The Last of Us is the hit title released by Naughty Dog studios back in 2012 and received huge recognition by the gaming society worldwide. They have won multiple awards between 2012 to 2014 for both the PS3 version and the PS4 remastered version.
Troy Baker, a well renowned voice actor is the voice of Joel and we all recognize his work from games to TV series from the voice of Joker to the voice of Talion in Shadow of War. Ashley Johnson is the voice of Ellie and has lend her voice in numerous other projects like the Jumanji TV Series, Teen titans-go but shot to fame for her work as Ellie in The Last of Us and the Remastered Version.
Let me get this out there first, I did not play the original version of the game, I only watched the gameplay and run through videos online from famous gaming Youtubers like The Rad Brad or Delirious H20. Recently however, I decided to purchase the Remastered version just to know what the hype is about surrounding this game, and boy, have I missed out big time. Ok let’s get into what I feel about the game.
Comparing to Naughty Dog’s other famous title, the Unchartered Series, The Last of Us is a whole different gaming experience on its own. It is a really dark themed game that surrounds itself with not only zombie themed creatures called the Clickers, but you also have to deal with the evil aspect of humans in a certain extended post-apocalyptic world. One factor that I have to give props to the creator of the game is, the zombie is a whole different kind of creature comparing to other zombie genre games out there. Intense gameplay, top notch story line and amazing graphics makes The Last of Us Remastered such a masterpiece, yes I said it, MASTERPIECE.
There is not much difference from the original and remastered. The most prominent difference is that it runs on a way more powerful system, 1080p at 60 frames per second. The original was running at 30 frames per second.
The original version is already amazing, but now with a improved resolution, the cut scenes / gameplay are way smoother and the game does not feel choppy. The image quality has improved so much with all the rough edges chiseled out. With all these changes done, the game feels more intense and enjoyable to play. One of the new feature I really enjoyed is the inclusion of Photo Mode. This will allow players to capture natural snapshot and edit with different filters and effects.
A lot of the stuff I said are probably what a lot of reviewers of the game are saying, but my focus for this review is the extended storyline called Left Behind and a particular segment of it that I thought was really interesting and shows how much thought, the developer put into this game. (reference: video clip attached)
Gameplay of Last of Us Remastered
A lot of us love fighting games like Mortal Kombat, Dragon Ball and Street fighter, but how the developers designed this component is just beautiful. Incorporating the button movement of a fighting game but yet making Ellie imagine the whole thing in her head. For that, hats off to the developers!
In conclusion, The Last of Us Remastered is a stunning, scary, intense gaming experience that I highly recommend. Especially for those that have not tried it, do give it a shot. Amazing visuals, dope voice acting and character work from Troy Baker & Ashley Johnson.
Do also check out the extended storyline, Left Behind which brings you to moments that were missing during the main gameplay. I did not get into the multiplayer mode as it is not my forte and since the game has been out for a long time now and I do not see a need to.
The Last of Us Remastered rating – 4/5
Review written by Fiaz Grinder.
