When it first came out, 'The Last of Us Part II' made significant waves in gaming. Broadly welcomed by gamers and critics alike, with a loud minority decrying that the complexities of LGBTQ characters had made their way into “muh games”.
Deep into a Trump presidency, forced inside by a global pandemic, the dark side of post-gamer-gate gamers did their best to distract from the simple fact that 'The Last of Us Part II' was (and is) an excellent game that will be remembered as one of the best narrative-driven games of all time. Thankfully, the game itself outshone their bigotry and hatred and was a huge success critically and commercially.
Playing a game developed pre-(real world)pandemic, set in a post-apocalyptic world caused by a fictional pandemic, in our current post-pandemic world is an interesting experience. Our points from our first review remain true, of course. It’s still a fitting sequel to its incredible predecessor. The story still revolves around the cost of vengeance on our mind and soul. But unlike when it first came out and every player thought to themselves “Is this what things might be like in the future?”, now we know the answer.
Here we sit in a world more divided than ever. Each day brings news of more instability in the Middle East. Israel, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen are all involved in hostilities. The US and UK have armed forces in the region. We’re almost two years into an unprovoked attack and invasion by Russia into Ukraine. Humanity is fractured and we seem to be growing further and further from our neighbours. This may be the time of greatest instability since the Cold War, and as you play through 'The Last of Us Part II', you can’t help but feel it mirrored, or predicted, in the story.
Two factions are at war, having once had a tense ceasefire. You read first-hand accounts of neighbours turning on neighbours, each believing they are doing the right thing. People are scared, and those in power have used that fear to strengthen their position. Decent, upstanding people driven to mania by desperation, performing acts of desperation.
Is that about the game? Or the world we’re in today?
The game's writing and story capture the human condition so incredibly well that it predicts the aftermath of a real-world pandemic, sans zombies.
Anyway, here we are three and a half-ish years after its first release, so if the story hasn’t changed then what has?
Well, it looks stunning, for one thing. With a few more years of experience, the developers were able to squeeze every last bit of visual performance out of the PS5, and it makes a huge difference to an already beautiful game. Features like ray tracing significantly enhance the lighting effects, which drives home the sense of relief when you finally break out into daylight again after a lengthy underground or dark indoor sequence. Rain and water effects are used to great effect to bring you into the damp, overcast setting of the Pacific Northwest. The detail of the broken down cars, dilapidated buildings and homes, and the rubbish and debris scattered throughout the environments, all help set the scene and give a stage for the drama to play out on.
There are a few less serious changes too, like gameplay modifiers allowing unlimited ammo, one-hit kills, and perma-death. The guitar free-play mode expands on the mini-game, allowing endless strumming with various instruments, characters, and locations.
One of the most significant additions is the “lost levels”. These three extra levels were all cut from the original release of 'The Last of Us Part II', with reasons explained by the game's director before you get into each one. There are also hours of new cinematic commentary from the voice actors, writers, and developers.
There’s also the new rogue-like mode – No Return. Randomised enemies, modifiers and locations. Ten different playable characters with unique playstyles, traits, and starting inventories means there is endless replayability.
So, is it worth picking up 'The Last of Us Part II Remastered'? Absolutely. Even if you haven’t played 'The Last of Us', the story stands on its own. Our world is different enough that another play-through for veteran fans will still feel fresh, it’d be worth playing again even without all of the shiny new extras on top.
It’s the same, but better. We have changed, we’re not the same people who played in June 2020.
