Naughty Dog Announces The Last of Us Part I Is Already Gold

Announced last month but revealed long before that by an article by Jason Schreier, The Last of Us Part I aims to bring the 2013 game back to the same technical level as its successor released in 2020. The trailer unveiled in June illustrated the new cinematics of the game, now built in real time on PS5 and no longer pre-calculated as on PS3 and PS4. The studio confirms that we will see more game footage, technical info and gameplay before launch.

“It’s the first time in 13 years of career, all studios combined, that I haven’t needed a cruncher to finish a game. It feels good, really good. Especially by reaching the same level of quality as TLOU2. There’s still work to do, but I’m proud of the big changes made so far to make the studio healthier“, has commented Anthony Vaccaro, main environment artist at Naughty Dog since October 2010 and notably worked for Bungie.

His comment echoes recent internal changes Naughty Dog has put in place to try to reduce the extra work overload that frequently accompanies its detail-oriented projects. This same Anthony Vaccaro also explains that Naughty Dog was indeed responsible for most of the development of The Last of Us Part Idespite the particular genesis of this project initiated by part of the Visual Arts department of PlayStation.

“Production on the game hadn’t really started until Naughty Dog took over the project. Visual Arts Sony Group (VASG), which worked in tandem with Naughty Dog, did some technical pre-production work, but most of the team also worked on TLOU2, so the production of Part I hadn’t really started before the release of TLOU2“, clarifies Vaccaro.

Anthony Vaccaro also responded to a number of messages minimizing (as often) the work done on this remake. “Big news: painting a house is easier than building a new one“, launches for example a user. “Of course, but the painter has no less work depending on whether he is painting a new house or repainting an existing house. Especially if the paint job is more detailed the second time around.“, replies the artist.

Another sensitive issue and subject to many criticisms, that of the sale price, fixed at the maximum house price (79.99 euros) without the slightest reduction offered to those who have already purchased the original game on PS3 or its remaster on PS4. Before the qualifier “cash grab” (low quality product intended to make easy money) used by some, animator Robert Morrison of PlayStation Studios Visual Arts book another point of view.

“In fact, it is the most meticulously constructed and elaborate project I have ever seen or been involved in in my entire career. The highest level of care and attention to detail possible“, annoys the one who previously worked on projects like God of War, Injustice 2 and Resident Evil 7. “The price of the game is beyond my control and its value is subjective to each individual. You can decide for yourself whether you want it or not. All I’m saying is I’m in awe of the hard work and passion of the amazing group of people who worked on this project.“, he adds.