The Last of Us Part 1 is free with PlayStation Plus Premium, but don't get too excited

PS Plus Premium subscribers can play a two hour trial of Naughty Dog's classic

(Credit: Naughty Dog)

➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: The Last Us Part 1 trial

• 🦒 A trial of The Last of Us Part 1 is now available to PS Plus Premium subscribers

• ⏱️ Experience the first two hours of the game and take your save file with you

• 💰 Once the trial is up, you’ll have to pay $70 to continue

• 📺 The trial coincides with The Last of Us TV show’s debut

If you subscribe to PlayStation Plus Premium you can now enjoy a free trial of The Last of Us Part 1.

The highest tier of Sony’s revamped PS Plus subscription – which costs $17.99 per month – lets members play a variety of PS5 games for up to two hours, and the Last of Us Part 1 has now been added to the Game Trials list.

Once your two-hour trial is up, you’ll have to pay the full $70 price tag to continue. However, your save file and Trophies will carry over once you purchase the game.

The timing couldn’t be more perfect, what with the release of The Last of Us TV show. The adaptation of Naughty Dog’s critically acclaimed series has been a hit with critics and is now available to watch on HBO Max or Sky Atlantic if you’re in the UK.

After 91 critic ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, The Last of Us has an unbelievable score of 99% from critics and a 96% audience score.

Sony will be hoping that the TV show leads to renewed interest in The Last of Us Part 1, a PS5 remake of the original game. Even though it didn’t do enough to break into our best PS5 games list, it still earned an honorable mention as it’s the definitive way to experience Joel and Ellie’s harrowing adventure.

Whether it’s worth $70, though, is up for debate. In my The Last of Us Part 1 review, I said: “The Last of Us Part 1 is the definitive version of Naughty Dog’s iconic third-person adventure game – there’s no doubt about that. Still, despite the vast improvements to the game’s visual fidelity and some pleasing quality-of-life improvements, it’s too expensive to recommend wholeheartedly.”

We’ve seen successful TV adaptions not only reinvigorate sales of older games but even have a transformative effect. Netflix’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners led to incredible sales for CD Projekt Red’s maligned first-person adventure game, Cyberpunk 2077. If The Last of Us TV show can generate remotely close to the sales spike Cyberpunk 2077 experienced, Sony will be delighted.

We’ve seen more and more TV and film video game adaptions in recent years, and the quality has risen substantially. Not everything’s a hit – particularly if an adaptation strays wildly from the source material. But it feels like studios have finally understood how to strike a balance between those who love the games and those who want a gripping television or film to watch.

There’s more to come, too. Xbox fans can look forward to a live-action Gears of War movie in the future, and Sony’s next big PlayStation Productions film is a Gran Turismo movie on August 11.

In terms of what’s next on PlayStation 5, check out our PS5 games 2023 list for all the upcoming releases coming to Sony’s console this year.