Dev explains why they didn’t include Prone or Dodge in ‘The Last Of Us Part 1
Part I will be released in just days. Since the announcement, fans have been speculating on everything from the revamped graphics to the new combat system. The game has received positive reviews. My review gave Part 1 nine out of ten. I wrote that “fans will not find any better way to enjoy this story, and new players are sure to find a new favorite.”
Like many others, I was shocked to learn that The Last of Us Part II didn’t include the dodge and prone mechanisms. It’s a controversial exclusion, but Matthew Gallant, the game director, explained why it was not included in the remake.
After a dev claimed that adding prone would have “just broken the gameplay,” many thought this was a poor excuse. However, it turned out that it wasn’t. Gallant explained that dodge and prone were added to Ellie’s fighting style, which is much more agile than Joel’s. The introduction of the Part 1 functions could have helped to “avoid some of the tension” caused by Joel’s limited skill set.
“When we thought about dodge and prone in the Last of Us Part 1, we knew that the feeling of Joel was important and we added dodging and prone to achieve this goal. Gallant stated that The Last of Us Part II was designed to make you feel like Ellie. “She’s a young lady with very different abilities and techniques to help you get ahead of enemies […]. We wanted that side to feel like Ellie and Joel to feel like Joel.”
Gallant said, ” Part 1 was designed very holistically. Joel’s Clicker toolkit has many interesting strategies and tradeoffs. Some of those would be subverted if Joel could dance and dodge away. It would remove some of the pressure of having Clickers bearing down on your face and knowing that you have to take your headshot or stun them. […] We felt that we had to be careful not to lose that fantastic experience of playing as Joel with those mechanics.
