The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is a missed opportunity to bring back Factions
Naughty Dog’s latest PS5 release is a reminder of how great The Last of Us’ stealth-action combat is, but it’s disappointing that the original game’s beloved PvP mode didn’t return.
The Last of Us might be a post-apocalyptic video game series lauded for its compelling narrative, but another great aspect of it that doesn’t get talked about enough is its core gameplay. Bullets being scarce in this world, and infected enemies moving haphazardly through it, makes stealth the most viable form of combat, resulting in a far slower pace compared to most other third-person shooters out there. And though you might not think it, the multiplayer mode that launched alongside the original game on PS3 back in 2013 only highlighted this further.
The Last Of Us Factions was a PvP deathmatch style mode that saw two teams of four duking it out across a map to try and kill one another. But whereas, say, Call of Duty was centred on an extremely swift time-to-kill, Naughty Dog ’s brand of PvP played out in a similar fashion to Joel and Ellie’s cross-country journey. The emphasis was on sneaking around the environment to gather resources that would let you craft smoke bombs and traps, as well as improving melee weapons; It was about stealthily getting an advantage over your opponents. The online multiplayer mode played to the strengths of the mechanics featured in the main campaign, rather than forcefully adapting it into something it wasn’t.
The multiplayer servers for The Last of Us multiplayer on PS3 were sadly shut down in 2019, but the game mode still lives on thanks to its inclusion in the 2014 re-release – The Last of Us Remastered – on PS4. This version has since been replaced with the arrival of The Last of Us Part 1 on PS5 in 2022, but it came without Factions built in. Honestly, there are so many versions of the original The Last of Us by this point, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that the brilliant Factions multiplayer was no longer a thing. And yet, should you log into that PS4 version today, you’ll still be able to find a match – it’s that good!
Matter of faction
That said, Factions was notably absent when The Last of Us Part 2 first launched on PS4 in 2020. Naughty Dog was heavily thought to be working on a totally new multiplayer mode for this universe, intended to launch separately later down the line. This somewhat lessened the blow of its absence in The Last of Us Part 2, despite all the ways one imagines the sequel’s new mechanical improvements – such as going prone, gun silencers, and a dodge button – would play amazingly within the multiplayer framework Naughty Dog had created.
Why Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's six week delay is a good thing
Slowly but surely, though, it became apparent that this fabled, standalone The Last of Us multiplayer game wasn’t to be. After experiencing issues chasing the live service game trend for several months, the studio eventually announced in a blog post last December that the project had been killed. It’s with bated breath, then, that I expected Factions to make its grand return with the sequel’s PS5 makeover, otherwise known as The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered.
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered was always an odd proposition anyway, seeing as the PS4 version of the sequel had already received a PS5 patch in 2021 with Sony announcing update 1.08 to make it run smoother. To make up for this Naughty Dog was sure to pack in plenty of appreciated upgrades. DualSense haptic feedback support? Yup. 4K visuals? You bet. Roguelike mode design to keep people playing for longer while showcasing the utterly excellent, tense-fuelled combat loop? You bet. And while I very much enjoy the new roguelike mode, known as No Return, calling it “an additional mode I never knew could be so fun” in my review, I still find myself pining for a new-and-improved Factions.
Right now, the video game scene is awash with bright, colourful hero shooters and battle royales. Overwatch 2, Fortnite, and Apex Legends are all popular in their own right, of course, but none can match the stealthy multiplayer approach Naughty Dog nigh-on perfected when The Last of Us launched on PS3 over a decade ago. It remains a beloved mode in my eyes – and I know in many others’ too – so it’s a shame not to see it included in the recently released The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered since it was the perfect opportunity.
Having said that, I remain hopeful that The Last of Us Factions will show up again in some form, be it in a post-release update to The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered later down the line, or the current PS4 iteration ported over to the PS5 as a standalone product, zhuzhed up and tightened to look great on Sony’s latest console. PlayStation has been hedging its bets on doing well in the live service arena for the past few years, not really having anything to show for it just yet. Factions clearly wasn’t a mode Naughty Dog could fit into this mode, hence why it should now come back in its original form.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
