Alright, fellow survivors, let's talk about the real MVPs of The Last of Us universe. No, it's not Joel's trusty revolver or Ellie's silent bow. It's not even the nail bombs we learned from Bill in Lincoln. I'm talking about the humble, unassuming, yet absolutely game-changing bricks and bottles. Seriously, think about it. In a world overrun by Clickers and desperate humans, the most reliable tools are often the ones you find lying on the ground. As we look ahead to what a potential The Last of Us Part 3 in 2026 could bring, it's time to give these environmental staples the respect they deserve.

Let's rewind to the beginning. In The Last of Us Part 1, the brick was king 👑. This wasn't just a distraction tool, folks. On harder difficulties, a three-hit combo with a brick could straight-up delete a Clicker. That's right. While you're nervously counting your shivs, wondering if you should save them for that door you saw three areas back, a brick was your best friend. It let you preserve those precious shivs for mandatory doors and save the durability of your reinforced pipe or baseball bat. The bottle? It was the distraction specialist, the perfect lure. They had distinct roles, and mastering when to use which was a core survival skill.

Now, let's get into the controversial part. The Last of Us Part 2... what did you do? You nerfed my boy, the brick! 😭 In Part 2, bricks and bottles became mere cosmetic reskins of each other. You can't even swap one for the other in your inventory like you could in the first game. The distinction was gone. Why? The popular theory is that Naughty Dog wanted to push the new craftable items, like the stun bombs and smoke bombs. These were cool, don't get me wrong—upgraded versions of Part 1's smoke bombs that could create a smokescreen or disorient enemies. But did we really need them to replace the brick's unique power?

It gets even more ironic when you look at the characters. Abby's gameplay, with her explosive pipe bombs and craftable shivs for breaking grapples, feels much more like Joel's brutal, direct style from Part 1. Given that, wouldn't it have made perfect sense for bricks to retain their lethal melee potential when she wielded them? I mean, she's WLF militia—trained, armed to the teeth. Yet, she's out there chucking bottles just like Ellie. Meanwhile, the game introduces a whole catalog of new stun tools, making the classic brick-and-bottle playstyle feel slightly sidelined.

Here's my hot take for 2026 and a potential Part 3: The series needs to return to its roots. Honor the brick! Honor the bottle! These items are iconic because they embody the core survival fantasy of The Last of Us: improvisation. You're not a walking arsenal; you're a scavenger using whatever you can find.

What Made Them So Special?

Let me break it down with a quick comparison table because I'm a nerd like that:

Feature	The Last of Us Part 1 Brick	The Last of Us Part 2 Brick/Bottle
Melee Damage	🟢 HIGH (3-hit kill on Clickers)	🔴 LOW (Same as bottle)
Distraction	🟢 Excellent	🟢 Excellent
Unique Identity	🟢 YES (Powerful melee weapon)	🔴 NO (Reskin of bottle)
Inventory Swapping	🟢 YES (Could swap brick for bottle)	🔴 NO
Role	Primary Melee Tool / Distraction	Pure Distraction Tool

See the difference? In Part 1, picking up a brick felt like finding a temporary power-up. In Part 2, it just felt like picking up a slightly heavier bottle.

So, what should The Last of Us Part 3 do? First, bring back the brick's melee dominance. Let it be the short-range, high-risk, high-reward option. Maybe even introduce a skill tree supplement that lets you upgrade your brick throws to stun enemies longer or break armor. Second, differentiate the items again. Maybe bottles are lighter, can be thrown farther and more accurately, but shatter on impact for a loud noise. Bricks are heavier, have a shorter arc, but can stun an enemy on a direct hit and be picked up and reused if you miss.

The beauty of bricks and bottles is their simplicity. They don't require crafting resources. They're everywhere. They force you to engage with the environment. Throwing a bottle to lure a Clicker away from a door, or smashing a brick over a runner's head when you're out of ammo—these are the moments that feel like The Last of Us. We don't need the game to "nudge other stun tools" into our inventory if the classic tools are versatile and powerful enough on their own.

In a hypothetical Part 3, set in a new location or with new characters, environmental tools should be front and center. Imagine a coastal city where glass bottles are plentiful but bricks are rare, changing your strategy. Or a frozen setting where you can throw a bottle to create a slick patch of ice. The potential is endless!

To wrap this up, Naughty Dog, if you're listening (and planning for 2026): Don't forget what made your combat so uniquely tense and satisfying. It wasn't just the set-pieces or the human drama. It was the feeling of desperation, of using a simple brick to turn the tide against impossible odds. For Part 3, let's put the power back in the player's hands—even if that power is literally a chunk of concrete. Give us back our true GOAT weapons. 🙏