The upcoming roguelike mode of The Last of Us Part 2 could be another inspiration for Naughty Dog to reach for a long-awaited shooter with similar gameplay.

The Last of Us has always retained the shooter elements that Naughty Dog’s Uncharted carried over somewhat. However, while Uncharted’s shooter gameplay was bombastic and of epic proportions, The Last of Us marinated the shooter in a survival-horror perspective. Ammo is much more valuable here, and there are far fewer opponents who are much more imposing. In fact, shooting The Last of Us Part 2 always had a bit of tension. The game is dominated by cat-and-mouse stealth, where the enemy crawls between waist-high cover points in the same way as the player.

But The Last of Us Part 2 No Return’s roguelike mode tips the scales even more, and Naughty Dog has never seemed more prepared for a Punisher game.

Could Naughty Dog make a Marvel game?

Ever since Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann expressed his interest in making a Punisher game, the prospect has been highly anticipated. There is no indication that fans should be ready for such an announcement. But with Naughty Dog being such a smash hit for the PlayStation, it seems that if they were to offer anything, the company would have their pick of an IP.

Marvel has been handing out its licenses wildly to developers lately, including:

• EA Motive’s Iron Man game.
• EA’s Cliffhanger Black Panther game.
• Skydance’s World War II game starring Captain America, Black Panther, Gabriel Jones, and Nanali.
• Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine.

If Naughty Dog’s emphasis on action-packed Last of Us mode is anything to go by for future games, the developer’s next game could feature similar shooter mechanics. That’s why, if Druckmann’s wish were to come true, a Punisher game would be very much a grist for Naughty Dog.

The action of The Last of Us Part 2 could be a clean transition to the Punisher

It would be hard to imagine Frank Castle throwing bricks to distract the enemy. However, all of the core mechanics that underpin The Last of Us could create the same construct for a Punisher game. Although the Punisher gained a bit more prominence in popular media around the release of Netflix’s Marvel adaptation, the character is still something of a blank canvas. His portrayal is nowhere near as rigid as that of icons like Spider-Man or Batman.

Naughty Dog could turn Frank’s emotional tragedy into a harrowing story, and the gunplay is already well underway.

No Return will arrive alongside The Last of Us Part 2 remaster next month. It will be interesting to see how it fares and how it adds to the overall experience. That doesn’t mean Naughty Dog’s next game will be a roguelike. But if the studio is pushing for gunplay, it would be exciting if these talents could carry over to a Punisher game.

Then again, if Naughty Dog really wanted to make the Punisher unique, they could give him a black and white War Machine outfit to run around in. Either way, hopefully, Naughty Dog will be able to say more about its next endeavours soon.

Source: PlayStation Blog