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Entertainment July 5, 2017
Never too late to look back at greatness.
In 2013, “The Last of Us” was released as a dark horse for developer Naughty Dog. The game wasn’t a part of the widely successful Uncharted Series.
It was a worldwide hit, and is now considered to be one of the best video games of all time. “The Last of Us Remastered” came to us in the summer of 2014. And it had all of the goodness of “The Last of Us,” plus a few perks. If you want to start playing video games, but you’re not sure where to start, “The Last of Us Remastered” is a great bet.
“The Last of Us” is about a man named Joel. In the early days of a viral outbreak, Joel loses his daughter to a soldier’s bullet. Twenty years later the virus has changed the way the world operates. And it’s done the same to Joel.
He’s now working as a weapons smuggler in a quarantined zone. When Joel is asked to smuggle Ellie, a teenage girl, to a rebel militia called the Fireflies, things go wrong. And they’re forced to stick it out together to find a new path to the rebels.
Well for one, when you’re playing the game, it feels more like you’re in a movie. The story, gameplay and cut scenes are all incredibly cinematic and compelling. Not to mention visually stunning. It’s the only video game that has brought me close to crying. (The other game is “Kingdom Hearts,” specifically when I finished the 100 Acre Woods arc.)
The Downloadable Content, “Left Behind,” which is a story about Ellie and her friend/romantic interest Riley was amazing. I’d expected it to be another case of queer-baiting, but instead it was just honest.
Ellie is the other amazing thing about this game. For the most part, Joel is our playable character, but the twists and turns on the back half of the game leave us with Ellie. She’s undeniably the soul of the game. A queer character whose identity is not played up or restrained to please an audience, she’s always there to provide sarcasm and support. There’s also this beautiful similarity between her and Joel. And when it’s Ellie’s turn to take the reins, she definitely does not disappoint. But she’s not the only girl kicking ass in upcoming video games.
What you’re going to get from the Remastered version is a (somehow even) prettier game than “The Last of Us,” plus other updates that allow for the game to get more bang for its buck with the PS4. “The Last of Us” Remastered PS4 is one of the systems bestselling titles ever.
There’s a photo mode for players to take pictures of the gorgeous scenery. And the frame rate is faster which basically just means that everything looks smoother. On top of that, the gameplay is modified somewhat for the PS4’s controller.
Playing “The Last of Us Remastered” is like watching the Director’s Cut of your favorite movie. You can even turn on commentary from the game’s creators during the game from Neil Druckmann and the voice actors of Joel and Ellie, Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. They are all amazing. (Not gonna lie though, I spent my whole time playing “The Last of Us” thinking Ellie was played by Ellen Page.)
If you’re a gamer that’s always considering affordability, like me, then “The Last of Us: Remastered” is still a great option. It’s an older title (2014), so if you already own a PS4 you can pick it up for the super reasonable price of $20 at GameStop.
If you’ve never played a game before, but you’re a film fan, or if you’ve gamed, but not on a PS4 system, go check out “The Last of Us Remastered” before “The Last of Us 2” comes out.
