Both the Uncharted series and the Tomb Raider reboot are solid titles that each do things right.
Uncharted's core gameplay isn't the strongest but it doesn't need to be; its a platform for its story to ride on and thus everything around the solid but nothing amazing gameplay is very strong. The stories are fantastic, the level designs are varied, the set-pieces are jaw dropping and it all ties together nicely in a great package that feels like an interactive action movie in gaming form. The only issue the series has is that the core gameplay isn't amazing but even then, it gets slightly better per title (with UC4 looking great on that front).
Tomb Raider Reboot is the exact inverse; the story and characters are utter garbage but everything else is fantastic, in comparison to Uncharted. It is very different form past Tomb Raiders, so it should be judged on its own merits, rather than as a follow up to the classic series.
The level design isn't the strongest but it carries with it gameplay that is far stronger than Uncharted. The jumping controls feel great, the combat systems are very solid and offer a lot of variety for encounters, the exploration (though limited at times) is enjoyable; all tying into gameplay that fixes issues people have with Uncharted (which is stiff-like controls and very 'sticky' cover based combat).
The games biggest issues is ironically it trying to hard to be Uncharted; the set-pieces while okay at times, feel forced and the violence Lara faces is very jarring (yes, the original series was quite violent but its far more gory here, making it very......unnerving to me personally). They also feel like the game is pushing you along a movie set, rather than Uncharted doing this far more naturally (as you are so sucked into the set-pieces, that they never feel forced).
The story....where to begin
? It feels like the writers were trying to their own thing while Crystal Dynamics wanted to another thing....and when they came together, they did not mesh well at all X(. Lara wanting to be warrior and fight through is a great idea, but when you have the cut-scenes portraying her weaker than how she really is in game....its very detracting. This also comes into the idea of the 'killer'; Uncharted has Drake kill hundreds of people every game (with UC2's main villian calling Drake out on it at the very end) but its painted like such a campy adventure that it isn't super distracting.
In Tomb Raider? Trying to paint Lara as the victim ends up turning her into a psychopath, completely highlighting her killing so many people, thus making her a hard character to connect with. That wouldn't be an issue if the rest of the story was okay or at least passable (allowing you to enjoy the gameplay and design elements with little distraction) but the game is trying to be Uncharted.....leading to its biggest issues coming out.
You hate the supporting cast; the characters you are supposed to connect with. I remember Drake, Elena, Cloey, Sully (sorry if I butchered names
) very vivdly and loved their character arcs and growth. Here, I only remember hating everyone for being useless, being pests to Lara and even blaming her for the situation they are in (but they don't bother helping at all). I wanted Lara to kill them as savagely as she does the rest of the people on the island and the fact she didn't do that still surprises me.
I will give the story credit in one area that I feel it should be commended for; its same-sex relationships. Lara saves her female friend, not a male figure or herself and its very clear that out of all the characters, we are supposed to like her the most (next to Lara). She is just as useless as the rest of the cast, but I apprechate her and Lara's moments throughout the game and I wonder where they will go with it in Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Overall, both are great game series but Tomb Raider 2013 suffers from a very bad story, leading to it suffocating the strong gameplay and design elements. Thankfully, it seems like Rise of The Tomb Raider will be fixing that (I hope at least), so looking forward to seeing impressions of that in the next month or so
.
