Naughty Dog Dev Explains Why The Last Of Us Part 1 Won't Let Joel Go Prone

thegamer.com:

A Naughty Dog developer has explained why The Last of Us Part 1 won't let Joel go prone.

When The Last of Us Part 1 was announced, it caused a pretty big split in opinion, with some claiming it didn't need to exist and others arguing that the original game could benefit from spruced-up gameplay. One thing that fans wanted to see added to The Last of Us was features like being able to go prone, squeeze through gaps, and be able to jump whenever the player liked.

Related: The Last Of Us Is Best When Nothing Is Happening At All

Sadly, leaks revealed that none of those mobility options were added to the game and that Joel controls basically the same as he originally did, which was later confirmed by Naughty Dog in its breakdown video of the remake. Fans were quick to get upset about the lack of prone, and have taken to harassing Naughty Dog developers about why the feature wasn't included.

Naughty Dog senior environment texture artist Jonathan Benaino was one such developer being asked about why prone wasn't added to The Last of Us Part 1, and he managed to shed some light on the situtation. He said, "People complain about gameplay by watching a video but nobody actually had their hand on the controller. Having played both, there is no comparison between PS3 & PS5. And the prone would have simply broken the gameplay and the combat space as it wasn't built this way originally."

Although Benaino specifically talked about the lack of prone movement, the philosophy he talks about also makes it clear why other mobility options from The Last of Us Part 2 haven't been reworked into the game, such as dodging, jumping, or squeezing through gaps.

Benaino's comments further confirm that many of the promised gameplay changes for The