The Last of Us Part 2 might have been a controversial game due to certain narrative themes, but there’s little argument when it comes to the quality of the game itself. It’s a technical achievement by eighth-generation rendering standards and is easily one of Naughty Dog’s best-looking games. Saying that it’s prime for leveraging the new generation of PlayStation would be an understatement.
The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered is Naughty Dog’s attempt at just that, and – to the shock of no one – it looks really good on the PS5. But what’s running under the hood? What rendering techniques are used, and what improvements can you expect with the remaster, especially compared to the original running on PS4 Pro?
Join us as we answer these questions and more with this technical analysis of The Last of Us Part 2. There’s quite a lot to cover, so let’s get right into it.
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered Vs Original – Game Engine
Much like every other Naughty Dog game, The Last of Us Part 2 – both the remaster and the original version – uses the developer’s in-house game engine. And as with the original, it’s ideal for rendering this brutal post-apocalyptic rendition of America, with its ruined and overrun architecture (not to mention the stunning character designs). The remaster gets much more horsepower to play with, allowing Naughty Dog to truly flex its graphical prowess.
There’s a noticeable improvement in almost every aspect of the rendering pipeline, ranging from the shadows to particle effects and skin rendering, in addition to everything else. The approach is more iterative than a straight revamp, and for a remaster based on a game launched over three years ago, it’s satisfactory enough.
Character Models
Naughty Dog has always excelled in the character rendering department, and The Last of Us Part 2 on the PS4 Pro arguably remains its best work. It featured highly detailed skin meshes, with visible wrinkles and facial muscles on Joel’s face moving in perfect sync with his expressions and movements. The polycount on these models was also very high, and to this date, they look exceptional.
Jumping to the Remastered version, we see plenty of subtle improvements to the character rendering pipeline. The underlying foundation is the same, but you can see even more details in the skin meshes, adding an extra level of richness. Again, when observing Joel’s model, you can see markedly better soft shadows on the skin, improved wrinkles, and more visible veins compared to the original.
Environments
Switching gears over to the environments, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered offers a noticeable bum. The asset quality is a lot crisper here, and those improvements are especially noticeable in Fidelity mode. Everything from an abandoned truck covered with a thin layer of transparent ice to rusted doors leading to dangerous rooms look gorgeous, with great attention to detail on every front.
Much like The Last of Us Part 1, which came out in 2022, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered also flaunts some gorgeous particle effects that you can’t help but stop and appreciate, especially in the spore-infested regions. There are a ton of alpha particles on the screen at any given time, which realistically interact with flashlights and other light sources to create some memorable-looking scenes. While this is technically another iterative upgrade, it’s still a marked step up from the original.
The Last of Us Part 2 really pushed the last-generation hardware to its limits, so the developer had to cut back to achieve its vision. One such example was in the distant details, which isn’t too detrimental to the experience since most encounters take place in relatively closed environments. However, if you observe the remaster and the original side-by-side, you will notice that the PS5 version offers multiple improvements to the level of detail on distant objects. This has led to reduced distant fog, allowing the increased rendering scale a chance to shine.
Lighting, Reflections and Shadows
As for lighting and shadows, The Last of Us Part 2 utilized a clever system for the former. Since most environments are closed and there’s a static time of day, Naughty Dog chose a baked-in lighting solution that pre-calculates lighting data. It saves precious processing power that would be otherwise used up in traditional illumination.
The remaster offers a similar approach, and there’s nothing wrong with that, considering that it operates under similar lighting conditions (and if it isn’t broken, so on and so forth). There might be a dynamic illumination solution in place, but since the light sources in the environments are mostly static, it’s tough to make out the differences by reviewing the footage side by side.
For the reflections, the team employed extensive screen-space reflections and cube maps in the original. However, that seems to have changed in the remaster. Reflections are cast at high resolutions and seem to update in perfect sync with the frame rate. There aren’t too many reflective surfaces in The Last of Us Part 2, so this improvement is a welcome addition.
The shadow rendering seems mostly the same across both versions, but you might notice some minor improvements in the remaster. For instance, the shadows on the PS5 version are crisper, while those on the PS4 Pro version tend to be on the softer side, potentially due to low-resolution internal rendering.
Graphics Modes, Performance And Loading Times
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered features two distinct graphics modes – Fidelity and Performance. Fidelity mode has a 4K resolution, with all the bells and whistles, but it caps the frame rate to 30 FPS. Performance mode knocks the resolution to 1440p but bumps the frame rate up to 60 FPS. There aren’t many differences in the actual rendering techniques used between the modes, save for Fidelity obviously looking sharper than Performance mode.
As for performance, both modes seem to stick closely to their target frame rates. There are instances where you might see a bit of slowdown, but they are few and far between to have any discernible impact on the gameplay or presentation. Fidelity mode looks fantastic, but Performance mode has that irresistible sense of smoothness you’ll appreciate during high-octane sequences.
One of the biggest improvements with the remaster is in the loading department. By utilizing the PlayStation 5’s SSD, it cuts down on loading times from the original by an extensive amount.
Conclusion
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is a great way to experience Naughty Dog’s masterpiece in a new light. The visual upgrades may not be all that crazy compared to the original, which still looks pretty good for its age. However, it’s a good deal for newcomers and returning players when combined with new gameplay additions like the Lost Levels, developer commentary, etc. Plus, current owners of the PS4 version only have to shell out $10 to upgrade.
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