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Anyone else playing TOMB RAIDER for the first time?

Astral Dog

Member
images

With the release of the 'Definite Survivor Trilogy' i thought now it was a good time to jump in.

Finished Tomb Raider 2013 and going through RotTR now, didn't grew up with the older Tomb Raider games but i see lots and lots of comparisons from gamers/critics calling Tomb Raider an Uncharted clone, after playing i think they couldn't be more different 🤭

Tomb Raider is a full on bloody action game with light adventure elements, the setpieces and platformer only serve to go to the next combat encounter, fortunately the combat is very fun! I wish there were more enemy variety but the controls just feel good at 60fps, good variety of weapons it reminds me more of the action Resident Evil games than Uncharted.

Now, i think the developers focus too much on the 'emotional' story in marketing because its actually one of the weaker parts of the game, plot is mediocre at best, characters undeveloped or boring, the journey from college student to mass murderer psycopath isn't endearing imo but the island setting is interesting and almost makes up for it. No Rise doesn't improve much on this part. I wish the game didn’t take itself so seriously and go crazier with the enemy variety like RE, but unfortunately it barely happens.

The sequel ups the exploration with more collectathon typical from open world games and i love it! There is always something to find be tombs filled with puzzles, treasure boxes with weapons, caves or side missions, the setpieces are still awesome, fewer QTEs and cutscenes look pretty at least.

so yep, gameplay, graphics,art, sound are solid, comparing it to Uncharted is unfair imo, that series does many things better or different , the characters and writting are much better, locations super diverse and setpieces insane, but in the end i have way more fun playing Tomb Raider because the combat is on another level, as a game i just like it way more 👍
 
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You are in for a treat. Tomb raider is great! I love lara croft , sexy smart and feminine while being a badass that can still get her ass handed to her if she misses a jump.
The new trilogy seems great from what i played.

I've been playing since the ps1. I own them all, even crappy tomb raider angel of darkness.
I started TR 2013 on the PS3, got the ps4 version and went to finish but got distracted, and now my ps4 is too loud and hot to play and no ps5 avail.

So I picked up the newest trilogy on steam during a sale. Its next on my backlog playlist.

If you like the games and have a pc or xbox, go check out Anniversary, its a remake of the first tomb raider game. OR go old school and get the ps1 games. They are brutally difficult, and make dark souls seem easy, imo.
 

Zeroing

Banned
I liked the first game, the comparisons with Uncharted was mainly because Tomb Raider tried to be more cinematic and more into fast action. But Uncharted took inspiration from TombRaider and vice versa. Both games are inspired by indiana Jones movies.

The story is always the weak point of the trilogy. Lara is borderline bipolar and her own incentive to explore tombs etc is her issues with her dad... and all the secondary characters on the game are not interesting at all.
 
I didn't like it. It felt like a B-tier Uncharted. The acting, plot, character designs, environments and even gameplay felt significantly worse than the games it was attempting to imitate.

I haven't played the second two, however.
 

Zeroing

Banned
Old Tomb Raiders suck so much ass and were always unplayable and shitty compared to Mario 64 (which is what it was trying to compete with).

New ones play and look great and are fun romps without the cringe Coomer bait, enjoy!
Gather around kids, it's history time.

Tomb Raider 1, Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot were the first games to use 3D, so developers were still experimenting on what it could work in terms of playability.
Tomb Raider with the "tank controls", Crash with fixed camera.
That is why both seem, outdated.
 

dcx4610

Member
I just finished it a month ago on PC.

I liked the gameplay quite a bit. It felt like a slightly more refined Uncharted 1. The wobbly camera definitely took some time to get used to though.

Story wise? Pretty awful. Laura was likable but the supernatural story and just completely generic and uninteresting story had me want to skip all of the cut scenes. Even though the gameplay was fun, the action was completely over the top. Maybe it's just me but I can't stand the Michael Bay mindset of constant incredible things happening. Falling off a building through 3 stories, skating down a mountain, massive explosions. It's just all too much. You don't need all of that to be exciting. Laura goes through one life ending even through the next.

Still, a fun game overall but I wish it had a better story and toned down the goofiness. I'd go 6/10 which sounds low but it really didn't do anything new other than just being a better than average action/adventure game. I do plan on playing the other two eventually.
 

Astral Dog

Member
I didn't like it. It felt like a B-tier Uncharted. The acting, plot, character designs, environments and even gameplay felt significantly worse than the games it was attempting to imitate.

I haven't played the second two, however.
They become less action heavy and more puzzles/adventure as they progress, believe me i agree with most of what you said but the gameplay, Tomb Raider shines because Lara plays well, always disliked the combat in Uncharted while TR is weak on other areas, they nailed the combat(and platforming i guess) and thats enough to not call it Uncharted B, also Lara is alone most of the time, thats different from UC (wich is amazing for other reasons). In Rise there is actual exploration that makes it more fun.

Surprised and easy recommendation. even if the games aren't without flaws
 
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Gather around kids, it's history time.

Tomb Raider 1, Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot were the first games to use 3D, so developers were still experimenting on what it could work in terms of playability.
Tomb Raider with the "tank controls", Crash with fixed camera.
That is why both seem, outdated.
Yes they were chasing Mario with attempted style over substance - Crash and OG Tomb Raider were absolute trash compared to Mario 64
 

SEGA_2012

Member
Yes, i am. I got the MP trophies when the game was popular in 2013/2014, now i am playing the campaign and getting the other trophies. I am having a lot of fun. Great game.
 
The games are good, not great, they need better writing, i could not care less about the characters or the story, on rotr, hated all the crafting and stuff, there was just too much of it. Have not played shadow yet.
 
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JoduanER2

Member
I didn't like it. It felt like a B-tier Uncharted. The acting, plot, character designs, environments and even gameplay felt significantly worse than the games it was attempting to imitate.

I haven't played the second two, however.

I prefer the gameplay of the tomb raider games, at least of the first 2 "new" tomb raiders vs the uncharted games.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
The first is the best. Best story (still cheesy, but tolerable and the ending ain't bad) and best gameplay because they kept it relatively simple. The half-assed "open world" sections of the sequel weren't for the best, and the third game completely fails at balance. The stories get worse and worse through the trilogy, and Lara's character with them, making less and less sense while she should become more experienced and less emotional. Shadow felt like a parody at times.

It still doesn't reach Uncharted's highs as a third-person shooter, but I enjoyed the exploration and the environments much more than in Uncharted. And no, in no occasion and under no circumstances the reboot can lick the original series' boots. People complaining about the tank controls never got even remotely gud at the originals, because they still play pretty well today.
 

Orta

Banned
The first one was great but returning to it after the vastly superior ROTTR showed up its few shortcomings that weren't apparent first time. Still a nice game though. I have Shadow but haven't played it yet, I'd like two or three weeks of complete free time to go through it with a fine tooth comb. Its the only TR game I've yet to play, its my favourite gaming IP and I can't wait to see what Crystal Dynamics does with the next gen update.

*Incidentally the oft-overlooked TR Underworld is the most criminally underrated entry in the series in my oppinion. Fantastic game.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
First one is amazing. Really really good and in my opinion, a better version of Uncharted. The second one fell so hard off a cliff that I’ve not even bothered with the third. What an absolute boring chore of a game.
 

GMAK2442

Member
The only problem I got on my side with the lasted TR is the graphics compare to UC4. The question is, is it UC4 graphics that is too good.
 

SpiceRacz

Member
Didn't like TR 2013 at all. Thought the story was horrible and the game just dragged. It feels like it's trying way too hard to copy Uncharted.

Rise on the other hand, was an improvement in every way. Most importantly, it had more actual tomb raiding and puzzles. The gameplay itself is as good as Uncharted imo, but it feels like it's more of it's own game than TR2013. Also really liked the metroidvania element of returning to previous areas with new items to reach new areas. One of the best games of the generation imo.

Only dabbled in Shadow, but really liked what I played.
 
I really loved the first game. Definitely appreciated the action, the cool animations, the blood pool level. I kind of fell off the wagon on part 2 but it seemed really good. I may go back and play it at some point. I got part 3 with PS+.
 

Sygma

Member
TR 2013 is the only good game in the whole new trilogy tbh, you'll see that RotR is the exact same shit minus the memorable set pieces / settings (its the BLANDEST 3rd person game of the last decade), and Shadow is again, the exact same structure in story / set pieces but they lessened the action and gave more tombs - puzzles instead.

Like, honestly if you like adventure games with some crazy shit happening, TR 2013 is pretty good for what it is. the collectibles part also is fun
 
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I remember playing the original on day it come out on the Saturn in the UK (very first release for Lara).

Wow, what a game changer. One of the true videogame magical experiences.

Shame later on they wanted to make Combat Raider instead. :(
 
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BigLee74

Member
TR2013, Rise and Shadow are all great games. But very very similar. You’ll be hard pushed to really enjoy any of the others after playing one of them.

Having said that, you’ve started with the best of the trilogy IMO.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
It's wonderful. My first was on PS1, the one in China. I think it was the first one. Most of their recent games are great!
 
The exploration and puzzles get better in each game, but the story inversely gets worse. The first one is like a 7/10 for me while the second and third are like 8s, since I like exploration more than the shooter elements. Shout out to the custom difficulty options in the third game; every game should have that. Solid trilogy. Since I can play them all in 60 fps now I may do another playthrough soon.
 
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Astral Dog

Member
The first is the best. Best story (still cheesy, but tolerable and the ending ain't bad) and best gameplay because they kept it relatively simple. The half-assed "open world" sections of the sequel weren't for the best, and the third game completely fails at balance. The stories get worse and worse through the trilogy, and Lara's character with them, making less and less sense while she should become more experienced and less emotional. Shadow felt like a parody at times.

It still doesn't reach Uncharted's highs as a third-person shooter, but I enjoyed the exploration and the environments much more than in Uncharted. And no, in no occasion and under no circumstances the reboot can lick the original series' boots. People complaining about the tank controls never got even remotely gud at the originals, because they still play pretty well today.
You see thats the thing, i say it goes far beyond Uncharted in third person shootery, always found the combat sections to be the most banal and annoying parts of that series, sometimes i wonder why i keep playing, (well Sony gives Uncharted games for free like they were candy :p) or why they designed them that way with all the budget they get, the charming writting, graphics and delightful characters make them worth playing through.

But in Tomb Raider i play for fun, Nathan feels like a freaking tank next to Lara,and Uncharted 'platforming' while more elaborate sometimes feels like a chore i would love if Crystal Dynamics evolved that combat in a new ip not bounded by the TOMB RAIDER series characters or gameplay/art expectations. Go crazy! unfortunately they working on Avengers :^/ 🤷‍♂️
 

TexMex

Member
I'll always prefer the original games (especially 1/2) but this new trilogy was really fun. Rise is a truly exceptional action game.

Can't agree with the Uncharted comparisons being unfair. There are countless, completely fair parallels to draw between the two. To the point where these new games may not even exist (at least in their current presentation) without the success of Uncharted.
 
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