Pre-alpha footage of The Last of Us Part II reveals a bizarre original design trait for the game's Shambler zombies.
A gif shared by Matthew Gallant, a developer who worked on The Last of Us Part II at Naughty Dog, confirms that the hulking zombie enemies initially featured explosive butts. Showing off the game in a pre-alpha state, the footage highlights Ellie dispatching a Shambler only for it to fall on the ground, releasing a cloud of toxic gas via a bulbous sack attached to its behind.
People who have played The Last of Us Part II will undoubtedly recognize the creature's design beyond those fleshy butt bombs. While Gallant doesn't provide an explanation behind the change, it's possible that the team of Naughty Dog realized the design may have detracted from the enemy's fear factor. Gallant does confirm that he originally pitched the concept of the Shambler as well as the chained infected seen at later points in the game
Shamblers were introduced as a new enemy in The Last of Us Part II and act as the fourth stage of infection for those exposed to the Cordyceps spores. These hulking zombies are considered to be one of the toughest enemies in the game, requiring large amounts of damage to kill and capable of dispatching players in just a few hits. They also make navigation more dangerous by spraying gaseous acid from a variety of pustules around their bodies.
Even though The Last of Us Part II was released over a year ago, players are still discovering new tricks, secrets and glitches within the game. Fans have found a way for Abby, the game's secondary protagonist, to kill Tommy during the sniper sequence in Seattle Day 3, while dataminers have uncovered unused dialogue which hints at a possible in-world inspiration behind Ellie's moth tattoo.
If you want to check out the Shambler's final design (which lacks any kind of butt-based explosive), you can play The Last of Us Part II on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The game recently received a PS5 performance update, ensuring a stable 60FPS on Sony's latest console.
Source: Matthew Gallant, via TechnClub