• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Tomb Clancy hands-on: “a lack of meaningful interaction”

sublimit

sublimit

Banned
http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/tomb-raider-hands-on-a-lack-of-meaningful-interaction/

On screen, Lara Croft is inching her way up a rock face. She’s wedged in a narrow vertical gap, chimneying her way up. It’s complicated, gruelling work. She grunts as she works her way past outcrops, exerting herself totally with the effort of remaining suspended some 40 feet above the jagged ground below. She slips, losing her footing for a second, before she jams her boot against the wall, steadies herself, and heaves a lungful of air. She climbs on.

In a chair, I’m pushing the thumbstick on my gamepad forward. I’ve been pushing it forward for almost all of Lara’s ascent. When she slips, I take my thumb off the controller for a second. I do this because the game makes it clear that I have no way to stop the event or assist in her righting process, and because my thumb is getting mildly numb from the effort. Three quarters of the way up, I release it again, interested to see what’ll happen to a visibly knackered Lara left to dangle. Nothing. She stays there, wedged in the rock, her superhuman core strength keeping her legs stable for – presumably – eternity. I go back to pushing the thumbstick forward.

A quick note: I’m pushing the thumbstick forward – not pressing W on a keyboard – because journalists are only able to play Xbox 360 code at this stage in Tomb Raider’s development. I’ve been pushing it forward for most of the three hours of Tomb Raider I’ve played so far, from Lara’s shipwreck at the opening, through her escape from local madmen down a perilously narrow and conveniently sized cave, during lengthy climbs up the side of a variety of precarious structures and rock formations.

Sometimes, Lara slips and tumbles as I’m pressing the thumbstick forward: collapsing into a heap after diving past a falling rock, missing a handhold halfway up a radio mast. It’s meant to feel thrilling, moments of near-death to keep the pulse racing. It succeeds instead in frustrating me. I can see the obvious coming, but I can’t avoid it. I can’t do anything but press the thumbstick forward as control is wrested away from me, keeping the scene rolling as Lara finds out about her own survival instincts on her own.

The closest parallel is the PlayStation 3’s Uncharted series. But where the linear leaping of those games was leavened by Indiana-Jones-style humour and silliness, Tomb Raider is pitch black in tone. Lara starts the game by unceremoniously dropping onto a spike, which pierces her clean through and obliges her to clutch her side as she tries to escape from a cave. The idea is to express human frailty, but what it’s doing is hamstringing a character defined by agility. For the next 20 minutes, Lara is left wheezing, gasping, and chattering her teeth, unable to sprint or jump thanks to the low cave roof, until she finds a fire at an island camp.

Tomb Raider opens up at this point. Lara’s first camp is on the side of a bluff, where an overhanging rock provides shelter from the incessant rain. The fire provides a place to upgrade equipment and spend experience points. Upgrades are earned through the collection of salvage – found in containers strewn around the island – and applied to Lara’s survival tools. I turn a makeshift pickaxe into a stronger makeshift pickaxe by applying some metal to it at one of these fires.

A short way on, one of Lara’s shipmates – all of whom seem to have survived the shipwreck and meet up with her shortly after her escape – leads me toward a vast temple door. He’s an archaeologist, and needs Lara’s help to turn the door’s crank. I apply the newly upgraded pickaxe to the relevant hole, and get cranking.

The area around the temple is large and lush. Deer frolic nearby. A few minutes previously, I put an arrow through one of those hart’s hearts when the game told me how hungry Lara was. There’s no obvious debilitating effect to signify hunger, but the story wouldn’t progress until I’d murdered Bambi’s mother, so down she went.

Lara’s longbow is just as effective a weapon against human targets, and offers the potential for a silent kill. I’m able to clear out a whole camp by loosing arrows into necks as backs are turned, making Lara Croft play like a bruised version of Sam Fisher.

The open areas around the camps can feel more like a staging posts than places to truly explore: regions to collect stuff and gather your thoughts before being funnelled through a cave or a tunnel. Pressing on, I find some welcome offshoots. Tombs are small, self-contained, and optional. I find one and creep in, solving a weight-based puzzle to nick some treasure. Once done, I make my way back and rejoin the main path, pushing Lara’s story forward. Always pushing forward.

Crystal Dynamics want players to guide Lara through adversity, to help her find her strength and will to survive. Her predicament looks harrowing, but such is the lack of meaningful interaction, she might do just fine without your help.
Click to expand...
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
every time I see anything Tomb Raider 2012, my hype digs deeper than a goddamned psychotic mole
 
P

Prophet Steve

Member
So similar to the E3 demo I guess. Too bad because the game could have been really cool. It is so stupid that in games nowadays a big criticism is a lack of interaction.
 
O

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
quote and story fit well with how i feel about gafs favorite, the wallking dead.

"Tell Tale want players to guide Lee through adversity, to help him find his strength and will to survive. His predicament looks harrowing, but such is the lack of meaningful interaction, he might do just fine without your help."
 
S

Sissel

Member
What a mess. Are dudebros even going to want to play a third person shooter as a girl? I hope they didn't sacrifice this game's vision for nothing.
 
B

beje

Banned
Thanks, now I know what game to avoid next season. If there's something I hate with a passion are games that essentially play themselves.
 
9

99%

Member
But Walking Dead is a interactive story/adventure game not a sequel to the original third person action adventure?
 
B

beje

Banned
Curufinwe said:
Might replay TR anniversary instead at this rate. Is the 360 version any good?
Click to expand...

Get the Wii version if you can (and you don't mind lower res). Motion controls and pointer aiming are superb in that game. Besides, if you're replaying, Wii version has some puzzles different.
 
Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Dear God. I get it now. This is an Ubisoft far cry game in third person with Uncharted platforming. There might be Darksiders 2 style time waster dungeons too to round out the openness checkbox.

Oh, the humanity.

edit: i mean Day 1 looks awesome ^__^
 
9

99%

Member
Y2Kev said:
Dear God. I get it now. This is an Ubisoft far cry game in third person with Uncharted platforming. There might be Darksiders 2 style time waster dungeons too to round out the openness checkbox.

Oh, the humanity.

edit: i mean Day 1 looks awesome ^__^
Click to expand...

You forgot you can level up gear ;)
 
X

Xater

Member
Chinner said:
i want to protect my money.
Click to expand...

Well it looks like I might be able to skip a lot of the "big" games of Q1. I doubt most of them will be all that great. Good, because it saves money for the next gen machines when there is finally excitement for games again.
 
Neff

Neff

Member
I strongly wish for the demise of the cinematic game, and for all the damage Uncharted has inflicted on gaming to be undone.

I hope these observations are indicative of a turning of the tide.
 
Y

YianGaruga

Banned
All the previews for the game so far looked terrible. Never understood the hype in the preview threads.

I guess TR nostalgia is still strong.
 
X

Xater

Member
Neff said:
I strongly wish for the demise of the cinematic game, and for all the damage Uncharted has inflicted on gaming to be undone.

I hope these observations are indicative of a turning of the tide.
Click to expand...

I really like Uncharted but not everything needs to be like it. The problem with this industry is that once there is something successful everyone wants to copy it.
 
N

noobasuar

Banned
I can't believe this is the same team that made Lara Croft: GOL. Now that game was awesome.

Uncharted is not a game that should be copied, especially for a Lara Croft game.
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
Neff said:
I strongly wish for the demise of the cinematic game, and for all the damage Uncharted has inflicted on gaming to be undone.

I hope these observations are indicative of a turning of the tide.
Click to expand...

The only thing that will change it are people developing taste that makes them stop buying shit like this. In other words I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
beje said:
Get the Wii version if you can (and you don't mind lower res). Motion controls and pointer aiming are superb in that game. Besides, if you're replaying, Wii version has some puzzles different.
Click to expand...

I played the PS2 version originally so HD would be nice, plus I like getting Achievements for good games.
 
B

BY2K

Membero Americo
Y2Kev said:
Dear God. I get it now. This is an Ubisoft far cry game in third person with Uncharted platforming. There might be Darksiders 2 style time waster dungeons too to round out the openness checkbox.

Oh, the humanity.

edit: i mean Day 1 looks awesome ^__^
Click to expand...

Is that edit a joke with the whole journalist integrity thing?
 
A

AllIsOneIsNone

Banned
Called it. QTE's galore on top of narrow linear pathways with constant cinematic interruptions interspersed with auto-aim injected cover shooter mechanics. AAA games these days, man.
 
P

PjotrStroganov

Member
Everytime I encounter this stuff, I think of Dayz and what devs could learn from that mod. Some modern games have done it right in the past. For instance Shadow of the Colossus and Braid. But most devs don't take the player seriously. Whether you try to cater to 15 year old snots or 30+ adults, at least respect our intelligence.
 
I

Irish

Member
Neff said:
I strongly wish for the demise of the cinematic game, and for all the damage Uncharted has inflicted on gaming to be undone.

I hope these observations are indicative of a turning of the tide.
Click to expand...

For all of its cinematic aspects, U2 still had the second tightest TPS gameplay behind only inFamous.
 
DR2K

DR2K

Banned
So it's basically Uncharted with an interesting main character and more puzzle solving. I can dig it.
 
J

jimi_dini

Member
Sometimes, Lara slips and tumbles as I’m pressing the thumbstick forward: collapsing into a heap after diving past a falling rock, missing a handhold halfway up a radio mast. It’s meant to feel thrilling, moments of near-death to keep the pulse racing. It succeeds instead in frustrating me.
Click to expand...

Ages ago people pushed a hoop with a stick and found that exciting. Now it's pressing forward on a stick.
 
Neff

Neff

Member
Irish said:
For all of its cinematic aspects, U2 still had the second tightest TPS gameplay behind only inFamous.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, but strongly disagree. I hated the gameplay in both of those games, and could reel off half a dozen TPS games that I prefer in terms of design, interface and mechanics.
 
K

Kinyou

Member
The open areas around the camps can feel more like a staging posts than places to truly explore: regions to collect stuff and gather your thoughts before being funnelled through a cave or a tunnel. Pressing on, I find some welcome offshoots. Tombs are small, self-contained, and optional. I find one and creep in, solving a weight-based puzzle to nick some treasure. Once done, I make my way back and rejoin the main path, pushing Lara’s story forward. Always pushing forward
Click to expand...
I wonder what the treasure actually does. There has to be some worth to it, right?
 
P

Pooya

Member
for quite a few of games out this year or present at E3 coming next year, it felt like I've already played them quite a few times, they are same predictable things. This game is specially derivative, it's like they took AC or Batman and Uncharted into one and made TR parts optional, side stuff instead. Taking ideas from others isn't bad but they went a bit too far here and forgot what their own was about.

Maybe it turns out a good formula, if it was open enough and it was made so that you could experiment with upgrades and equipments I could see that, unfortunately from the previews it doesn't look that way.

I specially hate QTEs to advance through scripted part bit, from what I read and seen you have to press triggers and stuff, in Uncharted games you just push left stick forward, that's far less painful.

this game somewhat reminds of Legend, that was quit horrible cinematic QTE fest too with a lot of horrible shooting and next to no puzzles, they took a hint with sequels though.
 
S

Suairyu

Banned
Y2Kev said:
The 360 version is fine. It's basically just the PS2 version in HD.
Click to expand...
Mostly fine. It has some clipping glitches, especially in Croft Manor, making you fall through ledges you were meant to grab.

The "next gen" sheen applied to the SD-intended visuals is the same sheen from Legend, too, which basically means it looks awful and over-bloomed, with entire surfaces glowing hot white, washing away the detail.

I honestly recommend the PC version, which is will give you HD resolution but without the SO NEXT GEN glare. It's how the game was intended to look and it shows.

jimi_dini said:
Ages ago people pushed a hoop with a stick and found that exciting. Now it's pressing forward on a stick.
Click to expand...
Keeping the hoop going takes skill and effort.
 
D

Dynamite Ringo Matsuri

Member
jimi_dini said:
Ages ago people pushed a hoop with a stick and found that exciting. Now it's pressing forward on a stick.
Click to expand...
That basically sums up way too many games from this gen. One of these days, when the production values of these games look antiquated, we'll come to our senses and realize these games for the pandering, shallow, mechanically empty borefests they are
 
I

Incendiary

Banned
Is there such a thing as inverse hype? Because every time I hear more about this game, I get more and more excited about not purchasing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered | Review Thread
Analysis Review
17
3K
winjer replied
Tomb Raider Remastered Trilogy is the Best Way to Remaster Old Titles
9
639
Con-Z-epT replied
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered – features detailed, new key art Revealed
News 2 3
112
8K
MonkeyClaw36 replied
Tomb Raider Series Adaptation Hires The Marvels Writer
News 2 3 4
167
8K
Negotiator101 replied
  • Poll
Would you prefer if a new Tomb Raider game went back to its roots or should the series continue to go in a more serious direction?
2 3
143
5K
Xenon replied
Top Bottom