The Last of Us Part I on PC: A Story Worth Playing, But a Port That Needs Work
It’s no secret that The Last of Us is a gaming masterpiece. From its groundbreaking debut on the PS3 in 2013 to its critically acclaimed remakes across subsequent PlayStation generations, the title has captivated audiences with its gripping narrative, unforgettable characters, and emotionally resonant experience. The PC version of The Last of Us Part I, a direct port of the PS5 remake, promises cutting-edge visuals and modernized gameplay, but unfortunately falls short of expectations due to a slew of technical issues that plague the launch. While the core gameplay and story remain captivating, the unoptimized performance and numerous bugs severely detract from the overall experience, leaving PC gamers with a frustrating and underwhelming debut.
Prep Work and Experience: A Frustrating Start
You’ve probably seen the infamous pictures circulating online: Joel, the hardened protagonist, appearing as a pixelated caveman, and Ellie, the young survivor, sporting a bizarre spaghetti-like hairstyle. These hilarious visual glitches are not just amusing anecdotes, but symptomatic of the deep-rooted optimization issues plaguing the PC version.
It’s bewildering to see Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a company known for its high standards, release such a poorly optimized game. Especially when considering their own internal porting team, Nixxes Software, expertly handled the PC releases of Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, boasting impressive performance and compatibility with even older hardware like the Nvidia GTX 950.
Instead, they chose to collaborate with Iron Galaxy, a third-party studio known for their work on Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (which also had its fair share of problems, though most were addressed through later patches).
The decision to partner with Iron Galaxy seems questionable, given their previous underwhelming track record. The most likely explanation is the rush to get The Last of Us Part I on PC to coincide with the immense hype surrounding the HBO series. This hurried release fueled the problems that plague the game at launch.
The first sign of trouble comes when you boot up the game – a shader compilation process begins, which can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Even on high-spec systems, this process is incredibly resource-intensive, completely hogging your system’s resources. It feels like a throwback to the days of early PC ports, and is a major inconvenience for players with lower-end CPUs or on the Steam Deck. This extended wait time directly affects the playable time available before requesting a refund on Steam, potentially impacting players who are eager to experience the game.
Gameplay: A Familiar Journey With Technical Setbacks
The Last of Us tells a poignant story of survival, grief, and connection in a world ravaged by a deadly fungal infection. The journey of Joel, a hardened survivor, and Ellie, a young girl immune to the infection, is a poignant exploration of human resilience and the bonds formed in the face of unimaginable hardship.
The PC version offers the same compelling single-player experience as the PS5 remake, including the Left Behind prequel DLC, a photo mode, and a challenging permadeath mode. However, the absence of multiplayer will be a disappointment for some who enjoyed the competitive and cooperative modes of the previous iterations.
While the keyboard and mouse controls are largely intuitive, the camera control suffers from the same panning issues as Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, resulting in noticeable stutters. Curiously, these stutters completely vanish when switching to a PS5 DualSense controller, highlighting the disparity in peripheral optimization. This inconsistency raises concerns about the developer’s lack of attention to PC-specific controls.
Graphics and Performance: A Disappointing Visual Experience
Naughty Dog’s system requirements for The Last of Us Part I contain blatant misinformation. The minimum specifications claim that a 4GB graphics card, such as the Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 470, will be sufficient to run the game at 720p 30fps. However, this claim is false. In actuality, the game utilizes significantly more video memory than advertised, even at the lowest settings.
Running the game on a system with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800x processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super GPU with 6GB of VRAM, 16GB RAM, and a 500GB SSD, it was clear that the game had serious performance issues, even after the 14GB patch. Micro-stutters, lag spikes, and audio dropouts persist, causing noticeable disruptions to the smooth gameplay flow.
The game’s performance is severely impacted by its poor memory management. Even at the lowest settings, the VRAM usage skyrockets, leading to frame rate drops and visual artifacts. It’s baffling to see a game that promises remastered visuals perform so poorly on even moderately-powerful PCs. There is no setting that offers a consistently smooth experience without compromising visuals.
The low-setting textures, in particular, are a disappointment. Clothing patterns and bloodstains blur into illegible smudges, and character models lack detail. These issues are compounded by the game’s heavy reliance on reused assets, creating a visually unappealing world full of blurry, pixellated textures. This lack of visual quality is particularly jarring given the game’s reputation for its stunning cinematic visuals.
While pushing the texture settings to High brings some improvement to the overall visual fidelity, it still leaves much to be desired. The frame rate remains inconsistent and plagued by stutters and lag, making for a frustrating experience. It’s clear that The Last of Us Part I is not optimized for PC and requires significantly more powerful hardware for a satisfactory visual experience.
Verdict: A Story Worth Playing, But A Port That Needs Work
The PC launch of The Last of Us Part I is a significant disappointment. It’s clear that the port was rushed to capitalize on the hype surrounding the HBO series. The unoptimized performance, frequent glitches, and misleading system requirements demonstrate a lack of attention to detail and a disregard for PC player expectations.
While The Last of Us Part I is a story that deserves to be experienced, the technical issues severely detract from the overall experience. Until significant performance optimizations are implemented, it’s difficult to recommend the PC version to anyone other than players with high-end systems who are willing to forgive the game’s technical shortcomings.
Pros:
- Compelling story and characters
- Extensive accessibility features
Cons
- Numerous micro-stutters and performance issues
- Poor camera controls with mouse
- Audio drop-outs and desyncs
- Inefficient VRAM management
- Long loading times
- Unoptimized shader compilation process
- Ugly textures at Medium and below presets
Rating (out of 10): 5
It’s disappointing to see such a critically acclaimed title launch in such a rough state on PC. Hopefully, Naughty Dog will address these issues with future patches, allowing PC players to experience The Last of Us in the way it was meant to be played. Until then, it’s best to wait for those patches before embarking on a journey through this immersive but flawed world.
