The Last of Us Part II Grounded update is perfect for those who want a challenge

Naughty Dog today announced a sizable update for The Last of Us Part II. Those looking for a challenge will definitely want to take the content in this update for a spin, as it'll be adding Grounded difficulty mode. In addition, we'll see the arrival of a permadeath mode, potentially giving the game an entirely new layer of realism.

Grounded difficulty will be familiar to fans who played The Last of Us, and it ups the difficulty in a number of different ways. Not only does it make the enemies deal more damage, but it also makes the things you need to survive – ammo and crafting materials specifically – harder to find.

That isn't the end of it though, as Grounded also removes listening mode and certain HUD elements from the game, thereby making it harder to get the jump on your enemies. If you're confident enough in your abilities to try it, here's some good news: when it arrives, it'll be one of the base default difficulties, meaning you won't have to complete the game first to unlock it. Toss in permadeath mode, which can be enabled on a chapter-by-chapter basis, and it sounds like those who crave a challenge will be able to find it in The Last of Us Part II.

The Grounded update, as it's being called, will also add a grand total of 30 graphics rendering modes and a handful of audio modifiers so you can change the way The Last of Us Part II looks and sounds. Naughty Dog revealed a few of the graphics modes today, including cel-shaded, black and white, sepia, and even a pixelated retro filter.

We'll also see a number of new gameplay modifiers added to the game, giving you the opportunity to turn on features like infinite ammo, one-shot mode, and even slow motion – unlike the new Grounded difficulty, though, you'll need to complete the game to turn these on. Add to that a several new options that allow you to do things like disable listen mode entirely, adjust the film grain, or aim using motion sensors, and we've got quite the update on our hands. Look for it to land on August 13th, but for now, you can read more about it at the PlayStation Blog.