At this point, I doubt I'm going to finish, or if I do it will be over the course of the next couple months, but I agree with you 100%.
Edit: lol @ the reason for being critical of a game being:
-
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Tomb Raider |OT| Lara's Misfortune
- Thread starter Fracas
- Start date
At this point, I doubt I'm going to finish, or if I do it will be over the course of the next couple months, but I agree with you 100%.
Edit: lol @ the reason for being critical of a game being:
Gross. No thanks.
Bjoern the Smexy
Member
Beat the game half an hour ago.
Great game, really.
Had to do the end fight three times due to some strange bug that didn't advance the cutscenes and let me control Lara offscreen, so I let her fall to her death, which is why I had to do the thing again. Happened twice to me.
All in all, this is a very good game. I liked it. I liked Lara's voice actress. I actually liked every voice actor in the game.
Great game, really.
Had to do the end fight three times due to some strange bug that didn't advance the cutscenes and let me control Lara offscreen, so I let her fall to her death, which is why I had to do the thing again. Happened twice to me.
All in all, this is a very good game. I liked it. I liked Lara's voice actress. I actually liked every voice actor in the game.
Mathias[/spoiiler] was a stupid villain though, but whatever.
The game was fun, less Uncharted-ish than I thought and overall great.
The game was fun, less Uncharted-ish than I thought and overall great.
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
Cliche? Sure, but... the alternative so far in this?
I feel like the secret at the end of this game is going to be a cloning device with a copy of Metal Slug jammed in it pumping out human cannon fodder.
Plus it would be thematically consistent with the rest of the series. But yeah, I know, reboot.
I was the same about RE4 (real hard to imagine, I'm sure
). Trouble is RE4 was both a better game than this, and wasn't trying to be as deliberately derivative in concept and design.Personally, there's so much I love (yes, love) about certain parts or elements of this game that the parts I can't stand are bothering me all the more.
Funny thing, I felt this way about 5-6 years ago. Now I'm 5-6 years older, and back to being as critical as before. I won't pretend a lot of it is the sheen and novelty of this gen wearing off.
Taking the time to argue about not having time to argue is a strange way to go. Is it not wasting time to talk about how much you like something? Time is precious, money is precious, we're arguing about the quality of the product we are spending these things on. The product is much worse in important areas of the franchise and is appropriately drawing complaints.
Haha, that got me.
PumpkinPie
Banned
The more I play, the less I want to play the game now. The first forest area looked so promising in the beginning, but now I'm at 65% or so the game just seems to be about shooting. Every level begins with Lara taking an enormous tumble down a hole. I'm burnt out.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
You in Shantytown? The game gets a lot better once you get past Shantytown and the Fortress.
Keep in mind the collectibles factor into the percentage, so you could be farther than you think.
Got my LC avatar all set. This is my GOTY so far. Just played it about 4 hours last night. Holy god damn this game is amazing!
I was always defending it, but it's even better than I expected so far.
Crystal Dynamics >>>>>>>>>>> Naughty Dog
You can tell that this is easily the most talented wing of Eidos. It's no wonder that two Crystal Dynamics artists worked on Agni's Philosophy. Man, I can't wait to see what kind of stuff SQEX pulls out for their next gen games. They just have so many resources to work with now.
I was always defending it, but it's even better than I expected so far.
Crystal Dynamics >>>>>>>>>>> Naughty Dog
You can tell that this is easily the most talented wing of Eidos. It's no wonder that two Crystal Dynamics artists worked on Agni's Philosophy. Man, I can't wait to see what kind of stuff SQEX pulls out for their next gen games. They just have so many resources to work with now.
PumpkinPie
Banned
I've passed the fortress and
done that foresty bit where the guys with flashlights are searching for you.
This is my GOTY, insofar as it's the best game that I've played in 2013 to this point. Although I'm literally about to start playing Heart of the Swarm in a few minutes, which will most likely be my #1 GOTY.
I would be immensely surprised if Tomb Raider doesn't hold up in my Top 5 by the end of this year.
Ho man... is this not the game for you.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
Stick with the assault rifle and upgrade the hell out of it. You should have no problem just mopping through people.
Its better than GOWA so far and I expected that to be at the top of my list.
Right now I am sitting at:
1)Heart of Swarm(I just finished installing it I am so excited!!)
2)MGR
3)TR
I assume LOU and BSHOCK will push it out of my top 5 but just barely.
Fine Ham Abounds
Member
PumpkinPie
Banned
I already have all the upgrades for everything
I'm just not cut out for shooting games haha. If I could just stay in cover and shoot I'd be fine, but those guys with the grenades ruined that strategy. I'm hopeless with running and gunning.I found the other games like Anniversary, Legend and Underworld to be a walk in the park because I enjoyed working out the puzzles, and the shooting was just a small distraction in those games. I just wasn't expecting this much Uncharted-ness from TR.
I said wasting time lamenting how the game is not like the older ones.
I have no reason to be critical as the game is excellent. Great level design, excellent combat and controls, beautiful graphics, great pacing. This game is worth my $60 and then some.
The only thing this game does worse than the older ones are Puzzles, and those are pretty fucking low on my list of priorities for games these days, if they're there and done well, fine, if they're there and easy, thats fine too, doesn't bother me either way. Other than that it's better in every other way for the most part.
SlasherJPC
Banned
The problem is, you don't see me going on and on about how much I love the game and find it extremely fun, polished, and had a good time. I stated my business much early in the thread. Nor am I questioning why people don't like it, yet I constantly find myself getting questioned how I can like mediocrity, how I'm easily ammused, etc. It get old man.
This is exactly how I've been feeling. I just got past Shanty Town, and I've just spent some major time exploring for collectibles because I'm not ready for more set piece combat moments.
I liked the serenity of the Coastal Forest and the limited encounters near the Mountain Temples. But it's turning into wave after wave of psychopaths that are getting gunned down by my Rambo Lara. I've been taking pretty long breaks after playing a bit because it has been getting less interesting and much more combat heavy.
:/
Z
ZombieFred
Unconfirmed Member
And now I have hit the 100% mark at 17 hours. I really loved going back and exploring the HUB areas again and taking my time on the extra details I missed during the original campaign run. I will have to say their art department is truly remarkable, the amount of detail they jam-packed on the beach and fortress shore is simply incredible and refreshing to explore in a video game since you rarely get to do such things from this generation. I feel confident saying they are one of the few developers from this generation to be masters of crafting the perfect atmosphere and scale for the player to get engrossed in. I will have to do another play through again soon since I had so much fun and feel like I can go through it again. Square Enix should feel very lucky to have Eidos and all their talent under one house, and the collaboration of them working on some of the art of Agni's Philosophy is just a great sign of things to come.
Speaking of the Hub areas, what are peoples favorite memorable location out of the rest? For me I will have to go with the beach shore and seeing all the 20th century remnants laying around and rusting away.
Speaking of the Hub areas, what are peoples favorite memorable location out of the rest? For me I will have to go with the beach shore and seeing all the 20th century remnants laying around and rusting away.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
Shantytown and the section right after it (Solarii Fortress) are the two most combat heavy sections in the game. If you enjoyed exploring the forest then you'll love the area after the Fortress.
Motivation to soldier on!
There are aspects that I truly adore about this game's atmosphere, but the shift towards heavy combat kind of took me by surprise. I went from stealthily killing enemies with the bow to violently (and poorly) cutting down anything that moved with the Assault rifle. It feels jarring, but I'd like to get past this if it gets quieter after.
Love all the areas, but so far, I have to say that I like The Hunting Lodge and Beach the most (currently still at the Beach).
For truth.
Once you start having to make more complicated jumps, it starts to get a lot cooler. The puzzles are getting better as well. Personally, I'm loving this game a lot. I had fun with it at first, but it just continues to grow on me. Absolutely loved the boat/beach level. The set piece that opens that segment was absolutely brilliant.
Plus, rocketing up ziplines like a god is the greatest feeling.
Then again, I'm liking the combat. They're constantly forcing the player out of cover, which is WAY cooler than the lesser "stick behind cover where you're relatively safe and pick them off!" strategy. It's very frantic, and I'm constantly changing up weapons and leaping around to kill people.
Amazing game. Makes Uncharted shit itself. This is a game Crystal Dynamics can be proud of, even if it isn't the Tomb Raider some older fans want. One hopes that they'll lean more that direction in future games and that htis was the gateway drug.
I do have two problems, the first during the monastery sequence: the
helicopter
it crashes and people die
the pilot kept saying he couldn't land in the storm--as a former pilot, let me just say that when there's bad weather, you LAND or you fly ABOVE the storm. You do not refuse to land in bad weather.
The second problem is when she is like "Oh, I KNOW what's going on now!" right after that, and as a player, I found myself sitting there going "um, no shit? You saw monsters already. You saw mysterious weather. The bad guy's already explained it throughout the game, and the journals make it even more obvious. What has prevented you from piecing this together?"
Not as far as me and my friend could find out. Searched online, read the manual all that. Apparently there were threads on other forums complaining about it as well.
The only option we found was to join your party member's game, but that only worked if they were already in a game and there were spaces available.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
Here's a tip for combat, use the scramble (Circle or B depending on your console) to avoid fire. Every time someone tosses a grenade or molotov at you, use your scramble to move out of the cover you're currently in and move to an adjacent piece of cover. Take out the dudes with assault rifles first, since they are generally the ones that will kill you fastest.
If enemies get within melee range, just use the dodge counter (hit Circle as they start to swing, then hit Triangle when the prompt comes up). Melee enemies should never kill you if you use this tactic. You can pretty much avoid all melee damage by scrambling away anyway.
Uhh, no.
Here's a tip for combat, use the scramble (Circle or B depending on your console) to avoid fire. Every time someone tosses a grenade or molotov at you, use your scramble to move out of the cover you're currently in and move to an adjacent piece of cover. Take out the dudes with assault rifles first, since they are generally the ones that will kill you fastest.
If enemies get within melee range, just use the dodge counter (hit Circle as they start to swing, then hit Triangle when the prompt comes up). Melee enemies should never kill you if you use this tactic. You can pretty much avoid all melee damage by scrambling away anyway.
Uhh, no.
A picture of a linear level with easy-ass platforming isn't what I'd call a great argument.
Yes, it looks pretty, but that's all Uncharted has going for it (that and humorous dialog). Uncharted has a bad cover system, boring guns, and enemies with x-ray vision--Tomb Raider forces players to move constantly, or use stealth or whatever, or change up really distinct weapons (like the rope arrows, fire shotgun, silenced pistol, dodge stab, etc).
Tomb Raider gives player more control. Tomb Raider, as the game progresses, involves more and more interaction from the player. Yeah, it's still got lengthier cutscenes than I'd like, and yeah, there are bits where I haven't got control, but it still provides far more control and requires far more skill than anything in Uncharted.
Tomb Raider's hanging boat
and ensuing ziplines
Better story, better weapons, better AI, better/more puzzles, better gameplay... Tomb Raider does everything better.
EDIT: I haven't played Uncharted 3 or The Golden Abyss. Maybe those are better games, but I kind of doubt it.
Can you make an argument for characterisation and multiplayer? I'd throw in art direction and replayability there too, as well as score, but they're perhaps a little more debatable. Regardless, imo as good as TR is, Uncharted 2 is my prefered choice. TR does some things better, but it doesn't do everything better.
That
hanging boat
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
I don't know how much you remember of the train level from Uncharted 2 but you could actually approach that thing in multiple different ways. You could run through the train killing everyone, you could use the sides to get around carefully, you could get on top of the train and drop grenades on everyone, there were many ways you could approach that level.
This isn't even mentioning the fact that the level you're playing on is moving, which adds an extra level of dynamism to the proceedings. Halfway through you're given a sniper rifle, which is even harder to use when you realize that as the train moves about the track the enemies move around with it and are harder to hit.
The
hanging boat
This game would be so much better if they replaced the setpieces with more classic (even just like CD's recent games) Tomb Raider tombs full of puzzles, challenging platforming and environmental puzzles. Even if you liked the setpieces, wouldn't the game be better if those older elements replaced them? Plenty of games have setpieces I feel, but pretty much no games have those TR elements I want in.
I like a lot of the elements in this game. The bigger hubs (mountain village and the beach in particular) have a great exploration element to them. The combat is definitely improved even if I think there is too much of it. I like the new abilities you gain throughout the game like rope arrows that get you access to new places. These could be pushed a lot further though. They simply don't do enough with them. With all the tools we have, my mind runs wild with the kind of puzzles they could create, but they just didn't push that element.
I really hope they meld old and new in the next one. The game would be so much better for it, but I fear they won't go in that direction.
I like a lot of the elements in this game. The bigger hubs (mountain village and the beach in particular) have a great exploration element to them. The combat is definitely improved even if I think there is too much of it. I like the new abilities you gain throughout the game like rope arrows that get you access to new places. These could be pushed a lot further though. They simply don't do enough with them. With all the tools we have, my mind runs wild with the kind of puzzles they could create, but they just didn't push that element.
I really hope they meld old and new in the next one. The game would be so much better for it, but I fear they won't go in that direction.
Wasnt the only set piece by far and again the whole game wasnt even close to being one big set piece.
So if you have to dodge or jump while an area is crumling around you that equals bad? You might want to replay the Uncharted series again before you claim that one is great and the other is 'awful' then.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
Some of this is just opinion based but some of it is categorically wrong most notably:
AI, and Puzzles. Two things that UC towers over TR in.
I didn't say the whole game was one big set-piece. I think there is something getting lost in translation here between us. I am telling you when there are set pieces they are bad. Also as regards the jumping = bad. This isn't a case where you are having to time your jumps perfectly or spot the only landing spot that isn't crumbling you literally can jump anywhere as long as your pressing forward and hitting the jump button you will get through the cut-scene. Furthermore any interaction that is required of the player outside of mashing the jump button is handled by engaging slow motion so you can't possibly fail. The devs assume the people playing this game have OCD and judging by some of the impressions they might be right.
Where can I play this Tomb Raider game you think you played? Because I didn't see any of that stuff at all. The AI alone is some of the worst I've seen in a recent game.
Z
ZombieFred
Unconfirmed Member
I had no problems with the AI in this game, they were pretty relentless on me (played on hard) and used the environment to their advantaged and tried to circle/flank me. The arrow guys were a right pain in the ass and I couldn't stay in one place for too long. I thought the AI was great from my experience.
PAULINK
I microwave steaks.
Does anyone know if the amazon hunter edition games were a limited time only thing or has someone who ordered after the release date got it? Reason I'm asking is because I finally got my package today and it was a fucking empty sleeve. So they ordered a replacement for me but i'm obviously worried since this was supposedly a pre-order bonus sku...
Holy crap,just got it also seeing that hehe...nice one OP.
SlasherJPC
Banned
Very true. But did the majority of people ever even realize this? Probably not. I didn't until you just said it. I had to think back. In all my replays of that game I pretty much went rambo. lol
I played on hard too and saw none of that. I was never flanked except if a melee sword/knife guy was coming at me and I didn't see it. All they ever did was sit behind cover and pop their heads up for me to easily shoot or they wouldn't bother taking cover at all and stand out in the open for me to easily kill. The AI is the biggest reason why this game had no challenge at all even on Hard.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
They don't flank. Good AI is not 2 dudes throwing moltovs while 3 other guys bum rush you with Axes. There is no AI movement to flank you from a weak side. If you move to higher ground the guys don't try to reformulate to your position in any way.
This.
Each enemy has behavior. They follow that behavior whether or not it's smart to do so.
fuzzyreactor
Banned
The AI is terrible
3 types of enemy AI with no flexibility:
melee ones that charge you full force, long range ones that peak behind cover, and grenadiers whom do nothing but throw grenades.
Uncharted shits on it by comparison
3 types of enemy AI with no flexibility:
melee ones that charge you full force, long range ones that peak behind cover, and grenadiers whom do nothing but throw grenades.
Uncharted shits on it by comparison
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
hahahahahaha...
Better AI than Tomb Raider, since people like to cluster around that guy!
Surface of Me
I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
How is the platforming in this? Think I'm going to Redbox it either way, but is it just the move the stick like in AC or Uncharted or actual platforming?
Like Uncharted.
fuzzyreactor
Banned
slightly better than the uncharted games, very much still move the stick in one direction. More room for error in TR than those games IMO