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Near the end of the Game Awards 2024, a trailer for Naughty Dog’s newest title Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Most of the trailer focuses on the story, with only a hint of the gameplay at the end of it.

You can watch the trailer for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet here:

In the trailer, we can see that it takes place in a future version of our world. Main character Jordan has a Porsche spaceship, for example. She is a bounty hunter chasing after a member of the Five Aces. However, she ends up stranded on the planet of Sempiria. No one has ever managed to communicate with the planet or leave it, meaning that Jordan has her cut out for her if she wants to escape. From the trailer, we can see that she uses a melee weapon that resembles a laser sword. It’s unknown if she’ll unlock more as the game goes on.

The game started development in 2020. Neil Druckmann directed it and Trent Reznor composed the score. This is an entirely new IP from Naughty Dog, which previously worked on The Last of Us, Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, and Uncharted.

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will come out on the PS5.

The post Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is New Naughty Dog IP appeared first on Siliconera.

Sony has removed its interview with Neil Druckmann (creator of The Last of Us; executive producer for Uncharted) due to inaccuracies in the final edit. It apologizes to Druckmann for “misrepresenting his words,” as well as any negative attention he may have gotten as a result of it.

The interview in question talked about animation, writing, technology, AI, and his future projects. However, Druckmann has since took to Twitter (X) to point out that Sony's interview removed a lot of nuance from his answer, as well as misrepresented his views. He also included his full answer to the question.

The issue stems from Sony asking Druckmann about a personal vision or dream project he hopes to see in the future of entertainment. He replies that he was lucky he worked on so many dream projects in the past. He also talks about how gaming has become something all age groups can enjoy. Druckmann mentions that the The Last of Us show has given more visibility to games and the rich experiences they can offer. Finally, he states that the popularity and success of The Last of Us (the show) can “redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming.”

However, he then took to Twitter (X) to show his actual "rambling" response to the question. In his full response, he talks about how The Last of Us (the show) can make non-gamers realize the depth of storytelling and wealth of narratives in video games. Because of the show's success, even non-gamers are focusing on Naughty Dog to see what they’ll put out next. At the end, he goes back to the original question and says that he was lucky work on his favorite gamers with “incredible collaborators.” Sony’s edits have retained the spirit of Druckmann’s reply. But it failed to note that an editor paraphrased his replies.

Druckmann did not comment on or correct the mentions of AI in the interview.

The post Sony Apologizes and Removes Neil Druckmann Interview appeared first on Siliconera.

The Last of Us Part 2 has one of the best, though ittedly controversial, game storylines of all time, and there's one that hits incredibly hard. A moment between Ellie and Joel makes the whole game for me.

Editor's Note: There will be spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 below. c5y4c

The pivotal moment happens during the flashback during the final scene of The Last of Us Part 2. After coming home to the cleared out farmhouse, Ellie picks up her guitar. However, she finds she can no longer effectively play due to her missing fingers. A flashback of her last conversation with Joel begins, giving her a chance to relive the night prior to his death.

After his public embarrassment by a frustrated Ellie at the Jackson dance, Joel plays his guitar on his porch. Ellie approaches, and the two share some awkward small talk about coffee. Joel then moves the subject to Dina and the nature of Ellie's feelings for her.

Ellie then directly shifts the conversation to the thing they're dancing around, which they've likely been avoiding for months. "I was supposed to die in that hospital," she says in frustration. "My life would’ve fucking mattered. But you took that from me."

Joel considers this only briefly and tells Ellie, with no hesitation, that given the chance he would "do it all over again." Ellie sits with this for a moment, then tell Joel that she doesn't know if she can forgive him for it. Joel, silently, accepts this.

However, she adds one final glimmer of hope: "But I would like to try."

A visibly emotional Joel tells her he would like that. After this, the two part ways, unware that they would never speak again.

I think this scene is the heart of everything Ellie did in The Last of Us 2. While at first it seems like her quest was about revenge or "justice," that's only a surface level interpretation. To me, I think it's about this conversation. Of course she wanted revenge, but revenge isn't what drove her to the lengths she went to over the course of the story.

When Abby killed Joel, she didn't just take his life. She also took away Ellie's chance to forgive him. I think that place in her heart where all these unresolved feelings about Joel and his choice lived were now filled with this obsession over Abby's actions. Ellie associated Abby with these feelings and thought killing her would make it go away.

This is why I think she leaves Dina to go to Santa Barbara, despite her chance at living an ideal family life together. So much of Ellie is flooded with guilt. The survivor's guilt she always had, but also everything surrounding her relationship with Joel. At this point, I believe she still hadn't forgiven Joel, even after everything, and it's eating her up inside. When she finally finds Abby, it is Ellie who forces the final fight. She simply doesn't know what else to do, in her mind she has to kill Abby to make these feelings go away.

But, right before Ellie can kill her, she sees a flash of a moment in her mind. She sees that night on the porch with Joel. It's after this that she lets Abby leave with Lev. I think this moment, just before she crosses the final line, is when she forgives Joel.

Ellie now understands at that point during the scene that killing Abby isn't going to do anything for her. She finally understands it's her own turmoil she's been fighting against this whole time. Ellie didn't kill Joel, but she hurt him by distancing herself. I don't find her hesitance to forgive him unfounded, but she lived in that limbo for a very long time. Because of this, so did Joel. Her final words to him, those of hope for their future, was likely the happiest he had been in a very long time.

So she finally makes her peace with Joel, both with what he did and also that he's gone, all at once. She lets Abby go, in some ways also forgiving her, and breaking the cycle of revenge that spread death all over Seattle throughout the game. Ellie finally learned what Abby did after she killed Joel. Revenge doesn't make any of those things go away, you have to let them go on your own.

I interpret the ending, and Ellie leaving the guitar, as her finally letting things go and forgiving herself too. It is an oddly hopeful conclusion in some respects, especially given it is also how the scene with Joel and Ellie ends. Things aren't good, but maybe they're starting to get better.

The Last of Us II Remastered is available exclusively on the PS5.

The post ‘But I would like to try:’ Unpacking the Most Important The Last of Us Part 2 Scene appeared first on Siliconera.

In 2020, The Last of Us Part II released on the PS4 to critical acclaim. It evoked a wide spread of emotions in critics and fans alike. Now, a remaster is already here to hopefully capture some of the same feelings, and The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PS5 manages to justify its existence less than four years after the PS4 release.

Much like with The Last of Us Part I remaster, this one makes no changes to the overall plot and storyline. However, this doesn't detract from a single thing. The plot of The Last of Us Part II Remastered is a nuanced and layered story about humanity and of hatred and forgiveness. It's a bold swing, but I think it will be ed as one of the all-time best pieces of fiction ever as we watch Ellie and Abby's parallel stories as each woman deals with her quest for revenge and the repercussions.

The upgraded visuals in The Last of Us Part II Remastered on the PS5 are jaw-dropping. Scenes look even more beautiful than the original release, and the lighting creates a more cinematic experience than ever. Many set pieces and sequences just felt like Roger Deakins was behind the lens. The detail in character models especially draw the player in. However, it's not simply that it looks better, as there are new animations for characters' faces. These make the facial movements even better reflect the motion capture actors' performances. The small details convey the emotion of characters so much more clearly than on the PS4. I felt it helped enhance the story.

Outside of cutscenes, the upgraded visuals also bring more immersion to the worldbuilding. The tiny details in the world, like CD cases and small notes on billboard, have more clarity to them here. Plus, things like puddles of water rippling and small rocks kicking under feet offer additional depth as somone traverses the world. It was difficult not to keep stopping and just iring anything and everything I came across.

The other major overhaul in the The Last of Us Part II Remastered is the PS5 DualSense integration. The combat feels completely new while maintaining its overall detail and nuance. I feel like the DualSense effects are best when they're subtle, but effective. You should feel their absence when playing without them, but not be distracted by them. The Last of Us Part II Remastered may do that better than any PS5 game yet. Aiming the bow and firing weapons now has a weight to it, thanks to the adaptive triggers. Additionally, the small vibrations from walking around feels good and adds further to immersion.

Even if this were all the package had to offer, I would consider it a successful remaster. It is the definitive version of one of the best games in the last several years. However, Naughty Dog added a number of other goodies just to further cement The Last of Us Part II Remastered as the total package.

A small, fun new mode is the Guitar Free Play. This allows you to mess around with the guitar interface with no time limit or aim. There are multiple styles, such as a banjo, rock guitar, or nylon stringed guitar. You can even play around with effects and soundscapes. It's a fun mode to spend some time in and just a nice thought to include.

There's also content such as new skins for Abby and Ellie, a speedrun mode that helps you keep track of times on your playthroughs, and new photo mode options. One highlight to me is the addition of lost levels to play through. These are unfinished, of course, but they're a fun look at "how the sausage gets made" so to speak. Combine them with the behind the scenes content and director's commentaries for cutscenes, and it offers all new insights into the experience. I feel like director's commentaries have become a lost art form, as I used to love to listen to the director's commentary of my favorite movies, and it was fascinating to listen to them here.

But perhaps the biggest addition to The Last of Us Part II Remastered, is the new No Return mode. It's a roguelike experience during which you face randomized enemy encounters through permadeath "runs." The goal is to progress through five encounters to face a boss and complete the run. Dying starts the whole thing over. There is a surprising amount of content in this mode, from unlockable characters to in dozens of challenges to tackle. There are multiple varieties of encounters that can occur during a section of your run.

Luckily, you have a little control. Between each encounter, you return to base to purchase equipment and make upgrades. From here, you can actually select your path to the boss. Sometimes you will have the choice between two separate encounters. If you find fighting infected easier than humans, you can prioritize encounters with those enemies for example. No Return mode ended up being the biggest surprise of this collection. I expected to try it out a bit and just play around, but I ended up really enjoying tackling the challenges. The combat in The Last of Us Part II Remastered is so satisfying and No Return is far too easy to get into a "just one more run" loop with.

One of the biggest complaints I had about The Last of Us Part I when that remaster released was its price point. It released at full price without any significant additional content. While that version is the definitive one, it was hard to justify that price. Luckily, Naughty Dog listened and did not make that mistake again. The Last of Us Part II Remastered not only provides additional content, but also offers a more reasonable price and an upgrade path for owners of the PS4 version. Owners of the PS4 copy, either digital or physical, can the remaster for $10. I'd say No Return mode alone is well worth $10, for those only interested in that.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered does far more than simply justify its existence on the PS5. The new visuals and animations are absolutely stunning, and the added content is significant. With the new game modes and behind the scenes content, there's plenty here for returning players to enjoy and newcomers to savor. Regardless of your past experience with The Last of Us Part II, this remaster deserves your time.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered will be available on the PS5 on January 19, 2024.

The post Review: The Last of Us Part II Remastered Elevates a Work of Art appeared first on Siliconera.

Naughty Dog has stopped development on The Last of Us Online. A statement regarding this decision is available via the company’s official website.

To start with, Naughty Dog acknowledges that many fans, especially the The Last of Us Factions community, would be upset at hearing this news. However, it also provided a bit of an explanation. While progress on the game had been good, the team realized that in order for them to make The Last of Us Online according to their vision for the game, they would have to put literally the entire studio’s resources behind maintaining and ing the game after it launches. That means Naughty Dog would be unable to work on or release single-player games in the future.

Naughty Dog reiterated that if they decided to continue going forth with The Last of Us Online, that project would then be literally the only thing the studio could work on. So, instead, it chose to focus on single-player narrative games. The Sony developer stated that these types of narrative games are what have defined the studio. Indeed, Naughty Dog’s previous titles have all focused on the single-player experience. Some of the games that define the studio include the Crash Bandicoot series, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, and, of course, The Last of Us.

At the end of the statement, Naughty Dog thanked fans for their . It also revealed that it has more than one single-player game in development and looks forward to sharing them with the community.

The post Naughty Dog Cancels Multiplayer The Last of Us Online appeared first on Siliconera.

GOG teased that more of the Sony PlayStation games will be coming to the PC storefront in future. While the company initially announced this through a cryptic social media post, it also added store pages for God of War and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection.

The initial announcement from GOG featured a blurred image overlaid with requests to bring more PlayStation games to the service. This was accompanied by blocked out text that hinted at the games that were coming. However, some commenters noted that the blurred image looked like the cover art for the 2018 God of War reboot, and that the title fit perfectly into part of the blocked-out text.

Since then, store pages on GOG have been added for both God of War and the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection. Both games are currently listed as coming soon. The selection of Sony PlayStation games on GOG is currently much smaller than other PC storefronts, with only Days Gone and Horizon Zero Dawn available. However, with these two new releases, this is set to change.

This marks the latest in Sony’s push towards releasing the company's games on PCs. Multiple first-party PlayStation games have released via Steam and Epic, with the most recent being Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Horizon Forbidden West has been confirmed to be the next PC release, coming in 2024 to Steam and Epic.

God of War and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection are coming soon to GOG.

The post GOG Teasing More Sony PlayStation PC Games appeared first on Siliconera.

There’s a minor delay when it comes to The Last of Us Part 1 PC release date on Epic Games Store and Steam. At The Game Awards 2022, Sony announced it would debut on March 3, 2023. Now, it’s been pushed back a few weeks. Instead, everyone will get a chance to play it on March 28, 2023.

Naughty Dog released a statement on Twitter going over the circumstances that led to The Last of Us Part 1 PC delay. Essentially, it is a quality control issue. The team wanted to make sure that it is at its best when it launches, and is using the extra three weeks to ensure that.

The Last of Us Part I PC will now be released on March 28. An update from our team: pic.twitter.com/lvApDT71Xj

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) February 3, 2023

As a reminder, The Last of Us season 1 is airing on HBO. There will also be a second season of the show.

The new The Last of Us Part 1 release date is March 28, 2023, at which point PC players will be able to find it on Epic Games Store and Steam. The original game appeared on the PS3. The remaster showed up on the PS4. The remake debuted on the PS5 first in September 2022.

The post The Last of Us Part 1 PC Release Date Delayed a Few Weeks appeared first on Siliconera.

On a regular basis, Masahiro Sakurai releases videos about game development to enlighten viewers, and the last one to appear in 2022 features him playing The Last of Us Part 1. Sakurai described it as a “like a let’s play.” The goal is for him to talk about UI and accessibility features, using Naughty Dog’s game as an example.

Sakurai begins by praising The Last of Us Part 1 for being -friendly and citing how many options it offers people. Then, he jumps into playing the PS5 version while commenting on its accessibility. He then goes through the Accessibility menu’s submenus, specifically singling out the Magnification and Visual Aids section. He mentions how the HUD scale is helpful, especially the preview window showing how it will look. He specifically referred to it by saying, “It’s a quality-of-life feature within the quality-of-life features.” He also looked at the Motion Sickness, Navigation and Traversal, and Screen Reader and Audio Cues sections. Sakurai also spent quite a bit of time showing the consideration that went into the custom control scheme setup as well.

Here is the full "Modern Quality of Life Features [UI]" video in which Masahiro Sakurai plays The Last of Us Part 1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BX4yw8Z4Y&ab_channel=MasahiroSakuraionCreatingGames

Before playing The Last of Us Part 1 for his final talk, a Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games video appeared talking about himself and his company. He explained why he founded Sora Ltd. and how it works. He's regularly offered such insights since founding his channel in August 2022. Though on one occasion, he also talked about his pet cat after fans "demanded" it.

The Last of Us Part 1 is available on the PS5, and the PC version will appear on March 3, 2023.

The post Masahiro Sakurai Looks at Last of Us Part 1 in His Final 2022 Video appeared first on Siliconera.

During TGA 2022, Naughty Dog announced that The Last of Us Part 1 release date for the PC version. It will show up on Windows PCs from March 3, 2023. This is the enhanced remake version of the game. The PS5 version of The Last of Us Part 1came out in September 2022.

https://twitter.com/thegameawards/status/1601031422415806464

We knew for a while that Naughty Dog was developing a PC port of the game. However, it was only on December 8 that we found out the concrete date. The Last of Us Part 1 has quite a few improvements over the original game. For one thing, there are way more accessibility options (to the point that this is one of the games on TGA’s Innovation in Accessibility nominee list). Examples of accessibility options include audio descriptions in cutscenes, as well as haptic for dialogue.

Other improvements from the original 2013 release include enhanced combat and exploration. The story, however, remains the same. During TGA 2022, the cast of the live-action adaptation of The Last of Us was present as well. The show will debut on January 15, 2023. It will be available via HBO.

The Last of Us Part 1 is readily available on the PS5, and the Windows PC release date is March 3, 2023. You can read our review of the PS5 version here.

The post TGA 2022: The Last of Us Part 1 PC Release Date Revealed appeared first on Siliconera.

The Last of Us is back, although, in all honesty, it feels like it never left. In fact, now that I've had a chance to play The Last of Us Part I, it feels like this nine-year-old story's just arrived. Naughty Dog's 2013 post-apocalyptic saga comes to the PS5 looking like it was originally developed for that console instead of the one released two generations back. That's because it has been, effectively. Naughty Dog trumpets that the game is "rebuilt" for the PS5 (and eventually for the PC), and having played the thing, I believe them.

That leaves one question: Is it worth it?

The Prettiest of Us 4z503v

Personally, I think so. On looks alone, The Last of Us Part I is a stunningly beautiful game. In a lot of ways, it looks exactly the way I the original looking in 2013 on the PS3. Where my memory and imagination filled in the gaps in texture resolution or water effects or fancy lighting, Naughty Dog's used modern hardware to make it "real". The result of nearly ten years of new know-how and lessons learned developing every game that came between The Last of Us and now expresses itself in this reincarnation. The game includes "Fidelity" and "Performance" graphical presets. I preferred Performance mode, as I don't have the fanciest TV and liked the additional smoothness of a 60fps framerate lock, but even then, Part I looked quite grand. Even little touches, like the way algae on the water's surface deforms around a character when they swim or the dense spores choking the air out of infested areas, added to the sense of atmosphere.

The same attention to detail's been given to character performances. Whereas the bells and whistles and fancy effects can get lost on you in the midst of gameplay, the cutscenes look top-notch (and indirectly put even more pressure on the live-action series to excel and stand out). Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson are as powerful as ever in the roles of Joel and Ellie. As far as I can tell, Naughty Dog didn't actually re-capture their performances for this remake. Instead, they re-did the scenes using the same motion capture data, updating character models and tweaking the end result to be an "enhanced" version of the original scene. Lighting, angles, and effects were changed, the better to achieve that "prestige TV" cinematic look they always wanted to go for.

Even a few character designs were changed, but I honestly didn't notice the differences until I did a side-by-side comparison against video of the original game. But whether or not Ellie looks more or less like a certain real-life Hollywood actor or not, the voices and performance capture were what sold the sell the many moments of The Last of Us nine years ago. Now, characters emote more visibly, tears welling up when they're agitated, skin flushing when they're mad. The Last of Us Part I renders cutscenes in real-time now, too. This means you can even mess around with them in the game's extensive photo mode, adding filters and effects, and even adjusting the lighting to get a different vibe.

The "prettiness" also extends to some of the game's heavier elements, particularly when it comes to violence. The Last of Us Part I might have some of the most jarring gore effects I've seen since 2002's Soldier of Fortune 2. Plenty of games have blood and guts, but Naughty Dog's devotion (fixation?) on cinematic realism lends a frankly unsettling quality to its battles, one made more unnerving by modern graphical bells and whistles. Bullets dismember enemies, while headshots actually deform characters' skull models, leaving wet-looking chunks and blackening bloodstains all over the aftermath of a gun battle. It's a small touch, but it was morbidly fascinating to notice that a dead body's blood pooled and flowed following the contours of the tiled floor. Thankfully, more squeamish players can turn that stuff off easily.

The story is the same as it's always been, one of a bad man bonding with a young girl in the most trying circumstances imaginable. There are some powerful moments in this ultimately melancholy tale, and while the novelty of it has worn off after nine years of tiresome discourse, riffs upon riffs (not to mention that the game itself is a riff on fiction like The Road et al), and the expanded context of its sequel, the heart of it still beats.

The Value-for-Money of Us 6y4x5a

The Last of Us Part I is indisputably the definitive version of this story as far as visuals and "immersive" effects go, but when it comes to whether that's worth the purchase, the answer's a bit more complicated. From the perspective of pure consumer value, The Last of Us Part I is honestly a tougher sell than it looks. After all, if you own a PS5 and have a PS Plus subscription, you're already entitled to The Last of Us Remastered, free of charge as part of the PS Plus Collection. It and Part I  - and by extension, the PS3-era original - are in of core content, exactly the same game. Same characters, same story, same wrenching plot twists. If you played the original (or Remastered) and don't feel the need to come back to it, a much prettier version of the same story won't tip the needle in that regard, either.

The team at Naughty Dog reworked the game's combat and pathfinding AI to behave more realistically, incorporating features and behaviors developed for the sequel. But combat is more than just AI behaviors, and with the map layouts and general encounter design largely being the same as the original, the differences in enemy and ally behavior come across as largely cosmetic. For example, allies will now behave more realistically and do better at hiding from enemies, but you'll still occasionally see them standing still in the sight of multiple foes and suffering no consequences. After all, no matter how smart their AI is, the game's designed not to penalize you for failing to escort Ellie or Sam or any other companion. After all, it would suck if you failed because an enemy managed to flank an NPC you had no control over. In this sense, AI and combat design innovations from 2020 and beyond end up constrained by 2013's level and encounter design. So even though they were much prettier and more atmospheric than before, my least favorite sections of The Last of Us were the same in 2022 as in 2013.

There are also some extra modes that could help change the value proposition of The Last of Us Part I, particularly for the type of fan that'll revisit the game again and again. Optional cosmetics allow players to play dress-up with Joel and Ellie. A character model viewer, art gallery, and even developer commentary to gain insight when replaying sections. Speedrun mode is also available, unlocking in-game timers and recordkeeping. For PS5-specific features, Activity Cards and Game Help is fully ed. The Activity Cards are particularly useful for players trying to earn the Platinum trophy, as they track and reveal locations for collectibles, without having to look that stuff up from an outside source.

The Most Definitive of Us 461342

All my snarking about value goes out the window, though, if you happen to have disabilities and find yourself wanting to play the game. The Last of Us Part I is easily one of the most accessible games I've ever played. Naughty Dog took the already accessibility features developed for Part II and built on them to incorporate into Part I. Screen reader , navigation and gameplay assistance, awareness indicators, and dozens of other options make the "quality of life" for a potential disabled player much smoother. You can customize the HUD, adjust effects for motion sickness and color blindness, and more. These accessibility options even extend to gameplay, allowing you to toggle off things like losing your breath while underwater, adjusting enemy accuracy, and even making stealth more forgiving. You can even set and customize audio cues for combat to make it easier to tell what's happening if you're vision-challenged.

This also goes for difficulty options as well. Separate from the accessibility menu, players can tweak the difficulty to their liking, setting presets for individual qualities of combat. Do you like the lethality of combat in the higher difficulties, but hate how miserly these modes are with resources? Ask no more, because you can adjust those settings in the menu. For the masochists, the "Grounded Mode" preset also makes a return, turning off most of the in-game aids like the HUD, the "listening mode", and other seemingly essential survival tools. In Grounded, you can even be detected in stealth by enemies that hear you trying to reload your weapon. In short, if you enjoy having a more customizable gameplay experience or need additional options to play smoothly, The Last of Us Part I is the must-play version.

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Whether or not it truly needs to exist, the fact remains: The Last of Us Part I does exist, and it happens to be the best version of an already pretty good game. The additional accessibility options alone justify it for that section of players. Meanwhile, those who are interested in experiencing its story when it looks its best, whether as a first-timer or a veteran revisiting an old favorite, should strongly consider playing it. For everyone else, the other versions are available for less.

The Last of Us Part I will launch on the PS5 on September 2, 2022. A PC version is also in development but has no release window at this time.

The post Review: The Last of Us Part I Is a Worthy Revisit to a Classic appeared first on Siliconera.

Naughty Dog has shared the full list of accessibility features that will be present in The Last of Us Part I. These changes will allow blind or deaf players, as well as players with motor accessibility needs, to fully enjoy the game. Players can also customize controls and remap commands as they wish. These accessibility features were also in The Last of Us Part II.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LINKh60I8CY&t=2s

Game Director Matthew Gallant specifically notes that there will be audio descriptions for cutscenes. Naughty Dog worked with Descriptive Video Works to put the descriptions in the game and they are available in all localized languages. For players with vision impairments, the game will include magnification tools and visual aids. For example, you can change the color, contrast, and size of UI and gameplay elements. As well, you will be able to adjust the camera to avoid motion sickness.

For those who are hard of hearing, there is a feature that will have dialogue play through the controller as haptic . Haptic can let the player feel what words a voice actor emphasized to get a better understanding of how they delivered a line.

The Last of Us Part I will also include options to make the combat easier. These are settings separate from the innate difficulty setting. You can set it so that enemies you grab don’t break free, for example. Aside from setting enemy AI, you can customize the game’s difficulty. There are six difficulty levels overall. But you can adjust things such as stealth, resources, and ally AI.

The Last of Us Part I will come out on September 2, 2022 for the PS5. A PC version is reportedly in development.

The post The Last of Us Part I Accessibility Features Include Haptic appeared first on Siliconera.

Naughty Dog is currently working on a remake of 2013's The Last of Us, bringing it to the PlayStation 5. The project was long-rumored and finally leaked by a PlayStation Direct store listing. Now Naughty Dog itself has come forward with a gameplay showcase for the game. Now called The Last of Us Part 1, a new video documentary highlights the team's goals and the upgrades players can expect from the transition to PS5.

Check it out below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRKIWQUucj0

In the The Last of Us Part 1 "Rebuilt for PS5" feature, Naughty Dog figures like Co-President Neil Druckmann, Director Matthew Gallant, and Creative Director Shawn Escayg hold forth on their goals for the game. The feature shows off comparisons between 2014's The Last of Us Remastered  (a PS4 upgrade of the game) and The Last of Us Part 1 running on the PS5. According to the team, the PS5's extra power and graphical capabilities allow Naughty Dog to bring the game closer to their original creative vision. The effort also allows them to take advantage of innovations and lessons learned from the development of The Last of Us Part 2.

Gallant mentioned that when it came out on PS3 in 2013, the original game already pushed the limits of the console's capabilities. Thus the PS5's greater specifications can touch every part of the game, from lighting to environment art to character modeling and facial expressions. Increased density of "physics objects" allows for more immersive environments and adds intensity to encounters as characters scramble over and through the scenery. Druckmann and Gallant also spoke on improvements to the in-game A.I.. These upgrades allow NPC "buddy" characters to predict enemy behavior to a certain extent and react accordingly. PS5-native features like 3D audio and the Dualsense controller's haptic will also enhance the experience, they claim.

The Last of Us Part 1 will also contain more than just visual and performance improvements. The accessibility features debuted in The Last of Us Part 2 will be included, as well as things like full Audio Description for cutscenes. An evolved Photo Mode, a timed Speedrun Mode, Permadeath modes, and a Model Viewer mode will be included on release. The game itself includes the main campaign and Left Behind DLC content, while adding a number of cosmetic unlocks for weapons and character outfits. One thing that won't be included is the Factions multiplayer mode. Like Part 2, The Last of Us Part 1 won't have a multiplayer mode. Naughty Dog is developing a standalone multiplayer game based on the franchise, though no information exists about that title at the moment.

The Last of Us Part 1 releases on PS5 on September 2, 2022. The Last of Us Remastered is available on PS4, and is part of the PS Plus Collection game library available to all PS5 owners that subscribe to PS Plus.

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Sony leaked one of its own major announcements. Its PlayStation Direct site revealed The Last of Us Part 1 for the PlayStation 5 and PC. The storefront only featured a product page for the PS5 version of the game, which will be out on September 2, 2022. A trailer, which is still available online at the time of writing, mentions a PC version is “also in development.” [Thanks, Modiz at Resetera!]

The trailer begins by showing the world while Joel talks about Ellie. It then shows snippets of gameplay and cutscenes. It notes that Naughty Dog rebuilt The Last of Us Part 1 for the PS5.

The leaked PlayStation Direct product page also showed the box art for the base game and a Firefly Edition. The Firefly Edition will be a PlayStation Direct exclusive version. Its description noted people get the base game and Left Behind prequel in a SteelBook case. (People will apparently get Left Behind with the standard version of the game as well.) There are also reprints of The Last of Us: American Dreams prequel comic starring Ellie and Riley.
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The Last of Us Part 1 will come to the PS5 on September 2, 2022 and is in development for the PC. The original version of the game appeared on the PS3 and PS4. The Last of Us Part 2 appeared on the PS4.

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A remaster of the single-player campaigns Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and its standalone companion Uncharted: The Lost Legacy are on the way. Sony announced it is preparing both as Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection for the PS5 and PC. It will show up on the PS5 first on January 28, 2022. Then sometime after that, it will head to the PC. There is also a paid upgrade path for PS4 to it for $10/€10, provided they paid for the original games.

Sony offered some details about what will change in the remaster. On the PS5, it will take advantage of the system’s unique features. This means there will be DualSense adaptive triggers for actions, haptic for actions, and Spatial 3D Audio for sounds. People will also be able to choose from three graphics options. Fidelity will offer 4K and 30fps, Performance will ensure it runs at 60fps, and Performance_ will be 1080p and 120fps.

Here’s the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection PS5 and PC trailer.

As for the PS4 upgrade path, it applies to any of the ways to get the collection’s games. If someone owns digital or physical copies of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, they can upgrade for $10. (This also applies if you own the Digital Bundle with both games.) If you got the games via PlayStation Plus, you can’t pay $10 to upgrade.

There is also an Uncharted movie promotion tied to it. People in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand could buy a PlayStation Store copy by February 3, 2022 to get emailed a code for one ticket.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection will come to the PS5 on January 28, 2022, followed by a PC release on Epic Games Store and Steam. It will cost $49.99/€49.99. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy are available on the PS4.

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The Last of Us Part 2 will feel a different when people play it on a PS5, thanks to a new patch. Sony and Naughty Dog announced an Enhanced Performance Patch for the system. It will be free for everyone and launch on May 19, 2021. Once applied, people will be able to choose their framerate target. It is also described as “the first step of working on the PS5” by Naughty Dog Director of Communications Arne Meyer.

This The Last of Us Part 2 patch is 1.08. Once you install it, you can head into the options menu to trigger it. There will be two choices under Display. One has the game maintain 30 FPS. However, people can also choose a 60 FPS framerate target.

Here’s a trailer going over The Last of Us Part 2 PS5 enhanced performance patch. There are some spoilers initially for the end of The Last of Us. You’ll also see some characters new to the sequel appearing in the video. As you might expect, it also shows how the game looks at 60 FPS.

Meyer didn’t go into other possible PS5 updates for the game. The PlayStation Blog announcement ended with a “We’ll let you know when we’ve got more news to share.” 

The Last of Us Part 2 is available for the PS4, and its PS5 enhanced performance patch will arrive on May 19, 2021. The game was a big winner at The Game Awards 2020 and PlayStation Blog GOTY Awards.

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