The Last of Us Part I
Presenting Gameffine's The Last of Us Part I review. The Last of Us Part I is an action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Product Currency: USD
Product Price: $59.99
Product In-Stock: InStock
6.2
It’s not every day that you get to play multiple versions of the same game in just a period of 10 years. Naughty Dog’s post apocalyptic epic The Last of Us has been gracing the TV sets of millions of Playstation users over the years in many forms. First, it was the 2013 original that pushed the PS3 to its limits. Then came the inevitable PS4 remaster that is fondly remembered to this day. Then last year, in anticipation of the HBO show, Naughty Dog remade the game from the ground up in the sequel’s engine because it was obviously going to bring in the big bucks. If you ask many, The Last of Us didn’t really need a remake, and the fact that it was priced at a whopping $69.99 while not featuring any additional content made it a tough pill to swallow. But hey, I’m sure the new audience brought on by the TV show found it a worthy purchase.
Now, 8 months later, the remake retroactively titled The Last of Us Part I is here on PC. Unless you’ve been living inside a bunker, then you already know that things haven’t been well for the remake. Might as well give my two cents on the whole debacle.
The Great
Considering that this is my fourth foray into the Last of Us franchise after having played the original, the remaster and the sequel (which I reviewed), I knew what to expect and there were no surprises. The Last of Us Part I still tells a gut-wrenching story of loss, grief, survival and persistence. The carefully curated story beats, subtle environmental storytelling, the relatable dynamic between Joel and Ellie and the well-written character development still holds up strong even after 10 years. There may be varying opinions regarding the actual gameplay, but hardly anyone can deny the storytelling prowess of The Last of Us. Taking inspiration from iconic post-apocalyptic media, the game holds its special place in gaming history through the story of Joel and Ellie, and will continue to do so for decades to come.
The emotional core of the story is strengthened by the amazing cast. Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson, Nolan North, Jeffrey Pierce, Annie Wersching and more pour their heart and soul to the voice acting and it, combined with the new motion capture fidelity, elevates the whole thing to a different level. Speaking of fidelity, the game is quite a looker. While the differences from the PS5 version are negligible at best, The Last of Us Part I boasts some of the most impressive visuals ever in a PC title. As a single audiovisual package, the remake delivers on all fronts, with some caveats.
The Decent
While I agree to the popular opinion that the storytelling in The Last of Us is top-notch, I l could never get behind the claims some fans make regarding the gameplay. If you ask me, the gameplay follows the pretty but shallow stealth-action formula seen in countless other titles. The main difference being that the moment to moment gameplay is polished to a T and looks fancier than it actually is. While the gunplay is accompanied by some beefy sound effects and hit feedback, the stealth gameplay is made bog-standard by the inconsistent enemy AI. The fact that you fight the same few enemy types over and over also make it pretty boring. Still, the polish on top makes it serviceable throughout the campaign. The level design also nothing to write about and comes across as dated. The remake should have tried to alleviate some of these flaws, but it is what it is. At least it’s fun to play. That alone is a big plus in the current AAA gaming space.
The Terrible
There’s no two ways to go about it – the Last of Us Part I is a terrible port. From the ridiculous amount of VRAM usage, random crashes, shader compilation issues, high RAM usage to minor annoyances like textures not fully loading in, visual glitches and animation bugs, the game is in a rough patch. While the three hotfixes released did fix some of the crashing, RAM usage and mouse jittering, it’s far from perfect. While I was able to get the game running above 60 fps on my RTX 3070 PC, there are still massive stutters and fps fluctuations all over the place. Don’t even bother to run the game on the Steam Deck. The state in which Sony and Naughty Dog launched one of their most prolific IPs on PCs is unbelievably careless and sloppy.
While Naughty Dog has promised to release patches to fix the various issues, it’s still going to be an uphill battle, especially when high hitters like Resident Evil 4 remake and Hogwarts Legacy continue to dominate sales. There’s no one to blame other than the studios involved, and one can only hope The Last of Us Part I will get the love it deserves in the weeks to come.
The Obvious
If it’s not obvious already, we do not recommend purchasing The Last of Us Part I on the PC at its current state. What could have been an easy moneymaker has turned into one of the most disastrous PC launches of recent times. The premium price makes the whole thing even more painful. The quality of the PC port is only doing a disservice to the otherwise excellent experience. The only logical thing to do is wait patiently until the glaring issues are fixed and pick the game when a sale comes around.
FINAL RATING: 62/100
Disclaimer: This copy of the game for the PC platform was provided by the publisher for review purposes without any riders.
