Almost eight years since The Last of Us launched on PS3, you might've thought the community had unearthed everything there is to find in the game, but there's actually one six-legged easter egg that's been hiding in relative obscurity.
The tragic prologue that sets up the events of The Last of Us and The Last of Us 2 is tough to forget, but unless you've jumped through a few oddly specific loops, there's likely still one horror you've yet to encounter: a cordyceps-infected ant that you can find on the TV in Joel's bedroom after completing a few obscure steps.
TLOU 1 Easter Egg that I didn't know about before today. https://t.co/0epF55e6KhJanuary 10, 2021
If you want to check it out and truly 100% The Last of Us, here's what you'll need to do:
As detailed by The Last of Us streamer Anthony Calabrese, you'll want to boot up The Last of Us and start a new game or load a save from the very beginning. Then, you'll want to run through the prologue as usual until just after you witness the frantic news report on the TV and the explosion from the window of Joel's upstairs bedroom. Walk down to the very bottom of the stairs and you'll cross a subtle checkpoint. At this point, quit to main menu, and then load up the most recent autosave. That should position you right at the bottom of the stairs, at which point you can walk up the stairs and back into Joel's room. It's then that you'll see a nightmarish broadcast of a still image of an infected ant.
It's such a convoluted process getting to this easter egg, which is probably why it's largely gone unnoticed until now. The Last of Us 2 co-game director and The Last of Us Game Designer Kurt Margenau tweeted out that he's the one responsible for the creepy-crawly, joking that, "As the one who scripted this sequence.. sounds like a bug tbh."
Now just imagine how many horrific The Last of Us 2 easter eggs are still hiding in the shadows.
