You're crouched behind a rusted-out sedan in the middle of a flooded Pittsburgh street. Your heart is thumping because you know there’s a sniper up ahead, and your last brick just shattered against a wall because your aim was slightly off. That’s the reality of Naughty Dog’s masterpiece. Even years after its release, a Last of Us Remastered PS4 walkthrough isn't just a list of directions; it’s a survival manual for a world that genuinely wants you dead. Honestly, most people play this game wrong the first time. They treat it like a standard third-person shooter, wasting ammo on Clickers and wondering why they’re staring at a "You Are Dead" screen every five minutes.
It’s brutal.
The Remastered version on PS4 brought 60 frames per second and crisp 1080p visuals, but it also made the AI feel a bit snappier. If you’re looking for a way through Joel and Ellie’s journey without tearing your hair out, you have to understand the rhythm of the game. It’s a dance. A messy, violent, stressful dance.
Surviving the Early Game: Austin to the Quarantine Zone
The opening is a gut punch. We all know that. But once you’re actually playing as Joel in the Boston QZ, the game starts testing you immediately. This isn't Call of Duty. If you find yourself in a shootout with FEDRA soldiers, you've probably already lost. The smartest way to handle the early sections—specifically the slums and the cargo areas—is to stay low and use the environment.
Grab every rag. Every bottle of alcohol.
You’ll want to prioritize making Shivs over anything else. Why? Because Shivs open locked doors. These "Shiv Doors" are basically the game's way of rewarding your restraint. Inside, you’ll find supplements to upgrade Joel’s skills and parts to fix his gear. If you waste your Shivs stabbing Runners in the neck, you’ll miss out on the tools you actually need to survive the Winter chapter later on.
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The outskirts of Boston introduce the Clickers. These things are the stuff of nightmares. They use echolocation, which basically means they’re blind but have super-hearing. Most players panic and start shooting. Don’t do that. You can literally walk right past a Clicker if you move slow enough. Crouch-walking at minimum speed is your best friend.
The Pittsburgh Ambush and the Art of the Brick
Pittsburgh is where the game’s difficulty spikes. Hard. The "Alone and Forsaken" chapter starts with a literal crash and ends with you being hunted through a multi-story hotel.
Here is a pro-tip that any decent Last of Us Remastered PS4 walkthrough should emphasize: The brick is the most powerful weapon in the game. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. A brick can be used as a melee weapon to kill a Clicker in three hits without breaking your melee tool. It can be thrown to stun a human hunter, allowing you to run up and grab them as a human shield. Bottles are okay for distractions, but bricks? Bricks are for the win.
In the hotel basement, things get terrifying. You have to find a keycard and start a generator. The second that generator kicks over, the Stalkers come out. These aren't like Runners; they hide. They peek around corners. My advice? Don't even try to fight them all. Once that generator is humming, run for the door. Use your map knowledge to navigate the laundry room and get to the keycard door as fast as possible. Fighting a Bloater in a cramped basement is a losing game unless you have a surplus of Molotovs.
Scavenging Secrets: Don't Leave Tools Behind
One thing that confuses players is the Tool Levels. You need these to upgrade your weapons at workbenches. There are five of them scattered throughout the game. If you miss one in the Bill’s Town church or the Pittsburgh sewers, you’re going to be stuck with a weak handgun for way too long.
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- Tool Level 1: Found in the basement of the church in Bill's Town.
- Tool Level 2: In the garage after the first big fight in Pittsburgh.
- Tool Level 3: Found in the sewers after the suburbs section.
- Tool Level 4: Located in the Science Building at the University.
- Tool Level 5: Inside a tent in the Salt Lake City tunnel area.
Missing these makes the late-game encounters, like the hospital run, almost impossible on higher difficulties like Grounded or Survivor.
The Emotional Gauntlet: Winter and the Salt Lake City Tunnel
By the time you reach the University and then transition into the Winter chapter as Ellie, the gameplay shifts. Ellie is smaller. She can't overpower grown men. You have to play as a predator. Use the snowstorms for cover. The fight against David in the burning restaurant is purely about line-of-sight and patience. If you rush him, it’s over.
Then comes the tunnel in Salt Lake City. This is the final "combat puzzle" of the game. You’ll face two Bloaters, several Clickers, and a horde of Runners all in one flooded corridor. Many people think they have to clear the room. You don't. You can actually stealth through almost the entire tunnel by sticking to the right-hand wall and using the water as cover. It saves your ammo for the final showdown at the Firefly hospital.
Speaking of the hospital, this is where you stop being a survivor and start being a force of nature. Joel is a juggernaut here. Use the smoke bombs. They are criminally underrated. A smoke bomb stuns the heavily armed Fireflies, allowing you to sprint past them or take them out with a quick melee strike.
Actionable Strategy for Your Playthrough
To get the most out of your time with the game, follow these tactical rules:
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Listen Mode is a Crutch (but Use It): If you're playing on Normal or Hard, Listen Mode (R1) is your radar. Use it constantly to track enemy patrol paths. If you're on Survivor or Grounded, it's disabled, forcing you to rely on your actual ears.
Upgrade the Right Skills: Don't waste supplements on "Faster Crafting." You should be crafting in safe areas anyway. Instead, dump everything into "Maximum Health" and "Weapon Sway." Being able to hold a rifle steady is the difference between a headshot and a wasted bullet.
The Bow is King: It’s silent. You can often recover the arrows. It’s the ultimate stealth weapon for thinning out groups of hunters without alerting the whole block. Aim for the head, or the chest if they aren't wearing armor.
Holster Up: Spend your parts on getting the second long-gun holster and the second pistol holster as soon as possible. Being able to swap from a shotgun to a rifle without opening your backpack will save your life during the suburban sniper fight.
Save the Flamethrower: It's tempting to use it on everything once you get it at the University. Don't. Save that fuel specifically for Bloaters. It’s the only way to kill them quickly without wasting ten shotgun shells.
The beauty of this game lies in its tension. You’re supposed to feel like you’re barely making it. Every empty drawer you find adds to the atmosphere. When you finally reach the end of your Last of Us Remastered PS4 walkthrough, you shouldn't just feel like you beat a game; you should feel like you survived an ordeal. Focus on the shiv doors, respect the Clickers, and for heaven's sake, keep a brick in your hand at all times. You’ll need it.
After finishing the main story, your next logical step is to dive into the "Left Behind" DLC, which is included in the Remastered package. It provides crucial backstory for Ellie and features a unique combat mechanic where you can lure Infected and human enemies into fighting each other, saving you the trouble of using any ammo at all. Then, if you're feeling brave, try a New Game Plus run on a higher difficulty to see how much you've actually learned about the mechanics.