The Last of Us Episode 5's two big gameplay changes explained

The fifth episode of The Last of Us is now available on HBO Max. As with any adaptation, the series deviates from the source material in some places, and this particular chapter is no different. Neil Druckmann, creative director of the video games and co-creator of the series, has explained two of the major changes in Naughty Dog's work.

Why were the changes made?

"There's a change here, pretty significant from the game," Druckmann said. "We needed Henry to be able to fight and kill with you (in the game). And we try to give a certain morality in the game to Henry that even Joel wouldn't have." He gives a specific example: "There's a part where Sam tries to steal this toy from this toy store, and Henry says, 'No, we only take what we need and no more.'”

In the show, they don't need Henry to kill, so he's never done it before. "I think it just immediately separates him from Joel. And you understand why Henry is so reliant on this man that he just spotted kill a bunch of people.”

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Another change occurs when the characters go down into the tunnels. In the game, they would find letters and journals from a survivor named Ish, whereas in the series, he's almost completely removed. "We just couldn’t tell this story in the show. There was just no way to do it. But we wanted to honour that this place existed." So they reflected the presence of former survivors, showing an old school in the tunnels, with drawings, toys, etc. “These two parallel dimensions of the story live side by side, helping each other to enrich the story.”

Episode 6 of The Last of Us will premiere on HBO Max on February 19th.

Source | The Last of Us Podcast