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[adamsapple]

This game is a real treat. This is what I really wanted out of the Tomb Raider/Uncharted games.

The recent TR reboot trilogy could have gone this way, more exploration based, but they decided to turn Lara into John Rambo by the third one.

 

[Revolutionary]

Finished it and collected everything though I'm missing one item in Iraq because of a bug (certain elements of the game are quite buggy like the map) Also unlocked the mystery door (pro tip, wait until you have all fifty relics on you before doing this as those will not return to you and you'll miss out on an achievement). I'm not sure the secret ending was worth the hassle. The story elements are great but I didn't care for any of the mechanics. I do prefer the linear levels, but that probably has to do with collecting everything which kind of made me hate the maze like layout of the Vatican and all the boat riding in Thailand. I'd still recommend it to Indy fans as you can skip most of the tedium and enjoy the story.

I like the idea of immersive sim-like open levels in a game like this but the lack of any kind of manual saving really hurts it. It's especially apparent when you reload a checkpoint in Sukhothai - better hope you're near a fast travel point you want to be or else you're gonna end up in some other spot on the map.

LMAO wtf is happening. I am doing a sidequest in the Vatican where I had to put wine in a bowl to open a secret passage way, and I do this thing where I turn a big circle to open the pathway to this dark underground secret area....and the door opens...and this guy is chilling in there like "hey what's up"

lmao yea something like that happened to me too. Opened up some ancient tomb that no one has set foot in a thousand years... and there's some random villager inside just standing around.

 

[bender]

lmao yea something like that happened to me too. Opened up some ancient tomb that no one has set foot in a thousand years... and there's some random villager inside just standing around.

If that's in Thailand, that might side quest related if you didn't pick up the quest from the village elder.

 

[adamsapple]

I like the idea of immersive sim-like open levels in a game like this but the lack of any kind of manual saving really hurts it. It's especially apparent when you reload a checkpoint in Sukhothai - better hope you're near a fast travel point you want to be or else you're gonna end up in some other spot on the map.


lmao yea something like that happened to me too. Opened up some ancient tomb that no one has set foot in a thousand years... and there's some random villager inside just standing around.

If that's in Thailand, that might side quest related if you didn't pick up the quest from the village elder.

Just out of curiosity, are you guys playing the PC version?

 

[Revolutionary]

If that's in Thailand, that might side quest related if you didn't pick up the quest from the village elder.

Nah, it was just a random female NPC that didn't talk and seemed to have broken pathfinding. The quest one was a guy

Edit: yes I'm on PC

 

[bender]

Just out of curiosity, are you guys playing the PC version?

Series X

Nah, it was just a random female NPC that didn't talk and seemed to have broken pathfinding. The quest one was a guy

Scratch that then. The would-be village archeologist was a young man.

 

[Warablo]

I think the game is starting to wane on me in the the last big area, but the boat is neat.

 

[DragoonKain]

I'm in Gizeh and I'm still really enjoying my time with it, but I do wish there were more ways to approach combat in really enemy heavy areas. Using guns in this game feels pretty much useless. I realize they want to nudge the player toward stealth, but there should have been a balance. Taking out a bunch of enemies in this game is just not doable. You may take out a handful but eventually you'll be gunned down fast. But even if you wanted to pick guys off one at a time, there's very little ammo and firing one shot alerts the entire area of enemies, so I wonder when playing why they even allowed you to wield guns to begin with. It's so counterproductive to use them at all.

I wish there was a better way to be able to mop up a bunch of enemies fast when I need to go back into a large compound that has like 25 enemies when I already stealth'd my way through before, but just couldn't get past a locked door because I didn't have a key. So I have to revisit it later and don't want to stealth through the area all over again. I just want to run in with my key, open the door, loot the room, and leave. But that's really not possible, and I find that annoying.

Still liking the game a lot though.

 

[jason10mm]

I'm in Gizeh and I'm still really enjoying my time with it, but I do wish there were more ways to approach combat in really enemy heavy areas. Using guns in this game feels pretty much useless. I realize they want to nudge the player toward stealth, but there should have been a balance. Taking out a bunch of enemies in this game is just not doable. You may take out a handful but eventually you'll be gunned down fast. But even if you wanted to pick guys off one at a time, there's very little ammo and firing one shot alerts the entire area of enemies, so I wonder when playing why they even allowed you to wield weapons to begin with. It's so counterproductive to use them at all.

I wish there was a better way to be able to mop up a bunch of enemies fast when I need to go back into a large compound that has like 25 enemies when I already stealth'd my way through before, but just couldn't get past a locked door because I didn't have a key. So I have to revisit it later and don't want to stealth through the area all over again. I just want to run in with my key, open the door, loot the room, and leave. But that's really not possible, but I find that annoying.

Still liking the game a lot though.

You can do a little run and gun at times, especially if you are already in the shit and just need to finish off the last couple goons. Not being able to stock up on magazines or even reload the pistol before going dry (if there is some way to do this, I can't find it) definitely hampers gunplay though. Dudes also take like two shotgun blasts to the head, so your fists are almost as powerful

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Jeez, I really don’t get how stealth is so widespread in AAA games. It’s just not good unless it’s top-down à la Metal Gear. It makes zero sense to be crouching pretty much everywhere there’s people in this game. Also I get that some high-rank soldiers can get suspicious seeing you even in disguise, but not if they can’t see your face. People getting alert 20 meters away when you’re dressed like a local seriously spoils the exploration. And regular enemies still can spot you before you can even tell them apart from the non-caring crowd most of the time. It’s really annoying.

Locations are done very well, but the over-reliance of a game’s structure on side quests and map markers has really been squeezed for all it’s worth at this point. Forced stealth doesn’t help with that. Fast travel is also somewhat half-assed here.

The game is still interesting, but I’m sure the reception would be much less enthusiastic if this wasn’t Indiana Jones.

 

[analog_future]

Still adoring the game. Will probably wrap it up over the weekend.

More of my shots (maxed out on PC, path tracing on, 4K DLSS Quality):

 

[Gonzito]

Still adoring the game. Will probably wrap it up over the weekend.

More of my shots (maxed out on PC, path tracing on, 4K DLSS Quality):

ID Tech is amazing, cant wait to play the new Doom.

 

[jason10mm]

It just occured to me, is that bed of coins(?) because this place was originally under a wishing well or something? At the time I didn't think much of it but your shot has me wondering what it's supposed to represent.

I also wonder just how they build shots like this. Does some poor bastard have to sculpt every brick, stone, and rock and place them individually or is there some sort of AI assistance/photo scanning that they can just tweak?

 

[adamsapple]

It just occured to me, is that bed of coins(?) because this place was originally under a wishing well or something? At the time I didn't think much of it but your shot has me wondering what it's supposed to represent

I think it's a classical treasure cave. If that is the area I think it is, lots of treasure and trinkets spread across that big room.

 

[Sephimoth]

I also wonder just how they build shots like this. Does some poor bastard have to sculpt every brick, stone, and rock and place them individually or is there some sort of AI assistance/photo scanning that they can just tweak?

Likely displacement maps to add a lot of detail, on top of detailed meshes.
Looks glorious

 

[Darsxx82]

Still adoring the game. Will probably wrap it up over the weekend.

More of my shots (maxed out on PC, path tracing on, 4K DLSS Quality):

They Game look very good. Great captures.

 

[BigLee74]

T-posing soldiers. They were all spiked up and dead when I first entered the room. Went the wrong way after completing the tomb and stumbled across them again…

Creepy bastards

 

[coachmcguirk91]

Just finished. Solid 8.5. I'm not the biggest Indiana Jones fan. The movies are a little too campy and slapstick for my liking. But funny enough, that works so much better in a game than it ever did in the movies, at least for me. The gameplay wasn't immersion breaking like it is for most games


Overall, the gameplay was pretty average tho, but the level design and story were phenomenal. It is in my top 10 stories in a video game of all time. I say this as someone who usually skips most cutscenes in videogames, as most games have the quality of writing of a straight to DVD action flick. Villian was A+

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Just finished. Solid 8.5. I'm not the biggest Indiana Jones fan. The movies are a little too campy and slapstick for my liking. But funny enough, that works so much better in a game than it ever did in the movies, at least for me. The gameplay wasn't immersion breaking like it is for most games


Overall, the gameplay was pretty average tho, but the level design and story were phenomenal. It is in my top 10 stories in a video game of all time. I say this as someone who usually skips most cutscenes in videogames, as most games have the quality of writing of a straight to DVD action flick. Villian was A+

Interesting you liked the story so much. That's some high praise. What's it comparable to and does it have endearing, emotional moments?

 

[Nydius]

Wrapped up earlier today. Really enjoyed it. The combat was kinda meh at first but once I got enough skill books to increase damage and use the whip on heavy enemies it got MUCH better.

I don’t think I fast traveled at all in Gizeh, but definitely made up for it by fast traveling my ass off in Sukhothai. Despite the boat annoying the hell out of me, Sukhothai was probably my favorite locale. Vatican was a close second. The ending felt a bit hurried and a tad anticlimactic, IMO.

42/45 achievements and looks like I’m going to be forever stuck there because I was hit with the cogwheel bug where I can’t pick up the cogwheels at the major Sukhothai story puzzle. So I can’t do all those puzzles, which means I can’t get all the ancient relics, which, in turn, prevents me from getting all the journal entries. Oh well. Hopefully that’s fixed by the time it hits PS5 and I replay it there.

 

[coachmcguirk91]

Interesting you liked the story so much. That's some high praise. What's it comparable to and does it have endearing, emotional moments?

Really fun chemistry between Indy and his female companion that is with you the majority of the game. It is mostly a platonic relationship with sexual undertones. The writing is legitimately on par with the original trilogy. You can tell an unbelievable amount of research went into the historical areas you visit throughout the game

It's hard to compare to other games. Uncharted series is pretty obvious. I was mostly just taken aback at the production values. It feels like you are playing a big blockbuster movie. The voice acting, writing, and set pieces were all extremely well done. Combine that with the game being a stealth adventure game, and you end up with one of the unique AAA games In recent years

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I think it's so cool how Machine Games decided to make this an Indiana Jones game first-and-foremost, instead a first-person shooter (with an Indy skin) or a third-person action-adventure Sony-style movie game (with an Indy skin), etc.

What other games are even like this? The closest I can think of and have played is Dishonored.

 

[evanft]

Just started playing after the latest patch. I'm in the first mission in Italy.

So far, it feels like yet another boring AAA slopfest with poor gameplay. I'll give it a bit more time but so far this feels like a quick uninstall.

• First person was absolutely a mistake.
• The random change between third and first is immersion breaking.
• Stamina is just dumb. Should never have been part of the game
• Game has weird contrast. Needs reshade to fix.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Halfway through Giza. Am debating which one I like better, Giza or Vatican.

While Vatican feels better designed at first glance, once I stumbled upon a outfit open ended nature of Giza is winning me over. Its a small open world for which map is not required. Also points of interest are visible out in the open. Whereever I go, am stumbling upon good stuff.

Still not sure but surely leaning towards Giza for now.

 

[CliffBronger]

Finished it yesterday great game 26.5 hours.

Did a ton of side quests but not all of them.

 

[Luipadre]

Btw did anyone find out whats the donation boxes are for? I finished the game and it was locked still in every zone

 

[Chuck Berry]

I think it's so cool how Machine Games decided to make this an Indiana Jones game first-and-foremost, instead a first-person shooter (with an Indy skin) or a third-person action-adventure Sony-style movie game (with an Indy skin), etc.

What other games are even like this? The closest I can think of and have played is Dishonored.

Riddick, Dishonored, Thief 2014 and Hitman

 

[BigLee74]

And done - main story complete.

Haven’t got anywhere near all the relics/mysteries etc, but I’ve had a great time regardless.

It was MUCH bigger than I ever thought it would be. Lots of great locations and tombs.

The third area was my personal favourite. Some noticeable pop-in, but it just looked so good and was really atmospheric!

I liked the focus on the melee combat, and eventually made good use of the guns to clear the stragglers.

My favourite game from the past few years - that was a solid 9/10 for me.

Great job MachineGames!

 

[cormack12]

Really not feeling the last area on the rivers. Reminds me of the lake of nine and water/ships on AC: Odyssey just stretching out the traversal for no good reason.

 

[Orbital2060]

Halfway through Giza. Am debating which one I like better, Giza or Vatican.

While Vatican feels better designed at first glance, once I stumbled upon a outfit open ended nature of Giza is winning me over. Its a small open world for which map is not required. Also points of interest are visible out in the open. Whereever I go, am stumbling upon good stuff.

Still not sure but surely leaning towards Giza for now.

You didnt pick up the worker outfit below the sphinx? Thats pretty early on in Gizeh.

 

[kikkis]

Just started playing after the latest patch. I'm in the first mission in Italy.

So far, it feels like yet another boring AAA slopfest with poor gameplay. I'll give it a bit more time but so far this feels like a quick uninstall.

• First person was absolutely a mistake.
• The random change between third and first is immersion breaking.
• Stamina is just dumb. Should never have been part of the game
• Game has weird contrast. Needs reshade to fix.

I guess combat could be better without stamina.

 

[adamsapple]

Btw did anyone find out whats the donation boxes are for? I finished the game and it was locked still in every zone

They're kinda pointless.

Once you've bought everything in a zone that you can (all books maps etc), the game prompts a message that you've gotten all that you could, how about donating the rest.

The boxes become active, you can choose to donate whatever cash you have to them and it doesn't do anything.

Just zeroes out the available cash you have.

• First person was absolutely a mistake

If you're in it looking for an Uncharted like game, you're not gonna find that here.

It's an immersive sim in the vein of Dishonored, Thief, Riddick. The perspective and this game are a great fit.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

You didnt pick up the worker outfit below the sphinx? Thats pretty early on in Gizeh.

I see. I missed it and picked one from far south west part of the map.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Jeez, I really don’t get how stealth is so widespread in AAA games. It’s just not good unless it’s top-down à la Metal Gear. It makes zero sense to be crouching pretty much everywhere there’s people in this game. Also I get that some high-rank soldiers can get suspicious seeing you even in disguise, but not if they can’t see your face. People getting alert 20 meters away when you’re dressed like a local seriously spoils the exploration. And regular enemies still can spot you before you can even tell them apart from the non-caring crowd most of the time. It’s really annoying.

Locations are done very well, but the over-reliance of a game’s structure on side quests and map markers has really been squeezed for all it’s worth at this point. Forced stealth doesn’t help with that. Fast travel is also somewhat half-assed here.

The game is still interesting, but I’m sure the reception would be much less enthusiastic if this wasn’t Indiana Jones.

It can be fun gameplay, I still fondly remember VR missions, but it is very difficult to get it to not be wonky, arbitrary, or inefficient in some way unless the entire game is centered around it. It can also be presented in a way that causes a lot of ludonarrative dissonance.

Basically it can be done right but it is very difficult.

 

[soulbait]

I'm in Gizeh and I'm still really enjoying my time with it, but I do wish there were more ways to approach combat in really enemy heavy areas. Using guns in this game feels pretty much useless. I realize they want to nudge the player toward stealth, but there should have been a balance. Taking out a bunch of enemies in this game is just not doable. You may take out a handful but eventually you'll be gunned down fast. But even if you wanted to pick guys off one at a time, there's very little ammo and firing one shot alerts the entire area of enemies, so I wonder when playing why they even allowed you to wield guns to begin with. It's so counterproductive to use them at all.

I wish there was a better way to be able to mop up a bunch of enemies fast when I need to go back into a large compound that has like 25 enemies when I already stealth'd my way through before, but just couldn't get past a locked door because I didn't have a key. So I have to revisit it later and don't want to stealth through the area all over again. I just want to run in with my key, open the door, loot the room, and leave. But that's really not possible, and I find that annoying.

Still liking the game a lot though.

I agree with the complaint about the enemies respawning in places. Especially because you do not earn XP errrr adventure points for taking them out. That would be one of my few complaints I have about the game so far.

 

[Orbital2060]

I see. I missed it and picked one from far south west part of the map.

I almost missed it too which is why I thought about it. Its on a crate or table behind Indy after speaking with Gina. Easy to miss.

 

[adamsapple]

The game doesn't really utilize the strand hairs a lot outside of some scenes, but when it does, it goes ape shit RE: a stormy scene near the end of the game.

Some more shots. I am so impressed with how well they nailed down a young Harrison. Probably one of, if not the, best likeness of an actual actor in a game.

You didnt pick up the worker outfit below the sphinx? Thats pretty early on in Gizeh.

Funny story, I also completely missed that until I got the actual Nazi uniform in Gizeh.

Would have saved a lot of trouble, lol.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I love how the side quests fit into the main plot. It’s rare to see games do this.

I think it’s insane how “Indiana Jones” this game is. Like, when you find something of significance, you see/hear the excitement in Indiana’s face and voice. The conversations he has with the supporting cast is reminiscent to the original trilogy.

I just cannot praise this game enough. It really has turned the movie series into a game. A lot of care clearly went into this games research of all the artifacts/items you find around this game, and there’s a ton.

Might be my game of the year.

 

[jason10mm]

I agree with the complaint about the enemies respawning in places. Especially because you do not earn XP errrr adventure points for taking them out. That would be one of my few complaints I have about the game so far.

I just assume they wake up with a bad headache and get back to work

 

[DirtInUrEye]

Told my wife all about the good response to this game and she dumped $40 into my Xbox account because she wants to play early. I guess I'm playing tonight!

 

[adamsapple]

I love how the side quests fit into the main plot. It’s rare to see games do this.

I think it’s insane how “Indiana Jones” this game is. Like, when you find something of significance, you see/hear the excitement in Indiana’s face and voice. The conversations he has with the supporting cast is reminiscent to the original trilogy.

I just cannot praise this game enough. It really has turned the movie series into a game. A lot of care clearly went into this games research of all the artifacts/items you find around this game, and there’s a ton.

Might be my game of the year.

Yeah, one of the rare cases where it's worth doing the side quests cause most of them are directly tried to the central narrative of the region.

 

[jason10mm]

Damn, I love that photo. You can read SO MUCH into it

 

[Darsxx82]

What a great game and what a great tribute to the Indiana Jones franchise!!


Starting Egypt after 10 hours and leaving some secrets in the Vatican. The performances of the characters in the story are great (Gina not so much).

We will see how it continues, but from what I have read I think it will not decline.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I've been breezing through the Egypt stuff, I think the game has clicked with me that I can finally understand the mechanics. I think I could now go back and redo the Vatican in 1/3 the time I originally took.

 

[jason10mm]

Anyone find the discarded key for the guy locked into the tower in Gizeh? Or the gold watch for the worker in the Vatican?

I wonder how many of these tiny quests I've just breezes right by because I didn't listen to conversations closely enough.

 

[Phobos Base]

Probably a stupid question, but how is leaning supposed to work, it says to press either trigger but it always tries to sprint or push? I could do it during the tutorial, but it doesn't seem to work since?

 

[FoxMcChief]

Probably a stupid question, but how is leaning supposed to work, it says to press either trigger but it always tries to sprint or push? I could do it during the tutorial, but it doesn't seem to work since?

You need something in your hand, hold left trigger, then press left or right thumb sticks. At least, that’s how I think I remember.

 

[Chuck Berry]

You need something in your hand, hold left trigger, then press left or right thumb sticks. At least, that’s how I think I remember.

Nah it still doesn't work like that. I've never been able to do it properly either.

Really dumb you can't just lean and peek in general like in Riddick and Wolfenstein. Makes zero sense.

 

[BigLee74]

Played through the whole game without leaning. And only today did I learn what the little circles bottom right on your hud mean!

 

[jason10mm]

You need something in your hand, hold left trigger, then press left or right thumb sticks. At least, that’s how I think I remember.

I think it works when you are crouching. It's a little dodgy as I've sometimes stood up and punched instead, but crouching, then left trigger hold, LS or RS click works most times.