the last of us Part one – launching on PlayStation 5 on Friday – is a retroactive name change, similar to what George Lucas did with his first Star Wars movie back in the day. The version now known as “Episode 4 – A New Hope” is simply called Star Wars In 1977, just as Lucas did with The Last of Us and its sequels and prequels before he sold the Lucasfilm empire to Disney, Naughty Dog was tinkering with The Last of Us, which first released on PS3 in 2013. This isn’t even the first time, as the award-winning post-apocalyptic survival horror game received a PS4 remaster in 2014. 1 is a much broader undertaking that Naughty Dog is calling a “rebuild” from the ground up. Essentially, this is Lucas on steroids.
Boy, does it look good. The Last of Us Part 1 now looks, feels, and moves similarly to its 2020 sequel, The Last of Us Part 2. (The latter doesn’t have a PS5-native version yet—it was the last Sony-exclusive game on PS4 before the PS5 launched—but it performs much better on the next-gen console thanks to minor updates.) In Part 1 on PS5, there’s more detail in faces, textures, and everything else around you. Like Part II, The Last of Us Part One now uses DualSense, adding a sense of fear and eeriness to a zombie-infested world.
Part 1 won’t wow you if you’ve just played Part 2, and even less so if you’re playing Part 1 on PS5. But there’s a night and day difference here that you only realize when you put the original and the remake side by side. As I did. Loading up The Last of Us Remastered on PS4 Pro—I don’t have a PS3 and a The Last of Us disc to really transport myself back to 2013—I found that the environments, lighting, and shadows seemed rudimentary in comparison. This is saying something considering the PS4 Pro Remastered variant claims to offer “high-quality shadows” at 4K resolution. I can’t even imagine how bad The Last of Us looked on the PS3.
“The Last of Us Part 1” on PS5 makes the PS3 era seem to go back 20 years ago. It’s crazy how far video games have come in the last nine years. (To be fair, by the time The Last of Us was released in 2013, the PS3 was already on its last legs.)
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It can be said that the biggest improvement in “The Last of Us Part 1” is shooting. Dare I say, it’s a thousand times better. Remember that scene in the opening credits scene where the house is on fire while Joel and Sarah are in Tommy’s car? That scene is now so haunting that even the PS4 Pro 4K version of the game can’t handle it. As they drive into town, Austin comes to life before your eyes, and Sarah watches the city tear apart from the back seat of the car.
Characters’ faces don’t look dated in cutscenes – there are more wrinkles and more expressions are offered. In The Last of Us Part 1, both players and NPCs move more realistically. Enemy AI also behaves in a more believable way. If you approach an Infected from behind and try to sneakily take it down while another is looking at you, it will look at you and react as you might expect, compared to how enemies do in The Last of Us (Remastered).
Like the PS4 Pro remaster and Naughty Dog’s recent PS5 remaster of the Uncharted game, The Last of Us Part 1 offers a choice between two graphics modes: “Fidelity” mode, which targets 30 fps at native 4K resolution, and “Performance” mode, which targets 60 fps at “dynamic internal resolution” upgraded to 4K. If you have a 120Hz monitor, you can turn on the “Unlock Frame Rate” option in the display settings, which targets 120fps. (Make sure you also toggle Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) in the PS5 system settings.) Because of the TV I own, I can only experience fidelity and performance – and given The Last of Us’s slow pace, which prioritizes stealth over fast action, I’d happily compromise on extra frames for the minimal quality gain that fidelity brings.
The remaster is more trustworthy, which is why I’ve attached a gameplay video of The Last of Us Part 1, shot on PS5 in Fidelity mode. As you can see for yourself, loading times are almost instant.
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Riley and Ellie in “The Last of Us Part 1: Left Behind”
Photo credit: Sony/Naughty Dog
However, like Uncharted: Legacy Collection, there’s no 4K 60fps mode or ray tracing capabilities, which the PS5 is said to have. The two remakes are also similar in that The Last of Us Part 1 does not have a multiplayer mode. To do that, you’ll need to go back to The Last of Us Remastered, which is backwards compatible on PS5. At least it’s still in the store (and part of the PlayStation Plus collection). The PS5 remaster provides all the single-player content: the complete base story and the DLC campaign “The Last of Us: Left Behind.”
That said, there’s something new here as far as gaming experience goes. The Last of Us Part 1 brings permadeath to the table and lets you accomplish it in three different ways. You can choose to reset the entire game when you die, the scene you’re currently in (expect to lose 2-3 hours of gameplay, Naughty Dog says), or the chapter you’re playing (taking you back 30-60 minutes). Of course, as you might expect, you can’t manually save the game at any point with permadeath turned on. Exiting in a “dangerous situation” will count as death if you are asked to do so elsewhere in real life.
All of these improvements—permadeath, DualSense, and most importantly the graphics upgrade—come at a huge cost. The Last of Us Part 1 is priced at Rs. 4,999/$70, which is comparable to newer PS5 releases like Horizon: West Forbidden or the upcoming God of War Ragnarok. This seems ridiculous. Despite all the updates Naughty Dog has provided here, this is still a remaster of a game from nine years ago. This is not a new title. What’s up with Sony and PlayStation Studios?
Of course, The Last of Us Part 1 is much better than the PS5 remasters of Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – which cost Rs 10 each. It will cost $2,999 at launch – but then again, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection also offers an upgrade path. If you own Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy or the Combo Digital Bundle, you can jump to the PS5 version for 10 rupees. 500 / 10 USD / 10 EUR. Heck, even Ghost of Tsushima lets you upgrade to the PS5 version for Rs. 2,497 – a tall order, I must point out – and it comes with additional content, including a brand new island to explore.
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The Last of Us Part 1 looks spectacular on PS5
Photo credit: Sony/Naughty Dog
At present, “The Last of Us Part 1” does not provide an upgrade strategy, whether it is the 2013 original or the 2014 remake. You have to pay Rs. Access it on PS5 for $4,999 — an idea that seems even crazier when you consider what Sony’s biggest rival has been doing. (For what it’s worth, The Last of Us Part 1 is a more extensive upgrade than what Xbox has done. In some ways, Naughty Dog has reinvented the game.)
Since the launch of the Xbox Series S and Series These are also included in its arguably superior subscription, Xbox Game Pass. Best of all, Microsoft’s Intelligent Delivery system means you can enjoy these games while moving between Xbox and PC. Even if Sony goes back and provides an upgrade path, The Last of Us Part 1 won’t be included in any new PlayStation Plus tiers. Not for a few years anyway. When Part 1 comes to PC (reportedly “soon”), all PS4 and PS5 players will have to pay full price again.
Sony’s approach is not only very money-conscious in terms of release and distribution, but also the reason these remasters exist in the first place. Although Uncharted: Legacy of Rogue Collection’s PS5 release date is led by Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg Uncharted The movie “The Last of Us Part 1” exists to serve the upcoming TV adaptation starring “Game of Thrones” Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Originally scheduled to premiere in late 2022, the HBO series is now scheduled to premiere in early 2023.
As (successful) adaptations tend to be right – both bridgeton The Last of Us and The Queen’s Gambit have put their respective books back on bestseller lists – and Sony expects to sell more titles from the Last of Us universe when the series premieres. Now, with the launch of this PS5 remaster, it has a modern product instead of a dated one. In Sony’s best-case scenario, customers will buy PS5 and games at the same time. I can already imagine Sony making money with a PS5 The Last of Us Part 1 bundle in 2023.
With more and more PlayStation games being adapted into movies and TV shows, this seems to be the new future for the studios that are adapting their titles. Naughty Dog’s 2021 and 2022 are entirely dedicated to the remake. A standalone multiplayer game for The Last of Us Part II is in development, but who knows if its development will be affected by these commercial pursuits. When it came out, Naughty Dog hadn’t produced a new title in years.
This is expected to continue. As Sony expands its mobile team, a mobile spin-off of The Last of Us is more likely than The Last of Us Part 3 at this stage. If HBO renews The Last of Us for a second season, I think we’ll see The Last of Us Part 2 on PS5 and PC. Be prepared to spend Rs. 4,999.
advantage:
- Looks, sounds and feels great
- Equal to, if not exceeding, Part II
- Centuries ahead of the PS4 Pro version
- Improved enemy AI behavior
- New permadeath feature
shortcoming:
- Pricing for new PS5 games
- There is no upgrade option for PS3 and PS4 users
- No 4K at 60fps or ray tracing
- No multiplayer
- PC port sold separately
Rating (out of 10 points): 8
The Last of Us Part 1 will be released on PlayStation 5 on Friday, September 2. It will be released on Windows PC at a later date. The Last of Us Part 1 is priced at Rs. $4,999 on PlayStation 5.
