The Last of Us 2has arrived after a seven year wait and has been the subject of controversy. There seems to be at least something for everyone to be upset about in the game, but there are equally as many things to like about it. In spite of all this contention,TLOU 2has sold over four million copiesin its first week, an impressive milestone to be sure. Pushing aside how one feels about the game’s story and characters, its presentation in the trailers is vastly different than what fans actually got. This has prompted many to discuss whether misleading trailers are okay or not.
For the record,MASSIVE SPOILERSforThe Last of Us 2are ahead. Fans wanting to experience the game’s turns and twists for themselves should turn back now and come back after playing through it. With that out of the way, it’s important to talk about the scene in question. In one of the trailers forThe Last of Us 2, an older version of Joel appears to help Ellie on her quest for vengeance. This seemingly confirmed that he would play a major role in the story, something which many weren’t sure about before. As it happened, that wasn’t true at all.
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The Last of Us 2 - You Think I’d Let You Do This On Your Own?
“You Think I’d Let You Do This On Your Own?” This one line created so much hype forThe Last of Us 2.WithJoel being the main character of the first game, fans were understandably excited to see him returning. Everyone knew thatEllie would be the main focus, but the thought of the two embarking on another adventure together was just too good to be true. Well, it turns out that it actually was too good be to true. The scene shown at the end of this trailer is in the actual game, but it doesn’t feature Joel.
In the game, Jesse is the one that shows up, grabs Ellie, and covers her mouth. When asked the same question Ellie says in the trailer, he leans against the wall and gives the exact same response Joel did. Many gamers, alreadyfurious at the death of Joelin what they believe was an unfair manner, found this to be completely uncalled for. The complaint here is that Naughty Dog used this character to build hype for the game and get people excited, only to kill him off early in a frustrating way.
Misleading Movie Trailers
While this may be surprising to some, this kind of practice is not unheard of. In fact, one of the most popular movie franchises ever created, theMarvel Cinematic Universe, does something similar to this in almost every single one of its trailers. In the trailer forThor: Ragnarok, the climactic battle between Thor and Hela shows Thor still having both of his eyes, despite him actually having lost one during this conflict. Most fans are okay with this sort of deception, as it doesn’t drastically affect the story but preserves the integrity of that moment.
Likewise, bothAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgamehave deceitful trailers as well. In theInfinity Wartrailer, the Hulk is seen running alongside the rest of the Avengers even though in the movie it was actually Bruce Banner in the Hulk Buster suit.Endgame’strailer shows several scenes that never actually made it into the movie, such as a buff version of Thor at the battle of Wakanda, or the switching of Captain America’s suit in order to lead fans off the trail of the Time Heist plot line. Most would agree that these changes are minor enough to not be a problem. Trailers aren’t meant to spoil the whole movie or game, so these are helpful.
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Misleading Video Game Trailers
Video games are also no stranger to misleading trailers, although they tend to be misleading in different ways. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the trailer forAliens: Colonial Marines,as fans watching this for the first time were unbelievably hyped for the game. It looked as though it would be the next big thing, with graphics unlike anything gamers had seen before with an immersive world and great gameplay. Of course, what fans actually got was nothing like that and is remembered asone of gaming’s biggest disappointments.
On the other hand, game trailers are often misleading because they fail to deliver on overly ambitious promises. Most will probably remember thedebacle that wasNo Man’s Sky, a game which was hyped up immensely only to flop with equal vigor after fans realized it wasn’t what was advertised. While both of these trailers are terrible for the way they misled fans into purchasing a game they otherwise never would have bought, Joel’sThe Last of Us 2trailer is on a completely different level.
The Last of Us’s 2 Deception
As was stated before, trailers should preserve the integrity of the story. No one wantedThe Last of Us 2to spoil itself in trailers before the game released, but it is clear that Naughty Dog intended to mislead the player to add surprise or shock value to the final product. The game’s creative director,Neil Druckmann, even admits to misleading fansin the same interview during which he defended the death of Joel. Fans were shown a game in which they would be able to play with Joel and Ellie again and then given the exact opposite.
Perhaps this wouldn’t be seen as so bad if there wasn’t already so muchcontroversy surroundingThe Last of Us 2, but it definitely raises some questions about ethics in marketing and the responsibilities developers have to their consumers. It is not possible to give a definitive answer about whether or not it is okay to mislead in trailers as there are varying degrees of doing so, but hopefully this incident will help show the good and bad of such a tactic.
The Last of Us 2is available now exclusively for PS4.
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