Beebom Score
To this day, The Last of Us remains one of the most evocative and beautiful games I have ever played. Like me, a lot of PC gamers have been waiting with bated breath for the Last of Us Part II Remastered port. While initially only being announced for console players, the PC version is finally here for all of us to play. I played The Last of Us Part I when I got my PS5 back in 2022. The greatness of the first part made me immediately buy the sequel, but somehow I let the game sit in the backlog.
Thankfully, through a copy provided by Sony, I immersed myself in Ellie’s journey for retaliation. After playing for over 25 hours, I have completed my first playthrough of the emotionally interwoven journey of Ellie and Abby. After what seems like a rollercoaster of tears, anger, and fury, I am done. And with that, here is my full review of the Last of Us Part II Remastered PC edition, along with performance metrics for good measure.
The Last of Us Part II Overview: A Gripping Tale of Vengeance and Justice
As most gamers already know, The Last of Us Part 2 is a sequel to the first part, where the current story takes place after a four-year timeskip. The story of Joel and Ellie continues in Jackson town, but the former is haunted by his tragic decision to save Ellie in the first part’s ending. Keeping it spoiler-free, you play as Ellie, who is on a mission to track down Abby and her faction in the post-apocalyptic setting of Seattle.
Halfway through the game, the narrative shifts to Abby, and you experience the revenge-driven tale from a different viewpoint. Ellie and Abby’s lives are intertwined by tragedy, requiring you to experience their dual perspective in a non-linear fashion, coupled with flashbacks. The way the creators fleshed out and connected the sequel to the prequel is impressive.
Elegance Emerging from Post-Apocalyptic America
When TLOU Part II was first released on PS4, everyone lauded the game’s next-level visual fidelity. So when the remastered edition was announced, everyone deliberated about why this stunning game needed one at all. However, the remastered edition proved the concerned fans wrong by further refining the game’s impressive graphics.
The sequel starts in a bustling shelter in Wyoming, and Ellie’s journey leads her to the forsaken lands of Seattle, taken over by nature. Naughty Dog has crafted remarkably contrasting regions of Seattle, where you can find beauty in this ruined world. Personally, The Last of Us Part 2 is one of the most visually breathtaking games I’ve played so far.
The remastered edition features polished character models, much higher-resolution textures, improved lighting and shadows, and more. Therefore, if you care about visual fidelity like me, the remastered edition is the best way to experience Ellie’s emotional journey.
Upgraded Gameplay from the Predecessor
The developers have overhauled the gameplay mechanics and revamped many features to make TLOU Part 2 a much more immersive experience than its predecessor. The gameplay loop is pretty much the same as the prequel as we traverse through post-apocalyptic regions infested with the infected.
In this survival horror title, we collect the scarcely dispersed resources and fight against both the living and the undead to make progress as before. Then, along with some thrilling Quick Time Events (QTEs) in between cut scenes, the story advances further to an ultimate showdown.
As I mentioned earlier, we get to play as Ellie and Abby, where the former offers a more agile combat and the latter is a more tanky and brutal experience. That said, let me break down the brushed-up aspects of The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC Edition:
Level Design
While the first installment was thoroughly a linear game, TLOU 2 creaks the door open just a bit more for exploration and side quests, with a few semi-open world sections in Seattle. However, after a while, TLOU 2 remastered leans on the linear side as you progress, which keeps the story engaging and clear.
We often find ourselves inside and outside ravaged buildings, such as abandoned apartments and shops. As such, the developers have carefully built stealth-friendly environments with tall grasses that allow the players to strategize and take down the enemies accordingly.
There are a few places that need platforming our way across treacherous regions. My favorite platforming experience is during Abby’s mission, where she had to navigate rooftops and sky bridges to the hospital along with Lev. I have heard that the developers initially approached the second part as an open-world game. But I’m glad they did not, as story-driven games like TLOU are experienced better as linear games with little freedom in exploration.
Stealth and Combat
The most improved aspect is undoubtedly The Last of Us II’s brutal combat system. We now have tall grasses to take cover in and the objects inside the building. The sequel also allows the player to crawl and conceal themselves further. The advanced enemy AI and the addition of dogs who track the player based on the trail of scent we leave make the stealth experience much more thrilling.
The hybrid combat system of TLOU Part 2 encourages the players to go offensive in case stealth fails. Thanks to the upgraded movements, both the melee and weapon-based fights feel fluid, and together, they make up a hard-hitting combat experience. Furthermore, the varied finisher animations for enemy takedowns are satisfying to watch and enhance the combat to greater heights.
The game also features various sets of weapons for Ellie and Abby, such as a bow, crossbow, revolver, hunting pistol, etc., to offer distinct play styles. The tweaked crafting kits also come in handy, as they now allow the player to craft silencers, certain ammo, and arrows.
Difficulty
I started my playthrough of The Last of Us Part 2 remastered in moderate difficulty. Unfortunately, I found myself constantly dying at first. The game has a surprisingly great enemy AI that can easily find you when you make a mistake. However, I do wish the game featured more varieties of human enemies, like how they had different versions of infected, such as clickers, stalkers, shambles, etc. I had a challenging stealth experience and won’t forget the ferocious combat soon.
In TLOU 2, you can level up by finding various books to open up the skill trees. Furthermore, you can also find mechanical parts to upgrade your weapons. The supplements and parts are cleverly spread around the nooks and corners of a building to discover. Then you can improve your character’s skills and upgrade the weapons. In this way, you can properly unlock the necessary skills and weapon upgrades to become a stealth specialist who can swiftly knock out the adversaries in your way.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC Performance
Well all of us remember the crappy PC port of The Last of Us Part I. It had such a rocky launch that it gave birth to a lot of memes. Even though the game had frequent patches to fix it, PC gamers still couldn’t find it to be a better-optimized game. So, if you are mulling over whether the PC port of TLOU Part II shares the same fate, I have great news for you, my friend.
I tested The Last of Us Part II’s PC performance on a variety of resolutions, including 1440 and 1080p. I ran the game with every setting maxed out, i.e., very high preset, in different modes such as native, DLSS (quality) enabled, and frame generation. And well, the results are interesting. Here are the official performance metrics for The Last of Us: Part II, along with our test setup:
My Setup CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D @4.20 GHz
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti SUPER
RAM: 32 GB (2×16) DDR5 @6000MHz
SSD: Samsung 990 Pro 1TB
Monitor: 1440p @170Hz
The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC: 1080p (FHD) Ultra Settings
As I ran the game on quite a robust gaming rig, the performance was a cakewalk in 1080p, very high settings. As expected, the game offered stable performance with fps ranging between 160 and 170 while running it natively. The GPU usage was 99%, and the temperature stayed around 62-63 Celsius. Since we are running in FHD, the CPU utilization stayed around 56-59%.
FPS Native DLSS (Quality) DLSS (Quality) + Frame Generation ON Average 160 213 255 Maximum 180 228 285 Minimum 158 198 238
The game was already running buttery smooth and I enabled DLSS in Quality mode, it pushed the FPS mark to above 200. I was constantly averaging about 210-215 FPS. Then again I turned on the Frame Generation, and then the FPS surged to over 250 FPS. During this test, the GPU temperature dropped a bit down to 59 Celsius and the utilization remained at 98%.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC: 1440p (QHD) Ultra Settings
Then I moved to my monitor’s native resolution, 1440p. Even in 2K native resolution, the game ran seamlessly without needing upscaling. During this run, the game averaged around 125 FPS all the time. Since we are in QHD settings, the game automatically becomes GPU-bound, and so the utilization was 99%. The GPU temperatures were around 60-63 Celsius, while the CPU utilization was around 50%.
FPS Native DLSS (Quality) DLSS (Quality) + Frame Generation ON Average 125 165 205 Maximum 137 171 211 Minimum 118 156 197
I played my entire playthrough in 2K native settings, but I tested out how the game ran further with DLSS in Quality mode and Frame Generation enabled. With just the DLSS enabled, the game hit the 165 FPS mark, and when I switched on frame gen further, the game skyrocketed to over 200 FPS. The GPU utilization and the temperatures stayed more or the same as when I ran the game natively in 2K resolution.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC: Best Playable Settings
Even in the highest setting possible, The Last of Us Part II is guaranteed to run silky smooth in high-end PC setups. Gamers with moderate and low-end setups can use the DLSS and Frame Generation to have a consistent experience. I didn’t run into any stutters during my entire playthrough. I only encountered occasional game crashes and a few visual glitches.
During the game’s early stages, I noticed lights flickering out of the blue and the character’s hair twitching at times. But once I progressed more, the visual artifacts began to disappear. Then, the game crashed multiple times during my playthrough, but luckily, the quick play saved me. Thankfully, Naughty Dog has already confirmed that a day one patch will be released, so this should be fixed immediately.
FPS 2K Native+ Frame Generation ON Average 165 Maximum 182 Minimum 160
So, if you prefer the best visuals, you can run the game natively and have a smooth performance. You can also enable just the Frame Generation to smoothen the output further. The GPU temperatures remained at 64 Celsius and utilization at 98%.
Verdict: Is It Worth Experiencing Ellie’s Relentless Revenge on PC?
It’s been nearly five years since the sequel to TLOU was first released on PS4. Though the game received a divisive reception from critics and audiences, the sequel took home the Game of the Year award in 2020 and bagged many other awards in major categories. So, you guys don’t need me to say it, as it has been highly praised enough already.
Still, to me, The Last of Us Part II Remastered for PC felt like an exceptional continuation of the first part that further pushes the boundaries of cinematic storytelling in video games. The creators made some daring decisions with the characters, and it ultimately paid off later by letting the players experience the two sides of the same coin. The game triumphantly expands the game mechanics of its predecessor to offer much more ruthless and dynamic combat, which makes for exhilarating gameplay.
It has one of the best narratives you can rarely find in video games. Though some of the characters’ potential was left untapped, the main character arcs of Ellie and Abby were fleshed out and explored thoroughly, which made us empathize with both leads. Nonetheless, watching the characters face the brutal consequences of pursuing revenge in the name of justice was harrowing.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC is a remarkable sequel, earning its place among the greatest video games ever made, just like its predecessor. This game has occupied a special place in my heart as Neil Druckmann revolutionized how stories are told in video games by delivering a thought-provoking story that left me emotionally crushed.
Returning to the performance, the Iron Galaxy Studios have redeemed themselves by teaming up with Nixxes Software and delivering a near-perfect PC port of The Last of Us Part II. I ran into some visual glitches in the earlier stages and sometimes encountered game crashes. However, these minor issues will be sorted out easily by rolling out a day-one release patch.
Aside from these tiny inconveniences, I had a wonderful time playing one of the best Naughty Dog titles on my PC. So if you’ve been waiting for a PC port all this time, do yourself a favor and grab The Last of Us Part II Remastered for PC right now.
