PlayStation 4 hasn’t really had too many games that set it too far apart from the Xbox ONE, with the possible exception of Killzone: Shadowfall, but with the recent announcement of The Last Of Us Remastered for PS4 they’ll have another significant exclusive game to shout about. It was the game of the year in 2013 when it landed on the PS3 and with a next gen makeover in the offing it could well go on to be even more impressive second time around.
While you might wonder about the potential of the game to put out another impressive innings with a simple up-port of the same story, along with a few extras thrown in, but our take is that the sheer brilliance of the game will be enough to make the remastered version a must play game. Fans that loved and played the original will probably be tempted to replay it with improved graphics, PS4 owners that missed the original will easily have it on their “must play” lists and gamers that don’t already own the PlayStation 4 will be very tempted to invest just for this game alone.
Release
Following in a similar route as Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, which had a cool PlayStation 4 and Xbox ONE re skin earlier in the year, The Last Of Us Remastered will bring the genius of the original game kicking, shooting, running and screening exclusively to the PS4. An official release date hasn’t been confirmed as of yet, but we do know that the game will be coming out in Summer 2014 and considering the fact that the game has only recently been announced we be inclined to say that it’ll probably be only the later side, so August would be our best guess.
The game will also be released pre-bundled with the Left Behind expansion pack, Abandoned Territories multiplayer map pack and the Reclaimed Territories pack, so as was the case with Tomb Raider it’ll come packaged with a good amount of the DLC from day one. There are also a few extra treats for anyone that pre-orders the game, as it will give you bonus, including 100 Supply Points (XP) to use in Factions Mode and two special bonus skins for Joel and Ellie which will be unlocked after completing the single player campaign, as well as increased Crafting Speed, Healing Speed, 9mm Reload Speed Increase Upgrade and Rifle Clip Capacity Increase Upgrade for use in the single player campaign
Storyline
For anyone not familiar with the storyline of The Last Of Us, it’s a classic survival horror set in a world ravaged by 20 years of terror from a plague that has left the majority of humanity as vicious zombie like creatures with predatory tendencies. Those not infected by the spore based mutant strain of the Cordyceps fungus cling to the relative safety of heavily guarded quarantine zones.
The plot follows survivor Joel who accepts a smuggling mission set by a resistance group called the Fireflies, to escort 14 year old Ellie to another faction of the resistance group outside of the quarantine zone. Ellie has lived all of her life in the crazy post-apocalyptic world, but the weight of the world rests on her shoulders as she could hold the key to a cure to the disease and a return to humanity for the world.
Gameplay
The game is a third person action adventure survival horror, so the gameplay sees you taking to the wide open expanses of a Dangerous North America in a bid to find a way to make the mission work. For the most part you’ll play as Joel, with other characters involved in the single player campaign tagging along for the journey, as you shoot, scrap and creep your way through the vast plot.
In terms of weapons of destruction, Joel will have to use everything from rifles and hand guns, to hand weapons like pipes, bats, bottles and bricks to make it through the game. Weapons can be upgraded as you progress and there’s a sophisticated scavenging system that allows you to build up your stock pile of attack capabilities, as well as health related items like meds and plants.
Puzzle solving is also a big feature of The Last Of Us as you’ll need to traverse some pretty tricky terrain to keep Ellie safe and on the move. Working out how to get through blocked paths or tricky environments keeps your grey matter working as you go, but all the while you’ll need to keep an eye out for attacks from the teaming masses of the infected that live outside of the quarantine zones.
It’s this last element and the genius of the artificial intelligence engine that’s used in the game that make it such a thrill ride as the nasty, pasty faced fungal infected adapt their behaviour to the situation that you’re in. If Joel is well armed or has the upper hand, they might call for more infected to attack, or when Joel runs out of ammunition they’ll go from taking cover as they approach to an out and out melee onslaught.
As well as the single player mode, the online multiplayer Factions fun of the original will be making its way to the Remastered edition for the PS4. As with the previous iteration it will see you combat as either a Hunter or a Firefly in a faction or clan based multiplayer in which you’ll have to work with your team to survive over a series of rounds. It features a lot of the cool elements of the main campaign mode to give a sense of consistency, including scavenging, crafting and fight tactics.
It hasn’t been confirmed as of yet that the next-gen equivalent will include the personalisation through Facebook network connection to the multiplayer modes, but our assumption is that it will, so expect to be able to include your friends as AI controlled members of your faction. If you haven’t played the original, don’t worry about this bombarding Facebook with updates as this is not how it works.
Graphics
From what we’ve seen of the Remastered game to date in terms of the trailer below and the screenshots available, we’re not convinced that the graphics have come all that much further since the original The Last Of Us hit the PS3 last year, despite the fact that it’ll be in the heavily lauded 1080p resolution. They’re obviously going to be improved, but we’d struggle to say that they stack up all that well against games that have been developed with next gen gaming in mind.
On the positive side, the game’s unique style has been maintained and of course the resolution factor will undoubtedly improve the visual experience. Sadly, the trailer below doesn’t give all that much gameplay footage away, focusing too much on the 200+ game of the year award claims, so we could see a whole lot more before the game’s launch in the summer. However, that doesn’t leave a great deal of time, so our take is that what you here is pretty much what you’ll get, but that takes little away from the reality that it’s definitely a must play game for horror survival fans.
