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Tomb Raider |OT| Lara's Misfortune

Right now I feel like some of the detractors have given better reasons why it looks bad to them than people who have played it and like it have listed. Because to follow up on one of my comments from a few hours ago, I'm still waiting on a detailed explanation of why the game is good. 15 comments of "it's good" or "it's fun" is just white noise to me.

Well lets see. I really enjoy it because of the coherent island setting. The fact you can come back to areas later with new abilities. The fact I find Laras struggle along with the mystery behind the island intresting. The gun play is solid. I think the cover system is one of the best and its pretty automatic. The set peices are fantastic but of course not for everyone. The atmosphere is insanely great for me. Your constantly moving to new areas amd enviroments and its never been boring for me in the slightest. I could go on but Im on my cell phone. Point is I really find alot to love here. A few minor blemishes asise
 
I can not stress enough just how atmospheric this game is. It's unreal! The amount of polish and detail is absolutely nuts! I find myself just walking around aimlessly just so I can enjoy soaking in the atmosphere....

And graphically the game is absolutely stunning and easily one of the best looking games of the gen. The art-style is drop-dead gorgeous! The combat is also surprisingly great. Be excited people, this one’s special!
 
I can not stress enough just how atmospheric this game is. It's unreal! The amount of polish and detail is absolutely nuts! I find myself just walking around aimlessly just so I can enjoy soaking in the atmosphere....

And graphically the game is absolutely stunning and easily one of the best looking games of the gen. The art-style is drop-dead gorgeous! The combat is also surprisingly great. Be excited people, this one’s special!

Head shots with the bow and arrow are soooo satisfying!

Just got the 360 version. Any early tips?

Protect her :p
 

Andrew.

Banned
Well lets see. I really enjoy it because of the coherent island setting. The fact you can come back to areas later with new abilities. The fact I find Laras struggle along with the mystery behind the island intresting. The gun play is solid. I think the cover system is one of the best and its pretty automatic. The set peices are fantastic but of course not for everyone. The atmosphere is insanely great for me. Your constantly moving to new areas amd enviroments and its never been boring for me in the slightest. I could go on but Im on my cell phone. Point is I really find alot to love here. A few minor blemishes asise

I like you man, but dont waste it. All that energy you just wasted typing couldve saved you multiple minutes on carpel tunnel prevention.
 

Esura

Banned
I feel really sorry for you if you actually believe that and aren't just messing with me. I truly do.

As an avid book reader and movie watcher, I'm inclined to agree to a certain degree. I guess the interactivity the gaming medium provides adds that extra oomph to a narrative that probably would've been subpar or average if you just compared the narrative of the game alone with those of other mediums.
 
Invisible walls is about Tomb Raider.
http://www.gametrailers.com/full-ep...le-walls--you-will-want-her-to-get-headshots-

They are mostly criticizing how very disconnected the narrative and character progression feels from the actual gameplay.

There are a lot of good points made here. The thing people need to take away from this is that Crystal Dynamics put the serious survival narrative FRONT AND CENTER but didn't build gameplay to support it. They absolutely should be called out on that. If they just wanted to make a really videogamey violent shooter, they could've had a story to fit that. Instead they want to make a story you care about, but everything about the combat is pointing to XP, leveling up, aggressive play, bonuses for headshots, explosions, etc.
 
I almost wish this game was bad, just so we could watch Tricky go through the denial.

Heh. The meltdown and self-delusion would be a sight to see.

Friend sent me this today, knowing that I'm a big TR fan (click for bigger yo). Thought it would be a pretty cool poster or something.

That is fantastic. I really like it. The pre-release art and concept art for this game has been great. I want this as a poster. I love the whole 'Reborn as a survivor' angle for this game.
 
The music is also wonderfully done too. It really adds to the atmosphere greatly whilst maintaining that epic cinematic feel to it. The sense of weight to Lara and the ability to move direction while jumping is a big plus too, it just feels so good to control her! I’m surprised at just how open and big some of the areas have been as well. God, I’m loving everything about this at the moment. I really didn't think it was going to trump Uncharted 2 in so many ways! I haven’t been this impressed with a game since Resident Evil 4 – the quality of everything here is really rare. It’s obvious that a lot of love and care went into this one. If it keeps up this kind of quality I’ll have no problems calling it my game of the generation!
 

Andrew.

Banned
What a tremendous poster you are. Kudos.

This game is good, and people who don't like it have poor taste or are in denial.

*Drops Microphone*

hcxTO.gif







I get it.
 
I know there has been a lot of "ludonarrative dissonance" talk about the game, and that's a legitimate criticism (it's importance to you will of course vary, personally I don't give a shit about that sort of disconnect) but one thing I'd like to point out is that personally I think there's a chaotic feeling to Tomb Raider's combat. To me it often feels like Lara is only just stumbling her way through these situations and I really appreciate it.

I also think people aren't giving the game enough credit for what it gets right in regards to the mix of story and gameplay. Yes, Lara soon shrugs off being stabbed through the torso in the game's beginning for the sake of enjoyable gameplay, but it is also not the last you'll see of that injury. Lara herself also often animates as someone who has little experience doing all of this and is only getting by on what little training she has had before reaching the island. Scurrying about and striking at her enemies not with finesse, but with desperation.
 

sublimit

Banned
There are a lot of good points made here. The thing people need to take away from this is that Crystal Dynamics put the serious survival narrative FRONT AND CENTER but didn't build gameplay to support it. They absolutely should be called out on that. If they just wanted to make a really videogamey violent shooter, they could've had a story to fit that. Instead they want to make a story you care about, but everything about the combat is pointing to XP, leveling up, aggressive play, bonuses for headshots, explosions, etc.

The guys from Invisible Walls also mentioned Far Cry 3 a couple of times and they basically said that the reason the XP system works there is because that game doesn't take itself very seriously (as it often uses satire) while TR on the other hand is being overly serious which makes the disconnection between gameplay and narrative feel kinda comical but for all the wrong reasons.
 
Never played any of the other Tomb Raider games before, but I'm really enjoying this one. Only real complaint I have is the achievements (on Xbox). I've been playing for a few hours now, and the only achievement that I've unlocked is the one for doing an optional tomb mission. Looking at the achievement list, there are far too many multiplayer ones

Not such a big deal, but still

IMO that is a big deal. Stop sticking ****ing multiplayer achievements in single-player games.
 

Varna

Member
I also think people aren't giving the game enough credit for what it gets right in regards to the mix of story and gameplay. Yes, Lara soon shrugs off being stabbed through the torso in the game's beginning for the sake of enjoyable gameplay, but it is also not the last you'll see of that injury. Lara herself also often animates as someone who has little experience doing all of this and is only getting by on what little training she has had before reaching the island. Scurrying about and striking at her enemies not with finesse, but with desperation.

That's what I kind of got from the videos I watched. I appreciate that, but ultimately wish they would have built the game more on the survival elements, platforming and very light combat on the side. It always seemed to me at least, at the very beginning this is what they might have had in mind. But eventually I guess they decided it needed much bigger appeal.
 
I know there has been a lot of "ludonarrative dissonance" talk about the game, and that's a legitimate criticism (it's importance to you will of course vary, personally I don't give a shit about that sort of disconnect) but one thing I'd like to point out is that personally I think there's a chaotic feeling to Tomb Raider's combat. To me it often feels like Lara is only just stumbling her way through these situations and I really appreciate it.

I also think people aren't giving the game enough credit for what it gets right in regards to the mix of story and gameplay. Yes, Lara soon shrugs off being stabbed through the torso in the game's beginning for the sake of enjoyable gameplay, but it is also not the last you'll see of that injury. Lara herself also often animates as someone who has little experience doing all of this and is only getting by on what little training she has had before reaching the island. Scurrying about and striking at her enemies not with finesse, but with desperation.

But how desperate and chaotic is it, really, if you kill hundreds of enemies before the game is finished? There comes a point where her stumbling and scurrying are no longer reinforcing the narrative, but only simple animations that's you'll see every third kill. When killing becomes routine, those animations don't mean anything. For combat to work with this narrative, the frequency of encounters, and number of enemies would have to be toned down significantly to get the point across. It would also have to change gears from you stalking them to where you're ACTUALLY fighting to survive with this character that hasn't been in the situation before.

Either that or drop the pretense and let her kick ass right from the start, and be honest about what your game is. They put themselves in this corner by choosing to go in the direction they did.
 
It's also a big deal that gamers seem to care so much about this. Enjoy the game, not the silly numbers.

Achievements are hugely popular. If you don't like them, ignore them. For those that do like/love them, an effort should be made to do them well. Like any aspect of the game. Some companies do it great. Some don't.
 
The music is also wonderfully done too. It really adds to the atmosphere greatly whilst maintaining that epic cinematic feel to it. The sense of weight to Lara and the ability to move direction while jumping is a big plus too, it just feels so good to control her! I’m surprised at just how open and big some of the areas have been as well. God, I’m loving everything about this at the moment. I really didn't think it was going to trump Uncharted 2 in so many ways! I haven’t been this impressed with a game since Resident Evil 4 – the quality of everything here is really rare. It’s obvious that a lot of love and care went into this one. If it keeps up this kind of quality I’ll have no problems calling it my game of the generation!

Jason Graves did the soundtrack, same guy who did the amazing soundtrack for the Dead Space series.
 
I had this pre-ordered for 33 dollars and canceled it for guild wars 2. Well I got some more free cash to use for a game and I really want this.

any current deals going on? CAGROCKS is not working anymore.

thanks everyone!
 
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