What is storytelling? Storytelling can be defined as the activity of telling or writing stories. But sometimes it is much more than that. Storytelling is the most crucial activity that mankind possesses. It allows generations to pass on their culture, their life and their sacrifices so that we can see a better today and tomorrow. Storytelling lets you live a life that you don’t have to, but it allows you to feel the emotion, the tears, the joy and sorrows. All the same.
And when we talk about The Last of Us, we talk about the standard of the art of storytelling it sets. The standard it sets and the benchmark it creates for the gaming industry. Years from now, there will be countless IPs, stories, and advancements, but just like a pillar that stands at the foundation of a 100-floor building, The Last of Us will always be known as the foundation of one of the finest ways to tell a goddamn story.
Remade from the ground up, The Last of Us Part 1 is now here for the PlayStation 5, utilizing the modern gaming engine and hardware powers that were once limited when the TLOU was initially released for the PlayStation 3. It made gamers cry then, it made me cry today. Nothing has changed, but at the same time, it feels like everything has. Releasing for the PlayStation 5 on September 2, 2022, and in development for PC, here is my review of one of Naughty Dog’s best accomplishments.
A Story Like No Other
The Last of Us Remake takes you on an adventure. Some may know the story by heart. But fresh players like me will embark on this adventure for the first time ever, and it might just be the best journey they will venture to. Curated with love, breathtaking cinematography, perfectly directed cinematic sequences, lighting and effects like no other, and backed with a story like no other. The Last of Us, is a masterpiece that will teach you everything you need to know about a video game.
It all started with a fungal infection on crops that slowly spread to humans. Unaware of the scale, humanity was one day hit with a disaster that no one saw coming, but everyone saw the world burn. It changed everything that they knew forever. A calamity like this can be prevented if it only remained till death, but once you die, you spread the infection more than you could’ve while you were alive. A disease that mutates your brain and makes you a zombie only to spread more in the environment is the worst of horrors humanity can face.
But you know what’s worse than a pandemic, disaster or even a risk of extinction? Humanity itself. When the world was hit by the greatest known threat, it is essential that the remaining humans come together to find a cure, prevent more deaths, make a safe haven, to blossom humanity once more. But what really happened was a war to survive. A war made out of the rule of survival. Where the weak are left behind, the unarmed get slaughtered and power is practiced upon those who are helpless.
First, the military did this to innocent folks, the innocent folks did it back to the military. And when almost everyone died during this civil war, the last of them were killed by the infection.
Nature has taken over the entire cities, water has clogged tunnels, and animals graze the cities. As if humanity just put a dent in nature, and nature wasted no time taking over. But only a few remain alive. Some are protected in quarantine zones, fighting for rations and some are running and living in ships in the sea, where the infection cannot reach. But this has to change, humanity needs to go back to what it once was. A cure needs to be found.
You play as Joel. A survivor. A man who is old enough to fight for himself through the worst. But he is a man who has lost everything. His daughter died and his brother left him. And that was his whole world. His whole family. In the ever-going battle of survival, Joel had a partner who had their supplies stolen. On a bloody path of claiming what belongs to them, they find a gig. A gig like no other. They had to smuggle a girl out of the quarantine zone to a group called the Fireflies. Fireflies live independently and are a major target of the military. But Joel had no other choice but to take up this gig.
This is where the journey begins. The journey where you will face the worst horror possible. The journey portrays the ugly truth of humanity. A journey in a world that is left abandoned, once filled with people and their stories. You are the Last of Us. The last of us, burdened with the impossible responsibility of bringing a change.
A Visual Spectacle
The Last of Us has been made from the ground up to celebrate the power of the PlayStation 5. Everyone has been remodeled, even the NPC characters. The entire level has been redesigned to cut out any fade-to-black transitions. The entire journey is non-stop, gives you enough space to explore and look around the world, while it also gives you time to focus on threats and how you can escape in one piece.
The game offers 2 modes, Performance and Fidelity. We played the game in Performance mode. Even after that, the Ray-Tracing reflections and SSR blew our minds. It was something that we might have never seen before. Sure it is similar to all those PC mods, but a game that is so beautiful at release and too on a console really makes a PlayStation worth its value.
The foliage and greenery are spread throughout the world. But all of them are such high-quality assets, it gave me anxiety as to how in the world I am getting stutter-free smooth 60 FPS. While I thought this is limited to raw assets found in the world, it gets much more special when we talk about attention to detail.
Starting right from the characters, you can see their expression change as per the heat of the situation. During cutscenes, you can see almost every face muscle work together to make a perfect dialogue seem real. The beard, acne wrinkles, everything can be seen clearly. This applies to the clothing they wear as well, as the sleeve wrinkles when the arm moves to make it feel so more real and attractive.
Each cutscene is a spectacle to behold. The camera angles, shots, cinematography in surreal 4K quality and smooth FPS is a dream for every gamer to behold. Play it on while having headphones, or sit in the center of a home theatre. The 3D audio clearly helps you focus in a precise direction, instead of just left and right. The balancing of the dynamics helps you clearly listen to all audio cues no matter how hot the situation is.
The Last of Us Remake is guaranteed to make a photographer out of you. Every scene is mesmerizing and unique in its own sense. Nothing feels out of the place and everything feels new. Be it the setting red sun, or the sunrise pink in the sky, you will always be reminded of the adventure you are on and visuals like these make every fight, every med-kit you apply, 100% worth it.
Be prepared for everything
Your fight is not limited to the infection. You’re in a world where people rob everything you own. You ration cards, clothes, food and everything that can be useful to a human. Your life is of the least value here. And to fight against these threats, you need to be armed with everything you can carry.
The Last of Us offers a brilliant arsenal as the game progresses. Start the game out with a personal firearm and when it’s time to hunt across the town, wield a full gauge shotgun. You will also find opportunities to go silent. Either work your way around, use bricks and pebbles to throw attract people into corners where they can be silently taken care of, or go loud, and make every bullet count.
Going loud has its own set of drawbacks since resources are super scarce. Finding ammo is super hard, and you might think you can get from each armed enemy. But even if an enemy drops a firearm, you may not be able to scavenge ammo from it, unless the game wants you to. Solution? Make every shot count. Be a survivalist and not a warrior. There is no one alive to celebrate you, but there might be people who need you. Take fights that leave you no options, but avoid fights which aren’t called for.
But real threats arrive when you’re fighting the infection. These infections have 4 levels. Starting from who just got infected, followed by Runners, Clickers and finally Bloaters. Each harder than before. While runners are especially tough and come in hordes, clickers are your worst nightmare. Even the slightest touch will allow them to strike you down. The only solution is to craft resources before fighting them. While you can’t normally take them out, you can craft shiv and make quick work of them.
While shivs are limited, you can always use supplements upgrades their usage and durability. But once again, everything is limited, choose wisely before investing your supplements in anything.
Verdict
The Last of Us Remake is one for the books. A storytelling experience like no other and gameplay that will horrify you to your cores and at the same time make you emotionally attached to the characters. Most importantly, it definitely is one of the best-looking game available right now. The Last of Us Remake is a video game experience like no other.
The game comes with the expansion Left Behind, exploring the story of Ellie before she met Joel. Also, a myriad of accessibility options, to make gaming available to everyone. You will also find interesting post-completion content which includes speed-run mode and permadeath mode. The DualSense 5 Controller takes the best advantage of the game and offers a surreal experience through the game. Be it a truck passing by on your left, or raindrops splashing effects that you can feel on the controller. You will occasionally be asked to shake your controller to repair your flashlight.
Filled with immense attention to detail, side stories are present in text format which provides an emotional feel on its own. Secrets are filled all over the game, letting you find special weapons, resources and even collectables to Platinum the game. The Last of Us Remake will be a great challenge for trophy collectors.
Summing everything up. I think The Last of Us is the most important game in the video game industry. It is not only the best looking, but it also delivers one of the most unique storytelling experience in terms of dialogue and cinematography. Having a robust game design that has stood the test of time, the game is a visual spectacle to behold. Even the smallest attention to detail and accessibility options just adds praise for the game. The only thing that can set you back is the pricing of the game for the PS5 – available right now on the PlayStation store for INR 4,999. The price notwithstanding, I award The Last of Us Part 1 Remake a cool 9.5/10.
Final Recommendation: Essential
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