The Last of Us Part 2 Leak Reveals the Original Design of Shamblers

A new leak associated with The Last of Us Part II has revealed that one of the game's main enemy types used to have a very different look. To be more specific, this enemy in question is that of the Shambler, which is a type of Infected variant that players come across in-game somewhat often. Although this leak has shown that Naughty Dog always had a general idea of what the Shamblers would look like, this creature at one point had a very big difference -- notably with its butt.

Thanks to some newly-leaked alpha gameplay footage that has come about from Naughty Dog's Matthew Gallant, we have received an idea of what some of the early stages of The Last of Us Part 2 looked like. Revealed on Gallant's personal website, a GIF was shared of some initial pre-alpha gameplay from the 2020 PlayStation 4 title. In this footage, we can see the early versions of the Shamblers running about. Rather than just falling on the ground and releasing toxic spores like normal, though, these pre-alpha versions of the enemy had massive, red butts. Based on the footage (which you can see in the video above), players would then be tasked with shooting this part of the Shambler to deal damage to it. Once dying, the Shamblers can be seen falling to the ground where their butts would then explode, launching spores into the air.

While this is a bit funny to see in action, I also have to say that I personally prefer the final version of the Shambler that was actually seen in The Last of Us Part II. These versions with the red butts look too comedic as they stumble around. Although it would have been funny to have seen this final variation of the Shambler make it to the game, for my money, the edition that we got is much more frightening.

If you still haven't played The Last of Us Part II for yourself, the game is currently available now across PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. And if you have been on the fence when it comes to picking up the game for quite some time, it actually happens to be discounted pretty heavily right now as part of PlayStation's ongoing Summer Sale.

What do you think about this early look that the Shambler had? Would you have preferred to see this version of the enemy appear in The Last of Us Part II compared to the one that we got? Let me know your thoughts either down in the comments or over on Twitter at @MooreMan12.

[H/T TechNClub]