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The Last of Us 2 originally featured a horrifying flashback that was cut from the final game.
Before we continue, be warned that spoilers for The Last of Us 2 are ahead. If you're heading into Season 2 of the show without having played it, be warned.
One of the big draws of The Last of Us 2 Remastered is the Lost Levels - cut segments which are now playable in the re-release with developer commentary. YouTuber Speclizer has chronicled all three of the Lost Levels in the video below, and one of them features a segment that would've been horrifying to witness in the actual game.
The second Lost Level has Ellie crawling through a claustrophobic sewer pipe in Seattle. Just as she's moving past what seems to be a dead Clicker, her light flickers, causing the dead infected to change to resemble Joel, all battered, bruised, and most certainly dead, just for a split second.
"We draw the player towards this pipe as it is seemingly the route out of this tight space," Naughty Dog game designer Pete Ellis explains in the accompanying developer commentary. "As we surface from the water over the crest of the slope, we reveal what is further in this tunnel," Ellis continues.
"It was great to see people who user-tested this area become increasingly worried as we forced the player to squeeze past the fungus and inches away from the Clicker's face," Ellis adds. "The Clicker momentarily turned into Joel to show Ellie's PTSD from what happened to Joel at the start of the game," Ellis says of the big moment.
"Ultimately, we decided to save this moment for the Farm level, as it was more impactful there because it could become the centerpiece of that experience," the game dev concludes. Ellis is referring to when Ellie hallucinates Joel being murdered near the game's conclusion, spurring her to track down Abby once again.
The Last of Us 2 Remastered is out later this week on January 19, and you can pick it up for $10 if you own the original game.
Here's our breakdown of how The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered's Lost Levels offer a fascinating peek behind the gamedev curtain.
