I strongly believe that they built this game in the first place with the PS4 in mind. I believe that all these so called "new" higher textures were done on its first development and then scaled down for the PS3. Naughty Dog are masters when it came to the PS3's CELL hardware so it probably wouldn't have taken them long to port things back and forth. They also were probably one of the very first dev teams to get their hands on the PS4 SDK. This to me is like day one DLC, its stuff they made when the game was in development but held back this time due to hardware limitations. I think this shows with just how poorly TLOU performed on PS3 with sub 30fps heck I swear at times it was under 25fps mainly because the game was more than likely built for the stronger hardware of the PS4. All this said and done, does not take away the fact that the game is a masterpiece of video game design, story telling, pace, action, and amazing atmosphere. Just a shame the ending completely sucked.
Funny cause the PS4 version is not a consistent 60fps, digital foundry proved that it drops to a minimum of 48fps and the game is not capped at 60fps either it goes higher in parts. I would much prefer to play a a consistent fps for a better overall experience. I have seen the PS4 version in action on my friends PS4 and the amount of stutter, loading pauses, and consistent fps drops when the action kicks off I find it totally unplayable. Sure it looks wonderful for a console title but that is all it is a screenshot game now.
TLOU on PS4 looks impressive overall but some sections of the game definitely look worse than others and show their PS3 origins more. The interior sections tend to look better than the outdoor ones IMO where some of the foliage and trees can look a bit flat and last-gen-ish. The Left Behind DLC does look especially good though but then it is a much smaller game so Naughty Dog were able to really push the PS3 in terms of details, etc., and that has translated very well to the PS4. It's a shame that the anti-aliasing method isn't improved...it appears to be the same as the PS3 but only looks a bit better because of the sharper 1080p resolution. There are still some noticeable jaggies and shimmering from time to time though. It is a terrific game though despite the flaws in the A.I. and deserves to do as well on the PS4 as it did on the PS3. I also think that TLOU's presence on the PS4 is confirmation that a sequel will arrive at some point...I certainly hope so.
For me, anything above 45 FPS is a enjoyable experience and therefore I have no problems at all with TLOU on PS4 dipping down to 48 FPS. What I don't like are games that run at 60 FPS one second then drop down to 30-40 FPS the next as I can "feel" the difference there immediately. TLOU is not exactly a locked 60 FPS but it does have a more consistent framerate than, say, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition on PS4.
That is great that you can enjoy it, I just much prefer that consistent fps. A little dip here and there doesn't bother me say a consistent 60fps but drops to 55fps that for me is fine. But dropping over 10fps in a instant is a no go for me. Especially in fps games it gives me a headache, I dread to think how I will cope with Oculus or other VR tech if the frames drop... think I might throw up lol. Still all this aside I truly do love this game, its a masterpiece, and Sony scooped up a true gem of a studio in Naughty Dog they are some extremely talented people over there. Literally devs from ND were going around to other studios and showing them how to work with the CELL hardware. TLOU is a true marvel of game design. However, I still hold true that the best technical marvel goes to Rockstar for GTAV... how on earth they got that game to run on last gen hardware was ridiculous!
The game is v-synced so you won't see any screen tearing. However, it is using triple buffering or Render Ahead so that framerate can dip below 60 FPS and not drop straight down to 30 FPS as it would with double-buffered games.
Well, I'm guessing that is why Naughty Dog added a 30 FPS lock to the PS4 version as the game will NEVER drop below that plus you get higher quality shadows into the bargain. That is if you can stand the sluggish feel and horrid camera motion at 30 FPS!
Oh sorry, I did not see his earlier post where he made the claim that the game runs higher than 60 FPS. As you say, that is incorrect as the game is v-synced and therefore capped at the refresh rate of the TV (60 Hz). I have seen Digital Foundry game's footage where the framerate is shown to occasionally go above 60 FPS to 61 or 62 FPS but I believe that is just a glitch in the software.
I'd be interested in seeing companies do this going forward. Make a 60fps version of the game and then a 30fps version that has more graphical detail and let the gamer choose which they prefer. I really like that they incorporated better shadows to compensate for the locked, lower framerate.
Some 3DS games do this to an extent, because they have to budget for 3D, in 2D mode there's room to spare, usually amounting to a better framerate (for the badly made games) or some extra AA.
I bought this having not really got into the PS3 version hoping that maybe the PS4 version might motivate me a bit more to get into it, but alas, It's sat there unplayed.
Started it today, liking the game so far, it has that "I am legend" feel, love that film. Not too keen on the stealth parts, the story seems really good so far though, pretty gripping stuff.
Ok, so I've been on the fence about a PS4 for quite some time now and the one game that is pushing me towards buying the PS4 is 'The Last of Us'. My question is this, is the game that good? I realize that it is only ever going to be on PS so I know I will have to cave and buy a PS4 to play it (not interested in PS3 version) and I am also interested in in Uncharted but I just want to know (objectively) if the game is as good as it's hype. Thanks
