Support NeoGAF

[CouchMaster]

Preorder kept

 

[Paches]

Those monochrome gifs on Polygon are an eye sore.

 

[Lime]

Is it?


Since you played the game, what else didn't you like about it?

If the game quickly glosses over the fact that Lara becomes a killer in an instant, then it is obviously a problem for the narrative when such a complex character development is treated carelessly.

 

[Odrion]

This seems to be getting simmilar scores to Absolution. So uh, hmm. Will wait for more impressions I guess?

 

[Vyse The Legend]

So at this point picking up Eidos has been basically the one great thing Square have done this gen, right?

Square Enix's Western arm (ie. Eidos) has been pretty rad between stuff like Just Cause 2, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Sleeping Dogs and now this.

Indeed, which is great for Square Enix, because their Japanese arm... A COLOSSAL MESS..

 

[Acquiescence]

Not gonna lie, my hype has risen considerably now, if I even had any hype in the first place. I just don't know if I have time to squeeze this in between now (Sly 4, Ni no Kuni, Dokuro) and March 26th (Bioshock Infinite). Was kind of hoping the game would suck so I didn't have to buy it.

 

[Certinty]

Might have to get this now. Seems like a better Uncharted.

 

[Messofanego]

Eurog8mer
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-25-tomb-raider-review

The first hour of play is pretty depressing. It's also embarrassing, unless you have thick walls or neighbours who will regard the noise as adding ambience to the violent pornographic film they're making. When Lara's not screaming, shrieking, panting or squealing, she's busy getting chased, groped and tied up. When she dies, it's with the kind of orgasmic groan that would make Ben Dover demand another take that's less over-the-top.

lolol

 

[MikeE21286]

pre-order vindicated

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

So at this point picking up Eidos has been basically the one great thing Square have done this gen, right?

Square Enix's Western arm (ie. Eidos) has been pretty rad between stuff like Just Cause 2, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Sleeping Dogs and now this.

They still have their greatest test ahead, thi4f. Though that is probably next gen

 

[CTLance]

I dunno. The Eurogamer review does little to assuage my fears.

However, for every pretty view or pleasing puzzle, another prolonged bout of hiding behind walls and shooting things is waiting around the corner. It's as if the game is terrified the high-level intellectual thinking involved in working out how to open a door will tire the poor dim player out, so a bit more mindless violence gets chucked in for relaxation purposes.

There also seems to be a constant worry that the player is not being given enough Things To Do. So meaningless tasks are offered up endlessly - Find All the Vases! Collect All the Mushrooms! Burn All the Flags! There are so many diary pages and collectable objects lying about that the island feels like a rubbish dump for a deeply dull museum.

 

[Hindle]

I hope these journalists spend thier bribe money on something nice.

 

[djplaeskool]

Wow.
So, it's much better than most anticipated, myself included, it seems.

 

[dreamfall]

From Gibson's Eurogamer review,

Combat remains the dominant component as the game progresses but thankfully, it improves in other areas. The tide of blood and gore subsides and Lara stops shrieking. There are some excellent exploration sections complete with satisfying routes, beautiful vistas and atmospheric tombs. The latter are mostly found by diverging from the main path, and solving the puzzles contained within them is voluntary.

This is a smart idea. Many of the puzzles are as tough as those in the old games, but the option to walk away means there's no risk of getting stuck and frustrated for six hours, like that time in Tomb Raider 3 with the key and the dead monkey. Also every other time in Tomb Raider 3.

Definitely needed to hear something like this.

 

[LiK]

Holy crap, good start.

 

[Radec]

When's the OT gonna be up ?

 

[WrenchNinja]

Never doubted the game for one second....

So this is what vindication looks like

 

[x-Lundz-x]

Amazing scores so far. Glad to see CD got it right.

 

[madmackem]

Hype at 11, people acting like tomb raider was never shooting heavy hahaha.

 

[gdt]

Does anything change in replays? NG+? Hard mode? Some kind of survival mode with crafting or something?

 

[plagiarize]

Tomb Raider: Survival Edition

Fears assuaged.
Steam preordered.

ditto.

 

[Fistwell]

Eurog8mer
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-25-tomb-raider-review

Too linear probably.

 

[Sn4ke_911]

digital spy - 5/5

 

[Kacho]

The violence in this game really appeals to me. I like it brutal.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Any impressions of the PC version in any of these reviews?

 

[Black Republican]

lolol

Dat Brit humor

 

[Brinbe]

Well, look at that, it turned out to actually be a decent game?

What I read from these reviews hasn't really excited me too much, as it's clearly a pastiche of what this generation has to offer, with lifts from Batman/Uncharted/AC/COD/etc, only with the Tomb Raider name thrown on there.

Eh, it's probably worth a redbox play-through.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Eurog8mer
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-25-tomb-raider-review

Combat remains the dominant component as the game progresses but thankfully, it improves in other areas. The tide of blood and gore subsides and Lara stops shrieking. There are some excellent exploration sections complete with satisfying routes, beautiful vistas and atmospheric tombs. The latter are mostly found by diverging from the main path, and solving the puzzles contained within them is voluntary.

This sounds really good and really terrible all at once.

 

[Odrion]

I dunno. The Eurogamer review does little to assuage my fears.

8/10

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Edge = 8
http://www.edge-online.com/review/tomb-raider-review-2/

I put little stock in EDGE reviews any more, but this surprised me. Seems they genuinely liked it.

 

[pargonta]

i wonder if "Tomb raided" still pops up after finishing a side tomb

 

[Jackpot]

Eurogamer seems to focus on the negatives:

The first hour of play is pretty depressing. It's also embarrassing, unless you have thick walls or neighbours who will regard the noise as adding ambience to the violent pornographic film they're making. When Lara's not screaming, shrieking, panting or squealing, she's busy getting chased, groped and tied up. When she dies, it's with the kind of orgasmic groan that would make Ben Dover demand another take that's less over-the-top.

It's a shame the other characters don't get much screen time, and are therefore unable to move beyond archetypes like Feisty Black Chick, Nerdy White Dude, Hot Asian Babe and Dirty Foreign Rapist of Unspecified Baltic Origin. The plot does move along at a decent pace and the characters have conversations that are about more than just exposition. However, it feels like there are two conflicting forces at work here - a story that wants to be told, and a game that wants keep reminding everyone it's a game.

The most obvious example of this occurs early on, after Lara performs her first kill. A short cut-scene shows her contemplating the gravity of what it means to take a human life, and realising she has crossed a threshold over which she can never return. The pathos of this moment is somewhat undermined by the fact she spends the next 10 minutes blasting away at everyone like a toddler in a water fight - one who has been promised extra biscuits for headshots.

Within a couple of hours Lara has overcome her moral qualms to the point where she's blithely hacking enemies to death with a pickaxe, mainly in the head. This kind of excessive violence may be common in video games but it feels incongruous here, alongside a storyline that's trying to be subtle and realistic. Despite the narrative's best efforts, the transition from ordinary innocent to violent murderer happens with about as much thoughtful discourse on conflicting moral complexities as there is in an episode of The Wright Stuff.

There are some excellent exploration sections complete with satisfying routes, beautiful vistas and atmospheric tombs. The latter are mostly found by diverging from the main path, and solving the puzzles contained within them is voluntary.

There aren't many mandatory puzzles and they aren't too tricky. They involve a lot of ropes. For the first few hours of play, it feels like this core element of the series has been sidelined and dumbed down to a disappointing degree.

However, for every pretty view or pleasing puzzle, another prolonged bout of hiding behind walls and shooting things is waiting around the corner. It's as if the game is terrified the high-level intellectual thinking involved in working out how to open a door will tire the poor dim player out, so a bit more mindless violence gets chucked in for relaxation purposes.

There also seems to be a constant worry that the player is not being given enough Things To Do. So meaningless tasks are offered up endlessly - Find All the Vases! Collect All the Mushrooms! Burn All the Flags! There are so many diary pages and collectable objects lying about that the island feels like a rubbish dump for a deeply dull museum.

The multitude of menus via which the objects are curated don't help, and nor do the endless onscreen messages. It's hard to get about excited about "2 OF 3 CEREMONIAL FANS FOUND!", no matter how that sentence is capitalised or punctuated. I am not ashamed to reveal that my final tally reads "0% VASES". (Although I am proud to have managed "67% KANPO HERBS".)

When the game is not throwing art galleries around, it is lobbing everything else in sight at the player in a desperate bid to be liked. XP, "Skill Points", weapon upgrades, "Salvage" (the obligatory arbitrary in-game currency, found in crates and used to purchase yet more weapon upgrades). It's hard to keep track of all this gubbins and even harder to care about it. I do not need to spend Skill Points on a Survivor Upgrade to get a little badge with a leaf on it. I left the Woodcraft Folk in 1993.

The boxes can be ticked, several times over - collectables, upgrade systems, big fat guns, blood and gore, pretty graphics, set pieces, boss battles, cut-scenes where the characters' lip movements almost match what they are saying, multiplayer modes, art galleries, quick-time events, more collectables. All of these tricks are pulled off with competence and polish.

But they're just tricks, and they leave little room for the elements that set Tomb Raider apart to shine.

So goodbye, old Lara. Your time is up. Hello, new Lara. If you can stop hacking people to death for five minutes, we'll get along fine.

fake edit: actually, from re-reading it it feels like the sort of review for DmC a fan of DMC1 would write.

People who hated on FarCry3 for padding are going to love this.

 

[BluWacky]

Ellie Gibson's review on EG is really good. I'd recommend reading that.

Absolutely. I've just finished reading it and it's an interesting review. Whether I'd "give it an 8" based on the review text I don't know, but I think it articulates most of the frustrations and problems that people have with the game - but also points out that when it's good, it's very good.

 

[Takamura-San]

Hype at 11, people acting like tomb raider was never shooting heavy hahaha.

Shooting bears and tigers doesn't count for some people.

 

[fuenf]

If the game quickly glosses over the fact that Lara becomes a killer in an instant, then it is obviously a problem for the narrative when such a complex character development is treated carelessly.

It's a video game, the same can be said for almost every other game.

 

[Red UFO]

Looks like I'm going to be eating my words. I was very dismissive of this game.

 

[MrCookiepants]

Gaf, don't you ever get tired of being wrong?

Game is gonna sell loads too. Double whammy.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Well damn looks like my wallet is going to hate me a little more. Time to preorder.

 

[sleepykyo]

Great game.

Bad Tomb Raider.

I'll probably still get it. But they need to add Short Shorts DLC.

Eh, her shirt shows enough skin. Besides, it seems like she it never occurs to her pick up a jacket while she loots 200 corpses.

It's a video game, the same can be said for almost every other game.

Wha? Unless U3 added some weird backstory, Nathan Drake has always been a lovable scoundrel from the start.

 

[toastyToast]

The violence in this game really appeals to me. I like it brutal.

Pretend Lara = Rambo

Have the revelation wash over you in an awesome wave

 

[Vyse The Legend]

If the game quickly glosses over the fact that Lara becomes a killer in an instant, then it is obviously a problem for the narrative when such a complex character development is treated carelessly.

It's a failing in the storytelling that I'm willing to overlook, especially coming off of Assassin's Creed 3 which takes you through 5+ hours of setup for Connor's narrative.

I would rather get to the meat of the adventure quickly, than sit through another drawn-out origin story again.

 

[VeryGooster]

There also seems to be a constant worry that the player is not being given enough Things To Do. So meaningless tasks are offered up endlessly - Find All the Vases! Collect All the Mushrooms! Burn All the Flags! There are so many diary pages and collectable objects lying about that the island feels like a rubbish dump for a deeply dull museum.

$20 buy it is, because I'm not going to be doing any of that.

 

[Messofanego]

Thankfully she does not do too much thinking out loud, unlike some video game characters (yes you, Alan). Lara's persona is mostly sketched out through interactions with other characters, and she comes across as likeable and believable. Shrieking aside, the script does a good job of depicting a character who possesses real inner strength, while being plausibly unnerved by the constant prospect of violent death.

It's a shame the other characters don't get much screen time, and are therefore unable to move beyond archetypes like Feisty Black Chick, Nerdy White Dude, Hot Asian Babe and Dirty Foreign Rapist of Unspecified Baltic Origin. The plot does move along at a decent pace and the characters have conversations that are about more than just exposition. However, it feels like there are two conflicting forces at work here - a story that wants to be told, and a game that wants keep reminding everyone it's a game.

So, Rihanna Pratchett put all her effort into Lara but the rest of the writing is mediocre. Oh well.

 

[gdt]

Any impressions of the PC version in any of these reviews?

Nixxes did it so there's little worry there. SE's PC ports have been stellar.

Preordered it a few days ago on GMG. My steam is ready.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

Good to see it getting good reviews.

 

[faridmon]

They must have complied with the Eidos NDA. Good on them

 

[Derrick01]

This is going to be the first game that I'll have to issue a warning to the people in my house before I play.

"Just to clarify, what you're going to be hearing is NOT porn. Just...kind of ignore it if possible"

 

[grimshawish]

I think Tricky needs a tag for keeping the faith.

 

[Elginer]

so Lara is now an action star? Cool with me. Let the bitter tears flow LOL.

Looks like a polished and damn fine looking game. Will enjoy on PS3. I hope they don't fuck it up on that platform with all the Xbox pushing I've been seeing my CD.

 

[Sephzilla]

I'm going to approach this with a hesitant optimism and I'm going to wait until post-release so I can get some overall word-of-mouth about the game. I'm waiting mainly because the DmC reboot got great reviews too and it turned out to be a mediocre waste of 8 hours.