The Last of Us’ debut on PC did not necessarily go the way Naughty Dog or Sony would have wanted, with a shockingly disastrous launch for The Last of Us Part 1 on the platform, though excitement is nonetheless high for The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered to make its way over to PC. It helps, of course, that the game itself is an unabashed masterpiece of stealth, horror, and storytelling, while the upcoming Season 2 premiere for the acclaimed HBO adaptation is also adding to the hype.
Ahead of the game’s imminent PC release, Naughty Dog, along with Iron Galaxy Studios and Nixxes Software – both of whom are providing development support for the upcoming port – recently released new details on what players can expect from the game’s newest release. Details have as such emerged on The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s PC-specific features, the tech it will boast under the hood, the new content it will bring to the table, and more. Here, we’re going to go over all of that and more.
TECH AND VISUAL ENHANCEMENTS
Naughty Dog is promising plenty of improvements and platform specific technical features with The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s PC release. For starters, upscaling and frame generation will be available through support for DLSS 4 and AMD’s FSR 3.1 and 4. And that won’t be the end of technical and visual enhancements, of course. In addition to native 4K and 3D audio support, the game will also allow players to play with 21:9 ultra wide resolution and 32:9 super ultra wide resolution. Support for 48:9 resolution and triple monitor setups is also confirmed, for those who want to really go all out. Players can additionally also expect uncapped frame rates, frame rate cap options, and VSync support.
MORE PC FEATURES
We’re not done yet with The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s PC enhancements and tech upgrades, with plenty still left to talk about. As you’d expect, graphics options will allow plenty of customizability, and players will be able to adjust ambient occlusion, texture quality, reflections quality, LOD distance range, shadow quality, and volumetric quality, and other things. Naughty Dog has explicitly said the port has “been developed with features designed specifically for PC,” so you wouldn’t be blamed for having high expectations in this department.
CONTROLS
On PC, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will obviously be playable with a DualSense controller, which means you can expect support for the controller’s adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and other features, just like last year’s PS5 release. On top of that, as you’d expect, full support is also confirmed for keyboard and mouse controls. Players can expect fully remappable controls, as well as primary and secondary binding options. Best of all, the game will also tout an adaptive mode that will let you combine controller and keyboard inputs.
FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS
Beyond the major tech features and enhancements that we have discussed so far, The Last of Us Part 2’a PC port will have other, smaller (yet still welcome) improvements to speak of as well. Naughty Dog is promising a host of bug fixe, a handful of other quality of life improvements, and “various improvements to offer as smooth a play experience as possible”. Meanwhile, the developer also says the game will also be compatible with handheld gaming PCs, though Steam Deck verification hasn’t yet been officially confirmed. That said, the port’s surprisingly modest PC requirements (which we will get to in a bit) would certainly suggest that optimization for Valve’s device shouldn’t be an issue.
NEW NO RETURN CHARACTERS
When The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, launched last year, it added a major new mode in the form of the roguelike No Return, which has become something of a fan favourite. It’s no surprise, then, that with the game’s upcoming PC release, Naughty Dog is taking the opportunity to add new No Return content as well. Where its roster of characters is concerned, that will mean two new characters to play as, in the form of Bill and Marlene, both from the first game. Bill can use his smuggling skills by nabbing shotguns from dead drops and getting double rewards from regular drops, and he’ll also be stronger against melee attacks, though he won’t have dodging abilities. Marlene, on the other hand, can use a custom assault rifle, new gambits, and more.
NEW NO RETURN MAPS
In addition to new characters, with its PC port, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is also adding four new maps for players to check out, each a location from the single player campaign. There’s Overlook, which, well, overlooks the city of Seattle, and will have plenty of verticality. There’s the fan favourite location Hillcrest, a neighbourhood with several dilapidated buildings, overgrown streets, abundant hiding places, and plenty of room for carnage. There’s also an abandoned elementary school, as well as Neat, a particularly dangerous spot that Abby braves in the campaign.
MINIMUM AND RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS
The full system requirements for The Last of Us Part 2’s PC version have also been revealed, and at least on the lower settings, they’re pretty modest, all things considered. On minimum settings, for instance, to run the game at 720p and 30 FPS, you will need either an i3-8100 or a Ryzen 3 1300X, along with either a GeForce GTX 1650 or a Radeon RX 5500XT. Meanwhile, on recommended settings, for 1080p and 60 FPS gameplay, you’ll need either an i5-8600 or a Ryzen 5 3600, alongside either a GeForce RTX 3060 or a Radeon RX 5700.
HIGH AND VERY HIGH REQUIREMENTS
For those who want to play The Last of Us Part 2 on the higher settings on PC, higher setups will also be available. High requirements will run the game at 1440p and 60 frames, you’ll require either an i7-9700K or a Ryzen 7 3700X, along with either a GeForce RTX 3070 or a Radeon RX 6800. Meanwhile, Very High settings will also be available, running the game at 4K and 60 FPS, and will need either an i7-11700 or a Ryzen 7 5700X, along with either a GeForce RTX 4080 or a Radeon RX 7900XT. Across all settings, you’ll also need an SSD and a whopping 150 GB of free storage. Minimum, recommended, and high settings will also require 16 GB of RAM, while Very High settings will need 32 GB.
PSN NOT REQUIRED
Sony has unfortunately axed itself in the foot with its last several PC releases by making PlayStation Network account linking mandatory, but thankfully, the company has started walking back on that controversial call. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will still support the PlayStation overlay and Trophies on PC, but PSN account linking will be purely optional this time. Those who do link their accounts will get some in-game bonuses though- speaking of which…
BONUS SKIN
Players who link their PSN accounts while playing the action adventure remaster on PC will get an exclusive skin based on Jordan A. Mun, the protagonist of Naughty Dog’s upcoming sci-fi action adventure title, Intergalactic, which was revealed last December. Additionally, account linking will also net you with 50 bonus in-game points, which you can spend on No Return purchases.
