Naughty Dog’s remake of The Last of Us shines on the PS5 and the HBO teaser for the series looks like a faithful adaptation. And the first customizable PlayStation controller will be released as the DualSense Edge.

Rebuilt for the PS5, The Last of Us Part 1 is better than ever

I’ll never forget my first play through of The Last of Us. It was clear that Naughty Dog had created something special.

Ever since, the franchise has continued to astound us, with a prequel chapter, a remastered version, a sequel, and the announcement of a television adaptation.

This latest release, The Last of Us Part 1, is not a remaster but a remake. And while the story is the same and the levels haven’t been redesigned, the mechanics and controls have been overhauled, and exclusively for the PS5 console.

The result is that the first game is better than ever because the “drunken-sailor movement mechanics” – as I referred to them in my 2013 review – have been fixed so Part 1 plays like Part 2.

And even though the remaster, which introduced better visuals for the PS4 console, looked great, the 4K support driven by the PS5 is unbelievable.

The other important addition to the game are the accessibility controls to enable gamers with different abilities can more fully enjoy the experience. This is something that made Part 2 so valuable and groundbreaking.

There’s some controversy that Sony has priced The Last of Us Part 1 as if it was a new release. In Canada, suggested retail is $90.

If you’ve played the game and have no interest in replaying it, there’s no need to pick up this edition.

But if you’ve not played the first instalment and want to, I think the improved controls and mechanics warrant the higher price tag. It’s more enjoyable to play.

You’ll also benefit from playing through the prequel chapter, which is the origin story of the franchise protagonist, Ellie.

Debut of the trailer for the HBO series, The Last of Us

While we’re on the topic, HBO showed off a meagre 20 seconds of footage of the series based on that first game. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey and shot in southern Alberta, it looks to be every bit as faithful to the source material as has been promised by executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.

PlayStation DualSense Edge is a high-performance and customizable controller

Last week as part of the Gamescom opening celebration, the DualSense Edge controller was revealed.

The wireless controller is for the PlayStation 5 console, and introduces customizable controls including swappable stick caps and triggers. And you can save control profiles so you can easily swap between the configurations you need for a shooter to the one you need for an action RPG.

And sticks are replaceable.

This is the first time Sony has created its own high-performance PlayStation controller. Pricing and release timing were not disclosed.