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[captainnapalm]

PCGAMER Review
75

Visually stunning and meticulously staged, but hindered by limited depth and stifling linearity.

Games like this, their depth comes from being meticulously staged and beautifully designed and directed, and combining solid and varied gameplay within that. He's praising the game's aesthetic and polish, and then bashes the game for having features that flow from what he's praising.

Linear does not equal stifling. Not all games need to be open and have multiple ways to do the same thing. The advantage of being linear is you get to have the player exactly where you want him in order to direct your story around it. And if its done with as much polish as it is here, it can make for a great game. Being non-linear has its own advantages, but that's not the game they tried to make.

I agree with him about the writing, though. The plot itself is fine for the genre, but the writing, outside of how Lara is handled, isn't that great. Supporting characters aren't given enough screentime to develop (at least not yet), and the villain is pretty lame. Thankfully, Lara carries the show, because she really is handled well for the most part.

 

[RagnarokX]

Games like this, their depth comes from being meticulously staged and beautifully designed and directed, and combining solid and varied gameplay within that. He's praising the game's aesthetic and polish, and then bashes the game for having features that flow from what he's praising.

Linear does not equal stifling. Not all games need to be open and have multiple ways to do the same thing. The advantage of being linear is you get to have the player exactly where you want him in order to direct your story around it. And if its done with as much polish as it is here, it can make for a great game. Being non-linear has its own advantages, but that's not the game they tried to make.

I agree with him about the writing, though. The plot itself is fine for the genre, but the writing, outside of how is Lara handled, isn't that great. Supporting characters aren't given enough screentime to develop (at least not yet), and the villain is pretty lame. Thankfully, Lara carries the show, because she really is handled well for the most part.

You don't have to take away control and challenge to make a game beautiful and polished. Nor does linearity have to take away these things. I don't have a problem with linearity, I have a problem with the lack of meaningful gameplay.

 

[Dahbomb]

You can make good linear games but filling them up with scripted set pieces and QTEs is a terrible way to go about making these games. What's stifling about the game is how much control is removed from the player at time and how many automatic game play mechanics exist in the game.

Some of my favorite games are linear. This game really made me want to play Snake Eater again.

Derrick says game play the only thing that matters.... I would really like to see his top 10 games list. I bet its not going to have games with top game play like a NG game, DOTA, CS,, fighting games, DMC etc. which ride or die on their game play.

 

[NullPointer]

Games like this, their depth comes from being meticulously staged and beautifully designed and directed, and combining solid and varied gameplay within that. He's praising the game's aesthetic and polish, and then bashes the game for having features that flow from what he's praising.

Trust your own instincts and you risk throwing the game off its rhythm. In Tomb Raider, acting with initiative carries a payload of risk akin to heckling at a comedy show. You’ll either be punished, or – worse – you’ll puncture some meticulously preconceived bit and cause the whole thing to deflate. There’s a combat section midway through where you can either fight through a narrow canyon or sneak past on an elevated route. While shimmying across a beam above a pair of Solarii cultists I made the choice to jump off and attack them, figuring that I had the advantage and that the salvage I would gain from killing them was worth it. I pressed the button to drop and Lara fell stiffly to the ground. The camera moved into the canyon at an angle it wasn’t designed for, and, trapped in Lara’s picking-herself-up animation, I couldn’t respond fast enough to attack before I was gunned down.

If I’d stuck to the stealth route the game would have continued to animate beautifully: if I’d opted for a gunfight the camera would have known where to be. I made a choice that the designers didn’t anticipate and the game could not adapt to support it. ‘Keep moving forward’, then, is a better piece of advice – but rather than encourage self-motivation Tomb Raider rewards passive acquiescence. As long as you don’t forget which button press goes with which bit of the environment, the island will ensure nothing truly terrible happens to you. This obliging design is why Tomb Raider succeeds as a lean-back-and-watch-the-fireworks platformer, but the dissonance is undeniable. You’re told that you’re seeing a person discovering their strength: what you’re shown is someone discovering that the god of zip-line placement loves them very, very much.

Full article here, again for anybody that missed it.

 

[captainnapalm]

You don't have to take away control and challenge to make a game beautiful and polished. Nor does linearity have to take away these things. I don't have a problem with linearity, I have a problem with the lack of meaningful gameplay.

The game seldom takes away control. Exploration and getting around is all done by you and the gear you upgrade.

Combat is varied, you can upgrade dodge and melee and actually rush guys, you can mix up guns and bows depending on whether guys are rushing you or are pelting you from far away with bullets or dynamite. You can stealth a lot of the sections. You can use the environment. And the mechanics and controls are all rock solid.

The set pieces are the most on-rails, but man, some of them really are done pretty damn well.

You can debate challenge, I've found some of the heated firefights quite challenging, requiring you to mix tactics on the fly all the time. The game doesn't even allow you to stay in the same cover spot, or you get nailed by dynamite or rushed by melee guys. You don't die that easily, but would that really have helped this game and what it's trying to achieve?

 

[captainnapalm]

Trust your own instincts and you risk throwing the game off its rhythm. In Tomb Raider, acting with initiative carries a payload of risk akin to heckling at a comedy show. You’ll either be punished, or – worse – you’ll puncture some meticulously preconceived bit and cause the whole thing to deflate. There’s a combat section midway through where you can either fight through a narrow canyon or sneak past on an elevated route. While shimmying across a beam above a pair of Solarii cultists I made the choice to jump off and attack them, figuring that I had the advantage and that the salvage I would gain from killing them was worth it. I pressed the button to drop and Lara fell stiffly to the ground. The camera moved into the canyon at an angle it wasn’t designed for, and, trapped in Lara’s picking-herself-up animation, I couldn’t respond fast enough to attack before I was gunned down.

If I’d stuck to the stealth route the game would have continued to animate beautifully: if I’d opted for a gunfight the camera would have known where to be. I made a choice that the designers didn’t anticipate and the game could not adapt to support it. ‘Keep moving forward’, then, is a better piece of advice – but rather than encourage self-motivation Tomb Raider rewards passive acquiescence. As long as you don’t forget which button press goes with which bit of the environment, the island will ensure nothing truly terrible happens to you. This obliging design is why Tomb Raider succeeds as a lean-back-and-watch-the-fireworks platformer, but the dissonance is undeniable. You’re told that you’re seeing a person discovering their strength: what you’re shown is someone discovering that the god of zip-line placement loves them very, very much.

Maybe the game was telling him it's not a good idea to drop down in the middle of a bunch of guys armed to the teeth? I've been playing it for a while now and I can't say it's a strategy I've ever considered.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

The game seldom takes away control. Exploration and getting around is all done by you and the gear you upgrade.

Combat is varied, you can upgrade dodge and melee and actually rush guys, you can mix up guns and bows depending on whether guys are rushing you or are pelting you from far away with bullets or dynamite. You can stealth a lot of the sections. You can use the environment. And the mechanics and controls are all rock solid.

The set pieces are the most on-rails, but man, some of them really are done pretty damn well.

You can debate challenge, I've found some of the heated firefights quite challenging, requiring you to mix tactics on the fly all the time. The game doesn't even allow you to stay in the same cover spot, or you get nailed by dynamite or rushed by melee guys. You don't die that easily, but would that really have helped this game and what it's trying to achieve?

I disagree about the combat. If you want you can use the Assault rifle to immediate victory for any situation. You can hit guys from a distance and up close. It makes combat so easy I have switched to the bow and just the bow. The combat can be fun but its not satisfying to me in any way.

I am only to the grenade launcher so it could change but none of the set pieces have impressed me. The whole

Spoiler

sliding down(water,mud,ice)

is a pointless mechanic and was done better on cliffhanger on the sega cd-I kid I kid, well kind of

 

[Lima]

Man that one scene was directly taken from the movie "The Descent". Gave me a good vibe.

 

[Dahbomb]

The climb up Radiotower "set piece" was nice. My palms got sweaty during it, I guess I have a slight fear of heights.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Man that one scene was directly taken from the movie "The Descent". Gave me a good vibe.

I liked that part too but I kept thinking where the hell is all the

Spoiler

blood coming from? They burn people alive and the recruits are eating people in there little golem cave.

In thinking about this way to much aren't I?

The climb up Radiotower "set piece" was nice. My palms got sweaty during it, I guess I have a slight fear of heights.

I actually loved that section. Thats not really a set piece though or at least the way I think of them. That part also had the only music in the game I really liked

 

[Seance]

So I just encountered a game breaking bug.

Spoiler

I am trying to give the tackle to Jonah but he is just a statue, same goes for Sam.

Anyone else get this?

 

[captainnapalm]

The climb up Radiotower "set piece" was nice. My palms got sweaty during it, I guess I have a slight fear of heights.

I thought the

Spoiler

fortress level where you rescue your friends and then make a last minute escape

was epic. Beautifully done.

 

[mickcenary]

The climb up Radiotower "set piece" was nice. My palms got sweaty during it, I guess I have a slight fear of heights.

Ha. I will never experience anything like that. I'm actually a bit jealous that the cinematic fluff actually gets to you a little.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I thought the

Spoiler

fortress level where you rescue your friends and then make a last minute escape

was epic. Beautifully done.

The one with them in the

Spoiler

helicopter prison? I think it's beautiful but really boring. This is probably a exaggeration but that whole section felt like it would never end.

 

[NullPointer]

The one with them in the

Spoiler

helicopter prison? I think it's beautiful but really boring. This is probably a exaggeration but that whole section felt like it would never end.

Spoiler

I didn't like the invisible walls or whatever it was that kept your grenade launcher from being able to take out the manned turret until you reached the sweet spot about 10' away from the guy.

Visually though? Yeah, impressive.

 

[Dahbomb]

Ha. I will never experience anything like that. I'm actually a bit jealous that the cinematic fluff actually gets to you a little.

I liked it because it didn't rely on EXPLOSIONS or shit flying around to showcase a harrowing scene. The music also made it stand out for me. That scene also supplanted in my mind that Lara Craft is truly a heroic figure. Balls of steel.

 

[Phonomezer]

Best part was the

Spoiler

Chasm Temple being destroyed

omg-shit-your-pants amazing.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Spoiler

I didn't like the invisible walls or whatever it was that kept your grenade launcher from being able to take out the manned turret until you reached the sweet spot about 10' away from the guy.

Visually though? Yeah, impressive.

This just shows how dumb I am for expecting to be able to fight that guy but I was lining up head shots, knee shots and foot shots for probably 5-10 min. After I died like 3 times I finally did my survivor instinct and was like oh so I just do that.

I liked it because it didn't rely on EXPLOSIONS or shit flying around to showcase a harrowing scene. The music also made it stand out for me. That scene also supplanted in my mind that Lara Craft is truly a heroic figure. Balls of steel.

The music was really excellent in that part and just like you said its a great defining moment for Lara.

 

[DrPirate]

Alrighty, so I just got around to beating this game.

Forgive me if it's been said before, I didn't read through the thread before hand to avoid spoilers.

I feel like the comparisons to Uncharted 3 are crazy unjustified. It's like comparing Uncharted with Gears, sure they're both third person shooters, but they really aren't the same game setting out to do the same thing. However, I do want to compare this to a game, and that game is Far Cry 3. This game is way closer to Far Cry 3 than it is to any Uncharted game.

That being said: I loved this game. Stellar material. A+.

 

[NullPointer]

This just shows how dumb I am for expecting to be able to fight that guy but I was lining up head shots, knee shots and foot shots for probably 5-10 min. After I died like 3 times I finally did my survivor instinct and was like oh so I just do that.

That's what you get for trying to trust in your own instincts. ;P

 

[SlasherJPC]

The part where you can sneak around at night and all the armed flashlight guys. How did you guys get the three guys guarding the exit to move? Did you just go all out attack?

 

[Dahbomb]

The part where you can sneak around at night and all the armed flashlight guys. How did you guys get the three guys guarding the exit to move? Did you just go all out attack?

You use the arrow to distract one of the guys away. Shoot at a nearby wall and one of them will leave his post. Repeat until cleared.

 

[B-Dex]

I have to win a ranked free for all to get that trophy now... I keep getting in matches where one uber player gets executioner and kills everyone off and the game ends early .

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Just finished it, with 75% completion.

What a waste. There are a few good bits in the last two dungeons, but on the whole the game is really simple and lacks any depth.
Just mowing down lots of dudes, less "amazing" Uncharted climbing sequences and collecting lots of meaningless junk and a story that dragged on.

I wanted to like this game a lot more than I did, it's middling.
It's pretty but dumb. Both this and old Lara deserved better.

 

[GolazoDan]

Finished the game. That was a long sitting but I love this game so much. Arkham Asylum/City and Assassin's Creed 2 are some of my favourite games of this gen and this hit the same spots. Upgrades and collectibles and satisfying combat and MORE COLLECTIBLES and hidden areas, goddamn.

FEED ME MORE, CRYSTAL DYNAMICS.

Didn't mind the ending either. Better than an Uncharted final third anyway.

 

[SmithnCo]

I have to win a ranked free for all to get that trophy now... I keep getting in matches where one uber player gets executioner and kills everyone off and the game ends early .

lol, to get that I basically got in a match where everyone except me and one guy quit, then I killed him twice and spent the rest of the match hiding so I could win.

 

[B-Dex]

I loved the whole "finale". Maybe a tad too much combat during the one section but otherwise it was great.

 

[Berto]

Just finished!
The last third was genuinely good and almost reedems it from being a total disapointment. It has a lot of Batman inspirations with the metroidvania mechanics, after the beach was when it all started to click with a lot more space to explore. Although it is a mediocre Tomb Raider, It is also a pretty good action game.

The potential is there to make a great Tomb Raider game, but the question is: does Crystal Dynamics want to do that game? I don't think so.

 

[grimshawish]

What do you mean by this?

I feel I have to use the environment as a weapon than hiding behind a wall as I do in other games. In fact TR seems very strict in terms of the number of shots u take.

 

[BillyBats]

About 70 percent done. Awesome game. Gunplay is exciting. I love the sound effects for the firearms. The jumping mechanics are spot on and I never once felt that the controls made me miss a jump. I also love that Lara feels like a human in this game and not a kill proof Rambo. Graphics are beautiful. The cinematic set pieces are exciting. Good times with this one.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Oh man, I didn't know Spec Ops was free with Plus right now. bbl ;p

 

[ShipTheCheese]

Finished it, enjoyed it, while it has flaws I'm very excited what a next-gen sequel could do.

Just give me more open environments, less enemy wave-style battles, more stealth, better puzzles, and for goodness sake a better cast of characters. I couldn't give a rat's ass about Lara's motley crew.

 

[Sanctuary]

The only parts that gave me that thought was the set pieces. Some of them are really bad which is unfortunate because the game is at its strongest when its letting you just tackle things at the pace you want instead of being interrupted by another janky looking falling apart house,bridge,plane.ect...

Obvious Uncharted, but then there's Akrham Asylum, Resident Evil (5...), Assassin's Creed and a few others.
Anyway, I'm near the end and I'll probably never play it again. It was an interesting enough detour, but it was nothing at all like TR 1-3 (the only games I played of the series), but it was fine for what it was. It's too bad the best thing about the game was the atmosphere and bow though. The game wasn't ugly either like a few want to seem to state. As if every game has to look like Crysis or go for ultra realism.

 

[The English Conquistador]

Really enjoying the game so far, just got past the point where

Spoiler

Roth dies.

(which I don't really understand, since he had a second pistol? Though it's totally possible that was Laras? Can anyone clarify?

It has a few issues. One of them being the overdone set pieces. Some are great, but this game suffers from the same thing Uncharted has. It becomes too predictable and too fucking stupid when everything Lara touches in a crazy situation, breaks, lights on fire etc...

The other is the inconsistency of Lara's situation and her physical well being. One minute her side is hurting her, then she's able to shoot dudes left and right? This kind of thing happens so often in the game, it becomes pretty ridiculous.

There's other issues, but like others have said, it's an exciting start to the new Lara.

 

[Dahbomb]

I don't think I have seen anyone here say that TR is ugly. Game is great on the eye balls. Even the people who hate it admit the game looks nice and has solid atmosphere.

 

[B-Dex]

ugh Multi is truly revolting. Shanty Town map runs at about 15fps and is just a grenade spam zone.

 

[SmithnCo]

ugh Multi is truly revolting. Shanty Town map runs at about 15fps and is just a grenade spam zone.

Everywhere is grenade spam, lol.

This "shoot guy off zipline" trophy/cheevo sucks too. Waiting for double XP weekend or something to do the lame leveling ones.

 

[Andrew.]

I don't think I have seen anyone here say that TR is ugly. Game is great on the eye balls. Even the people who hate it admit the game looks nice and has solid atmosphere.

How do you compare it to DmCs art style out of curiousity?

 

[Dahbomb]

How do you compare it to DmCs art style out of curiousity?

Completely different, hard to compare. DmC's art style is so much more saturated and punk aesthetic based. Tomb Raider has a subdued color palette that is more grounded in the real world but is dripping with actual atmosphere unlike DmC which just covers the game in a thick coat of colors. They are both different yet good in their own way. I prefer TR even if it's not as unique as DmC's. I feel that games that are able to give me a sense of awe using a real world setting are more impressive than games that use a fantastical setting as you have less flexibility in what you can and can't do.

Both games have some of the best concept art work I have seen as well.

 

[Wynnebeck]

Uggh Fuck this game's optimization. Just got to

Spoiler

the wrecked ship on the beach after fighting off the big black guy

and as soon as I entered inside, my game turned into a slideshow. I waited until it went back to normal 60FPS and tried turning down the graphics. Now every time I ADS, the game slows down frame by frame but goes back normal as soon as I let go of the Left Trigger. Seriously pissing me off.

 

[Spazznid]

Uggh Fuck this game's optimization. Just got to

Spoiler

the wrecked ship on the beach after fighting off the big black guy

and as soon as I entered inside, my game turned into a slideshow. I waited until it went back to normal 60FPS and tried turning down the graphics. Now every time I ADS, the game slows down frame by frame but goes back normal as soon as I let go of the Left Trigger. Seriously pissing me off.

TressFX.

 

[Wynnebeck]

TressFX.

TressFX isn't even on unless High stock settings has it activated.

 

[Spazznid]

TressFX isn't even on unless High stock settings has it activated.

Well if it's going low when in ADS, then thst's the only thing that did that to me at higher resolutions.... try turning off Tesselation or turn down DoF.

 

[DY_nasty]

So how is multiplayer?

 

[SmithnCo]

So how is multiplayer?

Not great.

 

[Grisby]

So how is multiplayer?

It's alright. Be better if the balancing worked and the games started faster.

 

[Zaventem]

I just saw this on my tumblr radar. WAT?

I dunno this marketing seems pretty weird for this game.

 

[~Kinggi~]

I just saw this on my tumblr radar. WAT?

I dunno this marketing seems pretty weird for this game.

I must protect 'Merika

 

[Dahbomb]

Anything related to TR's PR should automatically be ignored.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I just saw this on my tumblr radar. WAT?

http://24.media.tumblr.com/b912f65f2abf2fbeeb9512f453f36b6b/tumblr_mj9hmq7w051s58m7eo1_r2_250.gif[img]


[img]http://s23.postimage.org/ih6cqm1ei/wat2.jpg[img]

I dunno this marketing seems pretty weird for this game.[/QUOTE]

I'm way too confused to be put off by this, and yet I feel somehow I should be.