The Last of Us: Remastered

The Last of Us: Remastered

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Naughty Dog

Players: One

Genre: Action-Adventure, Survival, Horror

Distribution: Blu-ray Disc, Download

Platform: Playstation 4

Release Date: July 29, 2014

(Click Here for my first impressions of The Last of Us: Remastered)

I missed this game its first time around, although I had heard very good things; I wasn't much of a console gamer at the time. On one hand I know I missed out, I could've been gushing over it a year ago, on the other I got to experience it for the first time with eighth-gen hardware behind it. The world of The Last of Us is beautiful, and extremely detailed. The environments are always exactly what they need to be, claustrophobic hiding places and panoramic vista are all gorgeously brought to your screen.

While the entire story isn't the most original of ideas, borrowing from many sources (some parts feel like a playable version of Cormac McCarthy's “The Road,” while others will remind the player of 28 Days Later or The Walking Dead) , the plot is only part of the story. The Last of Us shines particularly in the relationship between our protagonists, Joel and Ellie. What begins as an indifferent pairing between them grows into something realistic, and special in gaming. The amazing thing is that there isn't some jarring point in the game where the player says to themselves, “Okay, now they're friends.” The relationship grows believably, and was one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. Other developers should take note; character development is becoming one of the most important aspects of a game, particularly a single player game, and love interests are not the only way in which to bring two characters together.

The voice work is phenomenal, of course Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson deserve a lot of praise for this, but not all, as many of the peripheral characters also shine in smaller roles. If there is an emotion called for in the scene the voice actors delivered.

The gameplay is what you would expect from a third person adventure game, sprinting, stealth and aiming are all exactly as you have gotten used to. While limited, the crafting system is fairly rewarding, with most things Joel is capable of creating coming in quite handy. Once the player acquires most of the arsenal of weapons the combat does get a little repetitive, as you'll have your favorite way to deal with most situations. One way Naughty Dog tried to alleviate this is to make sure that ammo is limited. If you run and gun your way through every encounter you'll find yourself staring at a lot of red zeros on your weapons wheel. If the player takes their time scavenging through every chapter there are only an instance or two that feel like you're coming to the last of your resources.

Conclusion: The Last of Us is one of the best games I've played. It delivers detailed and dynamic characters that are capable of making a familiar story feel fresh. It seems as though it was a real labor of love from everyone involved in its creation. I'm excited to play it again, and I might even try the smoke bombs this time.

Rating: 9.5/10

The Last of Us: Remastered -- First Impressions

This isn't a formal review.  While I don't feel that you have to finish a game to review it, that is preferable, and if not completed one should be a substantial way into the game before they try to actually review it.  Tonight I only had time to play up until Joel's introduction to Ellie, not far enough to have solid opinions on plot or anything like that, but far enough to have formed some first impressions.

The controls are what you expect from a third-person perspective game, no surprises there.  I haven't played a ton of console games over the years but the few I have played had very similar controls.  Everything is pretty smooth, vaulting, quick turning and moving into a sprint all happen in what looks like very believable ways, aiming is easy and just as responsive as I wanted it to be.  I also liked that instead of having some sort of quasi-supernatural explanation as to how Joel can tell where people are in a room, he just listens for them.  He doesn't need to have some sort of preternatural ability, he just does what the rest of us can do if we take the time to slow down and do it.

The game is beautiful, the environments are extremely detailed, different cloths have different textures.  There are different ways to approach a situation depending on the terrain, your ammo situation and the number of enemies.  One thing I noticed is that the enemies aren't very bright, but hey, they never are.  I'd like to see a game that pressed its numerical advantage sometime.  If the player slips up and reveals themselves while trying to sneak around ten guys you shouldn't be able to hunker down and have them come to you in ones and twos from cover.  Bum-rush me and let there be consequences to my misstep!

The voice acting is top-notch.  It's fun to think about how far that's come in video games.  Gone are the stilted conversations of the past, now we have real professionals doing the job and it's great.  Troy Baker's performance as Joel is especially impressive.  Having been born and raised in the south one of my biggest pet-peeves is hearing an over-done southern accent.  Baker puts just enough drawl into his work for me to believe he's a Texan without ever taking me out of the game by overdoing it.  Take a second to look him up and, lo and behold he's a Texas guy.  He's been hearing that accent since he was a kid most likely, and his apparent familiarity with it shows.

All in all, I enjoyed my first play session of The Last of Us:  Remastered and can't wait to get back to it.  Unfortunately for me, I might not have the time until Friday.