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Tomb Raider |OT| Lara's Misfortune

Derrick01

Banned
Going to bed. This game is in my veins though. One of those deals you think about when your away from the console.

I think they're pretty good. Nothing like Max Payne 3's. The transistion between gameplay and cutscene are great, really seamless. I think the god of war 2 guy, Cory Balrog might have done them. Thought I heard that on the bombcast today.

It's just so unnecessarily shaky for some reason. Even during normal gameplay the camera bobs and weaves like someone's following her with a camera constantly.
 

antitrop

Member
Going to bed. This game is in my veins though. One of those deals you think about when your away from the console.

I think they're pretty good. Nothing like Max Payne 3's. The transistion between gameplay and cutscene are great, really seamless. I think the god of war 2 guy, Cory Balrog might have done them. Thought I heard that on the bombcast today.
You are correct, sir, it is indeed Cory Barlog.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Barlog

In March 2012, it was announced that Barlog joined Crystal Dynamics to direct the cinematics for the new Tomb Raider game and go on to direct an unannounced game.[2] His current project is rumored to be in the works but little information is known.
 
Added to the collection! Feels good man!
H4hK04El.jpg
 
Thought I'd share my thoughts after completing the game. I think that this is probably the best Third Person Shooter I have played since Uncharted 2 and one of the best games to come out this year so far. The game had enough elements for me to consider it a Tomb Raider game. From characters, jumping and utilities, dealing with cultist, tombs (despite being optional), and supernatural occurrence. Despite it focusing more on combat and atmosphere, I would still consider it a Tomb Raider game.

I thought Lara progressed rather well throughout the game, and towards the end she was definitely starting to develop the old Lara personality - fearless, confident with a bit of attitude - albeit still fragile emotionally. It would not surprise me if for the sequel she already is vanilla Lara.

This game is certainly a step in the right direction from the previous games in terms of Lara's overall movement and weapons feel. Auto lock-on classic shooter style worked well for previous games, but if the series would to ever evolve, this was a step that needed to be made. It feels better to have more control over Lara than previous games. If they improve this game and add a few more elements from previous games, we could be looking at what could potentially be a near perfect Tomb Raider game. On to the game itself.

Things I liked:
  • Character movement and feel
  • Gorgeous and nasty looking environment
  • Guns/Bow & Arrow feel solid
  • Combat
  • Upgrade system
  • Lara (She is adorable)
  • The Tombs
  • Some thrilling and cinematic moments
  • Enough to do after you finish story

Things I disliked (Mostly nitpicking as some of it bothered me a bit):
  • Game was too easy
  • Too combat heavy, gets a bit repetitive towards the end
  • Quick time events and cinematic sometimes rob you of potential great fights or moments if you were in control
  • Not many oblibatory tombs and temple puzzles
  • Optional tombs are too easy
  • Not much of the supernatural occurrence or introduced too late
  • I tried to care for the side characters, but for some reason couldn't
  • Not a lot of variety in enemies as you progress
  • Jumps are too easy and at times feel automated
  • Game becomes a bit predictable
  • Fight leading to the ending was disappointing. No Epic moment
  • Decent story
  • No new game ++

Additional things I'd like to see in a sequel:
  • Swan Dive
  • Front/Back flips or running at enemy and launching from them. All that athletic stuff
  • I fought all kinds of dinasours and creatures before. Seriously, I can handle more than just wolves and humans
  • Return of grapple hook
  • Return of dual pistol
  • Swimming
  • A more confident/cocky Lara
  • Croft Manor
  • Unlockable costumes, if you know what I am saying YEAH!

Overall a solid third person shooter, which I definitely recommend buying. The game is certainly a step in the right direction that the franchise needed to take, although there is still room for improvements as I don't think it has to be a full fledged combat focused third person shooter. I am honestly going to be that guy who instead of giving it an 8.5 because I feel it would be too low or an 9 because I find it too high, I am going to give it a 8.74 because I can!

Mission Status: Lara Croft Successfully Protected!

92n77dv.gif
 

Dahbomb

Member
Once you get to Tier II Brawler skills the game is broken combat wise.

The axe 2 hits stuns them into takedown finisher.

Dodge into either Counter or Sand basically stuns or kill enemies if they try to attack you.

Basically 10 guys can swarm you and you can easily kill them with these few skills. There is no need to use ammo when melee is so powerful.
 
Once you get to Tier II Brawler skills the game is broken combat wise.

The axe 2 hits stuns them into takedown finisher.

Dodge into either Counter or Sand basically stuns or kill enemies if they try to attack you.

Basically 10 guys can swarm you and you can easily kill them with these few skills. There is no need to use ammo when melee is so powerful.

For the combat to ever have been fixed before wouldn't it have had to of posed some type of challenge? Your right though it gets even easier which I didn't think was possible

Went to Avalanche studio, for some reason got picked up by Crystal to do a new IP and direct this games cinematics.

I think CD feels they got a good deal out of that hire.

I think my optometrist got the best end of the deal.
 

Dahbomb

Member
I actually like that cover is trivialized in the game in favor of an OP dodge system. I can truly run n gun or to be more precise run n hack at enemies. Dodge into roll or Dodge into sand or dodge counter into kill. All day every day.
 
I am just over 50% done (just had the helicopter sequence) and there is one thing that constantly surprises me. This game has more dismembered bodies than anything else I have ever seen. Gears of War and its lancer/chainsaw have nothing on this. Bodies on poles, bodies stacked in piles, bodies hanging from the ceiling, bodies shoved into the wall, and bodies floating in the water. My jaw nearly hit the floor in the scene where you wake up in the monastery (if you have been that far you know what I am talking about). How many times did the art director pass through a level before giving final approval and say, "You know what? Add a few more bodies on poles around the water and throw a few bloody bodies into a pile near the door."
 

Dahbomb

Member
I'm 8 hours in and I still haven't upgraded Sand. I should get on that.
The Brawler category of upgrades is the best category in the game. The animal category is completely worthless although it can help you farm faster but the game gives you a plethora of skill/salvage stuff if you just look around for more than 5 seconds. Every area is filled with collectibles.

I am just over 50% done (just had the helicopter sequence) and there is one thing that constantly surprises me. This game has more dismembered bodies than anything else I have ever seen. Gears of War and its lancer/chainsaw have nothing on this. Bodies on poles, bodies stacked in piles, bodies hanging from the ceiling, bodies shoved into the wall, and bodies floating in the water. My jaw nearly hit the floor in the scene where you wake up in the monastery (if you have been that far you know what I am talking about). How many times did the art director pass through a level before giving final approval and say, "You know what? Add a few more bodies on poles around the water and throw a few bloody bodies into a pile near the door."
Yeah the Monastery area was really grim. It's also the part where she says her "I hate tombs" line and to be honest if I were in that position I would've said the same thing. Fucking crawling through tight spots with heaps of dismembered body parts rolling on you... fuck that shit.
 
Once you get to Tier II Brawler skills the game is broken combat wise.

The axe 2 hits stuns them into takedown finisher.

Dodge into either Counter or Sand basically stuns or kill enemies if they try to attack you.

Basically 10 guys can swarm you and you can easily kill them with these few skills. There is no need to use ammo when melee is so powerful.

Sounds like another case of "uber proficient protagonist against dumb enemies who can't do anything you're doing."

It's all the rage this gen.
 

Dahbomb

Member
Sounds like another case of "uber proficient protagonist against dumb enemies who can't do anything you're doing."

It's all the rage this gen.
Later enemies have dodge and armor so they take a bit more effort to take down. Add in enemies that are shooting arrows/guns at you from long range while another enemy lighting up the ground with Molotov and you really need to optimize your movement in the game. You are forced to be on your toes because enemies with machetes/armor will charge you while molotov guys will force you out of cover. This is why melee is so OP, it takes care of all these problems and you can work your way towards the gunners while taking advantage of the dodge and takedown animation (you can't be hurt during a takedown). Also Lara can't take many hits she basically dies in 3-4 hits on Hard.
 

eshwaaz

Member
The sound design in this game is incredible. Very high quality effects, and almost absurdly thorough - every surface, every object, every material, every action has a sound associated with it.

Two hanging lamps collide, it's a unique sound. When Lara clambers over a ledge, you not only hear the movements of her hands and feet, but you can actually hear the sound of her clothing sliding over the surface. The sheer variety in Lara's footstep sounds alone is ridiculous.

I can't think of another sound package that feels this... complete. Really impressive.
 

kliklik

Banned
Can someone answer this q:

Do you need to fully upgrade a weapon before you're able to find the random parts in salvage towards new modifications? Or can you just have 1/2 bow upgrades (for example) and still find bow parts to unlock the next set of modifications?
 

border

Member
Need help with one of the early tombs -- it's the one with the wind blowing harshly through the entire structure. There's a crank that operates a lift, but the wind blows it around wildly, and even if I shut the the lift does not go high enough for me to jump onto the ledge I need to get to. How do I get in? :)
 

Dahbomb

Member
Need help with one of the early tombs -- it's the one with the wind blowing harshly through the entire structure. There's a crank that operates a lift, but the wind blows it around wildly, and even if I shut the the lift does not go high enough for me to jump onto the ledge I need to get to. How do I get in? :)
Crank the windows first then quickly crank the lift. Get on the lift while the windows start to get loose. It will propel you towards the right wall when the winds start coming so you just have to time your jump towards the wall then jump up again to reach the ledge.
 

G-Fex

Member
Need help with one of the early tombs -- it's the one with the wind blowing harshly through the entire structure. There's a crank that operates a lift, but the wind blows it around wildly, and even if I shut the the lift does not go high enough for me to jump onto the ledge I need to get to. How do I get in? :)

ahhahaha I just did that today. Took me a while to figure it out, good times though.

Look towards the ceiling
 

REV 09

Member
Need help with one of the early tombs -- it's the one with the wind blowing harshly through the entire structure. There's a crank that operates a lift, but the wind blows it around wildly, and even if I shut the the lift does not go high enough for me to jump onto the ledge I need to get to. How do I get in? :)
Windows open at different intervals. That should point you in the right direction.
 

GreekWolf

Member
As a goofy kid who excitedly followed all the magazine previews of the original Tomb Raider, and stood in line at Best Buy in 1996 to pick it up on release day... it's immensely satisfying to see this series triumphantly return to greatness once again. :)
 

Varna

Member
Once you get to Tier II Brawler skills the game is broken combat wise.

The axe 2 hits stuns them into takedown finisher.

Dodge into either Counter or Sand basically stuns or kill enemies if they try to attack you.

Basically 10 guys can swarm you and you can easily kill them with these few skills. There is no need to use ammo when melee is so powerful.

This strategy was working for me up until the
the river of blood
section. There are now enemies that can't be killed by the 1-2-3 and even dodge it if I don't stagger before trying it. Those same guys can kill me in a single burst.

Of course a short while later I got a
grenade launcher
...
 
After much debate I decided to bite and get the game.

I can't remember the last time I was this engrossed in a game. I'm seriously glad I bought it. The only things I have problems with so far are the QTE's that were at the very beginning. I died like 5 times wiggling the left stick.

The graphics are good, the story is pretty great so far, and the gameplay is very fun.

I just got to the
4th optional tomb in shanty town
so I know I'm not that far, but I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.
 
What was supposed to be so bad about the Shantytown again(besides the framerate drops)? The combat is heavy, but it's nicely broken up by jumping around the many roofs, savaging for shit.

Oh, and the combat is actually pretty damn fun. Love the auto-cover system, how mobile Lara's dodge is, the dodge counters, headshots/flaming headshots with the arrow.

This is a good video game.
 
What was supposed to be so bad about the Shantytown again(besides the framerate drops)? The combat is heavy, but it's nicely broken up by jumping around the many roofs, savaging for shit.

Oh, and the combat is actually pretty damn fun. Love the auto-cover system, how mobile Lara's dodge is, the dodge counters, headshots/flaming headshots with the arrow.

This is a good video game.

Tricky wins.
 
Great pic, my collection looks identical down to the same platforms. Well, except that I traded my PS1 copy of Last Revelation for the awesome Dreamcast version. Makes me want to dig through the attic and play through it again.

Sadly the ps1 greatest hits versions doesn't like playing in the PS3. Luckily I have anniversary. I also on the whole collection on PC as well. Yeah. I never beat 2 and 3 back in the day. Need to try and complete them. All the others I beat though.
 

G-Fex

Member
You liking the game, G? As a fan of the older games?

Well it's different I'll give you that. I do like the mechanics of using gear, I'm a sucker for metroid stuff. I enjoy jumping and traveling and doing stuff, and combat is fun.

I still like the older games.

I hate stuff like falling or sliding down things. QTE's, cutscenes.

It's good.

I'll never say Tricky was right though.
 

Czigga

Member
Pc patch notes from nixxes

nixxes said:
We have just made public a new version of the PC version of Tomb Raider, build 1.0.717.1. This patch will be applied by Steam automatically when you next start the game. If your game does not update, please restart the Steam client.

This is a first update that addresses a variety of issues that we either found out about shortly before release or immediately after.

Fixes include:

- Addressed some stability issues on machines that have both Intel and Nvidia graphics hardware.
- Various small UI updates.
- Fix for players being unable to progress related to the boat in the beach area.
- Some fixes for crashes on startup and when selecting Options.
- Some improvements to TressFX hair rendering.
- Fixes for various smaller graphics glitches.
- Fixes related to the benchmark scene and benchmark mode.

While we expect this patch to be an improvement for everyone. If you do have trouble with this patch and prefer to stay on the old version we made a Beta available on Steam, Build716.5, that can be used to switch back to the previous version.

We expect further patches to follow fairly soon, addressing further issues we see being brought up by players, and are actively monitoring these and other forums looking for issues.
 
Well it's different I'll give you that. I do like the mechanics of using gear, I'm a sucker for metroid stuff. I enjoy jumping and traveling and doing stuff, and combat is fun.

I still like the older games.

I hate stuff like falling or sliding down things. QTE's, cutscenes.

It's good.

I'll never say Tricky was right though.

It’s okay.....everyone already knows I was right and you were wrong. Do you want your crow rare, medium-rare or well done? I've also got barbeque sauce or tomato sauce.
 

Dahbomb

Member
What was supposed to be so bad about the Shantytown again(besides the framerate drops)? The combat is heavy, but it's nicely broken up by jumping around the many roofs, savaging for shit.

Oh, and the combat is actually pretty damn fun. Love the auto-cover system, how mobile Lara's dodge is, the dodge counters, headshots/flaming headshots with the arrow.

This is a good video game.
Yea I agree with this although still not a fan of that mission.

I said so in my first post about the game that is a good game. Although that basically ranges from 6-9 depending upon how good it is for you personally. My hype died down a bit after experiencing a few bad QTEs but I am enjoying the game again. I like the rope arrow traversal stuff especially in the Overlooking Village because there would be branching rope spots each with its own item you can get. This is the sort of little stuff that TR does better than Uncharted.
 
Anyone else notice that there are no loading screens in this game (at least on pc, is that true for consoles as well?)? I think it was Brad from GB that brought up the theory that they could be hiding it with all those squeeze through small spaces sections. Really hoping we get some single player dlc for this, beat it earlier today and I want moar
 
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