The Last of Us Part I (2022) Video Game Review

Title: The Last of Us Part I.

Release date: 2022.
Console (player on): PlayStation 5.
Console (also available on): PC.
Play Time: 20 Hours.

Mode(s): Single-Player.
Genre(s): Action, Adventure & Drama.
Developer: Naughty Dog.
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Director(s): Matthew Gallant, Shaun Escayg.
Producer(s): Waylon Brinck.
Designer(s): Christian Wohlwend.
Programmer(s): Travis McIntosh.
Artist(s): Erick Pangilinan & Sebastian Gromann.
Writer(s): Neil Druckmann.
Composer(s): Gustavo Santaolalla.
Voice Actor(s): Ashley Johnson, Troy Baker, Hana Hayes, Jeffrey Pierce, Annie Wersching, Robin Atkin Downes, Merle Dandridge, W. Earl Brown, and many more!

My Overall Rating:

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The Sequel:
The Last of Us Part II (2020).

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Originally released on the PlayStation 3 in June 2013, The Last of Us was one of the best, most beloved, and highly praised games of all time. The universal acclaim for the masterful storytelling within this video game was beyond anything seen to that day. Downloadable content (DLC) called The Last of Us: Left Behind was also later released in February 2014, further expanding on a daunting and tense chapter within the original game while revealing one of the protagonists’ life-changing events within her past. A remastered version of the game was later released in July 2014, which inevitably garnered even more love and praise from fans who now got to play replay it on the PlayStation 4, while newcomers were able to discover it for the first time on what used to be the next generation console. Amidst controversy over the relevance of a remake of this video game for the PlayStation 5, developer Naughty Dog released in June 2022 this new version of the original game and its DLC while updating from the ground up the game’s gameplay mechanics, visuals, and technological support for 3D audio, haptic feedback, and adaptive triggers of the DualSense controller.

What is The Last of Us Part I (2022) about? In 2013, a devastating outbreak of a mutant Cordyceps fungus overruns the United States and wreaks havoc upon clueless innocents, falling prey to its terrifying effects. Any humans who come in contact with the fungus are slowly turned into an “Infected”, an aggressive host with cannibalistic tendencies, void of any signs of the person they once were. Twenty years later, civilization is transformed. The story thus follows Joel as he works as a smuggler with his partner Tess in a quarantine zone in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts. As they set out to hunt down a black-market dealer who did them wrong, they find themselves at a crossroads with the leader of the Fireflies, a revolutionary militia group, who presents them with an offer they could not refuse. What follows is a life-changing journey across the country as they proceed to smuggle a teenage girl who goes by the name of Ellie. While the task seems absurd at first, this little girl might in fact hold the answers to all the questions they do not dare ask.

Coming from the developers behind the Uncharted video game franchise, there should have been no surprise whatsoever that their new IP would be a stunning and masterful example of stellar storytelling. Somehow, The Last of Us still managed to turn heads, shock, and end up one of the most prodigious video games to have ever been created. Although very much familiar with the game after multiple playthroughs since the original game’s release, this remake, however, remains a breath-taking and immersive experience as the developers wonderfully update the gameplay mechanics, significantly improve graphics and visuals with impressive lighting, sharpness, and character remodeling, and smoother overall textures. While incredibly responsive, with impressive character AI to further capture the realism of the universe, although at times faulty and takes you out of the immersion when not responding to obvious blunders, the backbone of the game, similar to that found in the sequel released two years prior to this remake, remains incredibly fun. Players are still able to strategically maneuver across the map, utilizing the environment and rare items found around in the ruins of this post-apocalyptic world, from bottles to bricks, trying to either stealthily brutalize enemies or go out there guns blazing with limited ammo against ruthless survivors or merciless Infected.

Although this remake missed out on the opportunity to also remake the online multiplayer mode called Factions, which isn’t a huge loss considering the developer’s intention to release a much more expansive stand-alone multiplayer game based on this franchise in the near future, players will have plenty to either explore or rediscover as they out on this adventure alongside Joel and Ellie throughout a savage and cruel post-apocalyptic world. As you survive through this tragic world, desperately trying to hold upon the thin rope of hope in front of you, the myriad of encounters, from allies to enemies, continuously invite you to reflect on the frenzied and selfish world, the circumstances that pushed many to the very brink of insanity and barbarity. On top of these emotionally-charged events, the story also builds upon a beautiful and ever-evolving father-and-daughter relationship who go through hell and high water until they realize what their journey through the terrors of this world reveals about what they really desire deep down for themselves and for the rest of their lives.

Despite the incredibly brutal world, where violence is never gratuitous but necessary for their survival, the subtle and intimate moments are enduring and powerful. The portrayal of every single character is of a realism unlike anything seen before while also featuring some of the most gorgeous sceneries possible in a world torn down from the inside. Gustavo Santaolalla’s score, an addictive musical masterpiece, beautifully utilized throughout the game also adds emotional depth to the game, as if the story and the characters didn’t do enough in that department. As you set off on this adventure, always keeping you alert at the horrors hidden away in the dark corners of the world, you can’t help but feel the wear and tear on these characters’ psyches but continuously find ways to root for them no matter what. While gamers who have already played the original game might be reticent in getting this remake, fans will surely want to give this one a shot, at least once it’s discounted, to revisit this gorgeous yet horrid world. I, for one, can’t say there’s any regret in paying the full price to revisit this gem just in time for the HBO TV series adaptation.

The Last of Us Part I (2022) is the definitive version of an emotional and dreadful post-apocalyptic journey centered around survival and hope, with phenomenal story-telling, unforgettable characters, and immersive gameplay.

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The Last of Us Part I (2022) is out on PlayStation 5 since September 2nd, 2022.

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Have you played this game?

Will you? What do you think about it?

Share your thoughts with me!

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