Having been rumored now for quite some time, it is still unfortunate that The Last of Us Part 1, a remaster for The Last of Us on PS5, has been officially revealed in a high-quality trailer leak. This, along with a confirmation of a special Firefly edition players can also purchase, is clear enough evidence that the game does exist. Rather, while rumors about The Last of Us Part 1 were partially correct, there is a caveat to it that earlier rumors may have been relatively inaccurate about.
There is a fine line between remaster and remake, particularly in how The Last of Us Part 1 is being billed. Gameplay and visuals will see a complete ground-up overhaul, which will effectively make The Last of Us look and play more comparably to The Last of Us 2. This will ultimately modernize both titles and make the predecessor more like the sequel, and that alone could be considered a remake. However, based on the trailer, The Last of Us Part 1 will not feature new scenes or any reimaginings. Therefore, The Last of Us Part 1 is only a remake in terms of gameplay.
The Last of Us Part 1 Will Look and Play Great as a Remake
In terms of what definitively makes The Last of Us Part 1 a remake, gameplay is of paramount concern. It is easy enough to presume that The Last of Us Part 1 will now have the same exploration, traversal, combat, and stealth as The Last of Us 2, which means that it may even include prone-position crawling for sneaky access underneath vehicles and other areas.
Players may also see the return of magazine catalogs that unlock new skill tree branches for Joel and Ellie, rather than simply upgrading a single tree of upgrades with nondescript supplement pills. The workbench will likely be reprised with impeccable detail on Last of Us characters' firearms and animations, and players can hopefully expect to see more creative ways to traverse the environment.
For example, The Last of Us 2 introduced the mechanic of rappelling and re-engineered leaps from one platform to another to be more effective, which will undoubtedly have a beneficial effect on traversal in The Last of Us Part 1. These details in gameplay surely earn The Last of Us Part 1 the billing of a remake, especially if the game is completely reoriented around these mechanics and how they may alter certain sequences from the original game.
New AI systems for graphical fidelity and facial animation tracking are also implemented, instilling that sense of a remake in terms of how much new detail will be introduced. Working from the ground-up, these changes will certainly make the experience feel new for both old and new players.
The Last of Us Part 1 Will Be the Same Narrative Experience
As far as a remake typically goes, The Last of Us Part 1 appears to be more of a remaster in the sense that it may not innovate or reinterpret any of the narrative content from the original game. It was previously believed that it may reinterpret narrative contexts in order to supply more perspective for certain characters, and while that may still be the case in some instances, it does not seem as if The Last of Us Part 1 will be making any changes to its cutscenes or narrative.
This is likely so that Naughty Dog could keep all of The Last of Us’ original voice lines intact, and the idea of a narrative reimagining may have never even been a concept that it wanted to explore. Instead, The Last of Us Part 1 will be a fantastic way to return to The Last of Us with contemporary visuals and gameplay on PS5.
Now, it is more apparent that the “remake” aspect pertains to gameplay specifically, and not necessarily the game’s narrative. Still, whether a remaster or a remake, fans are surely excited to have a reason to return to Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic world and see Joel and Ellie in a full visual and gameplay overhaul on PS5.
The Last of Us Part 1 will launch for PS5 on September 2, with a PC version also in development.
