In The Last of Us: Part 2, every character and every enemy has a heartbeat.

Says Naughty Dog’s Anthony Newman in an interview with Polygon. The technique is not shown with a meter, but it does influence the gameplay.

Newman: “We have updated every facet of the game (compared to the original). One of the new elements is the audio. When Ellie sprints and then stops, you hear that she is breathing harder.”

He continues: “Behind the scenes this means that Ellie’s heartbeat goes up and down. He goes up when she sprints, when she attacks, when she sustains damage and in the presence of enemies. And that has an effect on the sound she makes during breathing. ”

Next, Newman announces that every character and enemy in the game uses the same technique. Even the Clickers. “It’s incredible, because this way I could play a cat and mouse game even better with the Clickers and I understand them better through the sounds they make. And people do the same in terms of breathing and sprinting and so on.”

The Last of Us: Part 2 will be available on PlayStation 4 from February 21, 2020.