It’s no secret that Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is one of the most important games in Sony’s library. Love it or hate it, you can't deny the post-apocalyptic action-adventure game's influence, one that elevated expectations for blockbuster AAA titles to obscene heights. It also changed the face of interactive storytelling, weaving an emotionally charged story about broken people in a zombie-infested hellscape with some of the finest performances ever to grace a video game.
Nine years have passed since the game's release on the PlayStation 3, and after a remaster and a sequel, Sony is revisiting the original. Now dubbed The Last of Us Part I ($69.99), the beloved game is rebuilt from the ground up for the PlayStation 5. It's a faithful update with gorgeous graphics, but it’s a remake in visuals alone; moment-to-moment gameplay remains untouched, save for minor tweaks.
Unfortunately, this confirms what has drawn the ire of fans since the remake’s reveal: Why buy a $70 graphical update when the PS4 remaster is readily available on all PlayStation Plus tiers? Is this remake truly necessary?
It’s complicated. What you get from this game largely depends on whether you enjoyed the game the first time around. If you thought it was a masterpiece before, you’ll be happy to know that the performances remain remarkable. That said, if you thought the gameplay was too simplistic or predictable, well, there’s still plenty of that, too.
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It's The Last of Us...Again
I have a complicated relationship with The Last of Us. When I first played the game, it didn’t really land with me. It was gorgeous, and it featured a strong story and voice work, but I didn't find it particularly fun to play. However, it was a hit with a huge audience, garnering praise from fans and critics. On the flip side, I loved The Last of Us Part II. In my opinion, that game improves on just about everything that made the first one shine and wraps it around more engaging gameplay. As a result, the sequel stands as one of the most acclaimed video games in history, as well as one of the most controversial, drawing some of the worst takes about gender and sexuality from some of the worst people in the gaming community.
When reports dropped about a remake of the first title, I remained hopeful that Naughty Dog would expand the game and model it in the same framework as the sequel. Instead, the studio chose to remain faithful to the source material, which immediately drew comparisons with the PS4 remaster. But if anyone tells you that the remaster looks as good as this new PS5 version, feel free to call them a liar.
Thanks to the updated visuals, The Last of Us Part I is now on par with the second game. It cannot be overstated how much these updated visuals improve the overall experience. Areas are absolutely rich in detail: Light shining through the trees, your flashlight cutting through the darkness of abandoned sewer tunnels, and the visceral violence inflicted on both the infected and the survivors add to the game’s tense and dark atmosphere.
The performances by the cast, led by Troy Baker’s Joel and Ashley Johnson’s Ellie, were already impressive and are now even more realistic. Check out the quiver of shock on Joel’s face as he watches someone commit suicide, or Ellie’s eyes filling up with tears. It adds to the dread and misery of the circumstances and helps those fleeting moments of respite and levity shine even brighter than before. The Last of Us Part I is easily one of the best-looking games on the PS5.
The Last of Us Part I comes with two rendering modes: a Performance Mode, which targets either a dynamic 4K resolution or 1440p at 60Hz, and a Fidelity Mode, which favors a full 4K resolution at 40Hz. If your gaming monitor or TV supports it, you can even unlock the frame rate and go beyond 60Hz. I mainly played in Performance Mode and didn’t notice a single dropped frame.
Part II's excellent accessibility options also return, and the DualSense’s adaptive triggers are put to use sparingly, offering resistance when using weapons.
Not Much Has Changed
Despite the outstanding visuals, you’ll quickly discover that the original game is totally intact underneath the next-gen coat of paint. You once again control Joel, the antihero-turned-caretaker of Ellie, a teenage survivor who happens to be immune to the Cordyceps brain infection that has ravaged the world. Tasked with escorting Ellie across the country to the Fireflies, a renegade group dedicated to creating a vaccine, Joel forms a father-daughter bond with Ellie that blooms but begins to strain as they approach the end of their journey.
The game is broken into vignettes, each taking place weeks after the previous one. At each stop, a new encounter tests the duo's relationship, with each willing to do whatever it takes to keep the other safe. The story isn’t exactly original, but the characters and the strengths of their performances elevate The Last of Us to another level. Naughty Dog’s ambitions were on full display when this game was released in 2013, and the fact that the game’s cinematics and story hold up so well is a testament to its efforts.
That said, the beat-by-beat gameplay is where The Last of Us falls short, and that's still true in the remake. Most of the time, you’re walking through abandoned buildings and desolate streets, filling your pockets with supplies used to craft or upgrade gear. Bullets are sparse, and situations often call for stealth rather than head-on attacks. When it does call for action, combat is simple, albeit perhaps more satisfying in the new remake, thanks to the additional gruesome detail.
Visuals aside, encounters are generally brief. Despite the improved AI and combat, gameplay is still unengaging and feels rather linear. I was hoping The Last of Us Part I would borrow more from the second game's bigger, more varied environments. Instead, it still relies heavily on scripted sequences with numerous quick-time events. Puzzles are another sore spot, as they’re typically solved by either tossing Ellie over a wall, pushing a dumpster, or helping her across a body of water.
These gameplay issues are often cited, even by huge fans of the series, as the game’s major flaws. The Last of Us Part I isn't the first game to de-emphasize gameplay in lieu of narrative, but you can see its template in many of the PlayStation’s biggest games, including 2018’s God of War reboot, Uncharted 4, The Last of Us Part II, and to a lesser extent, titles like Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Marvel's Spider-Man.
The Last of Us Part I vs. the Original Game
Although The Last of Us Part I is a rebuild of a nine-year-old game, it should at least be the definitive version, right? Well, not quite.
The Last of Us Part I includes both the original game and its Ellie-focused DLC, Left Behind. Completing the game unlocks a bunch of extras, including outfits, a model viewer, and concept art from both 2013 and 2022. A Last of Us making-of video from the 2014 remaster is included, as well as a podcast recording and the remaster's director’s commentary track that plays over the game’s cutscenes. A New Game+ mode lets you return to the game with a bevy of modifiers, a photo mode, and the infamous Grounded difficulty setting.
The game has a new Speedrun mode that enables an in-game timer that tracks your current and best playthrough speeds and compares your times with friends.
What it doesn’t include is the multiplayer mode, Factions, which I feel is a missed opportunity. Factions was a surprise hit that was included with the original game that tasked you with joining either the Fireflies or Hunters and battling for supplies. A sequel to Factions was initially intended to launch with The Last of Us Part II, but it later became a more significant project. It was finally confirmed as a standalone multiplayer game at the 2022 Summer Game Fest, but has yet to be released.
Reintroducing Factions with The Last of Us Part I would have satiated fans who have long been waiting for the multiplayer sequel (which seems years off), and would have added some value to the $70 price tag. Unfortunately, what we're left with is a pretty remake of a game that's available to PS5 owners subscribed to PlayStation Plus' entry-level tier. Do the visuals add to the experience? Yes—but not enough to warrant a full-priced release.
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It Can't Be for Nothing
Is The Last of Us Part I unnecessary? Some say that it's too soon for a remake, but they forget that The Last of Us: Remastered came out a mere 13 months after the original PS3 release to pad out the early PS4 library. The same thing is happening here. Is the graphical leap substantial? I think so, though again, the fact that the original game still looks so good is a testament to just how forward-thinking Naughty Dog was when crafting it.
Is The Last of Us Part I worth your money? Well, if you've never played The Last of Us and own a PS5, there's no better way to play it. It's one of the best-looking games on the system, and the story, presentation, and performances are as emotional, shocking, and heartbreaking as they were in the original. But if you've already experienced The Last of Us, you'll be returning to the same game as before, but with a next-gen facelift. And in that case, it's a difficult recommendation for $70.
The Last of Us Part I remakes the beloved 2013 game in stunning detail for the PS5, but it's difficult to recommend at full price with so few changes.
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