In a new blog post, developer Naughty Dog has detailed the accessibility features of The Last of Us Part I, including how the game uses haptic feedback to create a more immersive and engaging experience.
According to game director Matthew Gallant, the game should be an accessible experience for people with a range of disabilities, including those who are hard of hearing or deaf, those who experience blindness, or those who have motor accessibility needs.
Audio descriptions for cinematics are new to this version of the game, and were created in partnership with Descriptive Video Works. They will appear across all localised languages, and will be integrated into cutscenes. In addition, the PS5 DualSense controller will have an option to play dialogue through the controller as haptic feedback.
‘That way a deaf player can feel the way a line is delivered, can feel the emphasis, along with the subtitles to give some sense of how that line is delivered,’ Gallant said.
In the game, there will be three major accessibility presets, but all settings can be customised to better adapt to vision, hearing, and motor accessibility needs.
Read: The Last of Us Part I gets major gameplay and features trailer
A full list of features has been detailed on the PlayStation blog, and they include:
- Screen readers
- Cinematic descriptions
- High contrast display options
- HUD scale > large
- Auto-target for lock-on aim
- Traversal and combat audio cues
- Navigation and traversal assitance
- Ledge guard
- Enhanced Listen mode
- Invisibility Toggle
- Skip Puzzle option
- Combat accessibility options
- Awareness indicators
- Pick-up notifications
- Subtitles in both story and combat
- Subtitle names
- Subtitle direction
- Combat vibration cues
- Auto weapon swap
- Auto pick-up
- Camera assist
- Infinite Breath
- Repeated Button Press > Hold
- Weapon sway off/on
While playing The Last of Us Part I, players will also be able to customise the PS5 DualSense controller, remapping any buttons – including what touchpad swipes and shaking the controller does. Rapid presses can be turned into longer holds if needed, and button holds can be changed to a toggle.
A new visual aid system is bringing customisation to the screen. All HUD (heads-up display) elements can be resized and coloured, including UI and gameplay elements. There’s also a High Contrast display mode for players to better read in-game text. Those who suffer from motion sickness will have the option to reduce camera shake, motion blur, camera follow distance, and field of view.
When The Last of Us Part I launches for PlayStation 5 and Windows PC on 2 September 2022, expect it to integrate these features in a way that makes the game accessible for everyone.