Yes, that's what it's called now. This is Naughty Dog rebuilding the original game for the PlayStation 5, taking advantage of its features and graphics. It's significant because it has been billed by them as more of a remake, not just a simple up resolution remaster. Now I just replayed "The Last of Us" again just a little bit over a year ago. And as you guys know, I strongly felt that this release wasn't really necessary. Thankfully, I think I've been proven wrong. Unlike some remakes, and remasters, this one feels like it really got the right amount of love, the care it needed.
There are a couple of little things I wish they had added, but I still really immediately got sucked back in and binged the hell out of it. I just couldn't help it, but you're also probably not gonna be surprised to hear that I think the price is steep. Everybody's wallet and priorities are different. I don't always talk about game prices here. Some people will want this right away. Some people will wait for a sale.
Some people think it should only cost $2. I didn't get it early from Sonia. I went out and I paid $75 U.S. dollars for a game that I played many times, that was originally released back in like 2013. But I'll say whether you're die hard and you buy it right now, or you wait for a sale, whoever you are, the bottom line is that this is a really good definitive version of this game, like this now classic game. And if you've never played it before, I will say, consider yourself lucky that you get to play this version. First and foremost, the visuals. Now you can play it in resolution mode with full 4k and very above 30 frames per second frame rate or performance mode with a still respectable resolution and a locked 60 frames a a second. Interestingly, enough, you can also take advantage of an unlocked frame rate for both modes, if you have the TV to support it, which I did and it was pretty nice. But I think at this point for a game this age, the performance was a given. It's really the detail overhaul that impressed me the mosta nd is what I think ultimately really drew me back in.
Environments, really look incredible. Like layout wise, they're not as complex as part two and you definitely notice, but art style wise, there are tons of new details worth experiencing. Denser foliage, more detailed desks and clutter inside. Completely different wall textures, lighting flourishes, reflections, flowing water, little tweaks in the color palette or atmospheric effects are cool.
And they also didn't bother me in terms of an artistic change. You ever play a game that was remade or remastered in like an area or the sky is completely a different color, stuff like that. I wasn't offended here with any creative choices or any differences. The feel is completely retained and also just improved, in my opinion. The game already just had so many stunner scenes, empty neighborhoods, crumbling cities, overgrown buildings, sunken streets. They're all just better here right from the start.
You'll notice Boston has a bit more detail and flourishes to the building and architecture that make it feel a little bit more Bostony. I can only draw from my own experience here..And for me, the real kicker was the redone characters. I'm playing for the story. I like to tale enough that I've wanted to experience it multiple times over these years, and here with way more in-depth facial animations and detail. It makes a hell of a difference.
Every character looks and feels more like a real person and matches the quality of the second game. Even a lot of NPCs suddenly look really damn great. I'm talking background characters going from zero to hero, but the faces for the main characters dude, many pivotal scenes are heightened thanks to a more realistic human glint in the eye of a character, a facial twitch here and there, stuff like that. The big moments, the big emotion is sold way, way more. Everybody will have a scene where it really kicks in for them. And for me, it was a scene between Tess, Joel and Ellie early on. The original game already had really great performances behind it and some great faces and facial animation, but I don't know how they did it here, but they blew it out of the water, not to sound like a hype man or anything, but yeah, for me, it was really significant.
Joel's eyes are almost creepy. They're a bit bigger, but also way more expressive. Every moment is so much better for it. And it might sound a little corny, but I found myself really excited for every cut scene to kick in just to see what was up. Now, with a modern TV, with good HDR, and some well contrasted colors and deep blacks, all that really helped make it feel like a new thing. And on the gameplay front, Naughty Dog did rework things, but I was never a Last of a speed runner or anything. So I can't tell you minute details, but just going by feel, it does feel a little faster and more responsive. I feel like I can zip around as Joel and aim and vault over cover, and manage the backpack all like a wee bit quicker.
And the dual sense features are pretty in line with what the second game got updated with, the shotgun cop with thvibration is very cool. The tension on the triggers with the bow really works and kind of adds to the gameplay feel and subtle stuff, like feeling the rain and the little haptic vibration. It definitely goes hard with all this dual sense feature stuff and it'll probably kill the battery life really quick, but hey, extra immersion, I guess.
Now what I loved was seeing them bring the gun customization stuff from the second game. So now Joel, when he's on a work bench, he'll disassemble and tweak a gun in front of you as you upgrade it. And it's just like a bunch of satisfying animations and the guns will look noticeably different as you upgrade him, as Joel takes a tool and does something to a gun. You see it in real time. Gameplay wise, I do wish they added a little bit more. When they announced it and how they were talking about it. I was kind of hoping for dodge button from two and I kind of missed that here. I know Joel is a bigger, older, little bit thicker dude, a little slower, but he'd still be able to dodge a little bit. Crawling, I don't think would work much because of the design of the original game here, but a dodge would've been cool.
And one thing worth pointing out is that it does just still play remarkably well. The stealth sections are so incredibly intense and playing it with headphones and really good sound just really adds to that, but also just the desperation of every single encounter. And if you're playing on a harder difficulty mode, it can become just white knuckle crazy stuff. And with the movement feeling good, the shooting feeling good. If you're playing it for the first time,.you'll definitely get why some people go crazy for the actual core gameplay of this game.
People will absolutely play every difficulty, get every trophy and just go hard. And that's 'cause the core is just well made and there are a bunch of new accessibility options that will seemingly really help some folks out. I'm not an accessibility expert, but it seems like more people will be able to play this game how they want or however they can. And I like that. The only, quote, missing thing is factions multiplayer,.which the original game had. It's not here.
Now, as you know, Naughty Dog has bigger plans for this whole new big standalone "Last of Us" multiplayer thing, but I'm sure some folks are gonna miss it here, because that was a massively slept on multiplayer mode. It was pretty tight. I wish it was in here. I'm not mad or anything. I get it. But I also just wanted to shout it out because factions ruled. It was great. Oh, and the photo mode is beefed up. There are a bunch of more options, ways to tweak the lighting and stuff. And I found myself firing up the mode a lot,.way more than I expected.
I'm not super creative, but I was having fun capturing stuff and messing around. I wish there was an option though for changing character's facial expressions though. The God of war photo mode, you can make Callus look like a dufus, kind of wanted that. I couldn't find that in the settings, but there's still a good amount of stuff here. And I expect the community to go nuts. Good luck. Somebody out there make something cool. Make my new phone wallpaper, anyway.
So you are getting multiple difficulty modes. The ability to replay with different skins and cool cheats enabled, like one hit kills and stuff. And the add-on expansion also left behind, which dives into Ellie a little bit more. That is a good amount of stuff. If you're not familiar, that's a good amount of stuff to keep you busy. Now I could spend time waxing, nostalgic or waxing poetic or whatever on the game itself and the story and everything. But most of you have probably already experienced the game or heard enough people talk about it. It's a solid one. It's filled with memorable moments, scary gory stuff, heartbreaking characters, grim reality, and moments of beauty and wonder.
You strangle dudes while looking them in the eye. You hit people with bricks, you blow up creatures and you journey across a post apocalyptic United States. There's not much else like this in video games. And now it just looks and feels noticeably better. Like I said, for me, it's not halfassed.and it's actually got some of the love behind it that we can't say.about every remake or remaster. Price conversation aside doesn't matter. I think they did a good job here, but of course test it before you buy it.
You know this works by now. I give you some pros, some cons and some personal opinion. And now I want to hear yours down in the comments.
Have you never played "The Last of Us?" I'd definitely like to know what your expectations are or if this is gonna be your first time. If you're picking it up immediately or if you're someone who's played it a million times and can blast through this game, how are you feeling What are your thoughts?
Let's talk about anything "The Last of Us" down in the comments.