In a final attempt to promote the true ‘Remake’ nature of The Last of Us Part 1, Naughty Dog devs sat down and laid out more details about the game days ahead of release. The information was relayed via a PlayStation blog post. A lot of it boils down to similar unspecific terms we’ve heard before regarding improvements in the game’s textures, animations, and overall visual presentation. However, the post does briefly mention something regarding gameplay, that may just be the most significant difference the game will have from the original. Also, along with the interview, a new video with some of the development team explaining the changes while some brief comparison shots play out.
One of the most interesting parts was towards the end, where Game Director Matthew Gallant explains how some of the game’s areas were completely reworked, like rooms in the museum, where environmental objects, such as busts and paintings were added to make it seem more authentic than the previous generic empty office.
The blog post itself spoke more of the combat, stating how there were some encounters in the original game (and in the 2014 remaster) that were essentially scripted, as the AI was designed to behave in a very specific way that couldn’t dynamically adapt to the environment. Lead Programmer John Bellamy explained that the studio applied its new AI engine – the one used during development of The Last of Us: Part 2 – to these encounters, so they can now play out in many different ways, depending on what the player chooses to do.
Furthermore, due to the PS3’s limited capabilities, the original game apparently had a limit of 8 NPCs that could be behaving in an area at the same time. That limit is now at 128 for the PS5, meaning that certain scenarios could have much more active enemies at once, as opposed to the prior two versions, though it’s noted that at no point will players have to face 128 enemies, just that the capability is there with the extra horsepower of the PS5.
Melee combat also gets a mention with the post with Lead designer Christian Wohlwend stating that the way the melee system has evolved is “monumental.” He goes on to explain that the tools used in The Lats of Us: Part 2 makes it “much more flexible, easier to improve and prevent bugs, and elevates everything there.”
The Last of Us Part 1 was announced back at 2022’s Summer Game Fest showcase and was mostly met with a lot of excitement. Certain detractors began to express their thoughts once the game’s $70 price point was announced, and the discord only continued when several minutes of gameplay leaked about a few weeks ago, which showed the base gameplay functionality to be seemingly unchanged. The comments of this very blog post show fans continually expressing their displeasure, the general consensus by them being that the game is still not worth $70.
