Review: The Last of Us (Remastered)

Roughly a year after the original release of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us on PS3, the developers have released the remastered version and upgrade for the PS4. The Last of Us follows the gripping story of Joel and Ellie, two characters living in a post-apocalyptic, disease-ridden world. It’s a critically acclaimed cinematic experience, which deserves to be recognized as one of the best video games of all time.

The Last of Us is a game that allows players the opportunity to approach combat situations in a number of different ways. Making your way through the game requires you to use objects such as bricks and bottles in order to craft weapons which you will use in your encounters. Each encounter requires you to make the best use of the supplies you have gathered, and the objects you have crafted with them. Human threats are organized and efficient; you have to choose the most effective way to either sneak past them, or take them out one-by-one using a weapon or choking them out from behind. There are also infected people, who are not as intelligent as “normal” humans, but they are more deadly. There are also varying degrees of infection, some of the infected are called “clickers”, creatures who have been infected so badly that their heads are engulfed in a fungus which prevents them from being able to see, but they are able to find you through sound. Through the use of this diseased world and all these frightening inhabitants, Naughty Dog tells an engaging story.

Truthfully, the remastered edition is not a huge leap forward for the game. Those familiar with the PS3 version of The Last of Us would agree it was already one of the most beautiful games ever created, so while the visuals are improved, the improvement is hardly noteworthy. Arguably the most important change is that the remastered edition features an increased frame-rate. But at 60fps (frames per second) The Last of Us has some moments that take away from what often feels like a movie. Many players will opt to lock the frame-rate at 30fps, which maintains the cinematic experience, but those who keep the 60fps frame-rate will notice how it is beneficial in the game’s combat encounters.

In addition to the graphical upgrades, the remastered edition includes the Left Behind DLC, which follows one of the characters in events that occur prior to the main game, as well as all the DLC for the well-designed multiplayer. Unfortunately there is no content available in the remastered edition that was not already available as DLC for the PS3 version.

Despite that, there are few negatives you can mention about one of the best video games ever made. The combination of amazing graphics, intense combat, the challenging resource management, combined with an amazing script and actors, The Last of Us deserved to have a remastered version which included everything associated with the game in one package. But while there are some owners of the previous version who will come back to either enjoy the story once more, or to get back into the multiplayer, it is really not a must-have. This edition is almost specially released for those who never had a chance to play the original game. If you fall within that category, you are in for a treat.

Pros:

+ Amazing graphics
+ Unforgettable storytelling
+ Flexible combat

Cons:

- No original content for PS4