The Last of Us Part Two is full of mystery and intrigue – and hides many ways secrets within Seattle’s Quarantine Zone and beyond. Knowing what to look out for can help you succeed in your quest for revenge, or find overlooked points of interest. Below you’ll find a list of known cheats and secrets you can encounter in The Last of Us Part Two.
The Last of Us 2 Cheats and Secrets
Here are all the cheats & secrets of Last of Us 2 that might help you in the game.
Safe-cracking
If you’re having trouble figuring out the combination to a safe while exploring the ruins of forgotten cities, there’s actually a trick to figuring things out on your own. If you slowly turn the dial on a safe, you can hear a distinct clicking noise when you’ve hit the correct number on a particular part of a combination. The noise is subtly different from the usual clicking noise of moving the dial – so pay close attention.
Enhance Your Vision
Sometimes, increased accessibility can work in your favor – even if you don’t have any impairments. The Last of Us 2 has an incredible slew of accessibility options that you can enable or disable at any time – from enemy difficulty to text-to-speech – and much more.
If you find yourself having trouble spotting enemies in the dark or locating tiny items and collectibles, consider turning on the ability to highlight important objects. By swiping the touchpad on your controller, you can mute all the colors in an environment, leaving allies in blue, enemies in red, and interactive items in yellow.
This can be a lifesaver when trying to avoid being infected in the dark, snipe enemies in the bushes, or figure out what you can loot in a hurry.
Unfortunately, it does have its limits: in a devious bout of fairness, Stalker infected do not appear in red, but you may still have an easier time spotting them in the dark!
Spotting Stalkers
Stalkers are some of the most terrifying and annoying enemies to deal with – they can evade your ability to sense them, constantly lurk just out of sight, and can even ambush you from the most unlikely places.
In certain encounters, they may also hide in plain sight – bursting out of fungus growth along the walls to attack you – but there is a way to turn the tables on them.
Stalkers that are embedded in the walls are always wearing jeans – so if you see these pants-wearing infected, you can shoot them before they are able to ambush you!
Breaking and Entering on a Budget
Early on you’ll learn that sometimes the best way to enter a building isn’t through a locked door – but by tossing a brick through a nearby window to gain entry.
However, finding and tossing bottles and bricks is a bit time-consuming and sometimes better saved for stunning enemies in combat. You can instead use melee attacks to break most glass windows and displays in the game just by closing and tapping the X button.
This also works for vending machines and displays to grab items out of reach, like supplies and snacks to replenish lost health. As an added bonus, striking windows won’t count toward your equipped weapon’s durability, so swing away!
Additional Dialogue
Sometimes, when walking and talking with companions, they may stop a conversation abruptly, at which point you can hear a chime.
If this happens, be sure to turn and face or get close to them to see a speech bubble icon, and press a triangle when prompted to reveal additional conversations and dialogue, which may result in new information – or just some funny anecdotes.
Replay Chapter Sections
Whether you’re just missing one last trading card or really want to see Ellie play that one song on her guitar, there’s a way to easily revisit areas in The Last of Us 2 without having to worry about manually saving files.
As you progress through the game, each section you beat will become available to jump to from the main menu – by selecting from available chapters, and then the sections in each chapter. It will also list out your current collectible stats for that area, so you’ll know how many items you still need to find.
Note that starting a new game, or loading up a save file that has progressed to a different point may alter which chapters you can choose from, so always load up the most recent save file before quitting back to the menu to load up a specific chapter.
Unlockable – New Game+
Once you complete the story of The Last of Us Part Two, you will unlock the New Game Plus mode. This allows you to replay the game from the beginning while keeping all of your progress in upgrading weapons and unlocking skills.
This is the only way you can truly upgrade every weapon and unlock all skills in The Last of Us Part Two and is absolutely essential for those looking to unlock every trophy and platinum the game.
Easter Egg – PlayStation References
It wouldn’t be a Naughty Dog game without plenty of PlayStation references, which have been scattered all over the game:
Many homes have PlayStation 3s stashed away or near the remains of home entertainment systems – complete with PlayStation controllers and an assortment of PS3 games, which are usually Uncharted 1 and 2, and the Jack & Daxter Collection – which were developed by Naughty Dog.
When exploring Eugene’s secret hideout in the Library outside Jackson, you can inspect a stash of VHS tapes (all of which are porn), to find one labeled “Smash Brandi’s Cootch”. This is a pretty perverted nod to one of Naughty Dog’s games: Crash Bandicoot.
The remains of a Halloween store can be explored when moving through Seattle’s Capitol Hill area. If you look closely along the back of the store, you can find a costume section that includes a Nathan Drake costume – the main character in the Naughty Dog game, Uncharted.
One of the members of the Washington Liberation Front, Whitney, can be seen playing on a PlayStation Vita handheld system. If you look and listen, you can also pick out that she’s playing Hotline Miami, and it’s constantly blaring one of its iconic tracks: Hydrogen.
There are two secret collectible artifacts that are unlike anything else you’ll find in the game. One is a mysterious ring you can find in Downtown Seattle’s bank vault, and bears the inscription “Sic Parvis Magna”. This is the same ring once worn by Sir Francis Drake – and the one Nathan Drake wears around his neck in Uncharted. The second artifact is a strange egg-like relic found in a Chinatown district further into Seattle, and bears the likeness of a Precursor Orb from Jak & Daxter!
When exploring an arcade near Seattle’s waterfront, be on the lookout for Naughty Dog’s racing game – Jak X: Combat Racing, originally made for the PS2, and now in the form of an arcade cabinet!
Easter Eggs – Movie References
When exploring a certain bank robbery gone wrong in Downtown Seattle, Ellie and Dina talk about a movie involving a heist with surfboards – referencing the famous movie Point Break starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, and Gary Busey.
During a flashback to a surprise visit to a museum, Joel tells Ellie about a movie involving dinosaurs – specifically some dangerous velociraptors. He also mentions a sequel that wasn’t as great and a line about a giant mound of shit. Joel is of course referring to Jurassic Park 1 and 2, and Ian Malcolm’s iconic line when encountering a large pile of dinosaur excrement.
One of the WLF members, Manny, is a huge fan of anime. At a certain point when traversing Seattle on foot, he mentions wanting to get drunk and watch a movie. If pressed on the subject, he’ll mention it’s the one about a girl riding a wolf. This is likely a big nod to Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke.
Warhammer Figurines
Someone in Naughty Dog really seems to like tabletop games, because if you look in the right places, you can find miniature figures all over Seattle.
These space marines bear a striking resemblance to the space marines featured in Warhammer 40K, and you can even locate a comic book shop deep within Seattle to find a section devoted to “Galactic War” that includes an impressive tabletop battlefield full of them, with plenty of merchandise sold nearby.
Unlockable Weapons and Holsters
Over the course of your adventures in The Last of Us Part Two, you have the chance to find several additional weapons and weapon holsters if you know where to look.
Both long and short weapons can be quickly swapped between once you find makeshift holsters – otherwise, you’ll have to pause for a moment to reach into your backpack to pull them out.
Here’s a quick overview of where to locate them:
Revolver – You can’t miss this weapon, as it’s tied to progressing the story as you prepare to leave Jackson in Chapter 1.
Pump Action Shotgun – When exploring Downtown Seattle during Chapter 2, look in the southeast corner for the ruins of the bank, and explore it to find the combination to the bank’s vault. Inside you’ll find the body of a bank robber still holding a shotgun.
Long Weapon Holster – Also found in Downtown Seattle in Chapter 2, there’s a pet shop with a locked door in an alleyway near 6th and Marion Street. In order to find the key, look for a coffee shop at the corner of 5th and Spring Street, and enter the bathroom to locate the key. Once inside the pet shop, search the far room to locate a leash that can double as a holster.
Short Weapon Holster – This item seems to usually be found when exploring the Hillcrest neighborhood in Chapter 3. Once you reach a long street after passing through a bicycle shop, you can search the alley on the left for a garage to an auto shop swarming with Infected. They’re guarding a safe (and the combination can be found in a note across the street in a restaurant’s kitchen) and once you unlock the safe, you should find the holster within.
Bow – You’ll get this weapon automatically as you progress through the Hillcrest region in Chapter 3, though you’ll need to fight off its previous owner first.
Hunting Pistol – Once you reach Chapter 6’s On Foot section, you’ll be making several detours through abandoned warehouses and a building housing a large boat. Once on the other side, you can check out a nearby trailer that holds a note regarding a nearby safe, and the clue to its combination (search the walls for a winning lotto number). Crawl through a hole in the low building across from the trailer to find the safe in question, and open it to get the incredibly powerful and precise pistol.
Double Barrel Shotgun – When in Chapter 6’s Hostile Territory section, you’ll be making your way through a Chinatown section, starting with a narrow street lined with shops on both sides. Look on the right to find an antique shop that you’ll need to drop down into from above (after jumping the gap from the other side of the street). Fight off the infected in the shop full of vases, and then look behind the counter for a shotgun stashed in case of emergency.
Short Weapon Holster – Also located in the Hostile Territory section, there’s a checkpoint known as Martyr’s Gate just past Chinatown street. Once at the checkpoint, look to the right to find an old nail salon, and head into the backroom to find a holster you can pick up.
