Perfectly timed with the return of The Last of Us TV show, the inspiration for this second season gets its long-awaited PC game release: The Last of Us Part II Remastered.
PC gamers can now play the definitive version of the divisive post-apocalyptic sequel. This is a port of the updated game previously released on PlayStation 5, last year (which upgraded the game from its original 2020 PlayStation 4 release). The Last of Us Part II Remastered comes complete with the remastered story campaign, a guitar free-play mode and the rogue-like No Return wave-based survival mode.
Set six years after the first game, The Last of Us Part II continues the story of Joel and Ellie as they navigate their increasingly fraught relationship. This is all against the backdrop of a world ravaged by a spore-like virus that can infect people, turning them into mindless monsters.
Joel, a former smuggler and Ellie, a surrogate for Joel’s daughter who died on the night of the outbreak, now live in the safety of the walled town of Jackson. The pair have become estranged since Elle learned the truth about how she survived at the end of The Last of Us Part I.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered is a third-person narrative action-adventure game. Limited ammunition and crafting supplies can be salvaged from derelict buildings, making stealth a big part of the game. Attacking the infected head-on is often suicidal. Similarly, human opponents are best picked off one by one.
Whilst the game is rather linear, the design of the open environments and the attention to detail make it a joy to play. The ruins of civilisation, a snapshot in time some thirty years after the outbreak, offer plenty of opportunities for players to explore. The are often huge rewards (and risks) hidden away from the most obvious paths.
The game’s shocking events divided fans, especially as a hacker leaked key elements of the story before the game’s original release. But I feel that the sequel sorts out a failing of the original game, delivering consequences that seemed to be brushed off at the end of The Last of Us. It’s down to this consequence that Ellie sets out on a quest for vengeance. This second part is even darker than its predecessor, which is saying something.
The game is a rarity in that it places players in the role of both protagonist and antagonist. It’s an emotional rollercoaster that’ll have you questioning your actions when you see them from another point of view.
As with the best post-apocalyptic stories, it’s not usually the inhuman monsters that are the most chilling opponents, but rather the other humans, who have chosen a more brutal, morally ambiguous path to survival. The moral ambiguity in this second outing is even more apparent than it was in the first game.
Whilst it is a horror story, and quite a horrific one at that, it is also a human story. Which, to be honest, makes the tale even more unnerving. The game seeks to challenge players’ morality.
As well as having the characters you control walk an uncomfortably vengeful fine line, the designers have sought to humanise the story as much as possible. Human enemy opponents will often refer to each other by name, rather than being generic cannon fodder.
If you strike an opponent, down on the discovery of their dead comrade, they will exclaim something like, “Oh, no, the trespasser has killed Sarah!”. Opponents will scream in fear as you attack and writhe in pain before taking their last gasps. The game doesn’t let you off easy with your huge body count, unlike other games.
There are plenty of letters and notes in the game that are all worth reading, offering up some truly heart wrenching tales from other, often less fortunate, souls. These can be particularly poignant as you read that the monsters that you just killed were once survivors just like you.
The opponents are very much fleshed out. Even the different infected make logical sense, representing the various stages of the fungus-like infection, from the manic runners to the disturbing clickers, as well as a few surprise special mutations. The human paramilitary W.L.F offers traditional gunfights and armed encounters with the more feral cult-like Scars, more guerrilla-style combat.
The gameplay is intense, with plenty of situations that’ll have you holding your breath as you navigate areas infested with the enemy and come up against seemingly insurmountable odds.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered focuses on Ellie rather than Joel did in the first game, introducing a new playable character in Abby. The two women start on similar revenge quests but get caught up in the savagery of the world. The game has definitive chapters to it. Three very different parts that somewhat overlap but could almost be three different games. Just as you think the story is concluding, the narrative shifts in a new direction. It’s a masterclass in video game storytelling.
The PC version gives players the definitive version of the game with Nvidia DLSS 3.1, AMD FSR 3.1 and Intel XeSS for performance-enhancing upscaling. The game also supports Widescreen and Ultrawide displays. The game ran faultlessly in 4K with an RTX 4090 GPU, but also ran really well at 1080p on the Asus ROG Ally handheld PC. Yep, you can take The Last of Us Part II Remastered with you on the go!
The No Return survival mode adds a bit more variety to the package, but to be honest, I’d sooner play the campaign again on New Game Plus. The extras, being character models, cheats and filters, are a staple of Naughty Dog games. The most interesting addition is the making of documentary, Grounded II. This no-holds-barred film takes a look at the impact of COVID on development and the infamous hack just before the game’s release.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered is an amazing game. It’s possibly one of the best games I’ve ever played. The story is divisive, and some may take issue with the narrative choices. But for me, it makes the first game even better. Which leads to my only warning regarding the game: make sure that you play The Last of Us Part I BEFORE playing The Last of Us Part II Remastered.
Rating: Excellent