The Last of Us Part 1 PS5 Review: Absolutely Gorgeous, but Overpriced

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The Last of Us Part I — out Friday on PlayStation 5 — is a retroactive change of name, akin to what George Lucas did back in the day with his first Star Wars movie. What is now known as Episode IV – A New Hope was released simply as Star Wars in 1977. And just as Lucas did with Episode IV, and its sequels and prequels — repeatedly toying with them over the years, before he sold his Lucasfilm empire to Disney — Naughty Dog is tinkering with The Last of Us, first released on the PS3 in 2013. This isn't even the first time, as the award-winning post-apocalyptic survival horror title got a PS4 remaster in 2014. But The Last of Us Part 1 is a much more extensive undertaking, with Naughty Dog terming it a “rebuilding” from the ground-up. It's Lucas on steroids, essentially.

And boy, does it look good. The Last of Us Part I now looks, feels, and moves like its 2020 sequel, Part II. (The latter doesn't have a native PS5 version as yet — it was the last Sony exclusive on the PS4, before the launch of the PS5 — but it plays much better on the next-gen console thanks to mini-updates.) With Part 1 on the PS5, there's more detail in faces, textures, and everything else around you. And like Part II, The Last of Us Part I now makes use of the DualSense, adding to the scare and eeriness of its zombie-infested world.

If you're coming off Part 2 though, Part 1 won't wow you, more so if you played the former on a PS5. But there is a night and day difference here, something you can only realise when put the original and the remake side by side. As I did. Loading up The Last of Us Remastered on a PS4 Pro — I didn't have a PS3 and The Last of Us disc to truly send myself back to 2013 — I discovered that the environments, their lighting, and