Last of Us 2 update 1.05 early patch notes: Permadeath, Gameplay mods

If you just can’t seem to get enough of The Last of Us Part II, fear not, as developer Naughty Dog has revealed update 1.05 for the game  – and it brings along a slew of new additions.

Despite some people’s divisive opinions on The Last of Us Part II, there’s no denying that there are certainly some people that loved their time playing through Ellie’s revenge story. In fact, many either have already replayed the game multiple times or are looking for an excuse to play through it again.

• Read more: Sony takes down leaked gameplay of The Last of Us 2 Factions multiplayer

Unfortunately, given the fact that the game’s “Faction’s” multiplayer mode remains unreleased and the only mode it comes with the single-player story, the replayability is a bit limited at the moment. Naughty Dog, however, seems to be looking to change that.

The developer has officially announced that update 1.05 for the game will launch on Thursday, August 13, 2020, and it adds a horde of new features. While it doesn’t include the highly anticipated multiplayer mode that was canceled from the game, it does give players new ways to dive back into it.

First and foremost, Grounded difficulty is back. This mode was added to the first game a few months after it launched and was considered even harder than Survivor (the hardest base difficulty in the game). Enemies will kill you in only a couple shots, resources will be few and far between, and Listen mode will be completely disabled.

If you looked at the Grounded difficulty and thought to yourself, “You know what, that’s not enough of a challenge for me,” then Naughty Dog also has you covered.

• Read more: Neil Druckmann explains why The Last of Us 2 fan backlash is “laughable”

Also included with update 1.05 is a new Permadeath option. As one can imagine by the name, players who die with Permadeath turned on will have to start the game completely over again. That being said, Naughty Dog is including options that allow you to choose a point where you start over from. An example that the developer itself used is the ability to replay the entire in-game “Day” instead of the entire game.

In addition to the two new gameplay options, Naughty Dog is also including some brand-new, fun modifiers to enable while playing through the story. These seem comparable to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’s campaign cheats, which added some fun flair to the game itself.

There are over 20 different modifiers that will be added to the game when the update hits:

• Mirror World
• Mirror on Death
• Slow Motion
• Bullet Speed Mode
• Infinite Ammo
• Infinite Crafting
• Infinite Melee Durability
• Infinite Listen Mode Range
• One-Shot
• Touch of Death
• 8-bit Audio
• 4-bit Audio
• Helium Audio
• Xenon Audio
• Saves now display playtime up to the second
• Film Grain Adjustment option
• Disable Listen Mode option
• Motion Sensor Function Aiming option
• Arc Throw HUD Display option
• Aiming Acceleration Scale option
• Aiming Ramp Power Scale option

Overall, this seems like a fairly extensive update and, while it doesn’t add a whole new mode, it does allow players to have a new experience when they replay the main story. Here’s hoping it keeps people enticed until the game’s Factions mode gets released in some way, shape, or form.