Though The Last of Us was universally praised by critics and gamers alike, the “masterpiece” status of its follow-up remains a hotly debated thing (among my circle of mates and colleagues at least). I’ll leave that conversation for angrier folks on the Internet than I, but I will say that most of the The Last of Us Part II opinions I formed initially—in the blessed vacuum of a pre-launch, pre-drama reviewing window—remain the same. Others, however, have shifted with the benefit of time and perspective.
The overriding impression The Last of Us Part II Remastered gave me is that I was correct in my adoration of Naughty Dog’s brutal, high-stakes third-person shooting. It’s a truly best-in-class experience, even after four years. The blueprint it used from The Last of Us was already cutting-edge; the follow-up simply honed it to an upgraded machete level of sharpness.
As for my aforementioned reconsiderations, well, let’s just say there’s been a lot of distance between my first blind playthrough and those shock twists. I’ve since come to better understand the bold intent of some controversial narrative decisions.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered
Obviously, we can’t chat about any of that without spoiling the contents of this. And so to preserve this emotional rollercoaster ride for newcomers, I’ll focus on the presentation overhaul and new combat opportunities of The Last of Us Part II Remastered instead. At the very least, I’ll need to assume you’ve played the first game or binged the inaugural season of HBO’s TV interpretation (which doesn’t deviate massively).
When it comes to spit ‘n’ polishing, frankly, not much remastering was required here. The Last of Us Part II didn’t launch all that long ago on the PS4 and it was forged by Naughty Dog, the first-party dev that knows how to wring the most out of Sony’s hardware. You’re therefore not going to bear witness to a considerable revamp, like what happened when The Last of Us Remastered (PS4, 2014) bloomed into The Last of Us Part I (PS5, 2022). So keep your expectations in check.
At best, The Last of Us Part II Remastered should be considered a natural beauty that’s been gussied up in lovely new ways. At minimum, go in expecting increased texture resolution, pushed-back Level of Detail distances, not to mention sun, shadow and texture resolution improvements.
How does it all look in motion? Flawless, and you’ll probably recall that the original article received a 60 fps “PS5 upgrade” patch in 2021, which is a great baseline to work from. Specifically, The Last of Us Part II Remastered now offers a Performance and Fidelity mode. The former is rendered at 1440p, then upscaled to 4K with a target of 60 fps. The latter is native 4K with a 30 fps target. You also get an Unlocked Framerate option for HFR or VRR.
When it comes to action, I really do think that most of us can agree that the third-person shooting here is phenomenal stuff. TL;DR for you newcomers: it’s stealth-action fluidity meets crazy scarce ammo and breakable melee weaponry as used against AI more savvy and communicative than anything else in the genre.
You cannot expect any firefight to go the same way twice. You’re constantly on the edge of your seat, some bastard’s shiv, or a mushroom mutant’s fangs.
Unparalleled realism is the big differentiator here. Naughty Dog’s MotionMatching implementation effectively masks any telltale hitches usually seen when one animation stops and another begins. As a result, the ultra-violence of head shotting, coverhopping, and braining people with hatchets is kept liquid smooth.
And hey, while we’re speaking of the literal slick stuff, ND’s blood and gore system is ludicrously on point, with bullet wounds imploding, brain matter a-splatterin’, and limbs dismemberin’ all over the shop.
If that isn’t uncomfortable enough (or viscerally awesome, depending on how you roll), the impact of your actions are heightened by brilliant. deliberately unsettling sound design. Case in point: murdering a human (or canine) foe might cause a comrade to shriek their name out in anguish.
Additionally, there are often confronting moments when you wing the last foe standing in a scrap. Cue: a brief minigame of sorts where they’ll plead, albeit uselessly, for their lives. Even if you’ve shredded your way through the decently brutal The Last of Us Part I, just know that this sequel is a step beyond.
If getting red on you is your (strawberry) jam, great, the new No Return mode in The Last of Us Part II Remastered is worth the price of admission for you alone. It’s basically Resident Evil 4’s Mercenaries mode on crack—a studious character unlock-fest, consisting of a string of randomising arena fights with dwindling resources and mounting odds.
If you know what you’re doing and are playing at mid-to-low difficulty, you can unlock its ten uniquely specced character archetypes in half a day’s play. That said, securing true leaderboard bragging rights, and unlocking 6 end bosses and a bevy of 30+ skill-gated skins, is a longer odyssey.
The problem in your way is mod randomness, tough boss fights, and some risk/reward lure mechanics that’ll get your greedy arse killed and thrown back to the start of a run. Essentially, it’s that old chestnut of needing to scavenge crafting supplies and “money” to spend in the mid-run shop versus playing it safe to better conserve your piddly ammo and health reserves.
That intoxicating balancing act is elevated even higher thanks to branching decisions on detail-less mystery runs that could either play to your weapon and playstyle or seal your fate harder. There are some truly fiendish mods to beware of, like enemies dropping post-mortem grenades, random tripwire bombs, melee weapons setting people on fire, tactical reloads that discard your chambered ammo, and more.
Of particular note, I would like to say that Invisible Enemies, Molotov Rain, and Thick Fog + Increased Enemy Speed were mods thought up by Satan himself.
To say that I got addicted to No Return is something of an understatement. It (along with a bolt in Speed Run mode) are the best side-diversions to happen to this series since the criminally underloved Factions MP. I’m highly confident many of you will dig it, too. Especially when you unlock Custom Runs and find the courage to take on the Daily Challenges that will fish-out-of-water you with a preselected hero and a static, bespoke hell conjured by some imp at Naughty Dog.
Is there anything here for the more sedate gamer who hasn’t the appetite for a stress sandwich? Absolutely. There are some Abby/Ellie skins to unlock that will warrant another run through the campaign, an amusing but fairly useless Guitar Free Play mode, plus three quick excursions into cut content. The latter interactive jaunts are short-lived but fascinating, with commentary that provides extra colour on character motivations and insight into the neat behavioural psychology employed by ND’s environment artisans.
All in all, and considering the fact that the upgrade path from a pre-owned PS4 copy is a mere $20, this remastering feels like a worthy upgrade. And as to the question of whether or not a Part I owner ought to buy this for their first The Last of Us Part II playthrough, I still think that’s a no-brainer yes.
Plot-wise, this sequel isn’t as big a crowd-pleaser as its progenitor, but there’s no denying it’s an unmissable, landmark achievement of a game. At the very least, acquire The Last of Us Part II Remastered for its unmissable base combat, then become hopelessly infected by its new fun[gal] layer of arcade challenge addiction.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered was reviewed on PS5 using digital code provided by PlayStation Australia.
