Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Reviews

The Last of Us Remastered review

By
The Last of Us screenshot 8
The Last of Us Remastered
Score Details
“The Last of Us Remastered is the same great game it was in 2013, but Naughty Dog’s upgrade could have used more time to bake.”
Pros
  • Exceptional work of storytelling
  • Complex cast of characters
  • Remastered visuals, pack-in content make this a definitive version of
Cons
  • Shaky AI too frequently breaks the illusion

You’ve killed someone, so you’re the villain. Though he was trying to kill the young girl you promised to protect, so you’re really the hero. Except he was only defending himself from a perceived threat while he was out scavenging for a few morsels of food to feed his family with. So, what the hell are you now?

The Last of Us is a game about committing horrible crimes in the name of a noble cause. It’s a journey of self-preservation at any cost. Of the two main characters, Joel and Ellie, there’s only one true protagonist. How Joel’s actions read by the time the credits roll is wide open to interpretation – that’s the genius of this story, really – but he is not what many would call a “good” man. He’s simply a survivor.

The Last of Us is a game about committing horrible crimes in the name of a noble cause.

The story follows Joel as he takes on the job of escorting Ellie to a secret medical laboratory. It all plays out against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world that’s been overrun by the flesh-eating, zombie-like “Infected.” Ellie is a special girl, and the thing that makes her special may prove to be the key to saving humankind.

At its heart, The Last of Us is a stealth-focused action game that puts a premium on resource management. There are a handful of simple environmental puzzles to be solved, but much of the play time is spent sneaking around groups of enemies, either to dispatch them quietly, one at a time, or to circumvent them completely. None of that changes in The Last of Us Remastered, which brings Naughty Dog’s 2013 masterpiece to PlayStation 4.

The most noticeable change in Remastered is, not surprisingly, the visual upgrade. The Last of Us looked great on PlayStation 3, but the level of newfound fidelity in the game’s textures and visual effects is immediately noticeable on PS4. The facial animations don’t always measure up, as the new textures are simply “painted” on top of existing character models, but the visual boost in The Last of Us Remastered is significant.

The re-release also takes advantage of the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller in a variety of ways. Aiming and shooting are now automatically mapped to the L2/R2 buttons, to take better advantage of the newer controller’s trigger-style grips. The DualShock 4’s built-in speaker is also put to occasional use, for flashlight sound effects and audio from collectible voice recorders.

Then, there’s a whole host of additional content: the full, multiplayer Factions mode, complete with its two, previously released downloadable content packs; the story-driven Left Behind add-on; optional commentary tracks on the in-game cinematics; and, compliments of a day-one update, the same Photo Mode that proved to be so popular in Infamous: Second Son.

What’s unfortunately not improved on is the quality of the play in The Last of Us. Naughty Dog crafted a tremendous story and built very satisfying gameplay to complement it, but it’s not enough to sustain the roughly 15-hour completion time. It’s a credit to the writing that you want to keep on pushing through, but the slow pace and demanding stealth-driven action start feeling repetitive far too quickly.

For all the improvements, The Last of Us Remastered is not quite as spruced up as it could have been.

Sharper AI might have helped in this remastered PS4 release, but all of Naughty Dog’s development efforts appear to have gone into improving the presentation. Even at higher difficulties, enemies flip wildly between stone dumb and preternaturally aware of their surroundings. You might load your last checkpoint to find a swarm of baddies zeroing in on your position… or you might see them simply frozen in place.

Some of these issues appear to stem from basic performance issues, things that could be addressed in a patch. Seeing Joel suddenly start running at a 45-degree angle to the ground is jarring, sure, but it’s an obvious glitch. Other problems are more likely the product of a self-empowered AI occasionally going rogue. Enemies move freely through The Last of Us’ huge environments, and sometimes their signals cross. That’s where it would have been nice to see some improvements.

At its best moments, enemies in The Last of Us behave intelligently-yet-convincingly; they’ll work in groups and fan out to take flanking positions, but they can also be fooled if you slip away unseen. But at worst, they’re an unpredictable mess, either making a beeline for Joel’s seemingly safe, out-of-the-way hiding spot or getting caught in comical AI loops that cause them to run around in circles or repeatedly teabag the ground beneath their feet.

The Last of Us screenshot 4
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Those aren’t the only breaks in the game’s illusion. Joel is joined for most of his adventure by one or more companions. Naughty Dog worked to ensure that The Last of Us didn’t turn into a giant escort mission, but the big cheat for accomplishing that appears to have been making all allies invisible to enemies until Joel is actually spotted. More than once, you’ll see Ellie run directly into a patrolling baddie, only to be ignored.

These are frustrating breaks that capably illustrate where the boundaries lie for this “remaster.” Naughty Dog’s grand post-apocalyptic road trip looks better than it ever has before, but the code beneath the visuals is as creaky as any late-era console release that strains the limits of its home machine’s processing power.

For all the improvements, The Last of Us Remastered is not quite as spruced up as it could have been. The gameplay falters more frequently than it should around frustrating technical hiccups that are all the more glaring alongside Naughty Dog’s bountiful upgrades to the presentation. We can forgive what must have been a truncated development schedule for this port, but we still have to point out the shortcomings where we see them.

Let’s be clear though: The Last of Us won scores of “Game of the Year” awards in 2013 for good reason. It’s got a believably drawn cast of complex characters and one of the sharpest narratives in all of video games. Joel and Ellie’s journey is an experience that no one should miss, and The Last of Us Remastered is the version to get if you’ve got the hardware for it.

Highs

  • Exceptional work of storytelling
  • Complex cast of characters
  • Remastered visuals, pack-in content make this a definitive version of

Lows

  • Shaky AI too frequently breaks the illusion

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Adam Rosenberg
Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
Naughty Dog confirms its working on a new single-player game in odd apology post
Abby screaming in The Last of Us Part II

The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog has confirmed that it's working on a new single-player game in a fairly odd manner. The news came in the middle of an apologetic post explaining why the studio didn't show its upcoming Last of Us multiplayer project during this week's PlayStation Showcase.

https://twitter.com/Naughty_Dog/status/1662166716892479488

Read more
God of War Ragnarok’s new free update is bigger than expected
Kratos fights an end game boss in God of War Ragnarok.

God of War Ragnarok just got a free update, which adds a New Game+ mode to the game. The substantial update adds new gear to the game, raises Kratos' level cap, and adds more new features.

Last December, Santa Monica Studio confirmed that God of War Ragnarok was set to receive an update in spring 2023. True to its word, the developer just delivered with its New Game+ addition, though it included a few unexpected surprises too.

Read more
The Last of Us finale makes a subtle change from the game to set up season 2
Joel holds the surgeons at gunpoint in The Last of Us' finale.

HBO viewers were rocked Sunday night by the finale of The Last of Us, which brought the iconic ending of Naughty Dog's critically acclaimed game to life in live-action. It was an extremely faithful adaptation, with no huge deviations from the source material. However, a key change was made that will help the show more gracefully transition into its adaptation of The Last of Us Part II.
Note: Spoilers for The Last of Us TV show and The Last of Us Part II video game to follow.
At the climax of The Last of Us Season 1's final episode, we see Joel annihilate most of the Fireflies and doctors at the Salt Lake City hospital as they prepare to operate on Ellie to get a cure, which would have killed her in the process. It's a chilling sequence that hits the same dubious, morally horrifying notes as it did in the game, and little is changed.
We see Joel kill the surgeon about to operate on Ellie after he picks up a scalpel and says he won't let Joel take her. Joel shoots him in cold blood, but does not kill the nurses assisting him. As he walks out of the room with Ellie, a shot lingers on the face of the now-deceased surgeon, punctuating Joel's massacre.

That may sound like a small cinematic altercation, but that lingering shot is very meaningful to those of us that played The Last of Us Part II. In the original game, we don't think much about Joel's victim; he's just some nameless doctor. In Part II, however, we meet that doctor's daughter, Abby, who's on a quest for revenge. What's a thoughtless action for Joel becomes deeply personal for someone he's never met.
By adding in that extra shot, the finale more confidently sets that up. Even if casual viewers don't know it yet, the groundwork is being laid for something that will be very important in the next season and makes it clear that the show knows where it's going.
The finale further teases what's to come with a smart bit of casting. Eagle-eyed fans may notice that one of the nurses during the scene is played by Laura Bailey, who portrays Abby in The Last of Us Part II. It's likely just the show paying tribute to the game's cast (as it did in episode 8 with Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the video games), but it's also another way to tease what's to come in the next season. Abby is coming for Joel. Prepare your golf balls.
Of course, when Naughty Dog released The Last of Us in 2013, it didn't yet know that this doctor would play such a pivotal part in the sequel's story, so not as much focus was put on him in the game. The developers retroactively tried to correct this with a retelling of the sequence from Abby's perspective in The Last of Us Part II and updated models in the game's remake.
Showrunners Craig Maizin and Neil Druckmann have the benefit of knowing this moment's importance from the start and not being locked to Joel's third-person perspective. They can now take the time to linger with a shot like this, emphasizing what Joel has done and laying the groundwork for what comes next. It's a short and subtle shot that slightly deviates from the original game, but it's also something that could only be done in this TV show and will certainly be hugely important for the show as we head into season 2.
The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO Max.

Read more