Contrary to its title, The Last of Us Part 1 is not the first part of Naughty Dog's post-pandemic, survival game franchise. That honor goes to the original The Last of Us, which was released back in 2013 with a full campaign and multiplayer mode, By the time The Last of Us Part 1 launches on September 2 of this year for the PlayStation 5, the original game will have been remastered for a total of two times in nine years. While The Last of Us Part 1 won't have the original's excellent Factions multiplayer mode, Naughty Dog has teased an upcoming standalone multiplayer game set in the same universe.
What The Last of Us Part 1 will do instead is provide players with the quintessential way to experience the first game's single-player stories. The game will include Joel and Ellie's first adventure as well as the Left Behind DLC prequel featuring a younger Ellie and her best friend Riley. Both tales will be built from the ground up and feature improved graphics, more accessibility options, and better frame rates, among other things. But one of the more interesting aspects that The Last of Us Part 1 plans to improve upon is the game's companion A.I.
The Original's A.I. Wasn't So Intelligent
The original The Last of Us had companions that were more "artificial" than "intelligent". While the scripted in-game scenes had characters like Ellie and Tess believably inspecting and interacting with their surroundings, gameplay sequences were less than ideal. In almost every scenario, gameplay begins in stealth. The A.I. hides behind objects, crouches whenever they move from cover to cover, and tells the players when they spot enemies. Stealth is believable for the most part, apart from the instances where friendly characters would walk right in front of enemies' lines of sight and make their footsteps as audible as possible. This would never break the party's cover, but it ruins the immersion for players.
Once enemies get wind of the party's presence via players' actions, companions would fumble during combat. Using Ellie as an example, she will only occasionaly shoot an enemy or help Joel whenever he is grabbed by an opponent. Otherwise, she will stand around waiting for players to do something. While this is supposed to make players feel like they're the ones in control of the flow of combat, it also makes them feel like they are running a one-man show (the same can be said for the game's stealth sections, which force players to handle almost all the enemies by themselves). Aside from this, the paltry amount of damage these companion characters do makes it seem that they aren't carrying their own weight.
The Last of Us Part 1 Will Take Aspects of The Last of Us Part 2's Companion A.I.
2020's The Last of Us Part 2's companion A.I. is far better than that of its predecessor. Allies know the current locations of visible enemies and can also believably predict where said enemies are moving. The number of instances of them taking out enemies has increased and best of all, friendlies move quietly and slowly - keeping the immersion of the survival game intact. The A.I. hasn't improved that much combat-wise, but like the aforementioned stealth sections, allies will more frequently provide players with opportunities for them to take advantage of.
Seeing as The Last of Us Part 1 will incorporate aspects of The Last of Us Part 2's companion A.I., Naughty Dog can create a much more immersive experience. Giving allies the ability to predict enemies' movements and adjust their actions accordingly is great, but players should also be able to see them take a more active role in gameplay. Having Ellie or Bill take out enemies that aren't Joel's focus will go a long way to providing the feeling that players are accompanied by allies who can actually hold their own. And though it may not make it to the final game, adding something like a command wheel will allow players to take a more direct approach to controlling how an ally behaves.
The Last of Us Part 2 won't incorporate all the new gameplay mechanics seen in The Last of Us Part 2, as things like slipping through tight spaces and lying prone on dense foliage won't be making an appearance, but the companion A.I. will be more capable and believable. This might not justify The Last of Us Part 1's price tag, but it will allow Naughty Dog to better realize its original vision for the game.
The Last of Us Part 1 is scheduled to release on September 2, 2022 on PS5. A PC port is also in development.