Not long ago, Naughty Dog announced that their third and final DLC drop for PS3-exclusive title The Last of Us would contain new multiplayer maps and a brand new difficulty mode for the single player campaign. Just yesterday, the EU PlayStation Blog disclosed full details about these exciting new additions that will be available in the upcoming Grounded DLC bundle.
First up, the Reclaimed Territories Map Pack will feature four new multiplayer maps and they are: Wharf, Capitol, Coal Mine, and Water Tower. According to the blog entry, “each map has a mix of trophies attached” and “intelligent use of climbing, stealth, flanking” will be required to survive matches in these environments.
The DLC drop will also provide players with new skills and weapons in the Survivalist Weapon Bundle, the Situational Survival Skills Bundle, and Professional Survival Skills Bundle. Listed below are details regarding the new weapons:
-Specter: A silenced assault rifle that’s great if your style is stealth stalker. PSN purchase unlocks this gun for use in your Custom Loadout. Equip in the Purchasable loadout slot, then use in-game parts to buy it during the match.
-Double Barrel: Classic, deadly, double-barrel shotgun. Only 1 loadout point. PSN purchase unlocks this gun for use in your Custom Loadout. Equip in the Purchasable loadout slot, then use in-game parts to buy it during the match.
-Enforcer: Highly accurate pistol but will cost you an extra loadout point.
-Launcher: A weapon that fires small explosives, in the vein of a home-made potato gun. PSN purchase unlocks this gun for use in your Custom Loadout. Equip in the Purchasable loadout slot, then use in-game parts to buy it during the match.
Listed below are the skills that will come with the Situational Survival Skills Bundle:
-Agility: Climb, vault, and move while crouching faster than you could before. At level 3 you are nearly impossible to hear while moving.
-Awareness: See enemy nametags before they see yours and enemy nametags remain on screen for several seconds when taking fire.
-Fortitude: Downed? Level up this skill and it will help you survive longer as you’ll take longer to bleed out, crawl faster, and have more health when downed. At higher levels you’ll start with an extra health pack, and earn extra parts each time you heal.
-Scavenger: Automatically pick up ammo and supplies and see increases in drops from enemies with this valuable skill. At level 3 enemies sometimes drop a random crafting ingredient.
And finally, listed below are the skills that will come with the Professional Survival Skills Bundle:
-Gunslinger: Equip this skill to start each spawn with more pistol ammo as you level up the skill.
-Bomb Expert: Your bombs will explode more quickly and you’ll be immune to the stun of your own smoke bomb as you level up this skill.
-Executioner: If your play style is the higher the risk, the greater the reward then this is the skill you want. Earn more parts for shiv kills and special executions, and get extra shiv uses every time you craft a shiv.
-Damage Marker: Good at hitting your targets? This is the skill for you as you’ll automatically mark any enemies you hit and earn double the parts for making.
All players, including those who did not get the season pass, will also get the Full-Auto Rifle for free.
Lastly, and perhaps the most interesting addition we’re getting from the Grounded DLC drop, is the new Grounded Mode for the single player campaign. According to the blog entry, this new game difficulty will be “the hardest challenge you’ll ever face as you try to complete the single player campaign”. The entry also boasts that “survival will be near impossible” and “‘Completed Grounded Mode’ might be one of the most difficult trophies you’ll ever earn”.
Well I don’t know about you guys but I am definitely excited about this new difficulty mode. I thought Survivor difficulty was brutal enough, but I guess Naughty Dog wants to up the ante with this addition. It’ll certainly be a welcome challenge for masochists (like myself) who have mastered the ins and outs of the single player campaign.
All in all, this Grounded DLC drop looks beefy enough in terms of new additional content. My only disappointment is that Naughty Dog didn’t take this opportunity to throw the infected into the multiplayer portion. That would’ve added a good layer of diversity to the online multiplayer, but I guess you can’t win them all.
There is no set release date for the Grounded DLC Bundle at the time of writing, and it is also worth noting that this DLC will be included in the upcoming title The Last of Us: Remastered.
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