Finally Beat It.

[LisaB1138]

First the good things:

1. Lara is very well animated and responsive. I felt like I had her under control pretty much the whole time.
2. There is a lot of exploration in the game. Unlike CD's other Tomb Raiders, for the most part if you see it, you can get to it. There are exceptions, but there's quite a lot to explore. Plus you get to see some areas during day and night, which makes it nice.
3. Equipment. There's lots of good equipment to use, and as you acquire it, you gain access to new abilities and areas.

The things I didn't like:

1. After a while it feels repetitive, sort of Last Revelation-esque. You've got your two types of scenery: crumbling Japanese wood and Mad Max shanty style. Even the "tombs" are nothing but storage areas full of corrugated steel. However, despite the fact these two traditions seem at odds, both decorators had a mad love for human remains. It tries very hard to creep you out, but never really succeeds.
2. All the scripted moments. Another downhill slide with button prompts? *yawn* There must have been four at least.
3. The upgrade system. I've always wanted an upgradable Lara, but this is waaaaay too complicated. Can't we just have shotgun level 1, 2, and 3? Do I really need a smorgasbord of upgrades that have as many layers as a redwood tree trunk? It was very overdone, from the graphics to the cute little names.
4. Objectives. Do I really need to be given an objective? "Head to the Such and Such". Thanks. Never would have figured that out without you.
5. The puzzles. Like the areas, they started to feel very repetitive.
6. I didn't need actors reading the diaries and writings. Like so much else in the game, CD assumes I have no imagination and need everything done for me.

Things I hated:

1. Lara. I hated her voice actress for one. Everything she said sounded adolescent. There are no traits recognizable from any other incarnation of Lara. There is no sense of humor. She whines. She's needy. She's insecure (she must pep talk herself constantly or be pep talked by everyone else.) She is also prone to saying really, really stupid things when she's alone, either stating the blatantly obvious ("this must have been a place of worship") to just stupid. "I hate tombs." Really? Maybe the time to discover this was before you became an archeologist. Surely at some point in your education you realized there'd be tombs involved? What an atrociously stupid thing to say. Which bring me to----

2. The writing. This is so poorly written. No one acts like a person. The first thing out of anyone else's mouth after escaping a den of death would be to tell other people. "Guys, I need to tell you we're not alone here." Lara says nothing. She doesn't try to get Sam alone when she finds her with Mathias. There's no "Sam can you help me check this wound on my bum behind this tree?" Just lets the suspicious guy make off with Sam. And this is consistent throughout the game. They're talking about fixing the boat, and Lara says, "We can't leave." Which Computer Geek Guy takes to be negative attitude. "Aw Lara, don't talk like that," and she says (whines), "you don't understand!" At which point I screamed, "Because you never told them what the **** was going on!" And she still didn't. *facepalm*

Then later, after she tells everyone "I vant to be alone" by Roth's pyre, I just know we're going to get a monologue. Then it fades to black, and inwardly, I'm proud of CD for this little bit of self-control. Then the scene comes back and we get the self-doubting moment I was dreading complete with Roth's voice from beyond the grave.

Then she has the revelation that Himiko and storms keep people from leaving the island, and I'm like, "you JUST figured that out? Weren't you paying attention to Matthias's little speech during the sacrifice? Really, you've been everywhere I've been and you JUST had that revelation? "

From Lara's character to general dialog and character behavior, there's nothing natural.

3. The combat. I don't play shooters as a rule, but I did enjoy The Last of Us because stealth was a real option. I usually had choices in how to play an area. Not here. I can remember one area where I was able to stealth kill most of the guys with the bow (night at the hunting camp). Other than than it would be ones or two then the hive was on you. Literally ON YOU. They always knew where you were. 100 yards away in darkness--they've got you. Enemies also vanished and reappeared depending on how the developers wanted you to play. I like sniping, so in Shantytown (very complex area with lots of hiding places) I ran to the other end, took up my spot and waited. Nothing. The enemies had vanished. They weren't looking for me, they weren't talking, they were gone. So had to make my way back until I "tripped" them, then they magically appeared all over me. It's really cheap how the enemies just appear all over you despite being non-existent until you trip their switch. This happened again when I tried to get to the second level so I could board the tram car. I could wander around in plain sight, no guys, touch that ledge, they magically appear and are shooting at me. Drop back down. They're gone. I could wander around in plain sight in complete safety, but try to climb that ledge, they'd be back.

I also just thought the waves of enemies was stupid. How many guys are on this island? How many crates of automatic weapons ammo could have washed up?

4. The Tombs. Let's call them puzzle rooms, shall we? That's all they were. They had no atmosphere. None were undiscovered, hence the redecoration with sheet metal.

This game plays and feels so different from the original game, it's tragic. I'm not saying anyone is wrong for enjoying it. I simply think a franchise should mean something. If you put the name on the box, I'm allowed to have some reasonable expectations regarding gameplay. If I buy a Coke and get Dr. Pepper in my bottle, I have a right to be upset.

 

[jyerxa]

Excellent Lisa. This is kind of why I was so vehemently opposed and absolutely rejected the firing of Core by Eidos after Angle of Darkness. I know that is a dirty word to older TR gamers. What Eidos did was fire the very creative minds that knew the formula and had the chemistry to make Lara and Tomb Raider captivating. What we have now are a bunch of business execs seeking an easy quick buck and think they can just duplicate a game and make a killing on the stock market leaving us with crap.

I'm digging up old painful memories. But what I said then is holding true today. And I just hate it when I can say "I told you so". Not to you Lisa but others. Good commentary.

 

[LisaB1138]

And I meant to compliment the length of the game. It had a good length; it was just so repetitive in style that it became boring after a while.

I can't blame people for liking this game. There are people out there who enjoy that type of gameplay. I have never found aiming a gun to be a very interesting game mechanic. I think it makes for more trial and error gameplay than I find fun.

But it isn't Tomb Raider. Not by a long shot. If I took the dice away from monopoly and said no one had to pay rent anymore, you say you weren't playing monopoly. You were just using the pieces to make up a new game. That's what this is. I never once felt like I was playing Tomb Raider. Even with Legend I got a ghost of a feel during London level.

 

[Oldster7]

And I meant to compliment the length of the game. It had a good length; it was just so repetitive in style that it became boring after a while.

I can't blame people for liking this game. There are people out there who enjoy that type of gameplay. I have never found aiming a gun to be a very interesting game mechanic. I think it makes for more trial and error gameplay than I find fun.

But it isn't Tomb Raider. Not by a long shot. If I took the dice away from monopoly and said no one had to pay rent anymore, you say you weren't playing monopoly. You were just using the pieces to make up a new game. That's what this is. I never once felt like I was playing Tomb Raider. Even with Legend I got a ghost of a feel during London level.

Tomb Raider v.1

I haven’t gotten past the giant oni and the three archers yet but it is time to comment on the game.
Perhaps my motor skills and using a trackball and keyboard instead of a game controller are the basis of the failure to kill the four opponents, even on the “easy” play setting. I’ll just have to keep trying, but it doesn’t seem fair to have to “kill” each of the archers three times and the giant an unknown number of times for them to stay dead and all the while being confined to an open arena. Probably it is frustrating, then boring and finally NOT FUN for many players to engage in this forced “cage” combat.

My first and still favorite first person shooter games are the Marathon series. There were lots of different kinds of puzzles and other challenges aside from killing aliens. The settings varied greatly: space ships, cities, water worlds, buildings, etc. and the challenges and puzzles were varied.


I also played the early Tomb Raider and found it interesting if lacking in variety—too many of the challenges in whatever the settings involved jumping and swinging; it did get repetitive. And the new Tomb Raider hasn’t changed: most challenges involve climbing and rope use. The excellent graphics and more realistic characters are great but this game suffers from a lack of creativity.

 

[SweatyHamWallet]

I never played the original Tomb Raider games, so I can't comment on how they compare with Tomb Raider 2013.
What I can say is that the game is amazing and I've played through it 3 times.
I came in with no expectations and walked away with a huge smile, best money I spent on a game in 2013.

I don't like that the gaming community is picking apart every game that releases instead of taking it for "what it is".

 

[DutchKnight]

Loved it.

I understood it was a reboot and accepted it as such. I miss the voice of Keeley Hawes as Lara, but owell. A younger Lara means a different voice. The voice acting, I agree, was beyond weak but hopefully they improve that aspect of the game in the sequel which I'll be playing right around "notanytimesoon" because I don't own an Xbox.