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Tomb Raider Review Thread!

-tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
Played a lot more. The game continues to keep its great pacing, it is quite remarkable. Unfortunately, I have run into a couple of the over long shootouts. Looks like Lara falls victim to this problem as well. Also, pointless collectibles. That shit really irks me. It is cool to hunt around the different areas finding stuff but I wish they had found better stuff to hand out to the player. Another thing I didn't mention earlier is how incredibly atmospheric this game is. Crystal really deserves some credit for the design of the island. This place they have you traveling puts even a lot of horror games to shame. You notice it right off but some of the later areas really show off some talent.
 
Played a lot more. The game continues to keep its great pacing, it is quite remarkable. Unfortunately, I have run into a couple of the over long shootouts. Looks like Lara falls victim to this problem as well. Also, pointless collectibles. That shit really irks me. It is cool to hunt around the different areas finding stuff but I wish they had found better stuff to hand out to the player. Another thing I didn't mention earlier is how incredibly atmospheric this game is. Crystal really deserves some credit for the design of the island. This place they have you traveling puts even a lot of horror games to shame. You notice it right off but some of the later areas really show off some talent.

Bu....bu....but Amir0x told me they destroyed the atmosphere!
 

sonicmj1

Member
I guess that reviews help convince a few people one way or the other, but the sheer breadth of them makes threads like this a textbook display of confirmation bias at work. People find the opinions that agree with their preconceptions, latch onto them, and ignore everything else. "This critical review is the one true opinion on the game!" "These high scores prove that the game is objectively great!"

From what I can tell, I don't think the game's going to be proving anybody wrong. It seems like the reviews reflect what was marketed. People who wanted a third-person action game, a kind of "Uncharted meets Arkham Asylum" executed at a high level, are going to be very happy. People who don't want a game that reflects the latest and greatest trends in AAA game design will not like this game. Everyone is right.

Personally, this isn't the kind of game I'll buy unless it's really cheap. But I'm glad that everyone is going to get what they expected.
 
Played a lot more. The game continues to keep its great pacing, it is quite remarkable. Unfortunately, I have run into a couple of the over long shootouts. Looks like Lara falls victim to this problem as well. Also, pointless collectibles. That shit really irks me. It is cool to hunt around the different areas finding stuff but I wish they had found better stuff to hand out to the player. Another thing I didn't mention earlier is how incredibly atmospheric this game is. Crystal really deserves some credit for the design of the island. This place they have you traveling puts even a lot of horror games to shame. You notice it right off but some of the later areas really show off some talent.

Are they just collectibles for the sake of collectibles (like the coffee thermoses from Alan Wake)? Do they have any purpose at all?
 
Bu....bu....but Amir0x told me they destroyed the atmosphere!

Speaking of atmosphere, I really hope our PC Modding Overlords release a mod which hides the obnoxious "20 Murder Points For Axing Someone In The Skull" pop-ups every five seconds. They completely ruin the atmosphere of the game, and when someone does bring out a mod like this, I'll pick the game up. It's not Tomb Raider anymore, but it looks like a well-made open world Uncharted game, which is interesting to me. The mutually repellent "cut-scene Lara" and "gameplay Lara" is something I can live with, if only for the unintended camp value of the cut-scenes as a consequence.
 

G-Fex

Member
I don't know if Derrick is still around ( I couldn't wade through all 18 pages I stopped at 13). But I do like that Derrick is one of the good ones around here that sees the rougher side to these games.

So um

Yeah.
 
Which ones of the original Core games were "trash" to you and why?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he probably only liked TR1 and TR2.

I personally like 1, 2, and Last Revelation. I barely liked Last Revelation, but it was such a step up in level design from 3 that I ended up enjoying it. I don't like Chronicles for the same reason I don't like TR3....I didn't enjoy the levels and the game was already stale as fuck by TR3, so Chronicles certainly wasn't helping that. Angel of Darkness I don't think I really have to say much about that mess.
 
I guess that reviews help convince a few people one way or the other, but the sheer breadth of them makes threads like this a textbook display of confirmation bias at work. People find the opinions that agree with their preconceptions, latch onto them, and ignore everything else. "This critical review is the one true opinion on the game!" "These high scores prove that the game is objectively great!"

From what I can tell, I don't think the game's going to be proving anybody wrong. It seems like the reviews reflect what was marketed. People who wanted a third-person action game, a kind of "Uncharted meets Arkham Asylum" executed at a high level, are going to be very happy. People who don't want a game that reflects the latest and greatest trends in AAA game design will not like this game. Everyone is right.

Personally, this isn't the kind of game I'll buy unless it's really cheap. But I'm glad that everyone is going to get what they expected.

I really empathise with games reviewers, particularly the good ones with a keen, critical eye. Gamers are quite happy to get on board the hype train at the very first stop, and woe betide the reviewer who wants to drive his car onto the tracks and say "hey, this game might not be everything we . You can blame the anemic, non-committal nature of previews, but we feed this beast in a way that differs from other media, be it music or cinema. Gamers become emotionally invested from following these games over a period of typically 2-3 years that they develop some kind of Stockholm Syndrome. It's only sometime after the fact that we can then have a measured and informed discussion about the fact that, say, Twilight Princess might not be the greatest Zelda game ever made, and that Jeff Gertsmann may have had some valid concerns with the game. However, in the immediate aftermath, it's more "fuck that guy, what does he know about that game, when I've been following it for three years."
 

HiiiLife

Member
Wow @ those based scores.

This and DMC have gotten some surprising reviews.

Only I personally think the Tomb Raider reboot looks cooler.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
here's some snaps courtesy of beyond3d, from the 360 version.

Great atmosphere.

L99kgHb.jpg


O9cLEVt.jpg


yOmQKuc.jpg


ML85RBP.jpg


e0mqNk0.jpg


Bah, ugly hair.
:)
 
Holy crap!

I entered this thread without knowing anything about the status of this game review wise and I'm have to say I'm surprised this game came out this well.
 

Fabrik

Banned
Played a lot more. The game continues to keep its great pacing, it is quite remarkable. Unfortunately, I have run into a couple of the over long shootouts. Looks like Lara falls victim to this problem as well. Also, pointless collectibles. That shit really irks me. It is cool to hunt around the different areas finding stuff but I wish they had found better stuff to hand out to the player. Another thing I didn't mention earlier is how incredibly atmospheric this game is. Crystal really deserves some credit for the design of the island. This place they have you traveling puts even a lot of horror games to shame. You notice it right off but some of the later areas really show off some talent.

So can you explore every locations of the island in a single stretch? Are every locations inter-connected like in say Monster Hunter or OoT? Are they connected logically? How are the load times between areas? Thanks!
 

Moff

Member
wow, surprisingly good review, I guess I have to buy it now :/

the pervert in me enjoys a blood splattered nubile lara in a tight shirt, though
 

-tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
So can you explore every locations of the island in a single stretch? Are every locations inter-connected like in say Monster Hunter or OoT? Are they connected logically? How are the load times between areas? Thanks!

Not all locations are connected but I have made my way back to some. The exploration of the Island happens very naturally and the game never loads while you are playing.
 
The
creepy
fanbase might help you out with mods.

EDIT: There are also these pre-order DLC skins:



The Avatrix one looks much more grounded in reality and is more believable and less pandering than the original "costume", imo.
Indeed, that looks much better. Hopefully it's able to be purchased later on, if I ever get the game.
 

Omni

Member
Holy crap!

I entered this thread without knowing anything about the status of this game review wise and I'm have to say I'm surprised this game came out this well.

Same! I'm honestly surprised that I hadn't heard anything about this game until a few hours ago.

I'm seriously considering buying it on release.
 
Eurogamer seems to focus on the negatives




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.

Why can't fans of the original Devil May Cry games think negatively of DmC?
 

Fabrik

Banned
Not all locations are connected but I have made my way back to some. The exploration of the Island happens very naturally and the game never loads while you are playing.

Sounds good enough to me. I didn't follow the game that closely but the recent previews focusing on the kills were off-putting. Watching a bit of some of the walkthrough on youtube it looks to be quite evenly paced and I'm pleasantly surprised by the areas. They look quite open, both in hight and width, much more than Uncharted, and you can climb way more obstacles. I might buy it.
 

Solo

Member
LOL, this is great.

A large sect of GAF shits on the game for months. Game gets great reviews anyways. Day one.
 

Derrick01

Banned
Is that PC feature going to work on Nvidia cards too? I could see myself getting this on a $5 sale in 5 months just to test it out.

LOL, this is great.

A large sect of GAF shits on the game for months. Game gets great reviews anyways. Day one.

I don't see how that's different from just about every AAA game from this generation.
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
LOL, this is great.

A large sect of GAF shits on the game for months. Game gets great reviews anyways. Day one.

I'm surprised at just how many people seemed to expect it to turn out so badly. Sure Tomb Raider hasn't had a great track record for their recent attempts. But I've always thought this looked absolutely fantastic from the very first time we saw it in action. Not only that but journalists playing the game at events etc have always come away pretty positive as far as I'm aware. Is this another case of the infamous internet hate bandwagon? Or just poor marketing?
 

Derrick01

Banned
I'm surprised at just how many people seemed to expect it to turn out so badly. Sure Tomb Raider hasn't had a great track record for their recent attempts. But I've always thought this looked absolutely fantastic from the very first time we saw it in action. Not only that but journalists playing the game at events etc have always come away pretty positive as far as I'm aware. Is this another case of the infamous internet hate bandwagon? Or just poor marketing?

It's a case of people watching the endless amount of media they released and seeing it as just another modern AAA game. You could call that poor marketing I guess, but it's not like they cherry-picked the bad sections from the game, the game seems to be built around a lot of the elements people were groaning about.
 

BluWacky

Member
I'm surprised at just how many people seemed to expect it to turn out so badly. Sure Tomb Raider hasn't had a great track record for their recent attempts. But I've always thought this looked absolutely fantastic from the very first time we saw it in action. Not only that but journalists playing the game at events etc have always come away pretty positive as far as I'm aware. Is this another case of the infamous internet hate bandwagon? Or just poor marketing?

Terrible marketing - the PR over protecting Lara was not good, although at least it helped increase the game's visibility - is certainly an issue. I think it's more that the game is very different from previous Tomb Raiders - that seems to be why most people are upset about it. On its own merits, it appears that it's a pretty good game - but as the latest installment of a long-running, once massively popular franchise, it doesn't retain the spirit of what many of its remaining fans enjoyed about the games previously.
 

Sanctuary

Member
Why does it seem like it's standard anymore to always bring up the multiplayer, as though it could possibly drop the quality of a single player game if it's not that great? Tacked on multiplayer is and always will be tacked on multiplayer and should barely be anything more than an afterthought in a review. Sure, if it's actually worth mentioning, then do so, but reviewers need to stop acting like it's a feature that matters at all.

It's a case of people watching the endless amount of media they released and seeing it as just another modern AAA game. You could call that poor marketing I guess, but it's not like they cherry-picked the bad sections from the game, the game seems to be built around a lot of the elements people were groaning about.

Think about one of the last games that you could have viewed similarly. I'll give you a hint: check your avatar.
 

Derrick01

Banned
Think about one of the last games that you could have viewed similarly. I'll give you a hint: check your avatar.

The only problem I had with HR's pre-release media was the item glow, which admittedly I felt was bad enough to cripple the entire game if it was not fixed. Thankfully it was and I didn't complain again until the game came out. I thought the game looked pretty good for the most part in the months leading up to it.
 

TrutaS

Member
Well with these scores I'll have to at least try it. Hope one of my friends buy it.

These graphics have atmosphere but some of you guys are seeing magic in them that I certainly cannot recognize. Have you not played Uncharted?

If the PC version is good I'll probably buy it eventually on Steam.
 
For those who didn't see the PC hair feature:

lara_3frame7gexo.jpg


tress_before_after41rpnw.jpg


Comparison between Visual Works render and in-game hair:

hair29gcoq.png
hairs5f76.png

Yes, but does it move better than Alice Madness Returns?
ibSOnM5IBRcM2.gif

ij3LPcrcZCSjc.gif

ivlr5gHpXaKHh.gif


If you're a developer bothering to add long hair in a game, spend the time animating it to look believable rather than it looking like clumps of textures. We've got cloth physics down (thank you Splinter Cell), hair physics should be next.
 

VandalD

Member
Expected the good reviews. It's not what I'd want from a Tomb Raider game, but I'll probably play it eventually. My backlog will sustain me until this is deeply discounted.
 

Ricker

Member
How are some of you lucky bastards playing this already...personnaly I always was on the ''this will be good side''(no I dont want a medal :p )with this reboot and I am glad its turned out well...there are games when you see the first teasers,like I remember the first time I saw the little walkthrough teaser of Bioshock 1 narrated by Levine,that I know right away will be IMHO awesome and this was one from the start...
 

truly101

I got grudge sucked!
Game scores seem to have little to do with the actual enjoyment one has in playing the game. Thats typically decided by a person's expectations, hopes and tastes. I think if you were wanting an exploration and puzzle heavy action/adventure, TR getting a 8.5 from Edge or whoever isn't going to fix that shortcoming.

If you've come to terms with what the game is and can enjoy what it has to offer, then the scores become a factor. Its great that TR seems to be technically well made and seems to deliver a particular style of action adventure pretty well. If you're not a fan of that style, who gives a shit if it gets a 9?
 

Volcynika

Member
I'll keep quoting this till we find someone with an answer.

They won't even charge you until they get a key. I preordered last week and they haven't charged me yet, no key. Besides, when pre-loads come up (if TR gets one), it's usually the Thursday/Friday prior to release, so I doubt they'll get a key until at least then.
 
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