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[MegaSackman]

First of all, I've yet to play Rise of the Tomb Raider, I guess I'll do it once it's available on PS4 but I'm still not sure if I will because I wasn't a fan of the first one.

I often read here that Tomb Raider gameplay is fantastic and while I think it's functional I just don't see how awesome supposedly is. I mean yeah, it controls quite well but I find the game dull designwise, enviroments are good but the enemies make the game feel like a shooting gallery, almost like a Lethal Enforcers game, they just duck down and stand up to shoot you with some occasionally approach but that's about it. In that regard I could say that The Order 1886 has fantastic gameplay because weapons works quite well and are inventive but if nothing interesting happens arounds it, it ends up being pointless or at least not that satisfaying.

I have other problems with Tomb Raider Reboot, combat is not my biggest gripe with the game and I wouldn't care about it if it wasn't because Gaf has it in such high regard. I probably played it the wrong way or something.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

I only played the first, and found the enemies and arena design to be brainless and boring respectively. The shooting itself seemed fine for what it was, but that was it.

That was also the core gameplay throughout — it wasn't a compliment to anything z

 

[Mediking]

I love Tomb Raider on PS4. It's beautiful, Lara is VERY easy to control, figuring out puzzles is very satisfying, using the bow and arrow is incredibly satisfying, and using the shotgun is fun too. I can't wait for Rise on PS4.

 

[Htown]

You're right, the game isn't that good.

It's bland as hell, and the best part of it (stealth via the bow) becomes irrelevant in the second half of the game.

 

[kabel]

I know that feeling.
Stopped playing after 1,5 hours.

 

[Nzyme32]

Well I kind of agree with you for the most part. It's the same feelings I have about Uncharted. The gameplay just isn't for me. It's more "cinematic" than it is actual fun in it's gameplay mechanics; a feeling I get in general with the classic "AAA" third person adventure game. It's far too predictable and bland to entertain me. A great test for these games is simply to see what happens when you put no effort into playing or don't even provide input during an action sequence. Often you'll find the game isn't really challenging you at all.

Having said that, the exploration aspects were where the real "fun" was, rather than the action and over the top set pieces & quick time events

 

[Warxard]

It's by the numbers.

 

[Greddleok]

I don't think you're missing anything. The game was a solid 6/10 for me. Fun, but inherently shallow and with a god awful plot. Once I finished it, I removed it from my hard drive and never once had the urge to go back.

Apparently Rise otTR is better, but no way in hell I'm paying full price for that.

 

[Manoko]

It's another one of those overrated games, in my opinion.

 

[Farsi]

It's smooth but has a gritty touch to it. It's very satisfying. RoTR made it even better.

 

[BigTnaples]

It's great, but that doesn't mean it's for everyone.


No need for us to explain it to you, it's just not for you.



No game is for everyone.

 

[Moze]

Game is boring and doesn't really do anything well. People will deny it, but the game clearly wanted to be Uncharted. The sequel looks to be much improved though.

 

[Ragona]

I played Rise of the Tomb Raider straight after I played Uncharted 4, so maybe that colored my reception of the game more than I expected.
Controls feel really really clumsy and shooting apart from the bow feels way worse than Uncharted 4. in terms of presentation and responsiveness, Uncharted 4 is a whole different league.
However, I quite liked the open areals and crafting element, as well as the tombs alot. Sadly there are only a handfull of those, which really feel "open world". All the other levels feel prett generic imo.
After playing Uncharted 4, the game feels nothing more than a 7/10 for me!

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

It's Uncharted but without the good story or compelling characters. For a Tomb Raider you do very little Tomb Raiding. Add in pointless crafting and fetching and boom you have Tomb Raider.

 

[Transistor]

A lot of people used it as a hammer to bash on Uncharted with, for some reason.

 

[Hektor]

Because the comments about it being fantastic are usually coming from a comparison with uncharted, and let's be honest here, thats a battle you can't lose.

 

[Prismo]

I thought it was a decent game that was very pretty, I also recognize that it has its problems and that I cut it a lot of slack because I had a shiny new PS4 and nothing to play on it at the time. So basically exactly the same as Infamous Second Son.

 

[Jinketsu]

I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was the greatest - seemed like an attempt to be Uncharted but took itself too seriously, but I thought the story was great and worth playing for.

The multiplayer was a real shame. I had more fun boosting the trophies for the MP stuff than actually playing it legitimately. That shouldn't be the case.

 

[Red]

I just started playing TR 2013 a couple of days ago, and considered making this thread. I don't get it. I heard good things and had been looking forward to this. But it's not interesting. The little moments where the music swells and a plank cracks in half while Lara's walking it carry no weight... I know she's going to be fine. The game's obsession with torturing her also puts me off. I don't like the way the camera lingers on her injuries. The gamey aspects like "light ten torches!" are conspicuous and incongruent with the core gameplay (which is probably the least interesting thing in the game). Repeatedly having to enter "survival instincts" to find objectives is annoying and frustrating, and I wish environments better communicated where to go, or at least made the getting part a challenge. I've done a couple of tombs now and they've both been insultingly simple. I was hoping for more of a challenge, less of a "press button to locate shiny trinket" kind of experience.

It looks nice at least.

I'm pretty disappointed so far though.

 

[matrix-cat]

The new Tomb Raiders feel like games designed by committee, all the most popular features of all the most popular games and media phenomenons. Hunger Games is big -> Lara uses a bow. Uncharted is big -> Tomb Raider has cinematic setpieces. Last of Us is big -> TR has on-the-fly crafting and bottles everywhere. Ubisoft games make bank -> Tomb Raider has a million collectibles to find. XP system, weapon upgrades, audiologs, QTEs, bar-filling sidequests, forced slow walking; you name the industry trend, the new Tomb Raider games have it.

So they're hard to actually dislike, because they play fine and they're perfectly competent. But they don't really do anything to set themselves apart, either. They don't do anything you haven't seen before, but they're still enjoyable enough.

 

[Vuze]

I think gameplay-wise it's far more enjoyable than Uncharted. Doesn't mean it's fantastic or for everyone (it's fairly standard TPS gameplay after all) but I had a fun time with the two playthroughs of TR2013 and the one time I played through ROTR.

Just wish the characters were more likable and the vistas in ROTR were comparable to UC4.

 

[danowat]

I am currently playing it, and I am about 14 hours in, I think it's pretty good, why?, not really sure......

It's not really a game game per say (IMO), it's more a piece of interactive fiction, but it's fun and action packed, and that's enough for me.

It's a pulpy chuck away blockbuster, it doesn't do anything new, doesn't progress the genre, but what it does do, it does pretty well.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I loved it. Definitely prefer it to Uncharted 1 and 3.

It comes down to better climbing mechanics with superior verticality, lots of going up and down and satisfying feedback from using the climbing axe. I've never played an adventure game that constantly takes you to such satisfying heights.

It's also the best bow play I have ever experienced. I don't even use guns when I play (and replay, over and over and over). Takedowns are also super fun and, again, just satisfying. I love how they're introduced through XP so that you're always getting new ones and I just love they are integrated into the combat.

I think the map design is really good and there's no wasted space. The open areas have satisfying rewards off the beaten path (usually as simple as a treasure). Everything leads to something. This is not the case with UC4, for example, where many paths lead the the same location and you might spend a lot of time exploring large open areas and find nothing in them. I never explored a nook or cranny in TR2013 and thought "Oh, there's nothing here."

I don't think TR2013 is a better game than UC4, though. Before anybody jumps on me for that.

I also think the salvage and crafting mechanics rule. Simple and effective and great to utilize.

TR2013 is one of those perfect games for me. It is endlessly satisfying for me to play. It's like RE4.

I haven't played ROTR yet either, though. I will when it comes to PlayStation.

 

[ProfessorMoran]

First of all, I've yet to play Rise of the Tomb Raider, I guess I'll do it once it's available on PS4 but I'm still not sure if I will because I wasn't a fan of the first one.

I often read here that Tomb Raider gameplay is fantastic and while I think it's functional I just don't see how awesome supposedly is. I mean yeah, it controls quite well but I find the game dull designwise, enviroments are good but the enemies make the game feel like a shooting gallery, almost like a Lethal Enforcers game, they just duck down and stand up to shoot you with some occasionally approach but that's about it. In that regard I could say that The Order 1886 has fantastic gameplay because weapons works quite well and are inventive but if nothing interesting happens arounds it, it ends up being pointless or at least not that satisfaying.

I have other problems with Tomb Raider Reboot, combat is not my biggest gripe with the game and I wouldn't care about it if it wasn't because Gaf has it in such high regard. I probably played it the wrong way or something.

It is just a mediocre game in terms of gameplay.

 

[CyberChulo]

Because it's Uncharted's sister game.

 

[MegaSackman]

I played Rise of the Tomb Raider straight after I played Uncharted 4, so maybe that colored my reception of the game more than I expected.
Controls feel really really clumsy and shooting apart from the bow feels way worse than Uncharted 4. in terms of presentation and responsiveness, Uncharted 4 is a whole different league.
However, I quite liked the open areals and crafting element, as well as the tombs alot. Sadly there are only a handfull of those, which really feel "open world". All the other levels feel prett generic imo.
After playing Uncharted 4, the game feels nothing more than a 7/10 for me!

I found that to be the most interesting thing on the game and the art was pretty cool too with some amazing places but yeah, I think when Tomb Raider gameplay is praised people refer to those features rather than encounters.

 

[8bit]

I'm playing through Uncharted 4 right now, and the gameplay is not comparing favourably to Rise of the Tomb Raider. The story in Rise is bollocks though, and Lara is a whiny wretch.

 

[dragonflys545]

The sequel was underwhelming. I beat it and I forgot almost everything about the game already.

 

[bebop242]

Never understood how this game was so highly praised and Resident Evil 6 was so poorly received.

 

[Gestault]

In Rise, the crafting/resource system makes the environment something you're constantly scanning. The basically open-world/zone structure makes the procession of new equipment satisfying in the way Metroid/Zelda games did in the past because it's widening areas to explore. The stealth gameplay works, but varying approaches are totally viable. The tombs (which there are a good number of, and pace well alongside the main story progression) generally require a three-to-four step sequence to solve, without feeling overly complicated. Some of the entrances are really effortlessly a part of the environment, that can make them trickier to find in the first place.

These are specific to the sequel, but they basically apply to 2013: It gets action, exploration, and a progression of player power "right" in a way that offers more freedom than many games in the genre.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Having only played the reboot, I don't think the gameplay is a particularly good. It feels like a pretty by the numbers cover shooter with some stealth and a superficial upgrade system. You cant even climb and shoot or jump and shoot.

 

[CoG]

First game in a while that I stopped playing because I lost complete interest in the story and characters. Everyone is too serious and self-important. Lara has zero charm or sense of humor. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

 

[Red]

Is anyone else bored by all the walking we do in games now? I've noticed this in TR more acutely than other AAA games I've recently played. I've been moving more and more toward puzzle and strategy games, that keep gameplay front and center, because many of these high-budget adventure games feel like a lot of walking from point A to point B with little gameplay bubbles in-between. If I'm solving a puzzle, I find it more satisfying to interact directly with the pieces of that puzzle, instead of walking from one target to the next in an approximation of real space. Shoot outs make more sense for operating in real space, but in TR the battles have been so cramped and confined that they really don't offer any flexibility in how to complete them. Shoot the thing, move forward, shoot the next thing. Maybe it's that linearity that's putting me off. This is a game where everything has been predetermined. It's a game about discoverers, with no sense of discovery.

 

[Kai Dracon]

I played through the game and am currently playing through Rise. I enjoyed TR 2013 mostly for the parts that weren't trying to be scripted, Uncharted set piece sequences. What I think it does very well is bringing back a sense of exploration to games like this, and the idea of scavaging for crafting components is good. Also the idea of having hidden tombs all over that are all unique, even if short.

I didn't mind how much combat there was because regardless of enemy AI it feels good and I thought there was an excellent balance between juggling guns and the bow, with the mechanic of recovering used arrows to conserve supplies.

So far I do think Rise is a far better game though. For the most part it's no longer leaning on Uncharted to prop itself up and is more confident about being its own thing.

The stories of both games take themselves a bit too seriously and don't have the quality of writing or plotting to support the gravitas they wish to display. But that's like 90% of video games, including most of the ones lauded for their sophisticated storytelling.

 

[FaintDeftone]

I still say both Tomb Raider '13 and Rise of the Tomb Raider have amazing combat. I can see why all of the other elements are disliked but the combat is fantastic in my opinion. Not one enemy encounter was un-enjoyable.

Personally I love these games. Uncharted is far superior in everything but combat though (again, in my opinion).

 

[DarkTom]

I don't know about gameplay in general, but the controls of the game are really awesome. Lara really does exactly what you want.
Some people just love great controls, like me. That's why I loved TR2013 or why I love Super Mario 64 and cannot get into Monster Hunter or Resident Evil.

I'm playing UC4 and while the game is awesome it is not as good as TR2013 on the controls.

 

[Amory]

From what I remember I thought that game felt great. Just moving around the environment and shooting stuff with a bow and arrow or a gun was way more fun than in most peer action games.

 

[Nielm]

First game in a while that I stopped playing because I lost complete interest in the story and characters. Everyone is too serious and self-important. Lara has zero charm or sense of humor. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

I did the same thing. I rented it back when it released and I got bored about 2/3 of the way through, and I didn't care to finish it. This rarely happens to me with games I play.

I bought it again for the PS4 and finished it, but I really don't see why it got the review scores it did.

 

[Resident_UA]

I only played Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox, but it didn't feel as good as the first game. Probably because the first one I played on PS4 and it was awesome at 60 fps.

 

[KORNdoggy]

i played the reboot twice, yet to play rise, and combat wise i don't think it's very good. it was competent, especially if you used the bow and played more stealthily, but otherwise i thought it was pretty mediocre, but i kinda went into it expecting combat to be more vertical and more scrappy like uncharted, and it wasn't. the traversal i liked a lot as well as the open-ish exploration. it was ultimately that which made me play it twice. i'm expecting it will be those elements that i'll enjoy in rise of the tomb raider too.

 

[visiblemode]

Loved it. Don't share some's view that it demolishes the UC games before it, but was really happy to have the additional TPS fun.

 

[CoG]

I did the same thing. I rented it back when it released and I got bored about 2/3 of the way through, and I didn't care to finish it. This rarely happens to me with games I play.

I bought it again for the PS4 and finished it, but I really don't see why it got the review scores it did.

I was talking about Rise of the Tomb Raider, not 2013. I got both for cheap on the PC, 2013 soon after it came out and Rise a few months back. I liked 2013 more because at the time it felt fresh. Rise just felt like more of the same but the characters were all super-irritating.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Nah I can't, for me TR2013 and ROTTR are some of the most uninspired and design-by-committee games I've played in years.

 

[KevinCow]

I found it to be an entertaining enough shooter, even if it didn't do anything exceptionally new or different. Lara was fun to control, dudes were fun to shoot. I liked trying to be as stealthy as possible with the bow, then just wrecking shit when I was inevitably seen. I even liked the pseudo-Metroidvania element of the game, where you could return to old areas with new upgrades to access new areas, even if all you really got for that was scrap.

 

[Nielm]

I was talking about Rise of the Tomb Raider, not 2013. I got both for cheap on the PC, 2013 soon after it came out and Rise a few months back. I liked 2013 more because at the time it felt fresh. Rise just felt like more of the same but the characters were all super-irritating.

My bad, I presumed you were talking about the 2013 Reboot because the OP is talking about it.

 

[Ghost Slayer]

The game pretty much had every thing I hate in modern game designs:
1. Waypoint. Check
2. Batman vision. Check
3. XP progress. Check
4. Checklist collection on map. Check
The only thing I enjoyed is the story which I considered A+ comedy

 

[64bitbros]

I liked Tombraider to be honest. Shooting was solid and it looked great. It had too much collectables though and the maps were a pain to navigate to collect them all. And that wire sliding/climing i could do without. But had fun nonetheless.

Oh and getting "upgrades" later in the game and having to backtrack just to open a few doors is really obnoxious.

 

[Tosyn_88]

Game is boring and doesn't really do anything well. People will deny it, but the game clearly wanted to be Uncharted. The sequel looks to be much improved though.

Who's denying that?

 

[MegaSackman]

In Rise, the crafting/resource system makes the environment something you're constantly scanning. The basically open-world/zone structure makes the procession of new equipment satisfying in the way Metroid/Zelda games did in the past because it's widening areas to explore. The stealth gameplay works, but varying approaches are totally viable. The tombs (which there are a good number of, and pace well alongside the main story progression) generally require a three-to-four step sequence to solve, without feeling overly complicated. Some of the entrances are really effortlessly a part of the environment, that can make them trickier to find in the first place.

These are specific to the sequel, but they basically apply to 2013: It gets action, exploration, and a progression of player power "right" in a way that offers more freedom than many games in the genre.

And I agree to all of that, I'm not sure about the "action" part because I felt it "by the numbers" but what you do in the game outside of combat was interesting to me as a game. My doubt is specifically about encounters/shooting though, but I guess it's actually no that good even if it controls well, the encounters are not well designed nor are inventive in my opinion.

 

[LTWheels]

I like it. There's a nice little combat element regard which weapon and equipment to use for any given encounter depending upon your position, type of enemies etc