Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Review "What does it mean exact change?!"

 

 

 

 

 

So, I figured its time for another revisitation post as I recently have been re-watching the Star Trek films including this one I will be looking at again, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. 

And after 36 years, its time for another look at this much loved entry in the Star Trek franchise... 

STORY     

So, the story begins in deep space where an giant orbiting probe sends out powerful signals, which ends up disabling starships that it passes by.  The probe then arrives over the Earth where it signals end up doing serious damage to the Earth's atmosphere and creating heavy storms.  The Federation President (Robert Ellenstein) is then soon advised by Spock's father, Sarek (Mark Lenard) who is also the Vulcan ambassador, to send out a planetary distress signal.

Meanwhile the USS Enterprise crew (or rather the late Enterprise as it was destroyed during the events of Star Trek III) have been living in exile on Vulcan, where Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is still recovering from the experience of his Vulcan resurrection where his living essence was restored to his body at the end of STIII.  Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew at this time are ready to travel back to Earth to face the consequences of their theft and destruction of the Enterprise.

Enroute meanwhile for former Enterprise crew, while traveling in their captured Klingon vessel, they receive the president's distress call, and on hearing the probe's signal, Spock soon deduces the signal is that of whale song, sung by humpback whales.  Spock then proposes to Kirk that they attempt time travel to go back in time to the 20th century where they can hope to find and take a humpback whale back into the future to communicate with the prob.  Kirk briefly and manages to communicate with Starfleet command long enough to tell them his theory, and after this Kirk and crew successfully make a timewarp leap back in time via a slingshot round the sun.

The crew soon find that they have arrived back in 1986, however the chief engineer, Scotty (James Doohan) tells Kirk that the time travel has drained the ship's power crystals, and after 24 hours they will be out of power and visible.  On arriving on the surface of the planet, the crew find that they are San Francisco, and Kirk has his crew split up into two teams, with Dr McCoy (DeForrest Kelley), Sulu (James Takei) and Scotty being given the task to create a whale tank, whereas Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) are to find nucelar naval vessels in order to recharge the ship's power.

Meanwhile Kirk and Spock find out the location of two humpback whales, which are kept at a Cetacean institute, which are nicknamed George and Gracie.  The tour director, Dr Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks) gives a tour to a group, along with Kirk and Spock, who discreetly slips away and enters the tank to perform a mind meld with one of the whales.  Taylor is outraged by Spock's actions, but Kirk insists they mean no harm, and later on Taylor meets up with Kirk, where he tells them half the truth he needs the whales to be brought back into the future.

Meanwhile Chekov and Uhura, who locate a naval ship, manage to drain enough of the vessel's energy to refuel the klingon ship.  Chekov however is captured, and on attempting to flee he falls and is critically injured.  This leaves Kirk with limited time to find the whales, save Chekov, create the tank and try and get back to his own time to save the Earth's future....

THOUGHTS 

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is generally considered to be one of the most popular entries in the Star Trek movie franchise, and its pretty easy to see why as it remains a very entertaining and also a lighthearted film.  And the interesting thing in this film is that for once there is no actual villain, as the main problem: the probe, which does all the damage to Earth is merely trying to find out what has happened to the whale species, and as Spock suggests it maybe unaware of the damage it is causing.

The film is also that bit more humorous than most of the entries in the Star Trek world, and there are plenty of amusing moments especially when Krik and his crew travel back in time to San Francisco and they are taken by surprise at the people's customs and behaviour at the time, especially Spock.  The re-training of Spock's mind in a strict Vulcan fashion, also makes for quite a few funny moments in the film as Spock clearly struggles to understand human behaviour and is almost bemused the profanity of the 20th century.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

So onto the performances and they are all pretty good here as the regular Star Trek crew are all in good fettle.  

And to start off with the cast, William Shatner is great again as Kirk, and he has quite a few highlights in the film with one of my favourites being when they walk the streets of San Francisco in 1986 and he is nearly hit by a taxi driver who yells "Watch where you're goin' ya dumbass!" and Kirk replies "Well a double dumbass on you!".

Then there is the scene where Kirk and Spock go into a pawn shop and Kirk sells his glasses to the owner.  And in the scene Spock asks Kirk "Weren't they a present from Dr McCoy?" and Kirk replies "And they will be again, that's the beauty of it".  So, Kirk asks the store owner "How much will you give me for them?" and the owner says "Well, they would be worth more if the lenses were in tact but I will give you 100 dollars" and Kirk who has no concept of the value of money simply asks "Is that alot?" and the owner smiles and shrugs. 

Another good moment comes where Kirk and Spock start to walk the streets of San Francisco alone as the other crew members have split up.  And Kirk asks Spock how they should try and resolve their problem to find the humpback whales and Spock says "Simple logic should suffice..." and he goes into a long diatribe about looking at a mpa but then Kirk sees a bus pull up near by, which has a picture of two whales on it advertising a whale institute.  And Kirk interrupts Spock and says to him "I think we'll find what we're looking for at the Cetacean Institute in Sausalito. A pair of humpbacks named George and Gracie".  And Spock says to Kirk "How do you know this?" and Kirk says "Simple logic!" and they step on the bus but a second later step off it and Spock asks "What does it mean exact change?".

Shatner also has a good scene where he goes out to dinner with Gillian, and he is interrupted on his communicator by Scotty where he quietly says "What is it?? I thought I told you never to call me!".  And Scotty replies over the com "Sorry, Admirial, just thought I'd let you know I'm bringing them in now" and Kirk quietly says "OK tell them to put phasers on stun and good luck, Kirk out!".

Another good scene is when Kirk beams back onboard the Klingon vessel and he is frustrated at the immediate nature of how they need the whales and the danger of missing their chance to get them.  And Kirk says to Spock "Damn it!  Two perfect whales and if we don't move soon we might miss them!" and Spock says "Then in that probability our mission would fail".  And Kirk looks incredulously at Spock and says "Our mission? Spock, you're talking about the end of every life on Earth! You're half human!  Haven't you got any goddamn feelings about THAT?!" leaving Spock to quietly ponder Kirk's words.

And then there is the scene where Gillian arrives outside the Klingon vessel shouting for Kirk's help as the two humpbacks have been let out of the institute into the ocean and Kirk beams Gillian onboard the vessel.  And Gillian yells out in panic as she is beamed onboard and Kirk takes her by the hand and says "Hello, Alice, welcome to Wonderland!".  And Gillian tells Kirk that the whales are gone but they can tag them and Kirk says "We're not going anywhere" and Gillian asks "What sort of spaceship is this?" and Kirk tells her "Its a spaceship with a missing man".

And lastly there is the scene (SPOILER!!!) back in the 23rd century where Kirk and the others have saved the day and Kirk says his goodbyes to Gillian.  And as she is about to go Kirk asks her "This is goodbye?" and Gillian asks "Why does it have to be goodbye?" and Kirk says "Well like they say in your century, I don't even have your telephone number!".   

Leonard Nimoy also provides quite a few of the film's highlights as Spock, with his character being so logical that he fails to understand human behaviour.

One of Nimoy's most memorable scenes in the film of course comes when he performs his Vulcan neck pinch on a ill mannered punk rocker on the bus, who refuses to turn down his music, and he renders him unconscious where the passengers all applaud Spock loudly. 

Nimoy also get's some funny lines of dialogue where he struggles to come to grips with how to use human profanity such as when Gillian Taylor asks him after he performs his mind meld with the whales "What the hell are you doing here??" and he replies "Attempting the hell to communicate!".  And this one is followed up by Gillian angrily saying "You were messing up my tank and my whales!" and Spock replies "They like you very much but they are not the hell your whales" Gillian says "Oh and they told you that did they??" and Spock says "The hell they did!".

Also the moment where Gillian asks Kirk and Spock if they both like Italian food, and Spock keeps saying no with Kirk interrupting saying "yes, I love Italian and so do you" to Spock, who flatly replies "yes".  And then shortly after, Gillian drops Spock off in the spot where the Klingon vessel is parked and she says "Are you sure you won't change your mind?" re: dinner, and Spock replies "Is there something wrong with the one I have???".  And then Gillian, baffled by Spock asks him "Wait a minute.  How did you know Gracie is pregnant? No one knows that!" and Spock says to her "Gracie does. I'll be right here" and he gets out and as Gillian drives off, Spock is beamed up.     

And later on Spock rather amusingly get's the hang of the profanity towards the end of the film when Kirk asks him "Spock, where the hell is that power you promised??" and Spock replies "One damn minute, Admiral!".   

And lastly there is the scene onboard the Klingon vessel where Kirk and the crew have beamed up the whales but Spock needs to make his calculations for them to successfully time travel foward to their own time.

And McCoy asks Spock about it and Spock replies regarding his calculations "In order to return us to the exact moment at which we left the twenty-third century, I have used our journey back through time as a reference, calculating the coefficient of elapsed time in relation to the acceleration curve".  And McCoy says to Spock "Naturally, so what's your problem?" and Spock replies "Acceleration is no longer a constant" and McCoy says "Well then you're gonna have to take your best shot" and Spock asks "Best shot?" and McCoy explains "Guess, Spock.  Your best guess" and Spock shakes his head and replies "Guessing is not in my nature, Doctor" and McCoy smiles and says "Well, nobody's perfect".

And later on when Kirk asks Spock about his calculations to get them home and has he factored the whales into his re-entry program and Spock says to Kirk "Mister Scott cannot give me exact figures, Admiral. ...So I will make a guess".  And Kirk looks surprised but then sarcastically says to him "A guess?  You, Spock??  That's extraordinary!" and he walks out with Gillian.  And this leaves Spock, shaking his head, saying "I don't think he understands" and McCoy explains "No, Spock.  He means he feels safer about your "guesses" than most other peoples facts" and Spock says "So, you are saying it is a compliment" and McCoy says "It is!" and Spock says "Ah, well I will try to make the best guess I can".   

DeForrest Kelley is also great again as Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy and he too has his moments in the film.  

And Kelley's highlights include the scene where Kirk is set on travelling back in time to try and pick up the whales in order to save the Earth.  And McCoy in the scene can't believe Kirk is considering time travel and he asks Kirk "You're going to try time traveling in this rustbucket?!" and Kirk says "Well, we've done it before" and McCoy says to him "Sure, you slingshot around the Sun, pick up enough speed - You're in time warp. If you don't, you're fried!".  And Kirk asks McCoy "You prefer nothing?" and McCoy sharply replies "I prefer a dose of common sense!".

And McCoy continues to follow Kirk around the ship and he says to him "I prefer a dose of common sense! You're proposing that we go backwards in time, find humpback whales, then bring them foward in time, drop 'em off, and hope to hell they tell this probe what to do with itself!".  And Kirk says "That's the general idea" and McCoy yells "That's crazy!" and Kirk says to him "You got a better idea?  Now's the time!".  

Then there is the scene where McCoy and Scotty arrive at a plastics factory, Plexicorp, where they talk with the plant manager, Dr Nichols (Alex Henteloff) and Scotty get's a bit carried away with pretending that he is a professor and that McCoy is his assistant.  And as Scotty says to Nichols "Do you mind if my assistant joins us?" to which Nichols doesn't object and as they are driven away on a forklift, McCoy quietly says to Scotty "Don't bury yourself in the part".

And of course later there is the scene at the hospital where Kirk, McCoy and Gillian turn up to rescue Chekov which is great fun.  And in the scene, they take a stretcher and Gillian lies down as a patient and they enter a lift where two young doctors discuss chemotherapy and McCoy mutters in disbelief at how primitive it sounds to him saying "Unbelievable!".  And one of the young doctors asks him "Do you have a different view, doctor?" and McCoy grumpily says "It sounds like some sort of goddamn Spanish inquisition!" and they exit the lift with Kirk explaining to them that McCoy is having a "Bad day!".

And in the next moment, Kirk and McCoy arrive outside the operating theater (where Chekov is) with Gillian but a police officer on guard won't let them in.  So McCoy tries on a bit of medical jargon to hurry things up so they can get in and he says to the officer "Dammit, do you want an acute case on your hands? This woman has immediate post-prandial upper abdominal distension! ...Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" and they get through.  And after Kirk asks McCoy "What did you say she has?" and McCoy simply says "Cramps!". 

 

And last of all is the following scene where McCoy goes into the operating theater and examines Chekov, who is in a comatose state much to the annoyance of the doctor that is about to perform a surgical procedure. So, McCoy says angrily to the Doctor "How do you explain a slow respiratory coma?" and the Doctor says "Fundoscopic examinations..." and McCoy interrupts and says "Fundoscopic examinations are unrevealing in these cases!" and the Doctor says "A simple drilling of the subdural hematoma will relieve the pressure!". McCoy however then says angrily "My God, man! Drilling holes in his head isn't the answer, the artery must be repaired! Now put away your butcher knives and let me save this patient before its too late!". 

The rest of the regular also fine, starting with James Doohan, who get's a chance to shine as Scotty in the scene where he approaches the planet manager, Dr Nichols at Plexicorp and gives him the formula for transparent aluminium.

But as Scotty tries to process the formula he tries to speak to the owner's computer, like he would an advanced computer in the 23rd century, and McCoy gives him the mouse to speak into like a mic and Scotty says "Hello computer!", after this Nichols warily says "Just use the keyboard" and Scotty replies "Keyboard, how quaint!".  And as Scotty quickly taps away at the keyboard he completes the formula, leaving Nichols dumbfounded and to say "Transparent aluminum??" and Scotty says to him "That's the ticket, laddie!  So is that worth something to you, or should I just punch up clear??".  

And later there is the scene where Scotty manages to beam up the whales onboard the Klingon vessel's whale tank and before he does it he tells Kirk over the com "I've never beamed up four hundred tonnes before" and Kirk says "Four hundred tonnes?" and Scotty tells him "Its not just the whales, its the water!".  And as the whales are beamed in, Scotty looks on amazed and says over the com to Kirk "Admiral, there be whales here!". 

And lastly the remaining regular crew, George Takei, Michelle Nichols and Walter Koenig are all in good form here in their respective roles of Sulu, Uhura and Chekov.

And to start with Takei, he has one or two fun moments, firstly the scene where Sulu flies the chopper carrying the parts of the plastic whale tank and he accidentally turns on the windscreen wipers of the chopper, which alarms him and he quickly switches them off.  Then later there is the scene where Sulu back on the Klingon vessel get's ready to take off and Kirk asks him if he is ready and Sulu says "I'm trying to remember how this works.  I got use to a Huey!".

Michelle next doesn't actually have any real standout moments in the film as she mainly just does her comms stuff and helps Chekov try and get the energy they need to re-energise the Klingon vessel's crystals.  Perhaps Michelle's most memorable line is when Uhura beams back onboard the Klingon vessel, leaving Chekov behind to be captured as Scotty was unable to bring them in both at the time and Uhura regretfully says to Kirk onboard the vessel "Admiral, I should never have left him" and Kirk reassures her that she did what was necessary.

And lastly Walter has some fun moments in the film include the scene where Chekov and Uhura in San Francisco try and find out where the naval base in Alameda is by asking a few people but they get nowhere, starting with a policeman who looks at Chekov blankly.  And Chekov asks the policeman in his thick Russian accent "Excuse me, sir. Can you direct me to the Navy base in Alameda? It's where they keep the nuclear wessels. ...Nuc-le-ar wes-sels!" but the cop says nothing.

And later there is the scene where Chekov is captured on the naval wessel, sorry I meant vessel! ;-)  And Chekov is taken to an FBI agent onboard who asks him about his phaser and his communicator devices.  And the agent asks Chekov in the scene a few questions but Chekov doesn't quite get the agent's mode of speech, which annoys the agent who says to him "You play games with me, mister and you're through!" and Chekov says to him "I am?  May I go now?".  

And as the agent has a quiet talk aside with another agent, Chekov grabs his phaser and points it at the men and says "Dont move!" and the agent says "OK...make nice.  Give us the ray gun" and Chekov says "I varn you.  If you don't lie on the floor, I will have to stun you!".  And the agent calls Chekov's bluff and says "OK stun me" and Chekov says "I werry sorry..." and he tries to fire his phaser but it doesn't work and smiles awkardly and says "It must be the radiation" and he throws it at the agent and flees.

And lastly there is the scene where Chekov (SPOILER!!) is saved by McCoy who brings Chekov out of his coma in hospital.  And Kirk says to him "Pavel, talk to me.  Name!  Rank!" and Chekov slowly comes around and says "Chekov...Pavel....rank...admiral!". 

Mark Lenard who reprises his role as Sarek, Spock's father also does a fine job and this time his character takes on the role as an ambassador for Vulcan who plays his part in aiding the federation president in the crisis involving the probe.  And by this time after the events of Star Trek III where Kirk saves Spock he has a new found respect for Kirk and his crew.

And Lenard has some good moments that include his first scene where he arrives during a federation council chamber meeting where the Klingon ambassador speaks out against Kirk's actions against the Klingon crew that were killed onboard the Enterprise when it was destroyed (in Star Trek III).

And in the scene the Klingon ambassador says "We demand the extradition of Kirk!  We demand justice!" and Sarek arrives saying "Klingon justice is a unique point of view, Mr President.  Mister President. ...Genesis was perfectly named. The creation of life not death. The Klingons shed the first blood while attempting to possess its secrets".  And the Klingon ambassador angrily says to Sarek "Vulcans are well known as the intellectual PUPPETS of this federation!" and Sarek reminds the Klingon ambassador "Your vessel did destroy U.S.S. Grissom. Your men did kill Kirk's son. Do you deny these events?".  And the Klingon ambassador arrogantly says "We deny nothing.  We have the right to preserve our race!" and Sarek says to him "You have the right to commit murder??".  

And lastly there is the scene near the end where (SPOILER) the Enterprise crew save the day and after the crew's trial, Sarek pays respect to his son, impressed by his actions in saving the Earth.  And Sarek says to Spock "I am returning to Vulcan within the hour.  I would to take my leave of you" and Spock says to him "It was most kind of you to make this effort" and Sarek says "It was not an effort. You are my son. ...Besides, I am most impressed with your performance in this ...crisis".  And Sarek continues "As I recall, I opposed your enlistment in Starfleet. ...It is possible that judgment was incorrect. ...Your associates are people of good character" and Spock says "They are my friends" and Sarek acknowledges this and says "Yes of course".

And last of all is Catherine Hicks as Gillian Taylor who does a fine job as the hotheaded but compassionate whale institute doctor, who tries to protect the whales in her care. 

Hicks also has some good scenes that include the scene where she angrily confronts Spock over his swimming in the whale tank with the whales.  And she angrily says to Spock "Who the hell are you? What were you doing in there?!" and Spock has a poor go at and directing a profanity back at her  "Atttempting the hell to communicate".  And Gillian angrily continues "Communicate? Communicate what? You have no right to be here!" and as Spock says to Kirk that if they did what they pleased with the whales then they would be just as guilty of their extinction in the future.  And Kirk tries to reassure Gillian they were trying to help and she says to Kirk "The hell you were, buster. Your friend was messing up my tank and messing up my whales!".  And Spock tells her even though the whales like her they are "not the hell her whales" and Gillian incredulously says "I...I suppose they told you that?  Huh!" and Spock says to her "The hell they did!" and she crosses her arms huffily and says "Right!". 

And later on Gillian follows Kirk and Spock in her truck and stops by them and says "Well if it isn't Robin Hood and Friar Tuck!"  and she offers them a lift and they get in.  And Gillian, troubled by Spock's futuristic claim about the whales extinction asks "What did you mean when you said all that stuff back at the Institute about extinction?".  And Kirk tries to cover up Spock's statement by saying if things carry on as they are the whales will disappear forever but Gillian doesn't buy it and she says "That's not what he said, farm boy. 'Admiral, if we were to assume those whales are ours to do with as we please, we would be as guilty as those who caused' ...past tense... 'their extinction.' ...I have a photographic memory. I see words!".  And Spock tries to diffuse the situation by saying "Are you sure it isn't time for a colour metaphor?" and after a pause Gillian asks Kirk "You're not one of those guys from the military, are you? Trying to teach whales to retrieve torpedoes, or some dipshit stuff like that?" and Kirk says "No, ma'am, no dipshit!".

And last of all is the scene when Gillian discovers that the whales have been released from the institute without her being told and she angrily confronts Bob, her associate at the institute.  And Bob says to her "They left last night. We didn't want a mob scene with the press. It wouldn't have been good for them. Besides ...we thought it would be easier on you this way".  And Gillian, furious, says to Bob "You sent them away without even letting me say goodbye???!!  You son of a bitch!!" and she slaps his face and storms off.  

DIRECTOR

Finally getting onto the director, Leonard Nimoy reprises his role at the directorial helm and he does an excellent job here again as he gives the film a more lighthearted than previously in Star Trek III.  Nimoy also was under certain constraints during the product of ST III so this time the studio gave him more creative freedom on Star Trek IV and Nimoy decided to go with the concept of a time travel story. 

Nimoy also does well at giving the story a contemporary modern feel as it is largely based in the 20th century and it captures a bit more of the gritty reality where there is a bit more wariness and cynicism of its 20the century characters and also more profanity to the dialogue (albeit mild profanity as it is a PG rated film).  In fact its safe to say that Star Trek IV is probably the most profane of all the Star Trek films largely due to its 20th century setting.

Anyway Nimoy again does a fine job overall both in front and behind the camera in ST IV: TVH and in a way it was a pity he didn't return to direct anymore especially after the disappointment of Star Trek V.       

MUSIC 

As for the music score by Leonard Rosenman, well I have to say its not really one of my favourite scores for the Star Trek series as it just doesn't quite fit the tone for an ST film as it just has a bit too much of a jaunty, leisurely feel to it and lacks any real kind of impact and drama.  Rosenman, who was a good friend of Leonard Nimoy, however was brought in after James Horner, who composed the previous two films, declined to return.  Regardless of all that though Rosenman's score still received an Academy award nomination although if you ask me its not that special a score although it is decent, its not that memorable.

And lastly in regards to the music there is one other song that features in the movie and that is "I hate you" which was written by the actor, Kirk Thatcher, who plays the punk on the bus and blasts out his stereo loudly and refuses to turn it down for Kirk, which leads into Spock knocking him out with his neck pinch.  The song itself is pretty cheesy but it is fit for purpose given that it was recorded in the hallway outside the recording studio to give it a rawer sound and it works pretty well.

FLAWS

So as for the film's flaws....yeah OK there are some.

And to start off you could argue the lack of a villain in the film, does take away some of the excitement factor of the story and this is where the film has to rely more on its humour to keep it fun and interesting.  

Then there is the whole idea of time travel via a slingshot around the sun seems in in itself to be a daft one although of course it was achieved in the original TV series episode "Tomorrow is yesterday" to which McCoy makes a brief reference to.  However for myself I think the concept of going into time warp and building up enough energy to do so in itself would have been more sufficient here than bringing the sun into it in my opinion, as I think they just used it as a dangerous obstacle they had to pass just for the sake of needing one!

And another bugbear I have with this film, along with Star Trek III is the footage of Kirk's report on the Genesis project, which originally featured Dr Carol Marcus in Star Trek II but they just decided to re-record it with Kirk instead but ultimately its with no real good reason in itself.  I mean Kirk didn't design the Genesis torpedo himself but it is presented in such a way that he was directly involved in it when he wasn't, so why didn't they just show the footage of Dr Marcus instead????   

I also found the idea of the probe itself was a bit stupid in some ways as Spock says himself at one point how the probe has great power and intelligence and how it is evidently unaware its transmissions are destructive.  Now if the probe is so intelligent why doesn't it release that its transmissions are destructive in the first place?!  In that regard the probe isn't that smart after all as its just blindly transmitting its signals without any consideration for anything around it!  So this really runs a bit contrary to Spock's theory.

Its also worth noting (well on a picky note!) that Leonard Nimoy as the director, has a bit of a penchant for using badges and stickers in the film such as the sticker on Gillian's truck that says "I Love Whales" which is just a bit too cheesy for my liking.  And to back this up Nimoy then decide's to have Dr Nichols at Plexicorp wear a badge that says "I quit smoking" which is again pretty daft.  I mean is it really necessary than we need to know either of these things???  Especially as we already know Gillian loves whales and her job and we don't need it spelt out for us on a sticker! 

There are also one or two puzzling moments in the film that don't make sense, such as how was Spock able to be beamed up onboard the Klingon vessel after Gillian drops him off because I thought everyone was out on their respective duties. However,  it is possible that maybe Scotty had returned to the ship but if not then its a bit of a plot hole that is never resolved.

I also thought it was a bit strange that Gillian decides to leave behind her 20the century life altogether as she says she has got "no one here". What really?! Not ONE single family member that you would miss or friends that you hate to never see again?! I guess Gillian is a rather detached person when it comes to people and doesn't believe in making friends or relationships but it is somewhat convenient that she decides to ditch her current life to help with the whales.

Also at the end of the film the charges against the crew are dismissed and Kirk is reduced in rank to Captain and given the command of a starship, but that in itself isn't really a punishment its more what he would have wanted.  And if they did want to really punish Kirk then surely they should have put him in the brig or something for a few months rather than giving him what he would want most!

Anyway that's for the flaws...I think!

SUM UP

Right so to finally sum up, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home still is one of the most enjoyable entries in the franchise and its lighthearted tone and humour and nice performances from the cast make it work well.  And yeah OK it does have some plot niggles here and there and its lack of a proper villain also means the film has to work a bit harder than some of the others to find other ways to keep itself interesting and it relies more on its humour to do so.

But if you are willing to forget the film's problems then Star Trek IV is still a very entertaining film to watch and it remains one of the most solid entries in the series.

So, I will give Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home...

8.5 out of 10

And that's it for now and I will return with my look at Star Trek V, which I will also be re-watching and I did a post on it ages ago, so its ready for another update.

So, until then its bye for now! 

The Last of Us Part II Review (Revisited)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, well thought I would do another post and this one is another revisitation and as I have already reviewed The Last of Us Part I, I figured I would look at Part II again and a few more bits to it as well as make mention of the PS5 60 fps upgrade version. 

So, with that said let's take a look at the highly anticipated (and divided) sequel to the acclaimed original...

And the usual warning is coming....

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, for a bit about the story, I've pinched a bit of the plot from the Wikipedia page for the game.

"After the events of the first game, Joel Miller (Troy Baker) confesses his guilt to his brother Tommy (Jeffrey Pierce) for preventing the Fireflies from finding a cure for the Cordyceps fungus to save Ellie (Ashley Johnson). Four years later, Joel and Ellie have built a life in Jackson, Wyoming, though their relationship has become strained. While on patrol, Joel and Tommy rescue a stranger, Abby Anderson (Laura Bailey), from an Infected horde. They return to an outpost run by Abby's group, former Fireflies who are now part of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), a militia group based in Seattle, Washington. They attack Joel and Tommy; Abby seeks revenge against Joel for murdering her father, a Firefly surgeon (Derek Phillips). Meanwhile, Ellie and her girlfriend Dina (Shannon Woodward) leave Jackson in search of the brothers. Ellie enters the WLF camp to witness Abby beat Joel to death, and swears revenge..."

And from here, Ellie embarks on her mission (accompanied by Dina) to hunt down Abby and the other WLF members responsible for Joel's death...

THOUGHTS 

The Last of Us Part II as a game story works very well as it tells a gripping one that is filled with interesting characters and two complex leads of Ellie and Abby, who have their own troubled pasts and of course its safe to say that this game caused a big uproar in that the player later on in the game has to play as Abby, Joel's killer given he was such a loved character by the fans. 

However, where the game really does succeed is that it does make you see the two different sides of the story with Ellie seeking revenge for Joel's death but it turns out that Abby's father, a Firefly surgeon that would have operated on Ellie to create a vaccine, was murdered by Joel after he was told she wouldn't have survive the process.

The game's supporting characters also work very well for the most part, with Ellie's girlfriend, Dina, being a fun and engaging character, Jessie, one of Ellie's allies and ex-boyfriend of Dina, is a likeable enough guy, who gets some amusing dialogue. In fact the game has plenty of humour in it despite its grim apocalyptic setting, it really does feel like Uncharted meets Resident Evil as there is plenty of humorous banter going on between the characters. 

So, from a story perspective, The Last of Us Part II does very well but I will say more about the gameplay and action below. 

GAMEPLAY

As for the gameplay, as usual, I will split this into sub sections for the different aspects of it below.

MOVEMENT 

Starting with movement, TLOU2 same as the original, adopts the third person perspective of your playable characters and you have a full range of moves here such as the typical walking, running, crouching, sprinting and a new addition here to the game, is that you can go prone and lie flat on the ground and e.g. crawl in grassy areas to avoid detection. What's also neat in the game is that you can break windows to enter rooms and buildings, so this really does give the game quite an open world feel to it and allows you to move freely through different areas. 

COMBAT & WEAPONS

As for the combat, in the game, Ellie and Abby will use a mix of firearm and melee attacks on their enemies and they will have access to a big selection of guns and melee weapons. Combat can be done hand to hand by taking on individual enemies, performing stealth kills from behind or just basically shooting them although you can also use a mix of other items such as stun bombs, mines and Molotov cocktails to take out regular human enemies or the infected ones. You can also even attack enemies by picking up items such as bricks or empty bottles and smashing them in the face with them to stun them temporarily to allow for a follow-up attack. You do however need to be careful in melee combat as you will often have to dodge enemy attacks because if you don't there's a good chance you will get beaten or bitten to death!  

As for weapons, there is an array to choose from in terms of guns, you have handguns, shotguns, rifles, assault rifles and scoped rifles and you can also gain access to a bow and a crossbow for stealthier take downs. Melee wise however, there are also plenty of weapons that you can pick up throughout the game such as hammers, axes, crowbars, lead pipes, bars, machetes and even just broken bits of wood! These melee weapons can also be reinforced with the use of different materials but they generally don't last long before they break and you are forced to pick up another elsewhere. 

ENEMIES

As for the game's enemies there is a mixture of regular human enemies and the two main groups of enemies are the WLF short for the Washington Liberation Front (during Ellie's campaign) the armed militia and the Seraphites (during Abby's campaign but also partly Ellie's too) who are a twisted religious cult. You often need to use stealth tactics to take out your enemies to avoid large groups of them overwhelming you, either that or you can take them on in smaller numbers or failing that just run!

As for the infected enemies they much the same as the ones in the first starting with the runners, who are essentially your typical zombies but they can run fast and often attack in groups. Then there are the Clickers, who are more deformed and have a fungal growth all over their heads and are much stronger and make loud clicking noise and while blind, they have acute hearing. As for the other infected there are Shamblers, who are new to Part II and look something like the alien enemies, the Zygons from Doctor Who and they emit a toxic cloud burst from their bodies that deals heavy damage. And lastly there are Bloaters, who are a stronger version of the Shamblers and they can deal some hefty damage and throw growths from their bodies that emit toxic gas similar to the Shamblers.

CRAFTING UPGRADES AND SKILLS

As for items, there are plenty of different items to be found in the game that can be used to craft upgrades for your weapons such as fire arrows & explosive bullets for shotguns and Molotov cocktails and silencers for your handguns. You can also use other items such as bandages and alcohol to create healing kits. Another things you can do is upgrade you weapons at work benches, which can be found at different points in the game but you need to obtain so many spare parts to do so but these upgrades can help increase the fire rate, decrease weapon sway or even enhance their damage. 

Another key aspect of the game is you can unlock skill trees that will enhance Ellie and Abby's abilities such as increasing their health, their ability to sense enemies, who can be seen a white figures through walls as well as move faster in crouch/prone mode or even enhance their aiming by holding their breath when taking aim. You do however need to obtain training manuals found throughout the game in order to unlock these skills as you go along. 

GRAPHICS 

As for the game's graphics, TLOU2 really does show off just what the PS4 is capable of as it is technically a stunning looking game and its visuals are rich and detailed. The environments for starters all look beautiful and the open landscapes offer some jaw dropping views from the frozen vistas near the start, to the lovely farmland in the summer seen near the end of the game (nuff said!). Character model wise, the game is also terrific as the characters, while they don't quite look life-like, they certainly are very impressive although in the shadows, there are times where you could swear that are fairly lifelike. 

Its also worth mentioning that the PS5 version of the game is also worth checking out if you have access to a PS5 as you get a free 60fps upgrade (one of Sony's rare free upgrades it has to be said lol!). And the 60fps definitely makes a difference to the action of the game as the higher frame rate makes it a more fluid experience than the original 30fps mode. 

So, overall, TLOU2 visually speaking is right up there among the very best titles of its generation and its a visual treat for the eyes without question, particularly if you have the PS4 Pro or PS5.

VOICE ACTING (Warning: this section might refer to the odd spoiler!)

Moving onto the voice acting, this is definitely a major strength of the game as it features a great cast of actors although most of them must provide the voice for their characters and do not provide the likeness of the character models themselves.

I won't go into this section in great detail to save on time but I will definitely mention the standout cast members below.

Starting with Ashley Johnson who is terrific in the lead role of Ellie, the troubled young woman, who spends most of the game seeking revenge for Joel's death. And Ashley really does convey a great deal of emotion in her performance as we get to see different sides of Ellie's personality from being fairly light hearted and at times even playful in her relationship with Dina, to really showing her dark side while on her hunt for revenge. Ashley also does a great job at conveying the later trauma that Ellie suffers as a result of her grueling journey. 

Laura Bailey is also excellent in her role as Abby, the somewhat unnaturally muscly female WLF member, who gets revenge for the death of her father at the hands of Joel. Bailey also does a great job in showing Abby as a fairly complex character, who starts off being somewhat unlikable by showing her brutal nature in killing Joel. However, as you play Abby's campaign, she develops as a character and shows her good side as she later tries to protect someone that saved her own life (but I won't say any more than that!). 

Troy Baker does a great job as Joel, although most of his performance is done via a series of flashbacks as Joel doesn't last too long in the main story-line of the game. However, Baker, proves here again he is one of the most talented voice actors in the business and his soft delivery of Joel's lines, really does give credence to a guy who is essentially decent at heart albeit also a pretty flawed anti-hero of sorts, who has a dark and difficult past.

Shannon Woodward is very good in her role too as Dina, Ellie's girlfriend, who is actually something of a bisexual given that Dina had just not long broken up with her boyfriend in the game, Jessie. Dina is however one of the most likeable characters in the game as Shannon does a great job at showing Dina's compassionate and humorous side that obviously appeals so much to Ellie. 

Stephen Chang is also very good as Jessie, Dina's ex-boyfriend who also helps out Ellie in her tracking down Abby. Chang provides some humorous moments in the game too such as his first scene where Jessie teases Ellie from having kissed Dina, not long after they had split up! 

Ian Alexander is also pretty good as Lev, a Seraphite who has renounced their cult and who Abby becomes good friends with as the two of them fight against the Seraphites. Victoria Grace is also very good in her role as Yara, Lev's sister, who helps rescue Abby at one point and together they fight against the Seraphites. 

And last of all is Jeffrey Pierce as Tommy, Joel's Brother, who sets out to also get revenge for Joel's death and he is pretty good in his role as well. I did however find Tommy's character to be a bit of a dick at times in the game, so I didn't always take to him but Pierce does well in his performance all the same. 

MUSIC 

As for the music score, it is by Argentine composer, Gustavo Santaolalla and its very good score that fits the tone of the game perfectly and its a pretty grim score for the most part but it does have its lighter moments too. The score also has the feel of western to it but then again so does the game's setting give the characters spend quite a bit of time on horseback out in the open. Gustavo's score is also pretty sparse and minimal at times but that works pretty well and it has some great intense moments such as when Abby and Ellie fight during one of the game's best sequences.

FLAWS (WARNING: THIS SECTION WILL CONTAIN A FEW SPOILERS!)

So, as for flaws...yeah, The Last of Us Part II has some worth a mention.

For starters one of my main complaints about the game is that it is simply TOO LONG and towards the end I felt it really started to outstay its welcome as it drags on and on too much! And endings wise, it really does feel like we are watching the Lord of the Rings film, the Return of the King, which had its fare share of endings and this game abuses that concept to nth degree here! And with the game running in at 25 hours long, it just way too long-winded and they could easily have trimmed 5 hours off the run-time. This is especially true given that TLOU Part 1 was a much tauter game that clocked in at around 15 hours of gameplay but this feels a bit too flabby in terms of game length.

Another issue for me with the game is that its action set pieces are VERY repetitive as you keep doing the same things over and over, which consists of going from building to building, hiding from enemies and clearing them out via use of stealth or other means of attack. And the overuse of these sequences again impact on the enjoyment of the game to an extent as they could easily have cut down on the amount of them to make the game that bit better!

And now for my biggest complaint in the game overall...the combat! Yep, for me THIS game has one of the MOST frustrating combat systems that I have EVER seen in a game! In fact, the combat was so annoying, I actually rage quit it on my first play through! However, I did eventually decide to return to the game and finish it off and to be fair I'm glad I did.

As for why its so frustrating???? Well, for me, its mainly to do with the Ellie sections of the game, as to start off she has some really crappy weapons, which are hampered by her sluggish and slow aim, which makes it difficult to kill enemies efficiently, who take at least three or fours shots before they die (depending on the difficulty level of the game). This is also especially the case with the rifle Ellie uses, which is bloody useless thanks to its sluggish aim and it takes ages to reload, so an enemy will already be on top of you and clobber you to death before you can do anything! You could also say the same for Ellie's bow, which has limited range and the crosshairs for it are too small and it is too easy to mess up when trying to hit an enemy from a distance. 

Another issue related to the combat is to do with the melee weapons you pick up as most of them break so easily! Now yeah OK, I can see that some of them such as broken off pieces of wood and small hand axes might break easily but you also have weapons such as lead pipes that break with ease too! I mean a lead pipe BREAKING THAT EASILY??? I mean come off it! It makes the relatively poor weapon durability in Dark Souls II appear positively brilliant by comparison! It was also my experience at times that I could not swap back to the melee weapon I had in the first place and I sometimes did swap by mistake and was really annoyed to find I couldn't get my original weapon back! 

Another problem relating to the combat is the enemy placement as enemies are liberally positioned ANYWHERE so even if you are crouched in a corner, there's a good chance one of these guys can spot you from somewhere! This is especially annoying during the many different sequences where you need to navigate through areas to reach an objective.

And thing brings me onto another annoying issue in the game...the dogs! Yep screw these things! I thought the dogs in Dark Souls were annoying but nope they have NOTHING on the bastards in this game! The dogs here are far worse as they are almost similar to Dark Souls III where they can virtually teleport on top of you and once they grab you, they are difficult to fend off and often kill you! They also can sense what I'm guessing is your body odour trail, which will allow them to find you with ease if you can't move away fast enough! So, in short these dogs SUCK and are the worst!

WARNING: THESE NEXT PARAGRAPHS CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Moving onto the plot there are also a few issues that seemed a bit daft, starting with Ellie in the sequence where she had just killed Abby's friends, Owen (also her ex-boyfriend) and Mel (Owen's then present partner, who is heavily pregnant). In the sequence, Ellie suffers a brief panic attack having seen that Mel is pregnant but then Tommy and Jessie come in to get her but she leaves behind her map, which Abby later on finds to locate her! Now, I can understand Ellie being distraught at this point but you'd think at least Tommy or Jessie would think to pick up the map for her, either that or at least she could have reminded them to get it for her! 

Another issue I had was to do with Ellie's character as there are times where she is actually unlikeable as she could be quite bitchy with people and was also a dick (or female dick if you like) to Joel especially when in the flashback where he lept to her defense in the bar sequence. She was also even totally ungrateful for Joel even saving her life in the first place and would seemingly rather have died on the operating table in order to secure a vaccine. Although to be fair Ellie was still furious at Joel lying to her about there being no cure for the vaccine and that there were others like her, which was of course a lie he told her in the first game.

And further to this point, I found it a bit ridiculous, not to mention hugely selfish that Ellie would willingly turn her back on her happy life with Dina, living out on a peaceful farm, to hunt down Abby one last time to secure her revenge. And at the end of the game, during their final fight, Ellie decides to let Abby live after all! So, basically Ellie's quest for revenge turned out to be a failure after all and wasn't really worth following through with, especially as Dina ends up leaving Ellie anyway (and after all that who could blame her?!).  

I also found it bizzare how Ellie and Abby are able to survive the amount of wounds they take in the game from gunshots to knife and stabs wounds not to mention even from arrows! I mean at the end of the game where Ellie and Abby fight, Ellie keeps slashing away at Abby's arms and chest, yet Abby can still carry on the fight unaffected! Not to mention, Ellie sustains a pretty nasty stab to her side from running into a rope trap that suspends her from a tree, which impales her side into a sharp branch that sticks out of the tree. I mean yeah OK, Ellie does stitch up the wound but I think it bleeds open again as she is about to fight Abby, so you'd think there would be a stronger chance of her bleeding to death more than anything else from the fight alone!  

And lastly another thing was a bit daft is to do with just how does Abby keep her muscly physique going in the game??? I can understand for sure that she could work out while she is a member of the WLF as they are bound to have gym equipment she can pump iron with. However, when the game fast forwards a year, Abby STILL has her muscle! It makes you wonder just how did she maintain it?! I very much doubt there was a gym or any gym equipment to be found during her travels with Lev, so it is a bit puzzling to think she can keep her "guns" so to speak! 

Anyway that's it for the flaws!

SUM UP

So, to sum up, The Last of Us Part II is overall a very good sequel that tells an engrossing story that features some interesting characters although the story really did split the fans right down the middle with its choices. The game also has a terrific voice acting cast, great visuals and to a certain extent enjoyable gameplay. 

However, it certainly does have its problems as it runs on way too long and the combat system in the game can be pretty frustrating to say the least to get used to, especially in the Ellie sections of the game although I have to admit that I preferred Abby's sections in the game as they were less frustrating overall. It also has some daft plot issues here and there too, which I'm sure also confounded quite a few fans too. 

But if you are willing to forgive its flaws, The Last of Us Part II is well worth checking out...

And I will give The Last of Us Part II:

8.5 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and I will be back with another post fairly soon.

Until then its bye for now! 

The Last of Us Part I Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, as its now September, I figured I would get another post out there and this one will be on a video game I recently completed, which is the PS5 remake of the acclaimed The Last of Us, which has been re-named The Last of Us Part I. 

But there has been some controversy over the development of this remake of the original game as many deemed it as being unnecessary given that it was already remastered for the PS4. However, as I haven't played the original before, I thought I would look at the game from a fresher perspective and see how it fairs. 

So, I will mention a bit about the plot below, so the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, the story begins in 2013 where American is ravaged by a fungal virus known as Cordyceps, which mutates humans into zombie like creatures that craved human flesh and are simply known as infected. In Austin, Texas, Joel (voiced by Troy Baker) flees his home with his brother Tommy (Jeffery Pierce) and his 12 year old daughter, Sarah (Hana Hayes) as the chaos breaks out. However as they try and make their escape, a military soldier guns down Sarah, who dies but Tommy saves Joel by killing soldier, leaving Joel grief stricken. 

20 years later, the infection has devastated civilization and the survivors live in a totalitarian quarantine zones, independent settlements and nomadic groups. Joel now works as a smuggler with his partner Tess (Annie Wersching) in a quarantine zone in Boston. Joel and Tess while hunting down a black  market dealer, who stole a cache of weapons from them. Before killing the dealer however, they learn that he sold the cache to the leader of the Fireflies, who are a militia group who oppose the quarantine zone authorities. 

The Fireflies leader, Marlene (Merle Dandridge) soon meets with Joel and Tess and tells them she will double their cache supply if they smuggle something in return, which is revealed to be a 14 year old girl named Ellie (Ashley Johnson). Ellie reveals that she was bitten by an infected but has not turned into one of them as a result and that she is immune and therefore she could lead to a cure, so Joel and Tess both agree to take Ellie to the Fireflies in Massachusetts state house with the hope a vaccine can be produced. However not long after they start out, Tess is soon attacked and bitten by one of the infected and she orders a reluctant Joel to take Ellie to the Fireflies while she stays behind and sacrifices herself as the military close in on them.

And its from here that Joel and Ellie begin dangerous journey together in the hope that a cure can be found to help save humanity...

THOUGHTS

Well, having not played the original Last of Us back on the PS3 or even the remastered edition on the PS4, I can't really compare the remake to either of them, so I will review it based on the merits of the remake but also the game's own merits (I guess!). And I have to say that The Last of Us Part I is an excellent game, which tells a gripping and engrossing story that sees two people in Joel and Ellie form an unlikely bond as they make their treacherous journey together with Joel taking on a father figure for the orphaned Ellie as the story progresses. I also like that the story has a more realistic feel to it as the infected aren't just some mindless undead zombies  (well they are pretty mindless I guess!) but they are the product of a dangerous fungus and that when they die they stay dead and don't get up again like some Resident Evil monster. 

There is of course some well deserved criticisms aimed at the remake however despite its technical improvements with its much improved graphics and character models and its tighter combat, which is based on The Last of Us Part II, it simply costs way too much at £70 to justify the price of the game itself. And this is especially given its an 9 year old game that has already been remastered, you can definitely argue the remake kind of feels pointless. You could also say the same for the Demon's Souls remake to a lesser extent but that was a game that really benefited from a remake given how dated the original looks in comparison but here, there definitely appears to be less reason for justifying one.

Despite this though, this was my first time playing this game and I still very much enjoyed it and I also had a PS store voucher, which helped reduce the cost by £20 to a more acceptable level, which they should have at least lower the priced to in the first place! And that aside there is still much to enjoy here and in fact playing the game for the first time in its remastered or remade state was what made it worth playing in a way. Regardless of the price, I enjoyed it at any rate! 

GAMEPLAY

As for the gameplay, I will do my usual and break it into sub sections as below:

MOVEMENT 

So, starting with the movement, TLOU Pt1 (for short!) is in a third perspective format and as you can play as Joel and at times Ellie in the game also, you get the usual movements such as running, jumping, sprinting, climbing, swimming and crouching. Joel and Ellie can also traverse gaps in environments via the use of wooden planks or ladders as well as make use of items such as activating generators to open gates. They can also lift up shutters to access rooms or buildings while the other character finds something to prop the shutter, so they can get through. So, the movement in the game is pretty varied overall and does give a satisfying free open world feel to players.

COMBAT & WEAPONS

As for combat, the game mixes up both melee, firearm and stealth methods of fighting and these are often deployed in equal ways. However out of the three of these melee is probably the least recommended given the strength of the infected enemies as e.g. the Clickers can easily grab and bite Joel or Ellie to death, so you are best to kill them using guns or by stealth. However you can pick up numerous melee weapons such as pieces of wood, pipes, machetes, pick axes and baseball bats although they only have limited durability and break with ease although they can be reinforced later on.     

Weapons wise, the game play has plenty to be found throughout such as handguns, shotguns, rifles, bows and even flame throwers. These weapons can also be upgraded by finding bolts that are scattered throughout the world of the game and Joel can upgrade them at different workbenches found in the game and depiction of the upgrades are quite impressive and give a sense of realism as we see Joel go through the actions of upgrading them. There also other makeshift weapons that can be used such as proximity (or nail) bombs that will go off as enemies near them, smoke bombs that will Joel and Ellie to escape the line of sight of enemies as well as Molotov cocktails, which are useful for taking a number of enemies at once. Joel can also construct these weapons by finding different materials throughout the game.

ENEMIES

In the game there is a mix of enemies that are both the infected and normal humans, with the infected coming a few varieties starting with the runners, who are the first stage of infection, where they stagger around constantly and will attack Joel or Ellie on sight but are the weakest of the infected generally speaking. The next step of the infected are Stalkers, who have fungus partly covering their face and have similar strength to the runner, unlike the infected at stage 3. 

And the stage 3 infected are the Clickers, who are much stronger and more dangerous to deal with as the fungus has spread over their faces, which makes them effectively blind but they have acute hearing and superior strength. Clickers also emit a loud clicking noise and often shriek out loudly as they move around. Clickers can can also easily kill you if try and take them on in hand to hand combat, so its best to use firearms and kill them using shivs (basically short knives) by sneaking behind them. 

And lastly there are the Bloaters, which are heavily mutated and have fungal growths over their entire body and also have superior strength and as such are very hard to kill and require a lot of firepower to take down. Bloaters are infected that have been exposed to the Cordyceps fungus for a long period of time and they also can throw parts from body that emit a toxic gas cloud.

As for the human enemies there are a mix of military soldiers, who can be found in different areas of the game and even some that use tanks to open fire on other NPCs as well as Joel and Ellie. And there are also other enemies such as hunters, who can be found in different parts of the game, who will also kill Joel or Ellie on sight but they can be taken down a bit easier in hand to hand combat than the infected are often armed with guns or melee weapons. 

HEALTH AND SKILL UPGRADES

Throughout the game, Joel can also upgrade his health by two levels to boost his HP and take more damage and he can restore his health by finding health kits or mini health kits found in the game. Joel can also use different tools to create health kits (as can Ellie although she cannot upgrade her HP) but only carry a maximum of 3 at any given time. Joel can also reduce the take it takes to heal himself as a separate upgrade. 

As for skills upgrades as well as upgrading his health by two levels, he can also increase his listening distance to be aware of enemies from further away, which enables you to see the shadows of enemies through walls. Joel can also use shivs to break free of Clickers and decrease weapon swaying when aiming guns or rifles and he can also increase the speed of crafting items too, which is very useful as you are on the go a lot.

COLLECTABLES 

Throughout the game, Joel can also find some interesting little collectables that include notes, letters and maps that will help traverse through the game or give info that can be useful for e.g. opening doors or safes. Joel will also find various tags of fallen of soldiers scattered throughout the game that contains their names and a number. 

GRAPHICS

As for the graphics, I will of course be reviewing by the remake version, which are a substantial upgrade over the original game and also an impressive enhancement over the PS4 remaster. So, overall this is a great visual upgrade that features some very impressive character models with Joel and Ellie now looking if not realistic, then they aren't too far off the mark. The environments also look stunning and rich with detail from barren landscapes, to the frozen wastes, to the dingy interiors of broken down buildings. The game also makes great use of enhanced lighting and shadow effects although they don't utilize ray tracing, which is often featured in many modern games today. So, overall this is a very impressive upgrade over the original and remaster versions.

VOICE ACTING

As for the voice acting, its absolutely terrific and features some of the best voice acting you are likely to hear in any video game particularly from the two lead performers.

Starting with Troy Baker, he does a superb job as Joel, who loses his daughter at the start of the Cordyceps outbreak and 20 years later operates as a smuggler and is given the task of smuggling Ellie to the Fireflies. And Baker has numerous highlights in the game and his scenes as Joel with Ellie are both very powerful and emotional as they start off an uneasy alliance and later bond together but they also have some moments of humor in between the drama. Baker also does a great job at showing Joel morally ambiguous nature of a man certainly lives by the maxim of the means justifying the ends.

Ashley Johnson is also terrific in her role as Ellie, the 14 year old girl, who Joel helps smuggle to the Fireflies militia and is immune to the Cordyceps fungus after having been bitten by an infected and could be the answer to finding a cure to the virus. Johnson does a great job at showing Ellie to be a very likeable and engaging character, who does slowly change as she undergoes her harrowing adventure and comes up against hoards of infected as well as hostile human enemies.

Jeffrey Pierce also does a fine job in his role as Tommy, Joel's brother, who helps Joel and Ellie out along the way and would later reappear in Part II. Tommy being the younger brother, is now part of a militia and is in a relationship with his wife, Maria and initially harbours a grudge over Joel but they quickly put their differences aside to help each other.

W. Earl Brown is excellent in his role also as Bill, a cynical smuggler and survivalist who helps out Joel, who he owes a favour to and he also provides some amusing dialogue along the way as he disapproves of Ellie getting in his way. 

Nolan North is also excellent in his role as David, who seemingly is a well meaning leader of a group of men but it later on turns out he is far more sinister and dangerous then he initially appears to be as he out to hunt Joel and Ellie. 

And last of is all Merle Dandridge who is also very good in her role as Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies who entrusts Joel to deliver Ellie safely to the medical facility where they hope to operate on Ellie and find a cure. However without giving too much away, things don't according to plan as Joel might have hoped with the operation and he is forced to take drastic action against Marlene and her men. 

MUSIC

And last of all is the music score by Gustavo Santaolalia which has a very sparse feel with its mix of strings and guitar, it is quite minimal in its sound but it is also pretty effective and works well with the game's tone. Gustavo also produces some emotional moments in the score particularly in the game's climax at the medical facility, which I won't say more about than that for now. Gustavo would later go on to score Last of Us Part II aswell, which was essentially more of the same but its no bad thing.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for flaws...yes The Last of Us isn't quite perfect even if it is an excellent game there are still some niggles here and there.

To start with, I felt there were times where the weapon selection was quite annoying as I kept trying to cycle through my weapons by hitting the square button but kept causing Joel to swing with his melee weapon instead. This could often prove to be annoying if you are nearby enemies, which could end up giving your position away.

I also felt with some enemies, particularly Clickers, it was quite difficult to try and sneak up on them from certain angles as they walk and trying to keep behind them was challenging without them turning and grabbing you for a quick bite! So, trying to deal with that could be a real pain at times just when you want shiv them to death before they get a chance!

Another problem was to do with the lack of silenced weapons, which was introduced in Part II but here it would have been more advantageous had they introduced them into the remake but sadly they didn't. This definitely would have been useful in many situations where you don't want to garner unwanted attention of nearby infected or regular enemies although the bows do provide a more silent take down method but I found the bow could be quite annoying to use and to aim accurately. 

As the story side of things, I kind of had my struggles with getting behind Joel as a character as he certainly believed in the means justifying the ends but in doing so, he does commit some pretty brutal acts of violence that include torturing soldiers before killing them. And I made me struggle with the reputation of Joel being a much beloved character by fans of the game purely because of his bond with Ellie, which is certainly appealing. However when it comes to Part II and Joel getting his own comeuppance, you can't but help feel that he had it coming even if his actions at the end of this game made some sense. 

I also felt the same to a lesser extent about Ellie but for the most part she is a likeable character and a breath of fresh air to the game as bright and friendly kid, who does share a pretty hefty burden with her immunity. However as the game progresses, she becomes an efficient killer, who fends for herself and later on she even brutally murders one of the antagonist characters, David, which is quite shocking when you first see it. Its a brutal act that shapes Ellie's future hardened nature in Part II and I found quite difficult to watch but at the same time, she is a young girl thrown into a harsh and brutal world, so she has no choice but to fend for herself. 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, The Last of Us Part I is an excellent remake of the original game and its improved graphics are stunning with great character models and environments that are rich with detail. The game also tells a very compelling story and features some pretty solid action, which is very solid mix of stealth, melee and gun play. The performances of the voice actors are also top notch with outstanding efforts from both Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson as Joel and Ellie. 

There are some minor drawbacks with the game but the biggest one is of course to do with the price of the remake at £70, its simply way to expensive to justify paying for at full price, I mean its just NOT a brand new game, its a remake of a game that has already been remastered. So, it would be safe to say that many people felt this remake was pointless and to a certain extent I would agree. However on the other hand, this was my first time playing this game and I did really enjoy the experience regardless of its hefty price tag (which I got a bit off with using a voucher helps!). So, for me TLOU Part 1 is still an excellent game in its own right and its easy to see why it get's the acclaim it does. 

So, I will give TLOU Part 1:

9 out of 10

So, that's it for this one and I will be back with another post sometime soon.

Ciao the now!