“Looking now Part I, we can transport you there, making this world feel stuffy, alive, and dangerous. Layers and layers of activity.

In contrast, the lush, loathsome, disease-filled areas outside the quarantine zone are also noticeably refreshed. Zombie fungus spores hang menacingly around him. They are all the same realm, just imbued with more life.

Game director Matthew Gallant says the process is similar when it comes to actually playing. Molotov From shooting and throwing his cocktails to climbing around the world, Naughty Dog’s technique has improved significantly over the past decade. But it took a lot of nuance to introduce the mechanics here without feeling like they came from a completely different game, which is what the team did with his PS4 release in 2014. , he said, was the big part that separated the game from the straight remaster.

“[A remaster] It’s just a technical and programming exercise. You can take the original assets, port the engine over to the next gen, then increase the resolution of the textures, increase the frame rate, and extend the distance at which objects start fading out a bit,” he said. .

“But it’s like numbers you’re tweaking. You’re not fundamentally rethinking creative decisions or art direction.”

One concrete example of the new technology can be seen in animations that create what developers call Motion Match. Actors wearing motion capture gear perform different actions in different directions for very long performances. As the player uses the controller to move the character, the game blends these recordings together to create a highly responsive and realistic performance.

“You get this constant, seamless, very organic movement instead of this very canned animation,” Gallant said, adding that Joel played in a way that felt like he was playing as Joel. He added that he was very careful.

“There’s a sense of weight, of an older man, of a bruise, of someone who has lived in this harsh world for 20 years. It’s just a slick, most next-gen feeling version.”

Certain aspects of the PlayStation 5 hardware also help make the game feel more modern, such as 3D sound capabilities and haptic feedback. The PS5 controller takes a different approach to vibration. It’s like playing an audio file and getting different haptic sensations. In games, it is used to give texture to everything from tearing bandages to stroking animals.

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The last very important aspect of Naughty Dog’s technology is The Last of Us Part II Accessibility suite.

For visually impaired players, there are audio indicators, modes that brightly highlight enemies and objects, and highly detailed spoken descriptions of story scenes. For the deaf player, there are thorough visual indicators, and he PS5’s vibration tech is used to replay dialogue through the controller, so the player can see how the dialogue is being delivered. You can read the subtitles while feeling the tactile sensation.All this means a player who was able to enjoy Part II Landmark accessibility options now bring you back to the experience.

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