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The Last of Us Part II Remastered (2024)
Technical Game Designer
PlayStation Studios
Summary
The Last of Us Part II Remastered brings the award-winning sequel to current-gen consoles with graphical updates and new features. The re-release includes a behind-the-scenes look at levels cut from the original game, integration of PS5 exclusive features, and a brand-new roguelite survival mode. I got to work on this project through most of its lifecycle. Most of my work involved creating updated haptics for the game's mechanics and cutscenes, as well as scripting work on the restored lost levels. Additionally, I assisted the development of the roguelite mode through prototyping and enemy wave design.
Challenge — New Haptics
An important part of updating the game for the PS5 was making sure it was fully utilizing the console's advanced haptics system. The PS5's haptics allow the designer to change the gain, frequency, and pan of the vibrations coming from the controller, with fine control over each. Utilizing and expanding on the haptics library Naughty Dog built for the Last of Us Part I, I was able to sweeten a wide variety of gameplay and cinematic moments. The main challenge in adding gameplay haptics was coverage. The haptics were often attached to a particular animation, so adding a haptics effect to a mechanic meant finding all animations used for that mechanic. Some mechanics, such as rope swing, benefitted from custom scripts that allowed me to feed gameplay data to the haptics to create reactive effects. Creating haptics for cinematics was a time-consuming process. It involved watching each cinematic multiple times, looking for moments when the player's model connected with or let go of an object in the world, and then finding an appropriate haptics to represent that interaction. If one didn't exist, I would create a new effect. This approach gave each cinamatic a complex and bespoke haptics track that highlighted each story beat.
Challenge — Lost Levels
Another feature of the PS5 release was a behind the scenes look at levels cut from the original game. These levels were presented in an unfinished state, meant to provide a glimpse at what gameplay sequences look like mid-development. These sequences were not presented raw, however. They still had to be playable. To bring these levels to a presentable state, I had to go through them, make sure that features clearly indicated what they were supposed to be, and fix bugs that halted the player's progress. To ensure that all players were able to explore these levels, they also required the implementation of accessibility features that normally aren't implemented until later in development. I also provided the scripting for the dev commentary feature, which helped illustrate the intentions of each level's original designer. This required communication with dialogue, effects, UI, production, and more to ensure the feature came together. The final result is an interactive behind-the-scenes look a the development of the original release.
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