The billiard hall and bar you run through during the game’s intro is one such building that you can explore, as are other buildings that you never had the chance to go in at all, but may have seen in the distance, like the local donut shop. This map comes off as special not only because of its intricate and thoughtful design, but because it gives you a glimpse into Joel’s hometown, giving you a chance to see things you didn’t have the opportunity to really sit around and look at before. “We took the lessons learned there and tried to make Hometown more connected… easier to fight, to see people in the distance,” Ryan said. Naughty Dog is well aware that the Downtown map is least favorite map of The Last of Us’ fanbase, and as such strove to make “a night map people really want to play.” As such, the team was forced to confront the mistakes they made with Downtown. Ryan noted that Hometown is perhaps the darkest map in the game yet, with the exception of the unpopular Downtown map. Interestingly, the Hometown map doesn’t show the pristineness of those more innocent days, but what it looks like now, years after Cordyceps wreaked havoc on the planet. While many of the maps already in the game show you places you encounter well after the fall of civilization, Hometown brings you back to Texas, to the very beginning of the campaign, when Joel and his daughter Sarah are escaping the dangers of their neighborhood only to quickly realize that the world around them is falling apart. HometownIf the Hometown map is anything, it’s unexpected. Staircases both indoors and out that go from one floor to the next also give you a place to hide and get away from the fray, but rest assured: the Bookstore is dangerous, and it’s going to make you bring your A-game. Metal catwalks lined with barbed wire give you some room to breathe outside, though you'll very rapidly be funneled back inside. One specific outdoor area surrounding the Bookstore does stand out, however. This makes for an especially good map to set traps in the form of explosives, since they’ll be fairly hard to spot. As you navigate the paper-strewn floors here, you’re going to be on edge, because danger really could lurk around every corner. This map contains “first and second floor combat that we don’t have in other maps,” Ryan explained, talking about his want to have “a lot of volume in a small space.” He and his team have largely succeeded in making that a reality, with couches, bookshelves, and other fortifications littering every corner of the structure. A lot of the sightlines are cut off and stymied when playing online. This is in stark contrast to this area in single player, where it’s more open. The two floors of the decaying structure are surrounded by some smaller outdoor areas that give you a little room to work with, but in reality, the action almost entirely takes place inside, and especially upstairs, where there’s cover galore. You may remember the bookstore from your time in Pittsburgh during the campaign, though it’s been modified for multiplayer. Robert Ryan, a map designer at Naughty Dog, noted that this map emphasizes the “iconic fights in single player” into the multiplayer realm. BookstoreThe Bookstore immediately stood out as being a tiny, contained map, one that forces confrontation and is exceptionally difficult to stay hidden on for long. If you want to see higher-res images of the new maps, simply click here. Brand-new imagery is also interspersed throughout the write-ups. I played on all four maps with the team at Naughty Dog and came away with some thoughts on each, which you can read below. Unfortunately, the map pack doesn’t come packing new Trophies. These maps come bundled together for $9.99, though you can download them for free if you have a Season Pass. Play These four maps – Bookstore, Hometown, Bus Depot, and Suburbs – will collectively launch on October 15th.
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