REVIEW – The Last of Us Remastered

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I put life on hold this past week to play through The Last of Us: Remastered, and I have zero regrets about doing so. It’s safe to say that the original game is one of the best looking titles on the PS3 to date, but the power of the PlayStation 4 proved to allow room for improvement.

IT’S DAMN PRETTY!

Right from the beginning, Remastered shows you how much of an improvement it offers with its further improved textures and lighting. I can’t imagine anything looking more beautiful this early on in this generation of gaming, except maybe the next entry in the Uncharted series, but then again it’s Naughty Dog handling both franchises. No specific area in the game really looks better than another, and due to the sheer variety of atmospheres included in the game it’s really quite a feat that the developer team pulled off to polish everything in such a way that it really can’t be any more beautiful. Sunsets, stormy night, barren cities, and gloomy sewers… no matter where you traverse, it’s all truly stunning to see.

WOW, JUST WOW

Wow. That’s the best I can come up with for describing the plot in short. You build up such an attachment to the characters in this game, and you can easily relate to how they feel at every point in the adventure. The feeling of loss and sorrow hit especially hard at various points and it leaves you with a sense of hopelessness. While parts of the plot are a little cliché and predictable, it’s presented well and it doesn’t really leave you uninterested at any given point in the story. The final two or three hours of game are extremely powerful and left me feeling extremely satisfied.

PHOTO MODE!

The addition of a new Photo Mode is probably the best part of owning the Remastered version of the game. Once enable, players can simply click L3 at any time during gameplay, and save a screenshot of the game. Big deal, you say? Well of course there’s more to it than that… You have access to rotate and offset the camera, change the axis, pan around 360°, add filters and change the intensity, add borders of various styles, and there’s more but that gives you a decent idea of what you can do. In fact, all images in this review are taken via photo mode during my playthrough.

WAIT FOR ME…..! LEFT BEHIND.

This is actually the first opportunity I had to play through the DLC for The Last Of Us, and it was a pleasant surprise. I really didn’t know what to expect since I’ve never actually played a single player expansion for any game prior to this, nor has Naughty Dog ever created a single player expansion before Left Behind. For those that haven’t experienced it yet – DON’T PLAY IT BEFORE FINISHING THE GAME. It will spoil a rather defining moment of the game, and you really don’t want that. Left Behind switches between two segments though including Ellie’s time before she was joined up with Marlene of the Fireflies, and while she had her friend Riley with her. The other segment is a filler for part of the main story that you otherwise would have to imagine what happens in the missing timeframe. The DLC offers the same classic gameplay and crafting of course, and the same enjoyable puzzle-solving tactics plus some slightly new ways to take down your foes using the infected to your advantage. It’s a welcome addition to the Remastered edition, but if you have the game on PS3 and haven’t purchased this add-on, it’s a worthy buy.

SOUNDS OF EMPTINESS

Soundtracks have meaning and purpose in some games, but not so much in others. However, it plays a massive part in creating the overall experience in a game such as The Last of Us. Destroyed cities, infested buildings, flooded subways… the sounds comes together in a magnificent blend to allow you to feel as though you’re in these areas yourself. Of course, it makes a world of difference if you play in surround sound rather than through a TV’s built-in speakers which don’t compare. My audio device of choice is the ASTRO A50’s which offer crystal clear sound where you can even tell which direction the footsteps of your foes are coming from.

BRINGING IT ONLINE!

I’m definitely not known for being a big fan of multiplayer gaming. My gaming friends know I’m more likely to sit in a party and chat, rather than play with them. But, The Last of Us online isn’t really a bad addition, and in no way does it feel as though it were just “tacked on”. There’s only three modes to choose from which lacks in comparison to most of other games, but this isn’t really an issue since all three modes are actually enjoyable to play. Crafting items transfers from the single player to online and items can easily give you an upper hand in the game, but getting the parts you need can leave you open to an attack often… and let me assure you, a quiet bow and arrow is deadly when you’re scavenging for parts. The game functions better with a wired connection as I had numerous connection warnings on Wi-Fi, though other games usually work decently well. For the bit of extra gameplay the multiplayer offers, it’s a fun part of the game.

WHY DID IT HAVE TO END?

Seriously, my biggest complaint about The Last of Us is that it has to end. I sit here and I wonder how this could be turned into a virtually never-ending MMORPG in a giant post-apocalyptic world… but it wouldn’t be the same. But as it stands, The Last of Us: Remastered offers everything you could hope for in a game.