2013’s The Last of Us is a modern classic. Say what you want about it, you know it’s true. It is, without a doubt, one of gaming’s best storytelling efforts of all time, with a perfect ending. It’s an almost impossible game to follow up on, but the 2020 sequel tried to do just that, and whilst it received critical acclaim, the audience wasn’t as thrilled with the story direction. It became one of the most polarizing games of all time in discussion forums, for both good and bad reasons. The Last of Us Part II: Remastered is actually my first full playthrough of the game, even though I am still fairly familiar with the story. I finally had to give it a go to see what the fuss was all about.

Story

The story of The Last of Us Part II is incredibly hard to talk about without spoiling major elements. You’ll still be following Joel and Ellie as the relationship wavers over the event of the first game, switching between different characters all on the pursuit of revenge, without thinking about the consequences on themselves or the world around them. 

It’s not a secret that The Last of Us Part II is one of the most divisive stories in all of gaming. A story that is still being discussed heavily five years later, and on the cusp of the TV show’s second season coming, will no doubt re-spark that passionate debate. It’s a bold, ambitious story that bucks sequel trends and subverts expectations; it doesn’t set out to make anyone happy. It’s a grim, nihilistic view on the world.

It showcases the pain that the cycle of revenge causes to all sides as they fail to let go. It’s a concept that has been done before, but nothing really to the grim reality that The Last of Us Part II shows. Ellie and Joel are still expertly crafted characters, and seeing their interactions provided some of the best moments. Some of the newcomers are great as well, with Dina, Yara, and Jessie being notable highlights. However, dumb character motivations can bring down the experience and the secondary character Abby comes off as deeply unlikable, especially after a key moment before the end of the Seattle chapter. It has a significantly weaker second half compared to the excellent first half, suffering from rampant pacing issues and an ungodly amount of flashbacks. It’s a deeply flawed story that doesn’t always work.

Despite these issues, I thoroughly recommend experiencing the story of Last of Us Part II at least once. Beyond some questionable story directions is a story that is constantly engaging, with great character interactions and cutscene direction that is honestly some of the best in gaming. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson reprise their roles as Joel and Ellie, and do so perfectly, whilst Laura Bailey, despite being one of the weakest characters in Abby, often steals the show.

Gameplay

Whilst the story may be divisive, it’s hard to argue that the gameplay isn’t excellent.  The Last of Us Part II combines elements of stealth action with survival horror, and it’s a masterclass in tension-building and survival horror design. In the process surprisingly became the main reason to play The Last of Us Part II. Bringing the brutal and unforgiving story straight into the gameplay, it pulls no punches with some of the most straight-up savage gameplay we’ve seen.

If you’ve played the original, then this follows the same general approach. You’ll still be sneaking around enclosed environments, looting every cupboard for resources for crafting to help you survive in this brutal world. Along the way, Abby, Joel, and Eillie will face a variety of threats. Some familiar and some new.

First up are the Cordyceps-infected enemies that brought the world to ruin. Dealing with your garden variety infected, which by themselves aren’t too much of a problem. You’re able to easily take them out with simple melee combos and a few dodges, but they become much more deadly in groups. Hords sprinting after you can be overwhelming, and it’s usually better to stick with stealth. Combine these with a small but impactful roster of creatures, including the iconic Clickers, which locate through echolocation, stalkers which will run and hide before swarming you, and the new Shamblers, which periodically fire off acidic spores if you get too close. Infected encounters are much more sparse than before, but also much more impactful when you do encounter them.

As for the human enemies, we have two distinct factions. First up are the WLF, which act as the main antagonists for much of the story here; your bog standard militarised group. Often, moving in patrols, much of the game will be dealing with this group. Then we have the religious cult of the Seraphites. I won’t be going into details of their involvement in the story, but they provide some unique gameplay challenges, functioning in a similar way to the WLF, but communicating almost entirely through whistling. The first encounter with the Seraphites is a memorable one, and picking up on their commands throughout was a fun experience.

One of my favourite sections happens some 1/3rd through the game, where the WLF are hunting Ellie in a huge arena-style area with abandoned buildings. Multiple pathways and tons of options are open to you. Realising the dogs would be the biggest problem here, I took them out with a bow and arrow, allowing me more free rein to move without being snuck up on. From there, it was a matter of breaking in and out of combat, taking out any stragglers nearby, using snipers to pick off easy targets, then disappearing back into buildings for an easy ambush.

I was constantly on the move, switching between pistols, bows, snipers, and the insanely powerful shotgun, with its ability to absolutely mangle anything in its path. The further I got into the zone, the more enemies were on alert, sweeping each room in groups as I ducked in and out of buildings. It’s a fantastic stretch of gameplay that really showcases what The Last of Us Part II does best. From start to finish, every combat encounter has something interesting, with underwater areas, vehicles or even multiple factions in close proximity. Making noise can bring the infected out of the woodwork and create a chaotically brutal scene as you sit in the back and watch it all unfold, or sneak away whilst you can.

My first playthrough has been on the game Survivor Difficult, which ramps up enemy awareness and reduces the overall resources available to you. This makes every single encounter a tough and tense experience as you start picking off a variety of infected, WLF forces, or the Seraphite Hunters, which provide the game’s most interesting threat. Every bullet counts, and every sound can bring hordes of enemies down on you. Do you try and get through a zone unnoticed or pick off enemies one at a time?  Dropping in and out of stealth as you are hunted, it’s a constant game of cat and mouse that never gets old.

If this is your first time playing, I would highly recommend going for Survivor, as it’s perfectly well-balanced with just enough supplies for you to get creative. The enemy AI is solid with fast enough reactions, great aim, and communication between them. Just about every moment is exciting, from hunting down the WLF to sneaking through infested zones, and that incredible first encounter with the Seraphites.

As a whole, The Last of Us Part II gameplay is the best Naughty Dog have put out, with a great blend of stealth action and survival horror. Weapons that all feel as brutal as the story does, with the shotgun in particular being one of my absolute favourites in gaming, able to rip limbs off enemies and completely disfigure them beyond recognition. Each weapon and each shot feels impactful and just straight-up brutal, with realistic impact and reactions from enemies. I even feel bad for some of them when I launch a Molotov towards a group… just a little.

No Return

The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered also drops with the roguelike survival mode known as No Return. It’s a surprising addition to the game that works wonders, removing all the narrative to focus as much as possible on the fantastic gameplay. It’s The Last of Us Part II distilled down to its core.

In typical roguelike fashion, you will carve your path through the zones, selecting different missions that will determine which mission type, map and enemies you will be facing. Between missions, you return to base to craft supplies, upgrade your weapons, or even buy entirely new ones.

It doesn’t do anything too inventive, but it does provide a great way to play once you’re sick of the admittedly bloated campaign. On top of this, there’s plenty of replay value with various unlocks, including different characters that have slightly different play styles. Not a huge game-changing addition that will change if people will like this game or not, nor would I suggest buying it exclusively for No Return, but it is a fun addition regardless.

PC Version

The Last of Us Part 1 (the absolutely unnecessary remake of the original) had an incredibly rough PC version when it launched. With rampant VRAM issues, CPU performance bottlenecks lead to an overall unpleasant experience. It was borderline unplayable for many rigs. Thankfully, Nixxes has lent their expertise to deliver a much better experience this time. However, issues remain, and it’s not a perfect PC conversion. Especially compared to some of Sony’s other offerings like Death Stranding, Spider-Man, and God of War, which have all seen wonderful PC ports.

Playing on the RTX 4070 at 3440×1440 resolution and the performance was mostly solid. I did notice some minor stutters when moving between zones, which seemed to hit my 7800X3D pretty hard so your mileage may vary, but this is a reasonably solid performer. I also encountered a few crashes that didn’t occur very often and didn’t hamper my enjoyment.

We’ve got a good level of PC support here. With a vast setting menu allowing you to really fine-tune your settings. DLSS support. Finally and it’s always a pleasure to see; fully integrated ultrawide support. By default, gameplay will showcase in ultrawide resolutions but cutscenes will be letterboxed. This can be changed in the settings, but there may be a few issues present as it renders things in cutscenes that are usually off-screen. However, this was rarely noticeable outside a few segments. Ultrawide support alone makes PC the best place to play this game.

It’s only been five years since the launch of The Last of Us Part II and it still looks excellent, pretty much like a brand-new game. It has some incredible world-building that makes it feel lived in. On top of this, it has some of the best animation work I’ve seen. Everything from the absolutely brutal takedown animations to the little details all add up to create something special.

 That’s not to mention the incredible sound design elsewhere. The clicker’s clicks remain as terrifying as ever and the yelling of commands from enemies gets more and more panicked as fights go on. Enemies will yell commands at each other, whilst the Seraphites all communicate with a whistle.

The Last of Us Part II: Remastered

The Last of Us Part II: Remastered is a beautiful mess. An ambitious title that had all the right ingredients, but didn’t always pan out the way it should. The excellent survival action gameplay that showcases humanity’s brutality is often let down by a story that is trying too much and has poor pacing. Thankfully, Part II’s debut on PC improves on the last game, making it the best place to play, even with its imperfections.

 

 

Graphics: 10 The Last of Us Part II: Remastered takes an astonishing-looking game and pushes it even further with some great PC support	Gameplay: 9.5 Brutal and incredibly satisfying gameplay.
Sound: 10 Excellent voice performances from the whole cast, even if the story falls flat.	Fun Factor: 8.5 The story may not be the strongest, but it’s brutal nature and strong gameplay make The Last of Us Part II a compelling experience.
Final Verdict: 9.0

The Last of Us Part II: Remastered is available now on PC and PlayStation 5.

Reviewed on PC with an RTX 4070, Ryzen 7 7800x3D and 32GB RAM.