ONE of the most beloved console games of all time – The Last of Us – has been remade for the PlayStation 5.
As part of this remake, which has been “completely rebuilt from the ground up using Naughty Dog’s latest PS5 engine technology with advanced visual fidelity, fully integrated DualSense wireless controller features and more”, according to Sony, the game has also officially been titled The Last Of Us Part I, obviously recognising it is the predecessor to The Last Of Us Part II.
Sony have pointed out this is not a remaster but a complete rebuild, and also includes modernisation of some gameplay mechanics, DualSense controller support, and enhanced accessibility options.
I’m not going to beat around the ruins here: For the overwhelming majority of gamers, there is no universe where this is worth AUD$124.95 (the price from the PlayStation Store) or even the AUD$99 you can get it from places like JB Hi-Fi.
The PS4 version of The Last Of us Remastered is AUD$25 or so from the PS store and there are copies on the shelf at my local cash converters for AUD$15. It’s even available for free as part of the PlayStation Plus Deluxe subscription service.
It is completely inexcusable to charge AUD$100+ for what is essentially a graphical overhaul of a decade old game that’s already had a remaster and pretty much everyone has already played.
Yes, the graphical enhancements look nice, but you know what? The previously remastered version looked nice too, and I genuinely cannot see $70+ worth of difference between the two versions in either visual effects or gameplay ‘feel’.
The story and the voice acting and the gameplay are what made The Last of Us such an amazing game, and they’re still here – the visuals are just shinier, and you’ve got DualSense controller support. Again, not worth AUD$125, or even AUD$99 in my view.
This game did not, in my opinion, need a PS5 remake. In fact, re-playing this in the wake of The Last Of Us Part II detracts my fond memories of the experience playing it when I first got a PlayStation 4, because I know that
HERE BE SPOILERS
Ellie turns into a surly, unpleasant young woman and Joel gets beaten to death near the start of the The Last Of Us Part II, which means everything we did in The Last Of Us was for nothing and all those touching moments between Joel and Ellie end up being meaningless.
In other words, much of the emotional impact of the game simply wasn’t there, and I found my view that the game’s story and experience-memory had been compromised by its sequel had only been reinforced.
In my view, this “remake” – and let’s be frank here, it’s effectively still the same game we’ve seen twice before now – simply does not justify its price tag. Even factoring in the accessibility options which will make the game available to more people, it’s still not OK to be charging a AAA, next-gen premium price for this.
If you haven’t already played The Last Of Us, get the PlayStation Classics version and enjoy the incredible story for a fraction of the price being asked for The Last Of Us Part I.
If this ends up on deep sale then by all means pick it up then (I mean, there’s a reason The Last Of Us is on pretty much every “best console games ever made” list), but unless you are a huge Last of Us fan or genuinely need the new accessibility features and want to play the game for yourself right now, then I would suggest you give this a miss for the time being.
