Naughty Dog released a great expansion to The Last of Us last year, when they released Left Behind. It was a prequel to the events of the story in the main game, and served to add more depth to some of the characters, and the world, that players had responded so positively to back when the game had first come out in 2013.

Now, you can experience at least Left Behind even if you never bought the base game- Naughty Dog and Sony have released the expansion as a standalone release on the PSN Store, and it is available to download right now on both, the PS3, and the PS4.

It also represents a quick and easy gateway into the great world of The Last of Us- just play the expansion, and get some idea of what all the hype is about. And when you like it (you will like it), just go ahead and purchase the base game as well.

The Last of Us, as well as its Left Behind expansion, are available exclusively on PS3 and PS4.

The Last of Us: Left Behind DLC is out and already garnering rave reviews, but writer Neil Druckmann has revealed to Eurogamer that currently, the team is brainstorming on several new ideas. These include a new IP and even The Last of Us 2.

“We just wrapped up Left Behind, and Bruce Straley, the game director, and I have been doing this for over four years now. So it’s just time for a break, and to recharge the batteries.

“We have started brainstorming some stuff. To be honest, some of them are sequel ideas, and some of them are brand new IP – we’ve spent the last few weeks brainstorming new IP. So we have to get some good steps and see… It’s kind of like how we approached Left Behind.

“Can we tell people a story that’s really worth telling, and that’s not repeating itself? And if we can’t, where can we get inspired – what is something that’s really going to challenge us, and push storytelling in this medium forward?”

But will The Last of Us and Left Behind come to the PS4 as part of a bundle? Druckmann responded that, “We have such limited resources, and it’s a question of where you put the resources. It’s something where we can have a feel of where the demand is, and where our time is best spent. It’s something that we’ll figure out as we move forward.”

What are your thoughts? Let us know below.

The Last of Us: Left Behind DLC will be arriving for the PlayStation 3 in February, and will take place before the events of the initial campaign. You’ll play as Ellie as she goes through her days in military school. There’s a good chance that things will go horribly wrong at some point.

Surprisingly however, Naughty Dog Community Strategist Eric Monacelli responded to fans on the PlayStation Blog about the length o the game and whether we’d see any more single-player DLC any time soon.

Long story short, don’t count on it. “There’s multiplayer DLC up next. We don’t have any more single player DLC planned. It’ll be good length. Depends on how good you are and what difficulty you’re playing at really.” There will be a new musical score at least.

Left Behind will be arriving on February 14th for the PlayStation 3. Do you want to see more story DLC for The Last of Us? Let us know below.

After a new story trailer and details about the expansion being more “playful”, it seems that Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us: Left Behind will be releasing on February 14th. Then again, it hasn’t been officially confirmed by Sony, instead being listed on the Sony Entertainment Network as such and retailing for $14.99. We’ll need to wait and find out if this is actually true or not.

Left Behind acts as a prequel to The Last of Us and focuses on Ellie during her days in a military school. Not much is known about the game thus far except that Ellie will be joined by a new character named Riley. We can’t say the name and lack of mention about Riley in the main game has us very hopeful of her fate, but we’ll remain optimistic.

Will you be picking up the DLC on launch? Let us know what you think of it thus far in the comments below.

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If you thought the primary single-player campaign for Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us was more than a tad grim, then rest assured about the upcoming Left Behind expansion which brings Ellie to the forefront.

Voice actor Ashley Johnson spoke to the PS Blog US and said that, “You’ll definitely see a more playful side to Ellie and get to know her a bit better. You’re going to see a lot of different sides to the character that you definitely didn’t see in The Last of Us.”

The general feeling to the expansion is different as well. “It’s a little bit more ‘fun,’ because you have two teenage girls going through a mall. It’s kind of like a post-pandemic version of two teenage girls hanging out. Definitely not a normal hangout! It’s very different – a little more playful.” While combat will be similar to the original game, Johnson states that there will be “some new touches and nuances, too.”

Left Behind will release in early 2014 and is included with The Last of Us Season Pass DLC, which retails for $20.