Released almost ten years ago, The last of us is still widely regarded as one of the best video games in Sony’s library. Just about every facet of The last of us has been praised, from his voice acting and character animations to his environmental design and overall story. Perhaps one of the most impressive aspects is how well it holds up today. While the PS4 remaster of The last of us was a welcome haven, giving everything a fresh coat of paint, not much had changed as the original game still had some of the best visuals out there. But it’s been nearly a decade and some fans are excited to relive one of their favorite games, this time on yet another generation of consoles.
The last of us part 1 Coming on September 2, 2022, it brings the beloved survival action game to PS5. When the remake was first announced at Summer Games Fest last month, some longtime fans were a little confused as to why this game had to exist, unsure of what changes were actually made to the original experience. Naughty Dog recently released a lengthy gameplay analysis video, showcasing a plethora of new gameplay features and detailing some of the visual tweaks and changes associated with The last of us redo.
New gameplay features of The Last of Us Remake
The recently released Last of us part 1 gameplay breakdown trailer lasts just over 10 minutes and is packed with new details about the game. The whole point of the trailer is to show fans how much Naughty Dog has changed and how much it has been added to the original The last of us experience, with co-chairman Neil Druckmann explaining that this is the vision the team originally had for the game, now unconstrained by technological limitations.
The trailer begins with a montage of iconic scenes from The last of us, featuring a side-by-side of the original game and the upcoming remake. New lighting, new character models, 4K capabilities, 60fps and updated environments are all on display, all of which look really impressive, clearly pushing the PlayStation 5 to its limits. While the original The last of us was hailed as the pinnacle of realism at the time, The last of us part 1 brings those 10 years into the future, bringing all-new facial and character animations to the game.
As for that realism, The last of us part 1 is also redesigning its combat environments so that character interactions are more naturalistic. For example, when a player or AI shoots at the environment, the object they shot at now reacts more realistically, with shattered pieces of glass or shattered pieces of wood falling off naturally. Naughty Dog explains that The last of us part 1 uses much more realistic AI, modeled after The last of us part 2‘s groundwork. Enemies will now interact with each other and flank the player more naturally, leading to more strategic and complex gameplay.
Around five minutes, Druckmann lays out some of The last of us part 1‘s brand new gameplay modifiers. Both a Permadeath mode and a Speedrun mode are mentioned, along with a slew of new unlockable cosmetic options for both Ellie and Joel, including weapon skins and outfits. Unlockable character models were also shown, which can be viewed on an in-game collectibles tab.
Naughty Dog has been at the forefront of accessibility in the gaming landscape and aims to continue this trend in The last of us part 1. This breakdown shows that this is the first PlayStation game to have audio description built in from the start and briefly show a colorblind mode. There will certainly be a plethora of other accessibility options in the game when it launches in September.
The Last of us part 1 gameplay-breakdown trailer then details some of the PlayStation 5 exclusive features included in the game, starting with the 3D audio, which the developers say will make the game even more immersive and terrifying, especially during the Stalker series. Next, the innovative features of the DualSense are discussed, with each gun apparently getting its own level of resistance to the controller’s adaptive triggers. The DualSense’s haptic feedback is also used everywhere The last of us part 1, stating that firing the shotgun will result in two distinctive vibrations, one after the first shot and one when Joel pumps the shotgun. Haptic feedback will be present throughout the game, from firing the bow to hitting a Clicker to petting a giraffe.
Will these new Last of Us features be enough?
In the days after The last of us part 1‘s announcement took much of the fanbase online to express their confusion over the remake’s existence. For these fans, the The last of us Remastered was a more than good enough upscaling of the original game, and the remake of the game just a few years later seemed a bit baffling at best, or at worst, greedy on the part of Naughty Dog. Before fans saw real gameplay or technical improvements, many had already written The last of us part 1 as a mere money grab.
Now, with this gameplay breakdown, the general consensus is: The last of us part 1 seems to be slightly better. As can be seen from the trailer, Naughty Dog is clearly putting a lot of work into the remake. While the developer may not have restarted the game from scratch, certain parts of the gameplay and some technical aspects look almost the same, with environments looking significantly better and character animations matching the high bar set by The last of us part 2.
That being said, The last of us part 1 sells for $70, just like any other modern AAA first-party exclusive. For some, this price is still too much of a barrier to get into what is essentially a ten year old game with some reworked textures and gameplay, but for others, the entrance fee is well worth it for the final version of this much-loved game. .
The last of us part 1 is scheduled to release on September 2, 2022 on PS5. A PC port is also in development.
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