Released back in 2020, The Last of Us: Part II cemented itself as not only one of the PlayStation 4’s best games, but one of the best of all-time. It took the original’s incredible formula and added to it, creating one of the darkest, most intense and most depressing campaigns we’ve ever seen. The result was something that was difficult to play and experience, but just as hard to pull oneself away from.
Now, a few years into a new generation of consoles, Naughty Dog and Sony have decided to upgrade and re-release the beloved (and sometimes erroneously maligned) sequel for PlayStation 5. They’ve done so through The Last of Us: Part II Remastered, which is now the best and most definitive way to play this title. It comes to the modern console as a $64.99 standalone release, or a $10 upgrade for those who own the original version. As such, it’s a good deal for those who are new to the fold, as well as those who’ve already had the fortune of playing through this thing once.
If you’re new to this game, we hope you’ve at least played the original The Last of Us, through at least one of its three different incarnations. If not, you’re missing out on one of the best games out there, and may feel lost. Then again, the TV show was quite true to the story, and covered the required bases.
The Last of Us: Part II picks up years after the events of the original story. Joel saved Ellie from certain death, and the two are living in a safe settlement called Jackson, Wyoming. There, they’ve built a nice life for themselves, with the help of others like Joel’s brother, Tommy. However, being that this is a world overrun with zombie-like infected creatures, safety isn’t guaranteed. As such, a number of the residents must ride out on horseback and recon the nearby area, to make sure that there are no threats to be worried about. It’s during one of these scouting missions where the game truly begins, after some introductory cutscenes involving Joel teaching Ellie how to play the guitar, and an encounter that happened between Ellie and the local barkeep the previous night.
After the shit hits the proverbial fan during said recon excursion, Ellie decides that she’s going to sneak out and follow a group of survivors back to Washington, where they seemingly came from. This sends her, and her good friend, Dina, on a trip to Seattle, where they attempt to find those responsible for hurting Jackson. It won’t be easy, though, because Seattle is large, has been reclaimed by nature and is in a partially destroyed state. Not only that, but it’s also full of clickers and members of the WLF — a human group that has no interest in welcoming newcomers.
What results is a lengthy and action-packed game, which requires good use of stealth and attempts at not making noise. You’ll scour open, semi-open and closed environments, all while trying to dispatch (or avoid) enemies, and attempting to pick up supplies. After all, supplies are limited in the apocalypse, and they can become even more limited depending on the difficulty option you choose.
Those who’ve played one of, or both of, The Last of Us games will know what to expect. This is a hard-hitting and incredibly mature narrative, with gameplay that fits it. There’s lots of close combat killing, sneaking around, and even some good, old fashioned third-person shooter shootouts. The goal, though, is to try to conserve your resources. Going guns-a-blazing will not only deplete your ammunition, but it’ll also alert enemies to where you are.
Complementing these mechanics is a crafting system, which lets you create things like medkits and Molotovs, and also allows you to both upgrade your (melee or gun-based weapons) and your character’s skills. As such, you’ll want to scour every environment in search of medication, alcohol, paper and more.
Before beginning The Last of Us: Part II Remastered, I was honestly unsure if I felt like replaying this game despite loving it when it first came out. Part of that is because I haven’t felt up to doing too much gaming as of late. However, once I started playing, I had a hard time pulling myself away from it and was, once again, blown away by how incredible the game, its visuals and its voice acting are. There aren’t many titles that reach these heights, that’s for sure.
Upon starting the game anew, I was greeted by some new options. These included the ability to play at 4K/30 frames-per-second, or 60 frames-per-second; the option to free play the game’s guitar mini-game and the brand new No Return mode. Going further, The Last of Us: Part II Remastered also features three unfinished ‘lost levels,’ which have developer commentary overlaid upon them, plus a speedrun leaderboard.
What is No Return mode? Well, it’s a new-to-the-series roguelike option, in which death is final. Players must pick a character — each of which play a bit differently — and attempt to survive a series of combat encounters taken from the main game. These will unfold differently from within the campaign, though, thanks to the characters’ different abilities, gameplay modifiers, unique objects and more. Surviving a number of them will then place you into a boss battle encounter, which will test your mettle.
Some of the encounters found in No Return allow player choice, such as which group of them you’d like to tackle. There are also challenges to complete, which help you unlock new characters and things like that. The base encounter types, though, include:
- Assault: Survive against waves of enemies
- Capture: Break into a safe full of valuables as enemies attempt to protect it
- Holdout: You and an AI-controlled buddy attempt to defend against swarms of infected
- Hunted: Survive until the timer runs out
There are six different boss battles, and they’ll appear in different orders. You’ll also fight them in ways that may differ from the core campaign.
The obvious goal here is to survive and complete the encounters that come your way. However, you’ll also be scored on your attempts, and will be able to visit a hideout. Therein, one can prep for the next encounter, and choose which one(s) to tackle. However, if you die, you’ll lose your weapons, items, upgrades and progress. That’s why it’s referred to as a roguelike mode.
To be completely honest, I shy away from games that bear the descriptors ‘roguelike’ or ‘roguelite,’ and wasn’t excited about the addition of No Return to The Last of Us: Part II Remastered. I’ve played it, and kind of enjoyed my time with it, but it’s not something I can see myself repeatedly going back to. I respect it for what it is, and know that there are a lot of people who love this kind of thing, but it’s the campaign that interests me. I don’t enjoy losing my progress when I die.
Of course, the jump from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5 also comes with presentation upgrades. The game has been visually upgraded, thanks to the inclusion of both performance and fidelity modes, as mentioned above. There’s also an option for an unlocked framerate, so long as your TV supports VRR. Moving on, this remaster’s other improvements include things like increased texture resolution, increased Level-Of-Detail distances, improved shadow quality, an upgraded animation sampling rate and support for the DualSense controller’s haptic triggers. The latter allows for the game’s weapons to feel more lifelike, and they kind of do.
It’d been years since I last played this game, and I’ve honestly been blown away by how good it looks and plays on PlayStation 5 and a 4K TV. It’s always been a beautiful game, but it’s even more-so now. That said, the campaign’s pacing is still somewhat flawed. That’s the only negative I can really think of.
Granted, at the end of the day whether something like this is worthwhile is subjective. If you’re someone who’s played through The Last of Us: Part II a number of times then maybe this version isn’t for you. However, if you’re looking forward to playing it again, or haven’t played it before, it’s certainly worth picking up what is now the best version of this amazing game. Not only is it a great remaster, but it offers new content for both new and returning fans. It’s also helpful that The Last of Us: Part II Remastered is budget priced, and that it’s available as a ten dollar upgrade for those who’ve previously purchased it.
This review is based on the PlayStation 5 exclusive, which we were provided with.