If you have not gathered yet, The Last of Us Part I is no simple remaster or port. Yesterday, a load of gameplay leaked online that showcased the game in its full glory and you can definitely see that Naughty Dog has completely rebuilt the game from the ground up for the PS5. The original The Last of Us was released way back in 2012 for the PS3 and even back then it upped the bar for visuals in the industry. It was then ported to PS4 as a “remaster” and now a full remake is on the card set to launch in September.

In a new deep dive video, the people at Naughty Dog take us through some of the challenges and mechanics the studio went through while developing this remake. The video is hosted by Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckmann alongside Creative Director Shaun Excayg and Game Director Matthew Gallant.

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The biggest takeaway from the video is without a doubt how Naughty Dog approached the development of The Last of Us Part I with the tools available on the PS5. On the original PS3 release, there was no such thing as 4K or even HDR. This technology only arrived when the PS4 Pro was released as a mid-generation upgrade. Thanks to the PS5, the studio has now managed to deliver a far more immersive game than before. Everything in The Last of Us Part I was been carefully crafted to the utmost attention to detail. New lighting systems help create a darker and more rich world and character animations are more believable thanks to all the new muscles and nuances the studio was able to copy.

From the art direction to the character models, the entire game has been rebuilt from the ground up to take advantage of a new generation of graphical capability, allowing this game to reach the visual fidelity that the studio aspired for when crafting this experience. The PS5’s powerful hardware drives a host of visual benefits, from denser physics with tons of bumpables and chipables (bullets can now rip apart concrete and environmental objects) and cinematics now transition seamlessly to gameplay.

Motion matching technology means that character animations flow more convincingly, intuitively and realistically; all adding another layer of believability to characters and their interactions with the world. Further, AI upgrades mean that characters inhabit the world in a more authentic and realistic way, such as buddy characters navigating cover to avoid enemy NPC sightlines more authentically.

Naughty Dog says that The Last of Us Part I also comes with some fan-requested features including permadeath mode, a speedrun-focused mode and a host of new outfits for Joel and Ellie. The game also boasts over 60 new accessibility options which give this remake even more settings than The Last of Us Part II. 

Give the video a watch below. It is a 10-minute developer diary so grab some coffee and enjoy it. The Last of Us Part I is set to launch on 2 September 2022 for PS5 with a PC release at a later date. Make sure you check out all the leaked content we covered yesterday here.

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Source: PS Blog