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[Windom Earle]

Had this game in my Steam backlog for ages and finally decided to play through it. I am at about 80% completion now and what can I say... Game is pretty damn entertaining!

Sure, it's stealing a lot from Uncharted and does not feel like the old TR games, but I really love the pacing and variety. Story and characters are very forgettable, but the treasure hunting mixed with the classical Uncharted shooting action is fun. Weapon upgrades and abilities are also a nice addition.

It does not win any awards for innovation but people thirsty for some good old brainless AAA 3rd person action should be entertained. In a good way. Might pick up the "definitive" edition on PS4 at some point.
I do prefer this over Uncharted 3 and hope that U4 will be an overall more varied experience.

Thoughts?

 

[DieH@rd]

Great game and almost perfect starting point for a new TR franchise. They botched puzzles and tombs though.

edit - U3 was better, with much more interesting locations and better character interactions. It was better Indiana Jones type of a ride with as good action as TR and muuuuch better puzzle sections.

 

[UnluckyKate]

It was on par if not better than Uncharted gameplay wise, thanks to exploration and metroidvania level design.

but characters and story were subpar really...

So overall, an amazing game but maybe not a better package than let's say, UC2 or 3

Still so much potential to improve on puzzle for the sequel. I have great hopes and equal faith in the team

 

[sublimit]

They should have just made it a new IP with a new title and all that.Calling it "Tomb Raider" was an insult to the series legacy.

 

[Redhood]

The level design easily trumps uncharted. But I feel the next game needs to separate itself from UC and carve its own path. Less shoot bang please.

 

[BadWolf]

It's a good game.

Prefer Uncharted though.

 

[bananafactory]

Great game but not enough focus on the tombs. The ones that were in there were very fun

It's at its worst when it trys to emulate Uncharted. The set pieces in those games put TR's to shame

 

[Windom Earle]

True, Uncharted stomps the set pieces, but TR has the edge in level design. Love the bow, the Metroidvania and the zip-lining action.

 

[Dave_6]

Loved it and still do, one of my favorites from last year. Looks excellent as well maxed out on my PC. Can't wait for the sequel!

 

[Manu]

It's one of those games I hated so much I kinda expected to see more people agreeing with me, then I saw pretty much everyone loved it.

 

[ZServ]

It's one of those games I hated so much I kinda expected to see more people agreeing with me, then I saw pretty much everyone loved it.

This. I thought the game was incredibly dull in every fashion. Glad that some enjoyed it, though.

 

[Ferr986]

Me-ish game. Its good as a Uncharted copy, but terrible as a Tomb Raider. The tombs were ridiculously easy, and the huge amount of combat got boring for me.

 

[Kissenkopf]

Great game! Like you said it is very entertaining and its one hell of a ride.
Yeah its a little bit gory and puts the focus on the shootouts rather the exploration of old tombs but who the hell cares if the shootouts are so damn good?
Here will be a bunch of TR fanatics in a few minutes who will try to tell you how this is just a rip off of Uncharted and has nothing to do with the old games. But you know what? Nobody wants tank controls and weird level design back just the vocal minority trys to say everybody want to go back to the roots.
I really liked the game. Great graphics, entertaining level design, nice soundtrack, good voice acting and like I said very entertaining shooting sections. Played through the game in two settings, a thing I dont do very often...last game before that was Skyward Sword which I finished in three sessions.

P.S. The controls of this game are so much better than the ones from Uncharted. Nathan moves like Joe Cocker on speed and loves to touch every wall...

 

[Megatron]

It was my third favorite game of last year. Can't wait to play rise of the tr next year.

 

[RadarScope1]

It was on par if not better than Uncharted gameplay wise, thanks to exploration and metroidvania level design.

This game has Metroidvania design like Castle Crashers has RPG elements. It's extemely light. In fact, there's about as much Metroidvania as there is raiding of tombs.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Loved it, even if it felt a little bit more subdued than the uncharteds.

Really looking forward to the Sequel

 

[Alcoholikaust]

They should have just made it a new IP with a new title and all that.Calling it "Tomb Raider" was an insult to the series legacy.

agreed- brilliant gameplay but anything tomb raider esque seemed tacked on- should have been its own thing.

 

[Ferr986]

Great game! Like you said it is very entertaining and its one hell of a ride.
Yeah its a little bit gory and puts the focus on the shootouts rather the exploration of old tombs but who the hell cares if the shootouts are so damn good?
Here will be a bunch of TR fanatics in a few minutes who will try to tell you how this is just a rip off of Uncharted and has nothing to do with the old games. But you know what? Nobody wants tank controls and weird level design back just the vocal minority trys to say everybody want to go back to the roots.
I really liked the game. Great graphics, entertaining level design, nice soundtrack, good voice acting and like I said very entertaining shooting sections. Played through the game in two settings, a thing I dont do very often...last game before that was Skyward Sword which I finished in three sessions.

P.S. The controls of this game are so much better than the ones from Uncharted. Nathan moves like Joe Cocker on speed and loves to touch every wall...

Tomb Raider Anniversary didnt have neither tank controls or weird level design (Hell, Legends and Underworld didnt too).
I agree TR 2013 has the best controls though.

 

[Jobbs]

I like this game rather a lot -- I'm not a fan of all the "world is falling apart" setpiece stuff, but as a whole I do like it. I like the new more grounded approach to story and characters, even if much of the writing wasn't great.

the DE also stands as one of the best HD rereleases of a game ever, surpassing even the PC version. Many great cosmetic updates beyond mere higher IQ (such as news physics belt items, trees that sway, etc) and, on PS4, a high framerate -- mostly 60.

 

[RagnarokX]

True, Uncharted stomps the set pieces, but TR has the edge in level design. Love the bow, the Metroidvania and the zip-lining action.

TR has awful level design. It's extremely linear and they still tell you where to go with glowing paint everwhere, popups on the HUD, and voice. You don't explore and find your way and your way never challenges you. It's like following a nature trail between shooting galleries; a guided tour of Murder Island. Good level design acts as an obstacle for you to overcome.

And there is no Metroidvania. The game is very linear and you generally don't encounter gear gates before you get the gear that opens the gate. New paths in areas you go through multiple times tend to open through story cues. Metroidvania is about backtracking through areas you've previously explored and finding new paths with gear you didn't have previously.

 

[gogosox82]

They should have just made it a new IP with a new title and all that.Calling it "Tomb Raider" was an insult to the series legacy.

This. The game has literally nothing in common with past Tomb Raider titles.

 

[Kissenkopf]

Tomb Raider Anniversary didnt have neither tank controls or weird level design (Hell, Legends and Underworld didnt too).
I agree TR 2013 has the best controls though.

I agree with Anniversary and Legends but Underworld was kind of...bad in terms of level design.
And I spoke of the people who mainly say that the series should go back to the gameplay from TR 1-4. :3

 

[Prine]

Thoroughly enjoyed the game, I know there's greatness to be achieved by the same team. Like others have said, he tombs need to be Zelda level in terms of complexity and the game would be perfect. Uncharted should remain more Hollywood adventure, TR more puzzle / metrod prime like and I'll be happy . Absolutely love these types of games.

 

[JumpJeff84]

I liked it quite a bit.

Sure, it's lacked all the puzzle elements of the older games, but it was still an entertaining package in it's own right.

 

[Toa TAK]

I really enjoyed it. The gunplay alone keeps me coming back and the island is such a cool place with a sense of history behind it all.

What kills me is that there's nothing to do after you beat the main game if you didn't collect everything already.

 

[Windom Earle]

TR has awful level design. It's extremely linear and they still tell you where to go with glowing paint everwhere, popups on the HUD, and voice. You don't explore and find your way and your way never challenges you. It's like following a nature trail between shooting galleries; a guided tour of Murder Island. Good level design acts as an obstacle for you to overcome.

And there is no Metroidvania. The game is very linear and you generally don't encounter gear gates before you get the gear that opens the gate. New paths in areas you go through multiple times tend to open through story cues. Metroidvania is about backtracking through areas you've previously explored and finding new paths with gear you didn't have previously.

I agree that the game is still linear as hell. But much less so than Uncharted due to the exploration. I guess we can call it artificial freedom.

And yes, Metroidvania is extremely limited. Certainly aspects that can be improved on in the sequel.

 

[Murkrow]

What means LTTP?

 

[Kissenkopf]

What means LTTP?

Late to the party

 

[Murkrow]

Late to the party

I see.

 

[daninthemix]

They should have just made it a new IP with a new title and all that.Calling it "Tomb Raider" was an insult to the series legacy.

Agreed 100%. I prefer both the original trilogy (or quadrilogy if you like) and the first 3 Crystal games to this. All feel more like true Tomb Raider than this albeit extremely competent Uncharted ripoff.

 

[John Kowalski]

I wish it had bigger levels and a bit better stealth mechanics, because that one really big area where you can snipe errone in the head was the best thing about it.

 

[RagnarokX]

Great game! Like you said it is very entertaining and its one hell of a ride.
Yeah its a little bit gory and puts the focus on the shootouts rather the exploration of old tombs but who the hell cares if the shootouts are so damn good?
Here will be a bunch of TR fanatics in a few minutes who will try to tell you how this is just a rip off of Uncharted and has nothing to do with the old games. But you know what? Nobody wants tank controls and weird level design back just the vocal minority trys to say everybody want to go back to the roots.
I really liked the game. Great graphics, entertaining level design, nice soundtrack, good voice acting and like I said very entertaining shooting sections. Played through the game in two settings, a thing I dont do very often...last game before that was Skyward Sword which I finished in three sessions.

P.S. The controls of this game are so much better than the ones from Uncharted. Nathan moves like Joe Cocker on speed and loves to touch every wall...

Nice strawman, but people just want a game called Tomb Raider to be Tomb Raider. Navigating and actually exploring breathtaking environments that you have to actually figure out how to get through, surviving deadly traps, performing challenging feats of platforming, and solving intricate puzzles. You don't need tank controls or grids to achieve that. What Tomb Raider 2013 was was a game that gave players very little agency and presented no challenge. It was a pretty third person shooter with little else going for it and even then the AI was braindead and repetitive.

 

[Makoto Yuki]

I enjoyed it, even if the rest of the cast besides Lara were terrible.

 

[JumpJeff84]

The competitive multiplayer in this game was pretty forgettable. Instead they should have had a co-operative 'horde' mode. Would have worked really well with the mechanics I think.

 

[FonkyByNature]

Tomb Raider 2013 was good but not great.

It was clearly inspired by Uncharted but Uncharted is just way better imo.

 

[Mman235]

Nobody wants... weird level design back

"Weird level design", wat.

 

[Schryver]

Playing through it right now and really enjoying it. Combat is waaay too easy though. Haven't played the Uncharted series yet (Announce the remaster next month please Sony!)

 

[HardRojo]

It's one of those games I hated so much I kinda expected to see more people agreeing with me, then I saw pretty much everyone loved it.

Don't worry, I didn't think the game was that great either, handholding all the way, enemies who love standing in front of explosive barrels, easy headshots (people love the bow because of this, but it's actually because it's so fucking easy to get clean headshots in this game that it makes the bow look "awesome"), most upgrades were useless and completely unnecessary, unclear transition from innocent as heck Lara to cold-blooded murderer Lara... I did complain back in the day but I don't really feel like complaining anymore now. Hopefully TR2 will be a much better and interesting game.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Better than all 3 Uncharted games. Comfortably.

 

[TAJ]

It has the absolute best third-person shooter controls anywhere and somehow seamlessly incorporates very solid platforming controls as well.
But too much shooting and waaaaaaaaaaay too many QTEs. One is too many, really.

 

[Jan]

I thought lttp mean link to the past.

 

[JP]

It was sort of OK, there was nothing special about it and nothing terrible either. I think I'd have preferred that they'd taken more risks and got some things wrong rather than playing it so safe and everything ending up just OK. It's certainly nowhere near as interesting as the old PS1 games were for me.

Wouldn't be too surprised to see them try and move away from the Tomb Raider name and position it more as a Lara Croft game over time. It would certainly help with with the complete lack tombing and raiding in the game.

It did manage to leave me with a complete lack of interest in the sequel, there's still plenty of time for them to turn that around with me but they will pretty much have to start from scratch with the sequel to get me interested in it.

 

[Mifune]

Still haven't finished Tomb Raider. I loved the first couple hours, still enjoy the tombs (easy thought they are), and some of the larger-scale stealth segments are fun, but overall the endless combat scenarios have made me dislike the game.

Those sequences where you're taking cover behind a bench or something inside a small arena while an endless supply of bad guys zipline into the joint are the definition of bad game design. Words can't describe how much I hate those parts. And as you get further into the game, there's more and more of them. Combat on its own is fine, if a bit boring, but those arena battles are the worst.

I think the story starts promisingly enough but gets progressively worse. There's no wit or humor. Everyone is deadly serious about everything. The antagonists aren't interesting. The star of the game is the island, but there's very few opportunities to explore it. The big setpieces are fun the first time but definitely lose something the fifth time the world is falling apart and you have to run and jump to safety.

I don't really understand the Uncharted comparisons, since to me Tomb Raider is Uncharted without the soul, wit, invention, imagination, sense of fun. It's Uncharted after being sucked dry of everything that makes Uncharted unique. It's the most generic third-person action game imaginable. And the acclaim it has gotten continues to baffle me.

 

[Jobbs]

can't wait to play the next game on my XB1 next year.

(their tactic worked -- I buy my multiplats on PS4, but if this comes out on XB1 first I'll buy it there)

 

[Secret_asian_man]

I had fun with it, but there's too much shooting for my liking.

 

[deeptech]

A fine game , but a terrible Tomb Raider. Lost it's originality and soul to become a generic action/cover shooter.

 

[Refreshment.01]

Thoughts?

Functional, competent & soulless.

 

[Piston Hyundai]

How fucked up is it that the closest they come to the original games is with the over-the-top deaths?

 

[grandwizard]

The amount of Uncharted references in this thread just show how off trajectory they took the TR franchise with this reboot. Lost what made the series special and chased the AAA third person cover based shooter market, ended up making nothing but an Uncharted clone except now you can play it on the Xbox.

 

[deeptech]

The amount of Uncharted references in this thread just show how off trajectory they took the TR franchise with this reboot. Lost what made the series special and chased the AAA third person cover based shooter market, ended up making nothing but an Uncharted clone except now you can play it on the Xbox.

Exactly , next one even being X1 (timed) exclusive makes it funny somehow. Like they're gonna combat UC4 with TR2015 on xbox

How fucked up is it that the closest they come to the original games is with the over-the-top deaths?

Don't forget the optional tombs.

Spoiler

LOL