Before the game’s official release, the video game director for the forthcoming Last of Us Part 2, Druckman, sheds some insight on the Fungal Shambler new monster type.
Fans of the game have been curious to learn more about the video game’s new opponents since last month’s Sony State of Play Press Conference featured the spectacular new teaser for The Last of Us Component 2. The trailer attracted particular attention since it provided additional context for the plot and setting and featured non-human foes for the first time.
In particular, the horrifying new “Shambler” kind seen on the teaser seemed to be a bit different from the typical ill ones.
The Shambler emerges as having been stolen from the role-playing game Magic: The Gathering, where the monster is known as a Fungus Beast and perfectly fits on The Last of Us.
The Last of Us 2: The Shambler
This new enemy type seems to have been added so that a new fight technique could be included in the game, inflicting an AOE (Area of Effect) sort of harm to the character.
Druckman explains: “We have Runners that close the distance quickly. We have Clickers that move slowly but are one-hit kills.
Shamblers provide this area of attack, where they have this cloud of gaseous acid that burns materials around it. It burns your skin.
The way you saw it in this demo is that they’re mostly on their own.
It gets really interesting because you have a cloud that hurts you when you enter it, but it also blocks your view. Then Runners burst through it.
So the combinations get really interesting.”