The Last of Us Left Behind DLC details revealed

Written by Brandon Hofer on January 13, 2014

News: Sony reveals some new details regarding the upcoming story DLC for Naughty Dog’s latest hit, The Last of Us.

The Last of Us was one of the biggest games of 2013 and Naughty Dog has begun teasing us some more on the upcoming story related DLC. The PlayStation Blog has an interview with Ashley Johnson (voice of Ellie) about this upcoming new content and what fans can expect. Apparently, this new content will be a prequel to the existing campaign in The Last of Us where Ellie is in a military boarding school in the Boston quarantine zone with her best friend Riley. If you will recall, there was a point in the main campaign of The Last of Us where Ellie mentioned how she got bit and it looks like we might learn more of those details with this new DLC.

The following is a few excerpts from the interview with Ashley Johnson. If you would like to read the full transcript you can click here. Be sure to check out the trailer below as well.

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PlayStation Blog: How different is the Ellie we meet in Left Behind to the Ellie we got to know in the original The Last of Us campaign?

Ashley Johnson: You kind of get to meet the real her. She’s in the quarantine zone prior to the events of The Last of Us - it’s her and her best friend Riley - what they do and how they live their lives in this world. You’ll definitely see a more playful side to Ellie and get to know her a bit better. You’re going to see a lot of different sides to the character that you definitely didn’t see in The Last of Us. I’m excited for people to experience it!

PB: What’s the relationship dynamic between Ellie and Riley? Presumably it’s very different to Ellie and Joel?

Johnson: It was interesting after working with Troy [Baker] and the Joel character for over two years, and then getting back on set and working with someone totally new. The relationship with Riley is vastly different to the one with Joel - firstly, they’re best friends and secondly, they’re both teenage girls. There’s a playfulness and silliness that wasn’t necessarily there with Joel. It’s a different kind of relationship - I love it. Some of the stuff that we captured for Left Behind is my favorite stuff that we’ve done on the whole project.

PB: It’s been six months or so since The Last of Us launched. What impact has the game had one your life and career?

Johnson: To this point in my life, The Last of Us is 100% my favorite thing I’ve ever worked on. You’d think working on something for two years would not be a fun thing to do, but I’ve been so blown away by the response. When we were working on it, I think we all knew we were working on something special. I just feel so fortunate that I got to be a part of it - even more so because of the response to Ellie and to what a strong female character she is.

PB: How much of a challenge was it to hit reset and play a younger, more innocent Ellie who’s yet to experience the traumatic events of The Last of Us?

Johnson: It was a bit of a challenge to set aside everything we’d gone through, but when Yaani got on board she was just so fun and so silly that it sort of brought out my own kid-like tendencies, too. It was perfect. It’s so significant to the story because Riley is her best friend — this is a really important side of Ellie that people need to see.

Check out the video below and tell us what you think. Are you excited for more story content for The Last of Us?