Sony released a ten-minute trailer for The Last of Us Part 1 on Thursday, where the game’s directors talk about some of the improvements coming to the PlayStation 5 remake of Naughty Dog’s iconic game. The trailer provides plenty of opportunities to show off the improved graphics (which look as good as the leaked screenshots, but it’s not like the game is ugly on PS3 or PS4), but most interestingly it includes gameplay changes — Naughty Dog says that AI for enemies and companions will be improved, that there will be some additional game modes, and that the game’s cutscenes will have audio descriptions for accessibility.
When it was originally released in 2013, The Last of Us’ AI was nothing special. However, the remake clearly builds on The Last of Us Part 2’s more advanced system for controlling NPCs, making them better at working together and coming up with tactics more complex than “run straight to the guy with the shotgun.” According to Neil Druckman, creative director of both Last of Us games, this leads to more intense battles. Your companions’ AI has also apparently received an upgrade, which should hopefully avoid immersion-breaking experiences where Ellie or Henry run right in front of an enemy who then has to act like they didn’t notice.
In terms of game modes, the remake will apparently include a permadeath mode for those who want to really try their hand at surviving a zombie (sorry, “infected”) apocalypse. There’s also a speed mode, although the trailer offers almost no details about it, other than that the game will display a timer in the top right corner.
The trailer also includes some other neat details – apparently the character animation system has been overhauled, the game will have improved haptics that will supposedly make you feel like you’re petting a giraffe in that famous scene, and Naughty Dog details some of the things it’s doing with the adaptive triggers, one of the best features of the PS5. If you’re at all interested in the remake, I’d recommend checking it out.
Personally, I’m still not sure if all of this is enough to make me want to play the game again (I already played through it once on PS3 and then played the remaster on PS4), but it looks like it’ll be worth picking up for people who never experienced it or who were looking for an excuse to make another game. The Last Of Us Part 1 is due out for PlayStation 5 on September 2nd and for PC at some point in the future.
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