The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered review – worth the PS5 upgrade
Naughty Dog’s gritty sequel gets a sooner-than-expected remaster, that packs in just enough new features to make it a worthy return trip.
I was in the camp of PlayStation players who believed that the original The Last of Us didn’t need a sequel. Here we are, however, over 10 years after Naughty Dog’s original agreed-upon masterpiece first released on PS3, with Joel and Ellie’s journey of survival the subject of a hit HBO television series, a sequel, and now more remasters and re-releases than there are games in the franchise. I was sceptical of The Last of Us Part 2’s need for a so-called ‘remastered’ – the game itself only being four years old. But my doubt was ill-placed, as this PS5 update packs in just about enough new reasons to take a second look.
Before diving into what’s new within The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered package, let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way: the original version of The Last of Us Part 2, as it stands, without any additional bells and whistles, is still a treat. Well, as much of a treat as a narrative about loss, vengeance, and the bonds people are willing to break to get their shot at justice can be anyway. Ellie and Abby’s intertwined tale is unlike any other modern AAA single-player story you’ll experience, even if the 50/50 split structure sometimes makes for flabby pacing.
In fact, playing the bifurcated campaign during a time when the real world isn’t locked down in some ways makes The Last of Us Part 2, dare I say, more enjoyable, in the sense that it’s easier to appreciate the well-worn characters and locations Naughty Dog spent time creating. Sure, a lot of the sequel’s twists and surprise turns won’t hit you over the head quite as harshly if you’ve also played the PS4 version, but the emotional moments carry just as much weight as they did originally. What’s more, The Last of Us Part 2’s primarily stealth-driven combat continues to be the perfect foundation for tense scenarios, regardless of whether you’re fighting humans or the infected.
A cure for mankind
Ok, so the original The Last of Us Part 2 is still great, go figure! What many people are surely curious to know is whether or not the PS5 upgrade is worth it. In short, yes, and that’s even without taking into account the visual enhancements. Naughty Dog has very obviously recognised the oddness of creating a remaster for such a new game, being sure to pack in plenty of Easter Eggs, extra treats, and even a few extra modes to make the upgrade fee worth it.
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The standout feature to celebrate is No Return, an all-new roguelike survival mode that challenges you to survive through a series of back-to-back encounters before culminating in a boss fight at the end. And what do you know, it’s far from half-assed. While I’m sure it would have been easy to lift sections from the main narrative wholesale and have you play through them, No Return is surprisingly well-developed.
Bosses serve as the final encounter in each No Return run, punctuating your fight to survive. (Naughty Dog)Starting off playing as either Abby or Ellie, you’ll push through a randomised path of fights focussed on survivability or wave-based confrontations, scavenging the tightly contained maps for resources all while trying to stand your ground. Fortunately, it isn’t just one big dash, as No Return affords you the chance to lick your wounds in between each encounter, purchasing new guns or blueprints from the randomised locker, letting you upgrade existing weapons, as well as powering up your own skills through a series of randomised trees that gradually open up in each run.
All these different factors work in tandem to ensure that no one playthrough of No Return is ever quite the same, and each one benefits hugely from the promise of new gameplay modifiers being made available in future runs the more you play. New unlockable characters like Manny, Dina and Joel – each with their own unique starting traits – are your primary incentive for shifting beyond Ellie and Abby, as are a gamut of skins for both weapons and heroes, as well as your ability to create your own custom run that sits outside the main randomised mode.
Overall, No Return is yet another example of a first-party PlayStation exclusive placing a lot of thought into an additional mode I never knew could be so fun – similar to God of War Ragnarok’s recently released Valhalla roguelike DLC. No Return transports the same great tense stealth and survivability found in the main The Last of Us Part 2 journey into a new framework brilliantly. It inspired me to get better, despite the strong flashes of difficulty.
Mighty thin ice
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered attempts to justify the upgrade elsewhere in the form of a Guitar Free Play mode, which is just as straightforward as it sounds. It’s still a nice addition, though, thanks to the inclusion of extra guitar types, backgrounds, and even the ability to play as The Last of Us series composer Gustavo Santaolalla – who looks great rendered in-game. Far more interesting though are the lost levels, accessed easily from the main menu, that let you see how extra events may have played out when transplanted into the original version of the game.
The Last of Us composer Gustavo Santaolalla makes his in-game debut in this remaster's new Guitar Free Play mode. (Naughty Dog)If you’re a sucker for behind-the-scenes content in movies, such as deleted scenes, you’ll get a real kick of seeing how, say, the famous barn sequence in Jackson may have felt had you taken control of Ellie and engaged in some carnival antics briefly beforehand. Equally as interesting as the three included lost levels themselves is Naughty Dog’s reasoning for cutting them, be it due to concerns over budget, pacing, or general necessity. There are only three in total, but it’s already made me hope that more AAA games make including cut sequences like these the norm in future remasters, re-releases, or maybe even game-of-the-year editions.
On a technical level, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered makes several visual enhancements not previously possible on PS4 – despite that version already receiving a 60fps bump when played on PS5. The problem is that The Last of Us Part 2 was already a beautiful-looking game, and only by placing the two editions side by side would anyone be able to notice any major difference in graphical quality, I’d wager. Improved textures and animation sampling rates failed to strike any ‘wow’ reaction in me; far more impressive on the surface is the new DualSense haptic feedback implementation that makes every weapon feel slightly different to fire on the triggers, and the greatly improved loading times.
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is definitely not an essential purchase for anyone who’s already played it on PS4. That said, if you’re yet to fire up that version on PS5 or have been craving a more substantial excuse to undergo a replay, the bargain £10/ $10 /AU$20 upgrade fee is more than justified by the inclusion of No Return and the lost levels alone. As for those who haven’t yet played Naughty Dog’s gritty sequel, what awaits them is one of the most complete-feeling first-party packages on PS5. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is an odd proposition, no doubt, but one that represents great value.
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