#The last of us part 2 review scores full#

I also just have to say that as a whole, I do believe that The Last of Us is still Naughty Dog's best game to date. Your own mileage may vary in this regard, though.

#The last of us part 2 review scores full#

Even though the Factions multiplayer mode has been removed and there's little else of note in regard to new additions, it's clear that Naughty Dog went above and beyond to make the visual improvements to The Last of Us so remarkable that it doesn't feel as though you're getting 'ripped off', per se, by buying the game at full retail price. What I can stress is that The Last of Us Part 1 is a very high-quality product. While I've now played Part 1, it's hard for me to speak to whether or not this game is worth the asking price. This is something that I've been critical of as well, primarily because it seemed like PlayStation wasn't doing enough with this remake to justify the cost. One of the things that has been most divisive about The Last of Us Part 1 is its $70 price tag. Even with this frustration, Speedrun and Permadeath mode didn't feel like they added a ton to The Last of Us, although it still would have been nice if these features and many others weren't locked from the get-go. What's even worse is that PlayStation did give players the option to unlock Speedrun mode prior to completing the game, but this perk is only being included as an added bonus to those who buy the Digital Deluxe and Firefly Editions of The Last of Us Part 1. Considering that Part 1 will likely be a return playthrough of The Last of Us for many, to have to first play the entire game once again before being able to try out the new Permadeath or Speedrun options feels a bit short-sighted on Naughty Dog's part. While some of the bigger features seen in The Last of Us Part 2 weren't added to Part 1 (improved melee system, the ability to go prone, etc.) it is good to see that Naughty Dog tried to incorporate some qualities that were found in the sequel.Īs someone who has played The Last of Us quite a few times over the years, I did find it somewhat annoying that Part 1 locks a number of additional features behind the requirement of first beating the game before becoming accessible. Additionally, collectibles that you pick up in the game have become physical items that Joel and Ellie can look at in their own hands. Joel's process of upgrading weapons now plays out in an animated fashion, similar to what was seen with Ellie in The Last of Us Part 2. Outside of moment-to-moment gameplay, Naughty Dog has also made a handful of smaller tweaks to The Last of Us Part 1 that were seen in Part 2. These gameplay alterations are subtle, but they do help with Part 1's sense of immersion, especially when accounting for the aforementioned environmental improvements. Additionally, companion AI in the remake is far more stealthy and won't blatantly step out of cover to reveal themselves. Notably, I got flanked far more often in The Last of Us Part 1 than I can ever recall in the original game or Remastered. As someone who played on Survivor difficulty throughout both the core game and Left Behind, I did notice that foes were much more strategic with how they would approach a combat situation. The most notable change to gameplay in Part 1 comes with improved AI for the enemies that you'll face. In a general sense, I don't think that the gameplay mechanics from The Last of Us have aged all that poorly, but compared to what is seen in Part 2, it does make the original installment a bit harder to go back to. Likely the biggest disappointment for me with The Last of Us Part 1 is that there have been minimal improvements to gameplay. You really can't go wrong with either mode, but for me, I didn't think that the slight dip in resolution was worth the frame rate trade-off. A Fidelity mode is also available and lets The Last of Us Part 1 run at native 4K instead. This mode, which is the game's Performance option, makes for an incredibly smooth experience while still looking stunning. To go along with these improvements, The Last of Us Part 1 is also able to consistently perform at 60fps at a dynamic 4K resolution. Each level in the game looks similar to past iterations of The Last of Us, but there's so much more detail and depth to the locales in Part 1. The latest version of The Last of Us doesn't just meaningfully improve the game's resolution, textures, and lighting, but it also freshens up essentially every environment that you'll jaunt through with Joel and Ellie. Initially, I thought that The Last of Us Remastered looked great by modern standards, but Part 1 has only shown me how wrong I was to think this. As expected, the biggest selling point of The Last of Us Part 1 is that it has been graphically revamped on PS5.