A masterpiece ported to the PC world

The Last of Us Part I, developed by Naughty Dog, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, and ported to the PC by Iron Galaxy Studios, was released on March 28, 2023, for Microsoft Windows. 

It is an action-adventure game, in a world that is not completely open but is very large, to be played by a single player, themed on an apocalypse, where we follow Ellie and Joel in their epic adventure in search of survival. 



Common ground 

The new version of the game arrived for PC with several more features than the console version, for example, the possibility of graphic tuning, compatibility with 4k resolution and ultrawide monitors 21:9 and 32:9 resolution, support for upscaling features such as NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR 2.2, also support for mods, and some improvements in the issue of accessibility to the player. 

The story of The Last of Us is already well known, and especially after the release of the series, the public who did not know the universe became aware. In this way, all three editions of the story, the original work released for PlayStation 3, the port to PC, made by Iron Galaxy Studios, and the TV series, produced by HBO, present the narrative in the same way. 

In the beginning, we watch a cinematic of Joel and Sarah, his daughter, and we find out that the apocalypse is coming in the very first minutes, we take control of Sarah for a brief moment and then we pass to Joel's control, almost exclusively. 

Thus, the story will develop from the point where they try to escape to someplace safe, through the meeting point of Joel with Ellie, starting there, the real drama of the work, which ends in the second game in the series, The Last of Us Part II, not yet available for PC. 

The game at many moments is a cinematic experience, the cinematics are very well done and pass on a sense of phenomenal quality. Obviously, for the style of the game, the story is its main point and certainly deserves the spotlight, but don't get me wrong, the gameplay is excellent and the whole game is a work of art, in my opinion. 

The PC version, apart from all the chronic performance issues of the launch, is certainly a boosted experience, even if compared to the PlayStation 5 version, since the range of features offered is considerably larger and in my experience, for sure the graphics, reflections, lights and to some extent the gameplay has been improved, compared to my contact with the evolution of the game following the launch of new consoles. 



An exciting journey 

The game has a certain degree of difficulty, which in general, is very easy to overcome, in a short time of play everything is already well fixed. The original game mechanics were kept practically intact, there were some improvements in the responsiveness of the controls, but essentially, mechanically speaking, the game remained the same. 

It is worth pointing out that none of this is a negative point, the goal of this portability to the world of computers is the search for the inclusion of new players to the fan base of the game. This release followed the same logic used in Days Gone, for example. An established game on consoles that came to the PC to increase engagement and consequently profit more. 

The Last of Us is undeniably exciting, the entire construction of the story, the relationship between Ellie and Joel and the other characters in the plot was developed to involve the player, cause empathy with situations, and anger in others, only now with the bonus of even more beautiful graphics than the 2014 Remastered version. 

The series has already been widely visited and analyzed by our team on our website, as in the reviews of The Last of Us Remastered, 2014, and The Last of Us Part II, 2020, the comparisons made in this review, are based on our previous experiences, a set of experiences with the projects, shared with readers and remembered now.

I particularly had contact with the universe sometime after the release and recently re-engaged with the release of the TV series, which brilliantly replicates the events of the game and even the DLC Left Behind. 

The part that impressed me the most when playing the game, without a doubt, was the graphical improvements and the very high quality of the cinematics. The gameplay, while maintaining the original standards, has aged very well and owes nothing to newly released games. 

The Last of Us Part I, in general, is a work of art, it is deserving of all the success it has made and continues to make, with merits to Sony's team for the excellent timing of the port's launch, along with the series' streaming, which due to its excellence, further boosted the project's success, highlighting only the problems that have plagued the game since its release. 

As I mentioned earlier, I leave the negative point only to the optimization of the game, which, so far is not good, mentioning again the loading of shaders before you can even start playing, in my own experience, took more than an hour until the process finishes and searching the internet to understand the problem, I noticed that several players with much more powerful machines than mine had the same problem that even, several times, I saw reports of an even greater delay. 



Is everything better?

In The Last of Us Part I, we have no changes in the classic mechanics of the project released back in 2013, being a port, things were only adapted to the use of new tools, resources, and technologies, but we still have everything wonderful that was already offered, even more, stunning graphics and well crafted and localization for several languages, coming from a project of this magnitude, with great renown, are features that I expected. 

Here is no different, the gameplay flows in such a natural way (except for the performance problems, which really frustrating), together with the storytelling, the environment, combat, and interactions within the game, being a single-player game, everything is very well thought out, equipment and building items, are essential features, which deserve exploration. 

The Last of Us delivers excellent immersion, the cinematics and gameplay are a set that delivers everything it promises and beauty will always live in the details here, the little things are so impressive, even more so with the graphical additions, that take the project to a new level. 

The controls remain very simple, direct, and responsive, playing both on the mouse and keyboard and on the joystick, the experience is excellent. In other opportunities, I have already mentioned that I am not very familiar with using a controller, and again, it was my choice to play, I tried the PC gameplay and it was also excellently adapted, with logical and functional controls.



A not very successful attempt at portability 

The Last of Us Part I, as it is called now, after the release of the remastered version in 2014, is already an established work in the gaming industry, and all the setting, theme, characters, and especially the way in which the story is told, were reasons for its resounding success. 

However, when its release for PC was announced, clearly there was an outcry throughout the community, which was eagerly awaiting its arrival to compose Sony's collection within the PC. 

The problem lived there, unfortunately, the reality of new releases in the market is quite difficult, where relatively powerful machines are needed to have a completely fluid experience.

This brings me to the main point of this release, the game came completely unregulated, full of bugs, severe performance, and optimization problems, a problem caused by porting, which unfortunately was not very well done. 

Iron Galaxy Studios, in charge of the migration, is the same company responsible for the port of Batman: Arkham Knight a few years ago, which was marked, until today, as a bad and problematic port. 

In the case of The Last of Us Part I, close to release, the game was delayed for another month, most likely so that the porting could be polished by the company in charge, but I believe it was not enough time to spare the game from harsh criticism. 

In any case, the game's release came at a very strategic time, in my opinion, since amidst all the expectations of an excellent experience as it was at the time of the game's release for PlayStation, there was the ongoing series of the same name, available in the HBO catalog, which, for sure, is an absolute success. 

With this in mind, players could not only play the game but could compare the adaptation made for the series, noting details and nuances. Which, unfortunately, is so far quite complex to do. 



The problems I mentioned have been solved in parts, and unfortunately only in small parts. Even players with the latest generation equipment are experiencing performance and shader loading problems before even starting the story. 

Mixed Feelings 

My experience with The Last of Us Part I was excellent in terms of story, graphics and gameplay, however, the experience was not good at all in terms of portability optimization. 

As a recent lover of this universe, especially with the advent of the series and the excitement of the release for the computer, I felt satisfied in parts, leaving to be desired only in the optimization, but it is undeniable to be a playable masterpiece, which consequently became even more attractive with the arrival of this portability and the release of the TV series, keeping all the classic elements that enshrined the project, with a touch of modernity and technology covered by the power of current systems and machines. 

The game, in general, brought me good experiences and I would definitely recommend it, as soon as the performance and optimization problems are fixed, unfortunately in its current state, many people will still have problems with graphic bugs, shaders loading delay and problems that hinder the game development. 

It is worth mentioning that the sounds and soundtrack of the game are wonderful, with beautiful music that adds to the experience and immersion. 



In summary, The Last of Us Part I is an action and adventure game, in a world that is not open but has a very good extension, has RPG elements such as item creation, and offers a vast amount of resources and options for exploration, combat, and dynamism, which make the set is majestic and deserving of all the achievements it has achieved, sinning only in the optimization and performance. 

For this review, the game was experienced on PC, using the Steam platform. Thanks to Sony Interactive Entertainment for providing the access key.