At a recent New York City media event, Sony showcased 2013’s The Last of Us running right next to PlayStation 4's upcoming “Remastered” edition of the game. The result was, well, two visually-stunning titles playing side by side. Let’s face it, even on the comparatively underpowered PS3, Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic thriller is no slouch in the polygon-pushing department. Hell, you could surround it with beauty pageant contestants and it’d still look damn pretty. Still, the passionate team behind the PS4 port has managed to make one of last generation’s most retina-searing experiences look even better.

Sporting twice as many shadows and four times the texture mapping than the title that spawned it, Remastered is noticeably easier on the eyes. Toss in the fact it runs natively at 1080p, loads directly off the hard drive, targets 60 frames per second -- versus it’s predecessor’s 30fps -- and features a draw distance on par with sprawling open-world games, and you’re looking (quite literally) at much more than a phoned-in spit and polish job.


While some of the aforementioned tech talk made my brain feel like it’d been feasted on by a hungry Infected, my impressed peepers had no problem appreciating the enhancements. For starters, the improved texture resolution yields much greater detail. My demo began in the safe house from the “Bill’s Town” chapter, and everything, from a picture of a horse pinned to a billboard to the fine print stamped on food canisters, was presented with amazing clarity. In fact, all words and letters -- some of which were muddled beyond recognition in the original game -- are now completely legible.

On top of the significantly increased fidelity, apparent in both backgrounds and on environmental objects, higher resolution character models feature facial expressions that leave nothing to the imagination; if you thought you felt Joel’s struggle before, just wait until you look into his emotion-filled eyes in Remastered. For better or worse, physical pain is also conveyed more viscerally thanks to a significant decrease in motion blur during fast-action scenes. Playing a portion of the campaign’s brutal truck ambush mission, I experienced this first-hand -- over and over again -- as bullets, glass shards, and various blunt objects took turns transforming Joel into a lifeless meat-bag.

While Remastered’s cinema-rivaling cutscenes always run at 60fps, the in-game action more modestly aims for this same target. Those who’d rather not hover in the high-end range during gameplay, however, can lock the action in at a consistent 30fps. Such fan-servicing options pop up elsewhere as well; aim and shoot controls, for example, now default to the DualShock 4’s trigger-like L2 and R2 inputs, respectively, but purists are welcome to map them to the PS3 version’s L1 and R1 buttons.

More than just prettying up their game like a prom queen, Naughty Dog’s also leveraging some PS4-specifc bells and whistles. Most notably, they’re utilizing both the gamepad’s touchpad and light bar. The former can be tapped to open and close Joel’s backpack, while the latter dynamically changes color based on how much damage you’re taking (better grab some cover when that bad boy glows red!). The DualShock 4’s internal speaker is also used to up the immersion, delivering both the audio from discovered recorders as well as the sound of Joel’s flashlight being turned on and off; that latter effect might sound minor, but your fragile psyche will no doubt disagree the first time you “click” your light on in a quiet, Infected-filled room.

In terms of price, Remastered offers more value than a can of untainted SPAM in the post-apocalypse market. Players who plunk down 50 bones get the original game and its add-on content, including the stellar Left Behind single-player prequel and a pair of map packs. Those who previously purchased weapons, hats, survival skills and the like can also re-download these items at no cost (thanks, Cross Buy!).

The real draw, though, is the opportunity to experience the definitive edition of a game that’s destined to populate “best of” lists for many years to come. Whether you’re a first-timer yet to soil yourself while stealthily attempting to circumvent a Clicker or a seasoned survivor who’s bashed many a Bandit brainpan, The Last of Us Remastered promises to be one of the best games you’ll play—or re-play—this year.