The Last of Us’ PS5 remake makes it feel like a modern game

theverge.com:

The original The Last of Us first debuted on the PS3 in 2013 and was remastered for the PS4 just a year later. But here we are, less than a decade from its debut, and the game is already being remade. The newly christened The Last of Us Part I takes that original experience, the one that helped make Naughty Dog one of gaming’s most revered studios, and makes it feel comfortably at home on the PS5; in fact, the new version makes the game look and play a lot like its controversial sequel. In some ways, The Last of Us Part I seems superfluous, given the relatively young age of the original, which is still very accessible. It’s not like the PS4 remaster doesn’t hold up. But after spending some time with the remake, I have to say — it’s also the best way to experience this classic.

The basics of the game remain the same as always. It starts out with Joel’s harrowing introduction to the zombie — sorry, I mean “infected” — apocalypse before fast-forwarding two decades when he’s introduced to a young girl named Ellie and, after a lengthy trek through hell, forced to make an impossible choice. That story, along with the standalone prequel Left Behind, remains intact in the remake. If you played the original, there are no surprises here. The gameplay, meanwhile, is still a mix of stealth combat, lots of shootouts, and navigating environmental puzzles with plenty of conveniently placed ladders and wooden planks.

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But there are significant changes. The most obvious are visual ones. Part I has the kind of graphics you’d expect from a lavish blockbuster in the year 2022: incredible water reflections, disturbingly gruesome death sequences. There’s a camera mode so you can really zoom in on Joel’s face and see the details of