Scheduled for September 2, 2022, the fully remastered version of The Last of Us Part I will seek to attract new players around the world and try to convince the fans of the first hour by taking advantage of the power of the PS5 and by offering new features such as DualSense haptic feedback or 3D audio, but not only. We had the opportunity to relive the adventures of Joël & Ellie on PS5, which allows us today to give you our opinion on the work that the Naughty Dog teams have done to bring this classic gaming game back to life. survival in a post-apocalyptic universe.
This test is not intended to show you how incredible Joël and Ellie's trip is, everyone knows it now. We will mainly focus on the differences with the PS4 Remaster and what's new. If you are one of the players who have never experienced this adventure on Sony's two previous home consoles, we tell you automatically, you can get this PS5 version with your eyes closed, since The Last of Us Part I is one of Naughty Dog's greatest works to date. For the others, here is what there is to know about this “remake”.
The Last of Us Part I on PS5, not just a question of image resolution:
The remastering work of this new version is quite impressive, it clearly reinforces the atmosphere that emerges from the game and helps with better immersion. The lighting effects are more realistic, the character models have been greatly enhanced, the vegetation is denser and above all there are new particle effects that we did not have in the original or in the Remaster PS4. In combat, the splashes of blood are more present giving a much more violent side to the clashes.
Watching the Sony and Naughty Dog presentation videos, you must have said to yourself that "it's exactly the same thing", yet putting the PS4 and PS5 versions side by side, visually, it's day and night. . The one released on PS4 in 2014 got a lot of old! For having ourselves put the two versions side by side and replayed certain important passages, we can tell you that it would be difficult today to completely redo the PS4 Remaster when this PS5 version exists and everything seems much more realistic. and believable.
We grant you that at the level of the gameplay, it is less obvious to realize the changes at first glance. Similarly, the main plot is identical in all respects (whether it's the main adventure or the Left Behind expansion), no need to look for additional scenes, you won't find any. In this version, it is especially on the side of the AI and the quality of life that we must look at. HUD and UI have been overhauled, especially when it comes to crafting items from the backpack or when upgrading your weapons at a workbench. Incidentally, Joel can now be seen disassembling weapons in real time when making upgrades to a workbench, seeing him change parts, and other animations not present in the PS4 Remaster.
Human groups seem better organized, as soon as they have spotted you and get out of their usual routine, it is very difficult to predict the actions of each of them. As always, the allied AI, especially Ellie, is doing everything possible to hide and avoid being in the field of vision of the enemies, we have seen the best, but there are still a few hiccups… Just as the enemies will remain indifferent if they ever come face to face with her and the game considers that you "the player" have not been spotted yet.
At the initial setup of the game, you can choose between two types of display, fidelity or performance. In fidelity you favor 4k resolution to the detriment of the frame rate which will settle at 30 frames per second while in performance mode, you play in 1440p at 60 frames per second. Note that all images in this test were captured in "performance" gaming mode.
If you crack in the days to come and you play The Last of Us Part I on your PS5, we also invite you to take a look at the options before embarking on a new game. There are so many things to configure, whether in terms of controls, ATH or accessibility options. There is something to do for everyone to meet there.
Note for those who would see their 4K TV automatically switch to 1080p at startup even after choosing one of the two display modes that are offered, you must deactivate the video output in "120hz" in the "screen" options and video” of the PS5, at least it was the case for us with patch 1.001 installed.
Some new features present for this PS5 version:
Apart from the absence of the online multiplayer mode of the PS3 & PS4 versions, this semi-remake of The Last of Us Part I nevertheless benefits from some new features. When you finish the adventure for the first time, you unlock the "bonus" menu found on the title screen. The bonus interface is much richer than before since there are a whole bunch of gameplay modifiers and visual effects filters of all kinds to give the adventure a whole new dimension.
For example, you can restart a game by activating the “explosive arrows” modifier, when Joel draws his bow, all the arrows he shoots will cause an explosion on impact. You can also choose to play in a mirror world, which will have the effect of tilting the rendering of the game horizontally or you can choose that the world only flips when you die adding an extra dose of fun to your future parts.
All modifiers cost points which you earn by beating the game on the higher difficulties or by finding the various collectibles (firefly artifacts/pendants) scattered all over the world of The Last of Us Part I. In this PS5 version, you can also start a game with the “speedrun” mode activated. If you are looking to challenge yourself and finish the game as fast as possible, with this mode your best times will be saved for each of the game's difficulty levels even in "permadeath".
The game is more accessible than ever by offering no less than 6 difficulty modes, with the addition of a seventh which allows players wishing to shape their own experience to modify things like the resistance of the main character, the general aggressiveness of enemies , or the amount of resources that will appear on the field by exploring the different areas of the game. Note for trophy hunters that platinum is much more accessible on PS5 since there is no need to spend time on multiplayer (the factions mode being absent) and that it is not necessary to finish the game in "realistic" difficulty.
★ Finally, should you try The Last of Us Part I again on PS5:
First of all, if you've never played it, you can rush headlong to discover this incredible adventure from the Naughty Dog studio. For those who have already played and browsed The Last of Us Part I on PS3 and PS4, it is obvious that it is less easy to accept this reissue, especially since the online multiplayer mode is absent. Yet, we can tell you, after playing the game “again” it's night and day. Now it's impossible to go back to the PS4 "Remaster" which seems to us today from another time... It's crazy how some things age badly and this is the case with the PS4 version when we look at the remastering work on PS5 .
The Last of Us Part I
Game rating
8.5 
