1. #1
    nannerdw's Avatar Senior Member
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    Tomb Raider review

    I just finished the new Tomb Raider, and wanted to write a little review to share my thoughts on how it compares to the rest of the series.

    I've been following the new Tomb Raider reboot since the beginning, and when Crystal Dynamics first started releasing early concept art for a gruesome, open-world island survival-horror game (with horseback riding?), I have to admit I was kind of skeptical. I've been a fan of the Tomb Raider series since I was seven, and the originals from Core Design will always stand out as true classics to me, for being some of the first titles to really get me into playing video games. While I enjoyed the previous installments from Crystal Dynamics (despite their oversimplified "press Y to watch Lara auto-pilot her way onto another ledge" platforming mechanics), this one just sounded like too much of a departure from what I'd come to expect from a Tomb Raider game.

    Looking back on Tomb Raider 1-5, they definitely had a lot of horror elements (the spider cave in Tomb Raider 2, the London subway in Tomb Raider 3, the Ireland levels in Chronicles). I thought Crystal Dynamics did an exceptional job of capturing the creepy atmosphere and feeling of suspense from those old games, more-so than any of their previous efforts. However, I was worried that the new M-rating would lead to an over-reliance on gratuitous violence and gore. While I feel that they did go a bit over-the-top to the point of pure ridiculousness at some points (like their not-so-subtle homage to the movie, "The Descent"), for the most part, the disturbing imagery really served to enhance the overall atmosphere of the game to make it that much more compelling.

    The main element of Core Design's series that I still find really impressive is their level design. The player was free to explore the world, without much hand-holding or guidance. To me, those games were all about exploration and discovery, a feeling of "Where should I go next?" rather than "Where do the game designers want me to go next?" I decided to go through the new Tomb Raider without using fast travel or relying on hints or map markers, so that I could have the experience of finding my own way through the world. This game really did a great job of letting the player loose to explore the environment, while still providing a clear short-term objective at all times.

    I've always loved games which give the player a sense of seamless progression through a large, interconnected world (the Half Life series and Ninja Gaiden Black are some notable examples of this). The sense of progression through Tomb Raider is fantastic. The game is filled with awe-inspiring set-piece moments which show how far the player has traveled and what lies ahead (for instance, stepping out of a cave and seeing a previously-visited village far off in the distance).

    For anyone who has played the older Tomb Raider games, you know just how truly awful the combat mechanics were. Luckily, Crystal Dynamics took a note from more modern third person shooters with their first reboot, Tomb Raider: Legend. The combat in the new Tomb Raider is more of the same, but it's very satisfying. I found myself stealthily picking off enemies with the bow before diving head-first into Rambo-mode with the assault rifle and pick-axe to fight waves of enemies. It's not realistic in the slightest, but it's fun. I played on normal difficulty, and it was pretty easy for the most part. Ammo was plentiful, and most enemies could be killed with a single headshot.

    My main gripe with this game is that, while there's a lot to explore, none of the side-objectives are very satisfying. Little trinkets and journal entries are scattered around everywhere, and I mean everywhere. In the old Tomb Raider games, each level had about 3 to 5 secrets to find, and you really had to scour the levels to find them. In those games it was always exciting to hear that chime noise when you found a secret, with Lara exclaiming "A-ha" as she picked up a rare artifact. Finding all of the secrets in Tomb Raider 3 would net you an entire bonus level at the end of the game! That's just the kind of incentive that would keep me searching for those hidden treasures. However, now it seems like Lara can't walk ten meters without discovering yet another "priceless" artifact. Each artifact increases the XP level a little bit, which leads to weapon and ability upgrades, but Lara gains enough XP from combat alone to make the optional collectibles seem kind of superfluous. Once in a while, Lara will come across a 10-minute mini-tomb to explore (which are all really easy to find), but what's the reward?...a treasure map to help you find even more of these little trinkets; oh joy. At least it's not as bad as "smash all of the pots!" from Tomb Raider Underworld. The journal entries are pretty interesting, though, and provide a nice diversion from the game to bring some back-story to the characters.

    For me, the true reward was getting to find out what happened in the story. It's a bit cliché and predictable at times, but it always keeps you on the edge of your seat. Lara is much less of a stone-cold robo-woman this time around (at least when she's not in combat). The story really lets you empathize with her character, something that's been sort of lacking in previous Tomb Raider games.

    My play-through clocked in at 14 hours, with a completion of 80%; pretty good for not using the map at all. I'll definitely go back for a second play-through on hard difficulty.

    I have to say, this is my favorite Tomb Raider game from Crystal Dynamics to date. If I had to rank them, I'd put them at:
    Tomb Raider 2013 > Guardian of Light > Anniversary > Legend > Underworld
    I would rank the Core Design games separately from these, since I enjoy the games from both developers in their own different ways.

    If you've enjoyed old-school or new-school Tomb Raider, you'll probably enjoy this game. Also, if you're a fan of the Uncharted or the Resident Evil franchises, then you should definitely check it out.
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  2. #2

    Re: Tomb Raider review

    Old Tomb Raiders were good-ish games. Level design, platforming, puzzles and music were great. Yep, combat was crappy though, though it was more about keeping your footing and accurate acrobatics than actual shooting. Easy to fall to your death it was
    Newer ones were terrible (no surprise). I do have my eye on this one though, some appealing aspects.

    Have some nostalgia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ekipC2ANs
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  3. #3
    nannerdw's Avatar Senior Member
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    Re: Tomb Raider review

    Originally Posted by apdenton1
    Yep, combat was crappy though, though it was more about keeping your footing and accurate acrobatics than actual shooting. Easy to fall to your death it was
    Hold down action button, side flip, side flip, side flip, side flip, side flip, side flip......
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  4. #4

    Re: Tomb Raider review

    Originally Posted by nannerdw
    Originally Posted by apdenton1
    Yep, combat was crappy though, though it was more about keeping your footing and accurate acrobatics than actual shooting. Easy to fall to your death it was
    Hold down action button, side flip, side flip, side flip, side flip, side flip, side flip......
    Doesn't work everywhere though, were often on narrow rafters and such. Doesn't work against armed enemies either. Also lot's of enemies jumped out on you, resulting in split second reflex acrobatics.

    Your favorite TR? (any in series).
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  5. #5
    nannerdw's Avatar Senior Member
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    Re: Tomb Raider review

    Originally Posted by apdenton1
    Your favorite TR? (any in series).
    My favorite is Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. It had some great puzzles, and the way the levels were interconnected was really cool.

    Last Revelation > TR2 > TR3 > TR1 > Chronicles >> Angel of Darkness
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  6. #6

    Re: Tomb Raider review

    Originally Posted by nannerdw
    Originally Posted by apdenton1
    Your favorite TR? (any in series).
    My favorite is Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. It had some great puzzles, and the way the levels were interconnected was really cool.

    Last Revelation > TR2 > TR3 > TR1 > Chronicles >> Angel of Darkness
    Meh. Found Last Revelation disappointing in level design and music, though some good puzzles, yes. Liked the Scope and Laser on the magnum

    TR2 > TR3 > TR1> Guardian of Light. Meh to everything else.

    TR3 took the piss though, Nevada levels/area 51 you got captured and get all your ammo taken away! Rendered secret hunting/ammo hoarding in earlier levels completely pointless. Bad design, should have totally have been able to get your ammo back. But area 51 was badass though. Tbh TR1 deserves higher rating than TR3.
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  7. #7

    Re: Tomb Raider review

    Ya know....0 hand holding in classic TR. There was absolutely nothing, except for an optional tutorial which was a level in itself. What is the new TR like in that regard? are climbable objects highlighted? Waypoints/objective markers everywhere? Forced tutorials? Lara vision/instinct mechanic of sorts that is optional but shows you the way & highlights pickups?

    If you or I could beat the old tomb raiders as a young boy, why the **** does everything need to be dumbed down so much, or at all? I wasn't wonderboy, just an average kid.

    The main element of Core Design's series that I still find really impressive is their level design. The player was free to explore the world, without much hand-holding or guidance. To me, those games were all about exploration and discovery, a feeling of "Where should I go next?" rather than "Where do the game designers want me to go next?" I decided to go through the new Tomb Raider without using fast travel or relying on hints or map markers, so that I could have the experience of finding my own way through the world. This game really did a great job of letting the player loose to explore the environment, while still providing a clear short-term objective at all times.
    Oh, don't remember reading this last night, sort of.

    Well, at least you can turn it off, but is the game designed with turning them off in mind? must be if you had no problems. I may actually get this.
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  8. #8
    nannerdw's Avatar Senior Member
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    Re: Tomb Raider review

    There is a "Lara Vision" feature, which basically highlights any secret collectibles, highlights obstacles in the environment to help you solve puzzles, and overlays a waypoint marker in the world to show you where to go. It prompts you to use this feature once at the beginning of the game, but I never used it again after that.

    The game is very playable without these, though, since the story is constructed in a way that it's always leading you toward the next big set-piece: "make your way to the other side of the village," "make your way to the top of the mountain," etc. Whenever I got side-tracked and forgot where I was supposed to be going, I just quickly checked the map screen to see the current objective, without looking at the map itself. It's not a very detailed map anyway. All you can really get from it is "I need to head North." The indoor sections are more linear, with the typical Prince of Persia style platforming and hallway encounters a la Uncharted.

    The game designers used a lot of common visual cues, such as "anything with a white rope around it can be grappled." These objects are easy to see in the environment, but they don't seem too out of place, IMO. If they were harder to spot, I think it would have made the game too frustrating, since there are so many branching paths. Lara drops some small hints by saying "I need to blah blah" if you get stuck, but I didn't find it too intrusive.

    Also, there are quite a bit of quicktime events at the beginning, but they let off after the first hour or so, and become limited only to stuff like random encounters with baddies and wolves: "Press Y to make Lara not die," sequences of Lara epically sliding down collapsing things (which happens way too many times), and a couple of small boss battles. I think there were only like two actual bosses. It did such an amazing job of building suspense throughout the game for that final encounter, but once you get there it's kind of a let-down to have to fight such an easy, formulaic, button-prompt-mashing boss battle.

    The game uses a lot of button prompts, as if it needs to constantly remind the player of how to use the controls. There's an option to "Turn Off Button Hints," but I can't figure out what it does, because they still show up every time you're standing next to a chest or flammable object. Hopefully, someone will make a mod to get rid of them.
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  9. #9

    Re: Tomb Raider review

    On the fence...seems to be an enjoyable game coated in turd. Excessive hand holding, but some of it optional. Overuse of QTEs.
    As long as level design, platforming, puzzles and combat is good I should be able to enjoy myself and see past the bs.
    I won't bother asking about the soundtrack, modern AAA games don't have soundtracks as far as I am concerned.

    Ok, will give it a try sometime, cheers for the well-written review.
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  10. #10
    emcee's Avatar Senior Member
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    Re: Tomb Raider review

    Amazing game!!
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