Tomb Raider review

Maverick Jester said:
Hardcore gamer I see... But to the point: the Metal Gear Solid series (Playstation), GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Gran Turismo 2, Final Fantasy VI and VII, Ninja Gaiden Black, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time- these are all console developed games, and are some of the best games that have ever been made (these are off the top of my head mind).

This is personal preference, so I understand.

Agreed, but refer to my first point in this post.
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I agree that those games were all rated very high and they certainly did help develop some games into what a lot of them are today but I can name just as many PC games in the same ERA that took gaming even further than those. As for all of the games listed above I actually never played any of them except FF 7 but that was on PC anyway (or atleast I have the PC version, still have it at home).

I still don't think anyone can ever deny that console games are the main reason that a lot of games are now dumbed down or they have not been pushed to the boundary like they should have so that they can still run on consoles. Most developers just couldn't be bothered to push those boundaries anymore because they know they have a market that probably makes more money than PC's anyway and well it is just easier to develop it half assed.

I do have points about the console that I prefer to PC so it's not like they don't have their advantages I just believe that consoles are taking gaming in general backwards. Either way it is good for the gaming community in general that more people are playing games but we as gamers need to push the developers to push the boundaries and stop ripping us off with games that are made poorly.

Anyway back on topic, cannot wait for the long weekend to play tombraider:) just havent had time to sit down and play it.
 
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Here's my view:

The gameplay, partly A+, I loved the movement around the environment.
Collecting GPS and random artefacts just lying around in the most conspicuous places, no thanks.

The environment is really pretty BUT, the way they made everything so obvious really detracted from the immersion.

The unbelieveability of the game really detracted from the experience as well. I mean it's just disaster after disaster and somehow Lara can just quickly scale 10 mountains after each other with a small ice pick, then conveniently find a rope to slide down which breaks and then she falls into a waterfall and slides around wielding a shotgun to break stuff while sliding. YEAH SURE

I know it's meant to be all tomb raidery and cool but they REALLY went over the top.

Another thing which I find relevant to so many games is the storytelling has such potential but turns out so badly. I won't include any spoilers but it really seemed to me that they completely rushed the ending of the game. I was expecting some elaborate plot twist at the end or something to give it more depth but instead they disappoint.

A potentially great game spoiled by a crap plot, completely unbelievable in any way gameplay, and dumbing down of game mechanics to make it REALLY obvious at all times what one is supposed to do.
 
m4dh4tt3r said:
Sure the unchartered games might be fantastic but how the hell do you use a gun with a ps3 controller????? i hate auto aim and sure cant fire properly without it.
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Or maybe your just holding it wrong... the controller... I mean and let me guess you like FPS. The reason I moved away from PC Gaming more then 10years ago was due to minimum requirement always changing and my budget. For me console was the better option and hassle free. 10years later life happened and I don't play games as much as I used to but that doesn't make me any less of a gamer. To me gameplay is more imported then grafix the thing PC Gamers always rant about
 
mouks said:
Or maybe your just holding it wrong... the controller... I mean and let me guess you like FPS. The reason I moved away from PC Gaming more then 10years ago was due to minimum requirement always changing and my budget. For me console was the better option and hassle free. 10years later life happened and I don't play games as much as I used to but that doesn't make me any less of a gamer. To me gameplay is more imported then grafix the thing PC Gamers always rant about
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maybe I am? but I hold it the same way everyone else does :wtf:. Yea I do agree consoles are nice that you buy it once for say 4/5k and then just have to buy games that cost you R800, So that lands up making it more expensive at the end of it anyway. Especially if you want newly released AAA titles. I would gladly jump over to a console if they made multiplayer support with keyboard and mouse. My friends that all used to play PC have now jumped to Xbox and they all use a controller to play their FPS games online cos they say they cant use keyboard and mouse. Fix that and I will gladly play Xbox/PS3.

I Like all types of games but yes mainly grew up on FPS and racing games, The odd RPG and a few strategy games but I enjoy a wide variety of games and I am not limited to FPS. I also unfortunately dont have as much time to play games either these days with work and study but I used to spend all my time on my PC growing up. I do agree graphics is not about everything but it is still nice that the guys push those boundaries anyway? gameplay is the most vital point along with the plot and that is where most games unfortunately fail these days, I would say graphics are not the reason I get upset with 90% of games. The short single player, the DLC on day 1 forcing you to buy more instead of developers putting in the game like they used to 10 years ago. The plots are usually boring, you need to do anything, you are pointed in the direction and there is no way you can miss it cos the game just makes things too obvious, theres no real challenge to games like there used to be. Sure the odd game pops up that is still really good and challenging but most are not and that there is my problem.
 
m4dh4tt3r said:
I agree that those games were all rated very high and they certainly did help develop some games into what a lot of them are today but I can name just as many PC games in the same ERA that took gaming even further than those. As for all of the games listed above I actually never played any of them except FF 7 but that was on PC anyway (or atleast I have the PC version, still have it at home).
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Agreed with you on the PC front there, but I do suggest that you give the above games a try.

I still don't think anyone can ever deny that console games are the main reason that a lot of games are now dumbed down or they have not been pushed to the boundary like they should have so that they can still run on consoles. Most developers just couldn't be bothered to push those boundaries anymore because they know they have a market that probably makes more money than PC's anyway and well it is just easier to develop it half assed.
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I disagree. Games like Darksiders, Uncharted, God of War- these are not half assed at all. I agree that there are more "casual" games out there, but I do not think that the overall standard of gaming has dropped. Proper gaming on a PC existed post console release anyway.

I do have points about the console that I prefer to PC so it's not like they don't have their advantages I just believe that consoles are taking gaming in general backwards. Either way it is good for the gaming community in general that more people are playing games but we as gamers need to push the developers to push the boundaries and stop ripping us off with games that are made poorly.
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Still don't agree with consoles taking gaming backwards. Consider the Killzone 2 E3 trailer- a perfect example of gaming being pushed beyond the boundaries of that time.

Anyway back on topic, cannot wait for the long weekend to play tombraider:) just havent had time to sit down and play it.
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I hope that you enjoy it. But I do hope that you see the irony in the fact that you will be playing a game that debuted on a console ;)
 
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Fact of the matter is Gaming is an expensive hobby no matter which way we go.. The Cheapest Tomb Raider on PS3 I can I find is currently @ Kalahari . A friend offers to pay half :)
 
Maverick Jester said:
Agreed with you on the PC front there, but I do suggest that you give the above games a try.



I disagree. Games like Darksiders, Uncharted, God of War- these are not half assed at all. I agree that there are more "casual" games out there, but I do not think that the overall standard of gaming has dropped. Proper gaming on a PC existed post console release anyway.



Still don't agree with consoles taking gaming backwards. Consider the Killzone 2 E3 trailer- a perfect example of gaming being pushing beyond the boundaries of that time.



I hope that you enjoy it. But I do hope that you see the irony in the fact that you will be playing a game that debuted on a console ;)
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yea I can never deny that there are some really good console games, one that never was released on PC that I did play was Final Fantasy X and X-2. I do enjoy one or 2 games that were ported from console to pc but 90% to me are pretty crappy games. A game that I did play on PC is darksiders and I honestly didn't get further in than an hour and was bored of it. The feeling of using the mouse in the game just wasn't right, it felt like you needed a controller for it.

Like I said my biggest gripe with consoles is that by the end of the consoles life the graphics boundaries are not really being pushed because they cannot compare to PC's. Graphics are not everything but it still helps slow down the evolution of games graphics by having a console in the mix. If the developer does actually take the time to develop a decent game such as crysis you can see how much further ahead PC is in terms of graphics and if all developers were pushing those limits and not bound by older hardware(consoles) can you only imagine where we would be today.

My other issue is the controller, give me keyboard and mouse support in multiplayer FPS's and I will gladly choose a console to a PC, also it needs to feel like using the mouse is right, like I said above darksiders gameplay using the mouse just didn't feel right and a lot of the games are like that. I would still use the controller for things like sports games as I do feel it just feels right. Im not sure if you understand what I mean by it just doesn't feel right using the mouse and keyboard in certain games, the gameplay just isnt made for it.
 
Tomb Raider was good, finished it the other day. Only thing I didn't like was.....well, she falls to much and too easy. It's like very irritating in the cut scenes and everywhere.
 
m4dh4tt3r said:
yea I can never deny that there are some really good console games, one that never was released on PC that I did play was Final Fantasy X and X-2. I do enjoy one or 2 games that were ported from console to pc but 90% to me are pretty crappy games. A game that I did play on PC is darksiders and I honestly didn't get further in than an hour and was bored of it. The feeling of using the mouse in the game just wasn't right, it felt like you needed a controller for it.
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Totally understand you. For the same reason, I do not play FPS or RTS games on a console because they don't feel as right with a controller.

Like I said my biggest gripe with consoles is that by the end of the consoles life the graphics boundaries are not really being pushed because they cannot compare to PC's. Graphics are not everything but it still helps slow down the evolution of games graphics by having a console in the mix. If the developer does actually take the time to develop a decent game such as crysis you can see how much further ahead PC is in terms of graphics and if all developers were pushing those limits and not bound by older hardware(consoles) can you only imagine where we would be today.
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On the flip side of that though- consoles have made gaming more affordable, because of the hardware limitations. It is much less common nowadays, for us to have to upgrade our rigs every 6-12 months (at a ridiculous cost) to keep up with the increased requirements that games churn out. Last year was the first time I had upgraded my PC in about 4 years- something I never thought would happen. I think it is more the difficulty / impossibility in being able to upgrade a console's hardware that is the limitation.

And with the next generation of consoles being based on PC architecture, the bar will be raised across all platforms yet again. Consoles will always have a point within their lifespan where their graphics are superior to PC graphics.
 
Pooky said:
Here's my view:

The gameplay, partly A+, I loved the movement around the environment.
Collecting GPS and random artefacts just lying around in the most conspicuous places, no thanks.

The environment is really pretty BUT, the way they made everything so obvious really detracted from the immersion.

The unbelieveability of the game really detracted from the experience as well. I mean it's just disaster after disaster and somehow Lara can just quickly scale 10 mountains after each other with a small ice pick, then conveniently find a rope to slide down which breaks and then she falls into a waterfall and slides around wielding a shotgun to break stuff while sliding. YEAH SURE

I know it's meant to be all tomb raidery and cool but they REALLY went over the top.

Another thing which I find relevant to so many games is the storytelling has such potential but turns out so badly. I won't include any spoilers but it really seemed to me that they completely rushed the ending of the game. I was expecting some elaborate plot twist at the end or something to give it more depth but instead they disappoint.

A potentially great game spoiled by a crap plot, completely unbelievable in any way gameplay, and dumbing down of game mechanics to make it REALLY obvious at all times what one is supposed to do.
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LOL Pooky have you every played any of the previous Tomb Raiders? They contained dinosaurs and killer bats and minotaurs and many more ridiculous stuff. This version has been toned way way down compared to it's predecessors. My view is that realistic <> fun.
I agree with you that they went a bit far in terms of making it very easy to know what to do, but I still had fun so not too worried.
 
AlmightyBender said:
LOL Pooky have you every played any of the previous Tomb Raiders? They contained dinosaurs and killer bats and minotaurs and many more ridiculous stuff. This version has been toned way way down compared to it's predecessors. My view is that realistic <> fun.
I agree with you that they went a bit far in terms of making it very easy to know what to do, but I still had fun so not too worried.
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Yes but I was under the impression that they were trying to make this more realistic and tell a story about Lara. I'm sure the developers even mentioned something about her 'personal story'.

So the game is not realistic, fine, but it's also not not realistic.... It's kind of undecided which direction they are going.
 
You're all mad! This Tomb Raider game feels both amazing and familiar. If you've ever played Tomb Raider then you know that crazy sheat happen ALL THE TIME, in one of my favs TR2 she fights a massive great white at the bottom of the ocean! I like how its gritty but still TR not some ultra realistic sim type thing. She moves just right its familiar its TR, I miss the gymnastics Lara could do in other TR games but I guess this is Lara's first outing(a reboot) so she might learn the gymnastic moves in later TR games. Lara is back and and we need more!

I don't think we give this game enough credit, how many times can you say that a game lived up to its hype? Well this one did!
Btw this Tomb Raider moves into Uncharted territory is BS... TR is the grandma, Uncharted moved into her territory when it launched, shes just showing it who the original is.
 
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Vegeta said:
You're all mad! This Tomb Raider game feels both amazing and familiar. If you've ever played Tomb Raider then you know that crazy sheat happen ALL THE TIME, in one of my favs TR2 she fights a massive great white at the bottom of the ocean! I like how its gritty but still TR not some ultra realistic sim type thing. She moves just right its familiar its TR, I miss the gymnastics Lara could do in other TR games but I guess this is Lara's first outing(a reboot) so she might learn the gymnastic moves in later TR games. Lara is back and and we need more!

I don't think we give this game enough credit, how many times can you say that a game lived up to its hype? Well this one did!
Btw this Tomb Raider moves into Uncharted territory is BS... TR is the grandma, Uncharted moved into her territory when it launched, shes just showing it who the original is.
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Haven't played it yet I have to agree wit you none the less . . . on all points.
 
I'm enjoying this game a lot. The graphics are very impressive, particularly the animations.
 
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