'The Last Of Us Part I' remake for PS5 fails to justify the price tag

News of a 'The Last Of Us' remake has divided opinion since it was announced, and the finished product fails to justify its hefty price tag.

The 2013 game has now appeared on 3 different console generations like 'Grand Theft Auto V' in a manner that is ill-befitting of what is still a great game.

The strength of 'The Last Of Us' has always been its groundbreaking narrative, and that is still as effective as it's ever been - in fact, it's more potent and effective than ever.

The unforgettable opening chapter is more potent and resonant than ever after the events of 2020, and on those grounds, the game justifies its existence.

We will explore the thematic elements of what makes 'The Last Of Us' so special in our final entry of the biggest games of our lifetime series in December, but you didn't come to this review to hear about how the story is good.

The simple fact is the gameplay is still as tedious as ever, and you would have to be looking with a magnifying glass to see the differences between the PS4 and PS5 version.

Graphical changes between PS4 and PS5 are minimal at best, and the only real difference here is the vastly improved loading times.

The game does deserve praise for its extensive suite of accessibility features however, and the game goes out of the way to make sure that everyone can play the game.

If 'The Last Of Us' remake proves anything, it shows how much of a miracle it was that the game looked as great as it did on the PlayStation 3 using 2006 hardware.

An inconvenient truth remains with 'The Last Of Us' - it was a game with an incredible story and decent-at-best gameplay.

It is perhaps the worst-kept secret in gaming that 'The Last Of Us' had merely decent gameplay but an incredible story, and when people talk about how good the game was, they are talking about the story.

In comparison to the other big auteur-driven game of 2013, 'Bioshock Infinite', 'The Last Of Us' is still let down in the gameplay department whereas 'Bioshock Infinite' was a blast to play while finding time to tell its deep and engaging story.

'The Last Of Us' spearheaded one of the most tedious tropes in gaming; slowly walking alongside a character while the game shows off its pretty scenery and idly chat.

'Half-Life 2' managed to do it in 2004 to great effect because it allowed you to move at a pace that is faster than a glacier or interact with the environment, and in 'The Last Of Us', it serves the purpose of building Joel and Ellie's dynamic.

We are then promptly reminded that pretty much every triple-AAA story-driven game in the wake of 'The Last Of Us' copied this trope, and it is something we have come to curse in modern gaming, like regenerating health or live service mechanics.

Fetching a ladder or pushing a wooden crate in deep water is just as monotonous as it was nearly 10 years ago.

Earlier this year, Sony released 'Uncharted 4' and 2017 spin-off 'The Lost Legacy' in one collection for PlayStation 5 but it wasn't retailed at full price and actually felt like it had received a touch-up.

The gunplay in 'Uncharted' was always more swashbuckling and exciting than 'The Last Of Us', but the Dualsesne controller really came into its own with its adapting triggers when you're taking out baddies as Nathan Drake.

In the remake of 'The Last Of Us', this same hefty weight that made the 'Uncharted' remake so fun is missing.

Later on in the game when Ellie uses her bow and arrow the Dualsense starts to come into its own, but even then the bow and arrow gameplay is nowhere near as satisfying as this year's 'Horizon: Forbidden West''.

'The Last Of Us' does very little to justify retailing for €70, especially when the game is still available for other consoles.

Just last year, 'Mass Effect Legendary Edition' showed how to do remasters of old games that justified the price tag.

It added more modern elements to the older games in the series and upgraded the graphics in a way the PlayStation 5 version of 'The Last Of Us' does not.

Unless you sleep in Joel pyjamas or brush your teeth with 'The Last Of Us' toothpaste after eating 'The Last Of Us' breakfast cereal, missing this game at launch won't haunt you.

The game is worth picking up, but only when it inevitably gets added to PlayStation Plus.