ellie falls by means of the second-story ground and onto the principle degree, she shortly realizes that she’s being hunted.

The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann hinted on the inclusion of the advanced contaminated sort in an interview with Empire Online from March: “It’s saved sure elements of their mind alive, so they’re smarter,” he mentioned. “They coordinate and conceal and do issues that we’ve by no means seen another contaminated do on this present.” And the present’s model differs considerably from its sport counterpart — for starters, the viewers sees it looking Ellie earlier than she does, so we see much more about what goes into its stalking expertise.

Ellie can hear the Stalker earlier than she sees it. It sounds noticeably extra human than the eerie sounds of Runners and Clickers; it extra resembles a human moan than anything. Stalkers are harmful within the sport as a result of a part of their mind continues to be alive: They received’t simply run instantly at a human, as a substitute opting to hunt their prey very equally to how people — like Ellie and Dina — hunt contaminated. They will keep low, underneath cowl, to maintain from being seen. They conceal and bait people out to make the proper assault. The one which assaults Ellie has fungus rising out of its head like a crown, however in any other case appears just about like a human — albeit a reasonably beat-up one.

Moments earlier than Ellie encounters the Stalker, she and Dina are making a plan to bait out an contaminated. Then the scene is flipped on its head, when the Stalker does the identical to Ellie. Naturally, Ellie and Dina report the contaminated again to the Jackson council, who’re considerably skeptical of the declare.

On the planet of the present, Stalkers appear to occupy a center area between Runners (the super-fast contaminated) and Clickers (the contaminated that use echolocation because of mushrooms of their eyes); Runners are the quick, aggressive sort that appears to be performing on pure animal intuition, whereas Clickers are a sophisticated type of the fungal illness, which depends on different senses to make up for intensive fungal development. Stalkers have mind exercise, however hold the identical athleticism as Runners, because the fungus hasn’t restricted their physique simply but.

There’s solely that one Stalker within the first episode of The Last of Us’ second season, however given the introduction, it’s probably we’ll see rather more — both right here or within the freshly greenlit season 3.