Tag: The Last Of Us

First-ever footage from HBO’s The Last of Us TV show is out and looks fantastic

See Pedro Pascal’s performance as live-action Joel Miller in the highly-anticipated HBO adaptation of The Last of Us.

Expectations for HBO’s take on The Last of Us are sky-high primarily because it doesn’t look like your typical low-budget video game adaptation, at least not in the first teaser footage.

On Sunday, HBO released a showreel video containing several snippets of video from The Last of Us. It’s quite brief, but we can see Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in action. Curiously enough, Pascal only utters, “You have no idea what loss is,” one of the more iconic and recognizable lines from The Last of Us.

Watch the footage for yourself below. As a heads-up: it doesn’t pop up until the sizzle reel’s end.

That incredibly brief shot of Joel holding his daughter is clearly from The Last of Us‘ opening. Total emotional gut punch. I won’t elaborate beyond that — if you know, you know.

Fans have put together side-by-side comparisons of HBO’s series with that of the original game’s cutscenes too, and it’s pretty dead-on.

There’s also a quick shot of Nick Offerman of Parks and Recreation fame playing Bill, the paranoid survivalist Joel and Ellie meet early in the story.

The Last of Us isn’t premiering until 2023, but only a few months of this year remain. So it won’t be a long wait. Until then, fans can check out The Last of Us Part 1 as a refresher.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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The Last of Us Part 1 teaser compares key sections to PS4 remaster

The Last of Us remake is looking significantly better than the original game.

Nobody seems to agree on whether The Last of Us Part 1 is necessary. Some believe this remake is a shameless cash-in, while others argue that it could bring in loads of new fans. Regardless, the visuals are certainly much better.

On Thursday, Naughty Dog released several short teasers comparing The Last of Us Part 1 with the PS4 remaster from 2014. The footage directly contrasts a section set in Boston, where Joel and company have to make it through some industrial cargo docks. Straight away, you’ll notice how much better textures and models are — each building looks much more distinct in the remake. Check out the first teaser below.

The original holds up well, but Part 1‘s improved lighting sets a more somber tone. That sunrise is beautiful.

Another comparison shows off how much better foliage looks in The Last of Us Part 1. Trees and bushes look more like, well, the real thing! Overgrowth is all over well-worn highways, with rust-caked vehicles sprinkled throughout. Watch the video below.

Everything appears more like an actual post-apocalyptic world now, at any rate. Those pacific northwest-like sections, in particular, are stunning. 

The Last of Us Part 1 comes out on Sept. 2, 2022, for PS5. There’s also a PC version, but it’ll arrive a later yet-to-be-announced date.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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HBO’s The Last of Us casts Henry and Sam, along with two all-new characters

Numerous well-known actors are joining HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us.

It’s been a few months since we’ve heard anything about HBO’s The Last of Us series. Likely because it’s not coming out this year. Plus, casting is ongoing.

IGN got the confirmation that Lamar Johnson (Your Honor) and newcomer Keivonn Woodard are bringing Henry and Sam to life in The Last of Us. Anyone who has made it through Naughty Dog’s seminal narrative-driven title will remember these characters as the brothers that Joel and Ellie run into in Pittsburgh while fighting some nasty raiders. Apparently, the story is slightly changing so that they cross paths in Kansas City this time.

That’s not the only change coming, either. Graham Greene (The Green Mile, Dances with Wolves) and Elaine Miles (Northern Exposure) have guest star roles as Marlon and Florence, a survivalist couple created for the TV show. There isn’t any information on how they’ll fit into the story yet, though.

There are plenty of awful video game adaptations, usually because Hollywood often doesn’t follow the source material. However, star Pedro Pascal claims HBO’s The Last of Us will stay true to the game. Fingers crossed that statement holds up whenever the show eventually premieres.

Anyone that needs a refresher ahead of time should keep an eye out for The Last of Us: Part 1, which is coming out next month.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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The Last of Us Part 2 is an all-time ‘great’ game, according to the Russo brothers

The Avengers: Endgame directors are massive fans of Naughty Dog’s third-person adventure.

Arguing what the best narrative-driven video games might be is always tricky. For myself, stuff like Nier: Automata takes top billing, but for you, maybe it’s something by Naughty Dog — If so, a famous duo from Hollywood agrees.

Several weeks ago, IGN did a video interview with none other than Anthony and Joe Russo, the directors of record-breaking hits like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. They were asked to rate chase scenes from numerous video games, including The Last of Us: Part 2 — specifically, the scene where Abby must run from the infamous rat king boss. 

“This is one of the great[est] games ever made, Last of Us,” Joe Russo said. “Really good use of limited point of view. Good sound design — this is a page out of [Steven] Spielberg’s playbook.”

Talk about glowing praise. Check out the full video for yourself below.

It would have been interesting to hear their take on The Last of Us Part 1, which many fans are not feeling.

They also chimed in on other titles like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, It Takes Two, Crash Bandicoot, and others. My personal favorite reaction is to Resident Evil Village when the main character is bound and fleeing from one nightmare after the other.

“This is really playing into, like, a technique which [limits] the protagonist,” Anthony Russo explains. “making them especially vulnerable.”

This was all part of a promotional tour for The Gray Man, the Russo’s film, which came out on Netflix last month.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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New Last of Us remake footage showcases gameplay improvements

Part 1, the re-release of Naughty Dog’s classic, features modern animations, better enemy AI, tons of accessibility options, and loads more.

Ever since The Last of Us Part 1‘s announcement in June, fans have been dying to know more about what sets this remake apart from the PS3 original. As it turns out, there are quite a few gameplay revisions and tweakable settings.

On Thursday, Naughty Dog released an in-depth developer diary going over The Last of Us Part 1‘s new features. Enemy artificial intelligence is much better, animations are far more natural than before, and there are lots of additional accessibility features. For example, audio description enables narration so visually impaired players can better grasp what’s happening in cutscenes. It’s apparently the first time a major PlayStation Studios title has had that functionality.

Watch the 10-minute Last of Us Part 1 features trailer for yourself below. The jury is still out if this remake justifies its $70 price tag, but if nothing else, lots of care went into these additions.

Other additions include unlockable costumes, permadeath mode, a speedrunning timer, expansive vibration integration via the dualsense controller, and more photo mode options. Nothing earth-shattering, but at least there’s new stuff for long-time fans. Outside of apparent improvements like 4K resolution support and drastically better texture work.

The Last of Us Part 1 comes out Sept. 2, 2022, for PS5. There is also a PC version in the works, but it’ll release at an unspecified later date.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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The Last of Us Part 1 has gone gold

Naughty Dog’s ambitious remake comes out this September.

It’s hard to believe nine years have passed since The Last of Us came out, let alone that a remake is coming. Time goes by far too fast. If nothing else, at least we’ll get to revisit an all-time great soon.

On Monday, Naughty Dog announced that The Last of Us Part 1 has gone gold. If you’re unfamiliar with software lingo, “going gold” means development on the game is over. So the PS5 version (probably) isn’t in any delay-related danger and will release on Sept. 2, 2022. The Last of Us Part 1 will also be on PC, but it’ll arrive at a later, unannounced date.

Many believe that a Last of Us remake is unnecessary. Primarily because the remaster from 2014 is perfectly playable on PS5 via backward compatibility. There are solid arguments that The Last of Us Part 1 justifies its existence by revamping combat scenarios, bringing everything up to par with its 2020 sequel. Waist-high cover placements in every room are pretty dated, after all. Naughty Dog might quell the naysayers with actual gameplay footage whenever that comes.

Some even call The Last of Us Part 1 a cash grab, though developers insist otherwise. Either way, we’ll find out at launch.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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The Last of Us remake developer denies ‘cash grab’ claims

Ahead of Part 1’s release, a developer behind the project weighed in on some criticism.

Many people have been highly critical of The Last of Us Part 1, often claiming the remake is unnecessary. Though one developer claims it’s far from being a quick buck project.

On Saturday, cinematic animator Robert Morrison at Bend Studio responded to the criticism. Specifically, this notion that The Last of Us Part 1 is merely a ‘cash grab.’

“It’s the most meticulously built and crafted project that I have ever seen or been a part of in my entire career,” Morrison said on Twitter. “The highest level of care and attention to detail possible.”

That statement comes with a significant degree of weight. Morrison has worked on heavy hitters such as Resident Evil 7, Injustice 2, and God of War (2018). So he’s got loads of experience with world-class triple-A titles.

However, much of the negative feedback stems from The Last of Us Part 1 costing $70. In the same Twitter thread, Morrison responded to the pricing kerfuffle.

“The price of the game is out of my control, and worth is subjective to each individual. You can decide for yourself if you want it or not,” Morrison continues. “All I’m saying is I am in awe of the work that an amazing group of people did on the project. A tremendous amount of passion was put into it.”

It’s worth noting that many triple-A titles, especially those on PS5, cost $70 these days. Forspoken and God of War Ragnarök are recent examples. The price tag is steep, but with 4K resolutions and next-generation technical feats increasing development time, price hikes shouldn’t be all that surprising.  Plus, The Last of Us Part 1 makes more sense than you would think.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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The Last of Us Part 1 makes more sense than you think

Should The Last of Us get a remake just nine years later? Yes.

The Last of Us Part 1, a ground-up remake of Naughty Dog’s critically and commercially acclaimed video game, was officially unveiled during last night’s Summer Game Fest stream. (Well, it was leaked by Sony about an hour before, but let’s forget about that for Geoff Keighley’s sanity). Since then, a lot of the conversation online seems to be saying one thing: why?

It’s actually pretty obvious why. The answer is money. But more broadly, it’s the chance to hit a new audience. Not only is the series arriving properly on PS5 for the first time – The Last of Us Part 2 is playable, the PS4 version – but it’s launching ahead of the HBO TV series adaptation. It’s also coming to PC at a later date. 

This means it will grab those people who are tentatively interested in the TV show – which is helmed by Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin and will probably be incredible – as well as PC die-hards and people who jumped from Xbox to PlayStation at the start of the generation. It makes business sense and will probably sell another 10 million copies. Maybe more. 

Then there are all the accessibility innovations created for The Last of Us Part 2, which are also being added to this remake. That’s a whole new audience of people who couldn’t play for health reasons when it originally launched. Hopefully, now they can.

Outside of all of that, it’s just a good call. It’s a top-ten game for many people, mainly because of the character writing and the performances. The remake will take advantage of new tech to get us closer to those performances, doing the actors more justice with modern facial animations. Look at the side-by-side between the remake and remaster, it really is night and day. 

Then there’s how it plays. The first game had barebones stealth systems and AI that was dumber than the bricks you toss at their heads. The Last of Us Part 2 made human enemies scarier than the fungal threats trying to eat your face off, adding verbal callouts to every decision they made, getting across the illusion of being hunted by a coordinated team. It also expanded upon the stealth mechanics, allowing you to go prone, instead of only hiding behind conveniently placed waist-high walls. 

Look back at the first combat encounter in the original The Last of Us now and see how much of an obvious arena it takes place in. It doesn’t fit into the world in a natural way at all, which is another thing Naughty Dog improved with the sequel. In The Last of Us Part 2, there’s an extended sequence that takes place in a museum. It’s a flashback and there’s no combat in the scene at all, but you still find crafting materials and throwables, tricking you into anticipating combat that never comes.

A similar trick is used to make you feel safe before suddenly plunging you into combat with a certain crafting table jump scare. It’s smart and it shows how much the studio has learned over the last ten years. The prospect of the team applying all their experience to a classic game is exciting. We should be excited about it. 

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It’s not as if this is taking anything away from the studio, either. It’s still working on an unannounced game. Its standalone multiplayer game based on The Last of Us Part 2 is deep in development and growing in ambition, scope, and size. Instead of one thing to look forward to from Naughty Dog, we’ve got three. And one of them is coming this year. 

I know it’s cool to dunk on the popular thing – you’re all extremely cool and sexy, honestly – but there’s a reason people like these games. I don’t personally understand why anyone enjoys watching wrestlers pretend to punch each other, but there’s no judgment here. You do you. As last night’s showcase proved, there’s plenty of other stuff to focus on if you’re not interested in this – especially if you happen to like sci-fi horror games, which are seemingly having some kind of renaissance – so maybe rein in the snark until we’ve seen how it actually plays. 

The Last of Us Part 1 is out for PS5 on September 2. 

Written by Kirk McKeand on behalf of GLHF. 

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The 5 best announcements from Summer Game Fest 2022

Didn’t watch the full presentation? These are the highlights you really need to know about.

Geoff’s Keighley’s E3 replacement, Summer Game Fest, took place last night and we saw brand new trailers for a bunch of video games you can get excited about both this year and next year. Street Fighter 6, Cuphead, and Call of Duty were all present, and those aren’t even the games that we’re highlighting today. 

Here is our list of the best announcements made during Summer Game Fest 2022. Make sure to add these releases to your calendar.

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Last of Us fans aren’t sure the remake is necessary

Naughty Dog’s classic is coming back, but not everyone wants it.

Whenever a classic gets remade, most fans are over the moon. For Last of Us diehards, it’s a little more complicated. 

On Thursday, Naughty Dog revealed The Last of Us Part 1 — a complete remake that releases for PS5 on Sept. 2, 2022, and PC later down the line. It’s adding better visuals, controls, and gameplay tweaks. Pretty much everything you would want from a ‘modern’ retelling of this story.

The trouble is, most people still think of The Last of Us as something contemporary. For instance, when Part 1 comes out, the original won’t even be ten years old. Stranger yet, The Last of Us Remastered is already playable on PS5, further fanning the ‘why does this exist’ flames.

Many fans are, understandably, not sure Part 1 is necessary. Take a look at the response below.