Review: The Last of Us Remastered – PS4

Editor’s Note: We’ve looked through our review library and it seems we never got around to reviewing The Last of Us, nor The Last of Remastered. Shame on us! But we’re making old wrongs right by finally putting something out. It’s fitting, too, as The Last of Us Remastered is a part of October’s PS Plus lineup. 
No spoilers, but thankfully, the world didn’t end with The Last of Us Remastered (or did it?), and what with the hype of The Last of Us Part II gaining welcome momentum, it’s time to revisit this superb game. If you feared the apocalypse the first time around and hid under your crusty duvet, rejoice, time to do it again: it’s on October’s Playstation Plus menu.
If you’re one of the minorities who genuinely haven’t played this yet, you’ll forgive me for being a bit dizzy with the details as it’s such a great game, and so much to tell you without giving anything away. You HAVE to experience this for yourself. No proxy, power of attorney malarky – do it for yourself. As a seasoned practitioner of ‘I don’t do horror games’, this is far from it. Well, it isn’t Care Bears, but it’s not going to make you fill your pants. Scratch that, it will. Both sides.

Here’s some exposition: something terrible has happened, and the world is heaving with zombies. Not your Walking Dead zombies, but clicky lobster mutant thingys. That’s the Latin term. You play two survivors looking to survive – Joel has lost all hope and dead inside, while Ellie has everything to live for. Will the two develop as the story goes on? Just bloody play it – you won’t regret it.
Story aside, so we don’t have to tip-toe about, The Last of Us Remastered is a fantastic experience throughout. Naughty Dog, the creators of the Uncharted series, are top of their game for storytelling and actual gameplay. Much like Uncharted, there are a lot of set pieces in the game, but they’re wholely interactive and not just frilly cutscenes. They add to the experience and make you feel like you are one of the characters. Least, I did, and I doubt I’m alone. I hope.
It’s all very well me gushing about the game, but chances are you will have played this on the PS3 when it came out, or the Last of Us Remastered on the PS4 – naturally. But what is that different compared to the PS3? The Last of Us was the cat’s pyjamas the first time around and pushed the PS3 to the max. In terms of the PS4, it’s the same game and models, only the textures are more defined, the lighting a little more dynamic and it also improves on your golf game and lowers your handicap.

The best part, arguably, is the increase in framerate. I don’t know about you, but despite bearing the moniker gamer, I’m a little indifferent to framerates unless there’s slow down. That’s the compromise for console gamers compared to the PC perhaps? Anyhow, the original was 30fps, which was fine. The Last of Us Remastered is 60fps, and it feels a little too smooth. Sure, the controls are a bit more responsive, but as someone who played the original all those years ago, it felt a little weird. I wouldn’t have noticed if this was released in its current state, but as I’m a bit of a gaming fossil, it felt different, and I fear change…
Now would be a good time to say that it looks stunning on the PS4 Pro, but a little trade secret – I don’t have one. Nevertheless, it looks great on the big telly. So great that you can take photos in-game and even add filters à la Instagram to make things even prettier. I can’t recall if this was in the original, but regardless, it’s a nice little feature for the selfie movement.

Moving on to the connected side of things, there is a multiplayer mode, but in fear of being caught out, I didn’t play this thoroughly. As this is a very, very late review, you’ll forgive me for not covering this so much. I think it might be more because it feels a bit fragmented from the story and as appealing as it sounds, being teabagged by a nine-year-old in a deathmatch game isn’t my idea of fun. In fact, at the time of writing, Naughty Dog has omitted multiplayer from The Last of Us Part II, so read into that how you will. The Last of Us Remastered does feature the DLC though – Last Behind.
What a deal. Well, if you have PlayStation Plus, it costs nothing (that’s not entirely true of course) and is sitting in your inbox ready to be downloaded. If you haven’t played it, I’m surprised you’ve got to here and still reading – you need to experience this. Should you own the PS3 version, is it worth bothering with the PS4 remastered edition? Duh. With the DLC included as well, this is one of those few titles that make you glad you didn’t cancel the subscription. So much more reliable than picking up a cheap copy in your local store, only to find someone took the DLC already. The swines! It’s not a long wait until the highly anticipated sequel, but long enough. I know what I’ll be playing this week, fo’ sure.

The Last of Us Remastered PS4 Review

• 10/10
  Overall - Must Buy - 10/10

10/10

Summary

I wouldn’t say I’m a fanboy of many titles, except for say Silent Hill, but I bought into The Last of Us the first time around and replaying again, it retains the charm, and I’m still living in the honeymoon period – I can hardly fault it. Aside from the incoming Death Stranding, The Last of Us Remastered keeps the dogs at bay until the sequel and well worth your time.