The Last of Us Part I PC AMD Trailer Shows Solid FSR Performance, Stream Reviews Negative

The Last of Us Part I releases on PC today, which of course means lots of hype from the usual sources. You can check out a launch trailer from Sony showing off the game’s new PC features like Photo Mode, ultra-wide support, and more.

Meanwhile, AMD has posted a trailer of their own (they’ve partnered with Sony for TLOU Part I) showing off the game running at 4K at Ultra settings on a Radeon RX 7900 XTX with FSR 2.2 on and off (don’t worry NVIDIA fans, the game also supports DLSS 2). With FSR deployed the game can reach over 120fps, although it seems somewhat inconsistent, dropping at low as the 70fps range. Is this a hint the game isn’t that well-optimized? Well, about that…

The last of Us Part I currently has a “Mostly Negative” 36 percent user score on Steam, with players complaining the game is poorly optimized, stuttery, and prone to crashes. This excerpt from user JackStillAlive seems to capture the general sentiment.

“Another shoddy port by Iron Galaxy (of Batman Arkham Knight and [Uncharted] Collection fame) with absolutely awful HW utilization (more CPU bound than most RTS games), stuttery mouse camera movement (same issue from UC Collection), lack of Screen Dirt Effect setting toggle, and general lack of optimization.”

As mentioned, the port of The Last of Us Part I was handled by Iron Galaxy, a studio I myself have found to be extremely inconsistent. For instance, they recently helped develop the excellent Metroid Prime Remastered, but also worked on the disastrous Batman: Arkham Knight PC port and a series of generally lousy original games like Extinction and Rumbleverse. Their name on a project isn’t a curse, but it isn’t exactly a guaranteed seal of quality, either. Here’s hoping these early PC hiccups can be ironed out as quicky as possible.

Haven’t been keeping up with The Last of Us Part I? Wccftech’s Kai Powell found the PS5 version to be an excellent update, save for the removal of multiplayer, in his full review…

“The Last of Us Part I is a testament to how timeless this Cormac McCarthy-inspired tale is. Fully remade for Sony’s latest console generation, if this is the first chance a player has to experience the post-outbreak tale, it’s without a doubt the best version to play. Both visual and mechanical enhancements bring this title to life as no other Naughty Dog game has done before. However, the omission of the multiplayer component cannot be overlooked, keeping The Last of Us Part I from being a perfect gaming experience.”

The Last of Us Part I is available now on PC and PS5.