I Thought The Last Of Us Was Better Than This

I remember the release of The Last of Us better than any other video game – which is to say I remember it at all. 

2013 was my 19th birthday and I still pre-ordered video games. I didn’t know if the quality of these games. It came out when I wasn’t home, and my dad went to the GameStop to pick it up for me. He sent it to me in a picture that I loved. I looked at it for weeks, counting how many seconds I had until I could actually play it. 

When I finally did it, I was able to enjoy the experience as I had imagined. Although I wasn’t a media savvy person, it made me believe that the story was different from any other. I don’t think that’s true anymore – it pretty shamelessly borrows from Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, No country is for the old man, etc. – but there’s still a special place in my heart for The Last of Us. The sequel, Part II was out in 2020. I found the story incredibly moving about the cycle of addiction. I was thrilled when Sony released Part I. This is unlike my friends and peers. I couldn’t wait to read this review. The Last of Us is a great movie. Since it was fashionable to do it, I continued to do it when it became less popular, and I expect I will continue doing it in some way forever. It doesn’t matter what the critic consensus is that month. I love it so much that minute details about the game’s release are seared into my brain: happy memories of simpler times. The game was an important part of why I am doing what I do today, and it was for good or bad. 

I’m not the only one. So well regarded is The Last of Us that in just nine short years, Sony has packaged and repackaged it three separate times – the first release in 2013 on PS3, the remaster in 2014 on PS4, and now The Last of Us Part I. You can count the number of times that the sequel has been repackaged, which is 4. Part I, which sits between a second-remaster and remake, is supposed to be exactly the same as Part II, except that it’s free from technological constraints. 

Problem is that I still remember The Last of Us as being more enjoyable. 

Uninitiated readers will be familiar with The Last of Us, which depicts an unbelievable world in which people use masks to prevent a highly contagious and deadly disease. A cordyceps epidemic decimated civilization in 2013. Joel finds himself stuck in the middle between the three and is forced to transport Ellie (a teenager) across the nation as a favour. Ellie, who is immune to the virus, could be the key to humanity’s salvation. You never know, their bond might be stronger than the horror and murder they endure together. 

Part I is undeniably gorgeous, especially compared to the original, packing the visual fidelity you’d expect from a multimillion-dollar video game in 2022. It’s an exciting novelty to see environments that I have cherished for nine years as more beautiful than any other. Even at daytime, it’s incredible to witness the greenery of nature returning cities, towns, and buildings. 

The cutscenes and character models are also included. Naughty Dog boasted that the Part I performances are more accurate than the ones in the marketing. Faces show more emotion and the PlayStation 3’s awkward stiffness is gone. Across the board, scenes feel more naturalistic and believable. 

However, this huge boost in fidelity has a price; it highlights the many other areas where The Last of Us isn’t ageing gracefully. Ironically, much of what was written in 2013 now feels dated and out of date nine years later. 

Particularly in the first hour with Joel and Tess, this is a problem. It has that same vapid edginess of a HBO drama that was cancelled after just one season. Although the violence is hard to see, it’s not impossible to understand. Nearly a decade later, this point seems as superficial as a bath. It is clear that there are dangers in this world. I do not need to see my protagonist slash a man’s elbow and then watch his friend shoot him in the face. Although violence is a great storytelling tool, I believe it can also be used as an emotional shock. Problem is that I am not surprised by The Last of Us. I am mostly bored. 

Many other games have dealt with themes such as violence, loss and love more effectively in the nine years that it has been out. I don’t doubt The Last of Us was a big influence on many of those games, and I wouldn’t try and take away its impact, but playing in 2022, it feels sorely lacking – even compared to its sequel. It’s unfortunate that the script was never rewritten. This only makes the problem worse.  

In many cases, the story washed over me; I felt far less for its characters than I anticipated – especially Joel, who is written ostensibly as a man hardened by the world around him, callous and trained not to show emotions. That’s fine; a story like that can work, but this time, I found him needlessly cruel to characters who don’t deserve it – such as Ellie, a literal child. There is cold and then there is jerk. The Last of Us has been known to cross that line several times. Perhaps that’s what the point is. It doesn’t mean it is a bad point. 

However, the saving grace is Is Ellie. Stories often hit when she is the center of attention. Left Behind was released in 2014. It came as an optional two-hour DLC, which I purchased here along with the main title. With Ellie and her blossoming love with her friend Riley at the center, I found the short chapter moving – far more than I did the 10-or-more hours trekking around as Joel. The performance of Ashley Johnson, actor, has stood the test of time and remains the highlight in both the original and reissue. 

Apart from the improved visuals, gameplay was reportedly significantly overhauled. Whether fighting humans or infected, there’s a significant weight to Joel’s actions; as reviewers loved saying in 2013, you really feel every melee swing, every bullet, and every close call. Naughty Dog also improved enemy A.I. To make them more aggressive. I also liked the fact that I was often forced to think fast as my enemies flanked me and surrounded. It was fun and sometimes funny to lure infected people into strategically placed traps. 

The Last of Us can still feel awkward and cumbersome despite the many overhauls. Walking slowly around levels opening drawers and cabinets scroungings for supplies is only fun to a certain point, and far worse is how often I’d get stuck in the inventory menu – which shares a button prompt with the melee strike. I often needed to quick exit the inventory in order to fight off any enemy. The square button, which is melee as well as the inventory’s switching weapon prompt (which I would use to take damage), meant that I was forced to wait for my inventory not yet closed. 

It’s fun to engage in combat when things get hectic. But, most of the time it’s just cat-and-mouse theft or dull stop-‘n-pop cover shooting. It works when it works. I loved the intense moments of running away from my enemies to turn the tides. When it doesn’t work, it only highlights how outdated a lot of the gameplay is – even if there are several gameplay improvements mostly hidden from the player. Ellie’s increased mobility helps to alleviate some of the problems. It is much more enjoyable running around levels with a small character. This is only the beginning of the game. Rest of the game is slow walking between points A and B. There are boring puzzles and excruciatingly slow animations. Naughty Dog will click “L3 to see” what Naughty Dog has decided to be the most important. The handholding and restrictive game design feels archaic, outdated, and suffocating under the already-sometimes-clumsy encounter design. 

That’s what The Last of Us is: Naughty Dog want you to think of this new title as a PS5 game. This makes everything that it has in common with a PS3 game even more evident. I think if I were playing the original, I’d be far more willing to forgive its growing pains, to chalk them up to age – to let my rose-tinted goggles blur my vision and skew my perspective. Because it is designed to be comparable with everything that’s coming out now, it’s difficult to not see the good stuff. I am 28 and not 19. I was raised. I didn’t. It’s not clear that I still enjoy The Last of Us listening to this version. Instead, I believe I cherish my memories of the Last of Us. It is a place I treasure and remember. 

A remake of The Last of Us is possible, as it rebuilds from scratch more than the visuals. This isn’t the kind of game. The game’s enhancements feel superficial at best, and almost pointless at worst. It looks great, but it doesn’t deliver on its visual promise. A third Trek is not necessary, I think.

We’ll likely see the remake again in nine years, but this is what we have at this moment. We’re hoping that it turns out.