Do you define something remastered as being a game that makes substantial editions to the original material, a visual upgrade, or something that makes the original game feel new? PlayStation’s first big release of 2024 is The Last Of Us Part II Remastered from original studio Naughty Dog. The first TLOU II released in 2020 during a time where the world was in crisis which may have given Sony a green light to revisit this even if just for a cash grab. While it still made an impact it was definitely overshadowed by the doom the world was in back then. What Naughty Dog achieve here is something that doens’t feel quite like a group of files that were supercharged but more of a director’s cut version of a movie release.
The Last Of Us Part II Remastered features some upgraded visual fidelity that makes the story mode of the game run faster during higher resolutions and frame rates. It’s a tweak more than a full on upgrade because the first release of the game was already pushing PS4 hardware to the limits of what that generation was capable of.
Where The Last Of Us Part II R makes its mark is in what additions fans get. While playing through the story mode again is a welcome revisit to the incredible story told by Naughty Dog, it’s the extras such as addition of “Lost Levels” and commentary that give this the new life Sony intended. Lost Levels is made up of three additional bits cut out of the original game. As director Neil Druckmann intros these levels (carnival, sewers, hunt) and explains the raw unfinished nature of what we play, it has the same feel for me as Christopher Nolan explaining The Dark Knight bank scene on my blu-ray. Something I’ve watched in detail several times but hearing the storyteller fill in the blanks for me adds a level of examination I didn’t have. These lost levels give us insight into the Ellie we didn’t previously have while filling in some of the blanks in the story. The remaster TLOU Part II has loads of bits such as this in the from of podcasts and commentary over cutscenes. For anyone with a desire to make games this is a textbook in how to tell video game stories.
The meat of TLOU Part II remaster is the new “No Return” mode. It’s a survival runner that uses the mechanics of TLOU in a way that takes some adjustment. Where the story mode let’s you play at a methodical pace and carefully plan out things, No Return constantly makes you feel under the gun. You’ll either get to be the stalker but with enemies more aware of your location or in a frantic war where your objective is simply survival. Each run ends with a unique boss battle such as the Bloater in the claustrophobic arcade setting. It’s a fun mode but not quite as enjoy able as God Of War Ragnarok Valhalla DLC.
Is this worth your money? If you’ve never played The Last Of Us Part II, it’s not worth $69.99. Not for the content or build of this version of the game because all of that is solid and masterful. You have a different way to get this game and make it totally worth the purchase. Those who own the original TLOU Part II on PS4 can upgrade to the remastered for $10. So if you’ve never played it before it becomes worth your time to seek out a cheap copy of the game and get the upgrade.
The Last Of Us Part II Remastered is available now exclusively on PlayStation 5.
