The Last of Us telly series has been a sensation on the box and is raking in plaudits during the awards season.
The story of Ellie and Joel in a dangerous post-apocalypse world is old hat to long-running gamers.
But for those who don’t play consoles, it was one of 2023’s highlight programmes.
With the PS5 now well into its golden years, Sony have decided to tap into this new audience and the machine’s popularity with a revamp of the game’s 2020 successor.
Part 2 came from developer Naughty Dog just a handful of months before the PS5 was released and was widely regarded as the ultimate swan song for the beloved PS4.
It pushed that machine to the very edges of what it was capable of and now the makers have given the game a fresh sheen as they, in turn, tap into the PS5’s power in much the same way.
So while we get the same game we get its most realised experience yet.
Gameplay remains wonderfully responsive
That means for the first time we feel the story of Ellie and Abby through the DualSense controller and get a much more lifelike, vivid visual display due to graphical upgrades.
That means haptic feedback and weapon kickback, making every shot fired feel like it reverberates up your arm thanks to the controllers’ rumbling mechanics.
At its best, you feel ‘there’ in the heart of the action.
It’s about as good a video game as ever released visually.
The animations are pinpoint, humanistic and convey all the original actors’ emotions like no game before it.
The vistas and backdrops in this sprawling and desolate world are incredibly rendered and the lighting effects second-to-none as you stare across amazing American landscapes with the sun piercing through the clouds.
It’s truly stunning.
We’re talking native 4K performance in Fidelity Mode, frame rate improvements and an overall sheen that is simply spectacular on a good 4K HDR TV.
TLOU2 Remastered absolutely must be played on a top telly otherwise you’re missing out.
We follow Ellie’s story in this sequel
Gameplay remains incredibly tight and responsive, like all Naughty Dog games, and you’ll find yourself throwing brave Ellie around sandbox environments, scrabbling for bullets as baddies and monsters tear down on you, looking for a kill.
It’s incredibly intense and the voice acting, sound effects and music – while largely unchanged – fit perfectly with the action to keep you literally on the edge of your seat during a play-through.
Beyond the core game, there’s a new much-wanted rogue like survival mode to enjoy.
Brand new, it pits you against a series of randomised encounters featuring different foes and memorable locations from throughout Part II, all culminating in tense boss battles.
Progress through several levels of always different horde-on-one action and you get to fight a mega nasty for the win.
It’s tough, and you’ll feel the ante being upped each new level you approach, with ever deadlier swarms of bad humans or bad monsters hunting you down in a huge game of bloody cat and mouse.
It works really well and gives reason to return time and again as you put yourself against others in leaderboard success.
You can choose from a wide roster of Part II’s cast, including never-before-playable characters like Dina, Jesse, Lev, Tommy, each with unique traits to offer a variety of play styles, and unlock skins for them as you progress to use in the mode.
You can also take total control and mix up the action with your own unique set of preferences, like adding fog or removing all infected mutants from the run-through.
The improved visuals for PS5 are stunning
There’s also a guitar mode, which is pretty simple but fun. Here you get to strum a virtual guitar with a few strokes and button presses on the DualSense.
Plus for hardcore gamers there’s a Speed run Mode, where you can post your best times. It again aims to get you back into the game and replaying bits to try to perfect your run-through.
Gamers can also explore early-development versions of three new levels not seen in the original The Last of Us Part II: Sewers, Jackson Party, and Boar Hunt.
And alongside the main campaign’s cutscenes, enjoy hours of new developer commentary to hear insights into the game’’s development.
Overall, this is a hefty package that delivers a remastered version of an immense video game in its most-playable, best looking state ever.
The No Return random encounters mode adds replayabilty and you’ll be wanting to come back for more.
Well worth revisiting if you’ve played before and a must-buy at £45 for those new to Part II.
VERDICT 5/5
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