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How do you guys feel about a first person Tomb Raider?

Sendero

Member
I would be interested, for sure.

There are already several Lara Croft spin offs (GO, Guardian of Light, Temple of Osiris). Most of them are entertaining and neither impacted the "main" series. And in the originals, you could already handle the camera to see like through her eyes anyway.

A -legit- 1st person shooter would be a nice addition. And no need to be worried about not seeing "her". Just put some natural transitions in 3rd person, along with critical cutscenes (like the main game already does) and problem solved.


But the devs would need to fully commit. Gameplay on 1st person games is difficult to tackle correctly unless its predominantly an FPS - and that's exactly what they need to avoid: to become reduced to a generic on-rails shooter.


Personally, I would prefer if they really tried to do a less costly TR, on the vein of the originals.
So much potential.
 
I don't think that I've ever enjoyed a first-person platformer at all, and it's actively made me hate some games that integrate first-person platforming into them, but I still haven't played Mirror's Edge, and people seem to like that.

Maybe it would work, but I think I prefer third-person Tomb Raider.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
He'll no, stop trying to ruin everything with this first person crap
Ironically RotTR is actually worse in VR which is more or less first person it's an interesting experience being VR but the normal way is a lot better.
And don't get me started on Resident Evil 7.
 

Akronis

Member
Mirror's Edge is a terrible comparison to make for this sort of thing. Tomb Raider was never about realism, it was over the top acrobatics and other shit. That stuff isn't a good fit for first person viewpoint at all.
 

Aranjah

Member
I'd prefer Tomb Raider stick with third-person. I really hate platforming in first-person. I need to be able to see what's under me and what's in front of me at the same time, and unless they do some weird, weird things with the camera FOV, third person is the only way that's happening.

Also I'm kinda tired of everything turning into an FPS. But mostly the platforming thing. Also I have a feeling first-person parkour in VR would be a puke machine.
 
Moving blocks, swinging from ropes, dodging, rolling, back flipping around certain death traps, while also free aiming or auto aiming... that would be damn amazing.

Though, I think Tomb Raider has a solid archetype to run with and Lara Croft is such an iconic character that it's 3rd person nature is mutually beneficial. Not that Faith wasn't awesome, just not already established as a 3rd person fixture.

Throw whoever in it the way 1001 Spikes, La Mulana and Spelunky do with their Pitfall/Spelunker motif and the gameplay + themes would be ripe to create a 3rd pillar of archaeological, 3D action/adventure where a new world of characters can be established in a way that suits it.
 

Synth

Member

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Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Since Mirror's Edge is probably about as good as you can get in this style of game in first person, I'd have to say I wouldn't like Tomb Raider or Uncharted to go in that direction. I just didn't like that approach compared to the experience I get from 3rd person view.
 

psyfi

Banned
Nah, keep it third person. Just get rid of the current asinine reboot and come up with a new personality / direction for the series.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
I don't think it would be a good idea. Tomb Raider has a lot of platforming and big puzzle solving stuff, and moving to a first person perspective would make those two things much clunkier.
 

Flintty

Member
Ugh thread went to a gross place within the first few posts.

Since when is appreciating the human form considered gross? Legitimate question.

I mean, it's not like we play the game just to stare at Lara's behind, it's a good game with many cool aspects. The 3rd person view works for me for geographic awareness and the fact she's modelled so nicely is an added bonus.
 
Original Tomb Raider design with Mirror's Edge mechanics (at least platforming-wise) is something I really want... I think it could work in third-person too...

I would love a firstperson action adventure with platforming and puzzles with little combat. But I know most people hate firstperson platforming with a passion... people into action-adventure games aren't into firstperson. The situational awareness and relative reduction in camera movement (although original Tomb Raider games were quite intense in terms of lining up camera for everything) of 3rd person has an easier appeal.

Well if it was like Mirrors Edge I'd likely prefer it to to the last two games. Compared to the old platforming exploration Lara that I prefer though then no...

I'd just like it to get back to the core of what Tomb Raider was. Puzzles, platforming, and shooting without hip high walls against wild creatures, even then they can reduce the shooting bit as that was always the weakest part. If they can do it successfully in first person then go for it but 3rd person would be preferred.

ICYMI, there was an interesting discussion of this in the ‘Tomb Raider Reboot 3 - What do you want?’ thread. Some excerpts:

...Legend, Anniversary and Underworld were far too different in terms of controls and level design, especially regarding the platforming. They replaced three-dimensional, challenging platform-to-platform traversal with (mostly) two-dimensional, over-automated ledge-hopping. That's like telling Soulsborne fans that those game's combat is very similar to Assassin's Creed's combat :p. However, there is a modern game that has succeeded in modernising classic Tomb Raider's platforming: Mirror's Edge. Mechanically speaking, that game feels more like Tomb Raider than any of Crystal Dynamic's Tomb Raider games have so far...

...How is a frantic, super twitchy game like Mirror's Edge in any way comparative to the slow, deliberate tank controls of classic Tomb Raider? In TR the timing was usually pretty generous, you just had to take your time, figure out what to do and then commit to it a bit in advance. ME is a non-stop barrage of tight jumps needing split-second reactions, turning TR into that sounds worse than the current incarnation...

You're right in saying that Mirror's Edge feels more fast-paced, however, I think that ME's first-person view contributes a lot to that sensation of speed, making everything feel and look a bit faster and more frantic than it would from a third-person perspective. The other main reason for the difference in pacing is probably that, in the old TR games, you often had to pause and line up a jump before continuing on your way due to the way the running jump worked and ME obviously doesn't have that.

However, the old TRs definitely had their fast-paced moments and timing is a big part of controlling Lara in those games. You need to know when to press the jump button so Lara is going to jump from the right spot. Press it too early or too late and she'll miss or fall down. Furthermore, you need to aim your jumps properly (and if you don't, the game is not going to help you out by having ledges pull you towards them), you need to make sure you have enough momentum to reach certain spots, you need to understand and master the controls to succeed and the level design features a lot of platform-to-platform traversal as opposed to the LAU games and at least the first Mirror's Edge really had this sense of having to figure out where to go and how to use the environment to your advantage, finding a path. That's something I haven't felt in a Tomb Raider entry for a long time. So yeah, like I said, I do think that Mirror's Edge has far more similarities with the classic TR games than any of Crystal's Tomb Raider games so far.

Mark Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQRr3pXxsGo&t=105s
“[1:45] ...I think we also lost something in the transition to the ultra simple traversal controls we see in games like Rise of the Tomb Raider and Uncharted. The old system [in the classic Tomb Raider games] demanded expertise. You became a master of the controls, like how you learn to subconsciously flick trick in and out of every grind and manual in Tony Hawk's, and you had to act deliberately, and with intention, like – dare I say it – Dark Souls. And in Tomb Raider [1996], a leap across a giant chasm is almost as terrifying and rewarding as it would be in real life. Whereas that exact same jump in the decade-later remake, Tomb Raider Anniversary [2007], is so bereft of challenge that you barely even register that it happened... [3:28]... Thankfully, we can, and a number of smaller games show us that movement can still be as deep and involving as, like, murdering a dude. Perhaps the most obvious example is first-person parkour game, Mirror's Edge. This game is all about movement, and you have so much control over the way protagonist Faith moves through the world. She has acceleration on her run so she can jump farther after she has built up speed. She can tuck mid-jump to clear high fences, and roll when she hits the ground to avoid fall damage. Her large repertoire of moves give you more options when moving through a space. In this early section, you can... and...”
 

ironcreed

Banned
Nah. It would kind of take away from the platforming and overall feel. Whereas games like Resident Evil have an easier time making such a transition for reasons that make sense.
 

Harlequin

Member
Actually, they didn't mod the game but are creating a new engine to run the classic games in (there are several different projects of that kind currently in the works) and they implemented a first-person mode for fun. You can try it out yourself here (you can play it inside your browser without downloading anything) - press V to switch to first-person mode: http://xproger.info/projects/OpenLara/
 
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