When the first rumors about the remake de The Last of Us, that fantastic PS3 video game that amazed the industry in 2013, most of us thought that it was a completely unnecessary move. The reason? First, the title is not even a decade old, and furthermore, a year after its release it had received a remaster for the PS4. Although remaking games has become common for many companies, the period of time between the original work and its remake is usually not that short.
On the other hand, it is undeniable that The Last of Us It has aged quite well. Mainly because he was a graphic wonder of his generation; a preview of what would come soon after to the world of consoles. However, it was enough to see the first trailer to realize that Naughty Dog, the studio that took over the development of the remake, had quite ambitious. It was not only to give the audiovisual section a facelift, but also the playable section based on what had already been achieved with the outstanding sequel.
In hypertextual we had the opportunity to play The Last of Us Parte 1 during the most recent weeks. Although I still consider that this proposal should have been left for a later time, I must also admit that I never imagined that the original title would have a wide margin for improvement. The novelties are not fewand they are well distributed in almost all the sections that make it up.
This time, yes, I will not delve too deeply into the narrative field, because in that sense there is no change. The story of The Last of Us is already well known by the vast majority and we know in advance that his campaign is as cruel as it is emotional. However, if the remake will be your first experience with Joel and Ellie’s adventure, in the next couple of paragraphs you will be able to find out a brief description of what awaits you – without spoilers, of course.
The Last of Us takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. The strain of a fungus, called Cordyceps, caused a devastating pandemic for the world. If the above were not enough, infected people become aggressive creatures with zombie airs – they cannot see and locate their prey by means of sound. History puts us at the feet of Joel, who just started suffers a family tragedy that marks him forever. Some time later, due to those sudden turns of life, the protagonist is entrusted with a mission: to escort a girl to a settlement on the outskirts of Boston.
The minor named Ellie, turns out to be immune to the disease. Joel realizes that keeping her safe and accomplishing the mission is the first step in possibly finding a cure. Now, crossing the city in the state of Massachusetts becomes a major challenge, since much of the region is infested with all kinds of creatures. The narrative involves raw, visceral and painful moments. The complicated experiences that Joel and Ellie suffer together lead them to develop a very close relationship, almost father-daughter.
Lighting, the starting point
Let’s go, now, to get into the graphic and playable novelties. Surely what will surprise you the most as soon as you start your game with The Last of Us Parte 1 Will be your renewed lighting. Yes, she was already good in the original title, but the leap she has made in the remake is significant. If you are a person familiar with various technical aspects of video games, you will know that the impact of light on a stage goes beyond the specific area that is intended to be illuminated.
A few simple rays of light, reflected correctly, can visually alter everything around us. In The Last of Us Parte 1, lighting behaves much more realistically. The most obvious change is in the shadows and places where darkness predominates. If before they already looked chilling, now they are even more so because the light, for a natural reason, has a hard time reaching it.
I would dare to say that Naughty Dog had to manually interfere with the behavior of the lighting in certain interiors so that it would not be so difficult to visualize what is inside, including the enemies. The game has a good number of environments where it is possible to verify that both the light emitted by the sun during the day, and artificial sources at night, are projected and reflected as physics dictates.
Of course, this great improvement in lighting is accompanied by textures boasting higher resolution. Regardless of the type of surface or the object that we have in view, an improvement in the level of detail of the same is perceived, although there are some more elaborated than others. Similarly, I must highlight the particle effects
The Last of Us Parte 1 introduces new character models
At this po int I would like to comment that stages now have items that react to firepower
An example is when we are protecting ourselves in a cover made up of pieces of wood, which will be destroyed as they receive the shots from the enemies. Then, at a certain point you will have to find another place to cover yourself. At other times they are just effects of destruction to enhance the atmosphere of chaos, such as surface damage or glass shattering upon impact from a bullet or nearby explosion.
The franchise has distinguished itself for being a game that prioritizes the narrative above everything else. Consequently, the work on facial animations is essential so that the characters can convey emotions. The Last of Us Parte 1 It takes a qualitative leap in that sense. First, because the new models of the protagonists -and of all the characters and creatures in general- expose a greater polygonal load and, in the particular case of Ellie, a completely renewed face and closer to what was seen in the second game.
Obviously, when you have more detailed faces, it is possible to improve the expressiveness greatly. The story of The Last of Us it has a considerable amount of emotional moments in which the characters express both negative and positive feelings. The remake takes advantage of these technical innovations in an outstanding way and manages to deliver sequences, mostly cinematic —which are now generated in real time—, which enrich the excellent plot.
Harnessing the technical potential of the PS5
In relation to the gameplay, the main change can be seen in the artificial intelligence. Let’s face it, the AI of the original title left a lot to be desired at times. In The Last of Us Parte 1, however, Naughty Dog dedicated efforts so that the enemies finally behave like human beings with reason. This time you will see them move better through the stages and, once they have seen you, they will do their best to flank you.
The artificial intelligence of the allies is not far behind. Ellie, who accompanies you during almost the entire adventure and does not hesitate to support you in various confrontations, now moves much better to stay out of sight of human adversaries. In the 2013 title, and in the subsequent remaster, it was quite annoying to have your stealth strategy go to waste when your partner exposed her location in the most absurd way, thus triggering unnecessary and unplanned combat. Fortunately, those situations have been reduced.
The sensations with the command have also evolved thanks to the benefits of the DualSense. There isn’t a single Joel interaction that doesn’t have a haptic feedback accurate through control. Naturally, the intensity of the vibration increases according to the action exerted —using a consumable object is not the same as firing a shotgun. Similarly, they have integrated adjustable triggerswhose tension intervenes above all when activating weapons.
An addition that we should all applaud Naughty Dog, and any other study that bets on the same, are the accessibility options. The sequel already shone in this area and The Last of Us Parte 1 It has been updated so that it can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. It is very positive to see that the industry is increasingly concerned with accessibility and not leaving anyone out of the experience.
Usually, The Last of Us Parte 1 It has sorprised me for good. It is clear that the developers, thanks to the potential of the PlayStation 5, have finally been able to carry out the ideas that they could not translate into the original title due to a technical barrier. Was it necessary to do this remake? I keep saying no. But I’m not going to deny that I’ve had a great time revisiting one of the best narrative works in the history of video games.
Undoubtedly, is the definitive version of the adventure. If you’re a fan of the franchise, I don’t think I need to tell you that you can’t miss it. At your disposal you also have the new permanent death mode and an improved photo mode to capture the new scenarios.