There have been many excellent remakes in the past decade, like Resident Evil 2 Remake, The Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy, and Demons Souls, with all of them taking the general idea of the game and enhancing it to modern times, with Demons Souls even having the same AI from the original game; no matter how detrimental it was for the core gameplay. A top-class remake should enhance the original game while changing some aspects to keep it fresh and not feel like you spent your hard-earned money for the same game. Unfortunately, a studio with the prestige of Naughty Dog, failed at that or simply didn’t care.
The game overall has barely any changes from The Last of Us Remastered, with the same gameplay with no hint of change and graphics that pale in comparison to The Last of Us Part 2, which is on PS4. The Last of Us Remastered looked very good, so it was hard to see any improvements other than the character models.
The only real upgraded aspects are the cinematics; however, by “upgraded”, I mean they added a few details like the characters spitting when shouting or some better visible tears. Other than that, it’s the same game. It also added something new, which is the new crafting table visuals from The Last of Us Part 2, with different looks because Joel has other weapons; it’s cool to see as it makes upgrading your weapons more impactful. However, some upgrades barely look like the gun has been enhanced as Joel touches it a bit and considers it upgraded, which is weird when he’s adding new parts to some guns. The rest of the new features, like the UI and the AI, are copied straight from The Last of Us Part 2, with no attempt to hide the fact. The backpack menu, as well as the weapon wheel, is the same image with nothing new, which is unfortunate as the old The Last of Us weapon wheel was memorable; as well as the AI, which adds in the AI of the stalkers, which we’re just regular runners spawning from the shadows in The Last of Us Remastered; however, they don’t affect anything as the number of stalkers in The Last of Us are not as many as The Last of Us Part 2, to begin with.
It’s a shame that none of the features in The Last of Us Part 2 made their way to The Last of Us Part 1, as the gameplay would have gained a lot from simply adding the silencer for the Pistol, as Ellie had it. Both she and Joel have a bow, with Ellie having more destructive weaponry, like explosive arrows. However, you are stuck with the same basic weaponry for the rest of the game; a better change would be adding the prone mechanic and the dodge mechanic, as that would change the feel of the game, making it fresher and surprising the player, since the gameplay of The Last of Us felt boring to play after The Last of Us Part 2 as both Ellie and Abbie have fun and exciting gameplay, but now the only question on your mind after finishing The Last of Us Part 1, was if Joel ever knew how to dodge, to begin with.
VERDICT
6/10
It is tough to try and find anything nice to say about this game, as it is the same enhanced and repackaged for seventy dollars, a sad sight to see from an accomplished developer like Naughty Dog. It is not certain if a long-time fan of their work would enjoy this like me, as this is lazy and uninspired; this game is a 6/10, an embarrassing work for everyone involved. Hopefully, if the Uncharted Remake ever releases, it will see better care than this.
