The Last of Us Part I
A remake of the 2013 classic with enhanced gameplay and accessibility.
In 2022, Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment released *The Last of Us Part I*, an action-adventure game that remakes the 2013 original. It updates combat, exploration, and adds many accessibility features. The package also includes a remade version of the 2014 expansion *The Last of Us: Left Behind*.
Players control Joel, who must protect a young girl named Ellie as they travel across a post-apocalyptic United States. They fight both hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated Cordyceps fungus. The game is played from a third-person perspective, using firearms, improvised weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and stealth. For most of the story, the player is Joel, but they take control of Ellie during winter and epilogue sections, and briefly control Joel’s daughter Sarah at the start. The *Left Behind* expansion puts the player in Ellie’s shoes as she spends time with her best friend and love interest, Riley Abel. The original game’s online multiplayer mode is not included, and the narrative remains completely unchanged.
The remake overhauls artificial intelligence, allowing more non-player characters on screen and making enemies more aggressive and tactical. The Infected have new animations, like Stalker movements and a charge attack for Bloaters. New gameplay options include a permadeath mode, a speedrun-focused mode, and fresh costumes for Joel and Ellie. Accessibility features are greatly expanded, with customizable controls, a screen reader, audio prompts, audio descriptions for cutscenes, and haptic feedback during dialogue. Difficulty settings can be adjusted for enemy resilience, stealth effectiveness, and resource availability. The photo mode has been overhauled, adding visual and gameplay modifiers like slow motion and infinite ammunition. On PlayStation 5, the game supports 3D audio and uses the DualSense controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers to mimic actions like firing a shotgun or drawing a bow. It can run at native 4K resolution at 30 frames per second, or at an upscaled resolution targeting 60 frames per second; with variable refresh rate enabled, both modes can exceed 60 frames per second.
Development was led by game director Matthew Gallant and creative director Shaun Escayg, who replaced original directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Naughty DogIron Galaxy assisted with development of the Windows version.
- Publisher
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Director
- Matthew GallantBruce Straley was the game director of the original game. · Shaun EscaygNeil Druckmann was the creative director of the original game.
- Producer
- Waylon Brinck
- Writer
- Neil Druckmann
- Composer
- Gustavo Santaolalla
- Series
- The Last of Us
- Platforms
- PlayStation 5 · Windows
- Released
- PlayStation 5 · September 2, 2022 · Windows · March 28, 2023
- Genre
- Action-adventure
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Last of Us Part I was developed by Naughty Dog, led by game director Matthew Gallant and creative director Shaun Escayg, who replaced original directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann. The remake was rebuilt for the updated hardware, requiring new animations, art direction, and character models to align with the original development team's vision. The cutscenes and narrative beats were analyzed to identify crucial storylines and their original direction and purpose. The team built upon the game engine of The Last of Us Part II (2020) by expanding the gameplay, technology, and accessibility features.
The game features revised gameplay including enhanced combat and exploration, overhauled artificial intelligence allowing more non-player characters on screen, and new enemy behaviors such as Stalker animations and a charge move for Bloaters. Gameplay additions include a permadeath mode, a speedrun-focused mode, and new costumes for Joel and Ellie. The expanded accessibility options include customizable controls, a screen reader, audio prompts, audio description for cutscenes, and haptic feedback during dialogue. On PlayStation 5, the game supports 3D audio and uses the DualSense controller's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
The original game's online multiplayer mode is omitted from Part I, and its narrative is entirely unchanged. The remake was partially inspired by Part II's flashback scenes, for which the team rebuilt areas and assets from the original game. Development began by transitioning the game to Part II's updated game engine, and the technological and graphical enhancements were intended to align with the vision of the original game's team.
Reader's Guide
The Last of Us Part I received positive reviews from critics, who praised its graphical enhancements, facial animations, artificial intelligence, and its added accessibility, audio, and controller options. The response to its gameplay and level design was mixed, and several critics questioned the necessity of a remake, especially considering its price. It received an award at the Visual Effects Society Awards, and nominations at the Game Awards and Golden Joystick Awards. The Windows release in March 2023 was marred by performance problems and received mixed reviews. The game sold over two million units by March 2024. Naughty Dog hoped the remake would allow Part I and Part II to be played sequentially with no technological or visual discrepancies, and felt new audiences such as viewers of the television adaptation and new PlayStation 5 players could be reached. The developers rationalized the rebuilt accessibility features as important to the remake, expanding features from Part II with three presets for hearing, motor, or visual aids. The combat system evolved using development tools from Part II, though the team forwent the ability to go prone and omitted the dodge mechanic to maintain the original game's feel.
Did You Know?
- The remake was partially inspired by flashback scenes in The Last of Us Part II, for which the team rebuilt areas and assets from the original game.
- The game includes audio descriptions for cutscenes, created in collaboration with Descriptive Video Works.
More in Adventure Games of the 2020s, Part 4 1-24
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