Fans are growing restless with anticipation for news concerningThe Last Of Us Part 3, with over four years having passed since the franchise’s last fresh mainline release. The project was confirmed by franchise creator Neil Druckmann in February 2024, although solid details surrounding the title, such as its plot, focused characters, and release date are still largely unknown.
Even more attention has been placed onThe Last of Us Part 3in recent months thanks to the success of HBO’sThe Last of Usseries, which has brought a massive new audience to the longstanding franchise. While this upcoming project would do well to shape its own identity and stand out from the games that have come before it, there is one huge element of the IP’s past thatThe Last of Us Part 3should definitely revive. 2013’sThe Last of Usfound huge success with its Factions multiplayer experience, withTLoU Part 2infamously ditching the mode. It only seems right thatPart 3should be the project to put this multiplayer experience back on the map, and it would have plenty of lessons to learn from its original iteration.
Naughty Dog Could Make Up For the Heartbreak Around The Last of Us' Factions Mode
Alongside its iconic single-player narrative, the originalThe Last of Uswowed players back in 2013 with its gritty and exciting Factions multiplayer experience. As the name suggests, the mode was centered around players choosing allegiances between either the Fireflies or Hunters factions, with them then engaging in a range of PvP battles to fight for supplies and ultimate survival.
Factions MP possessed a range of game modes that fostered high-octane or massively suspenseful experiences, with the multiplayer as a whole generally being praised for the way it felt like a logical and grounded extension of the single-player story’s bleak and brutal post-apocalyptic world. Many players had high hopes forhow this online formula would be built upon in the run-up toThe Last of Us Part 2, but were disappointed when the news broke that the highly-anticipated game would be single-player only.
This seemed like a confusing move on Naughty Dog’s part given the huge success of the original game’s multiplayer, but these concerns were briefly alleviated with the news that the studio was developing a standalone multiplayer release set within the world ofThe Last of Us. This project was known asThe Last of Us Online, and it gathered huge amounts of support and interest beforeNaughty Dog ultimately announced the game’s cancelation in December 2023.
The Last of Us Part 3’s Multiplayer Should Give All Players the Full Experience
Ultimately, this means that fans have been without a fresh multiplayer experience forThe Last of Usfor over a decade, with the absence of an online mode forThe Last of Us Part 2now seeming like a sorely missed opportunity. Naughty Dog stated that the massive scope ofThe Last of Us Onlinewould have hindered the development of future single-player titles, and a good middle-ground could be found inThe Last of Us Part 3featuring a smaller-scale and more traditional Factions multiplayer of its own.
Given the long absence of multiplayer content for the IP, many fans seem sure thatThe Last of Us Part 3will revive this aspect of the franchise. If one lesson can be learned from how Factions was originally implemented, however, it should be that the concept of paid DLC weapons for the multiplayer is completely absent inTLoU Part 3. The original Factions locked full ownership of certain perks and weapons behind in-game purchases, being a restrictive stain on what is otherwise an unforgettable multiplayer experience.A multiplayer mode inThe Last of Us Part 3will have a lot of goodwill to regain from fans, and offering the full breadth of perks and weapons as standard would be a good way to enter the next era of the franchise’s online offerings.
