Tomb Raider (2013)

[Childs]

I was on the fence with this game when reading about it initially but I managed to get it for $30 so I took the plunge. All I can say was wow. With the newest patches from Nvidia and SquareEnix I was able to play the last half of game totally maxed out at 1440p with TressFX. Holy crap this game looks amazing.

The gameplay itself was a bit on the easy side though. I really wished it had more puzzles like the original TR games did but I can see the team progressing to this in future sequels. I also didn't really like the QTE boss fights. They were more annoying than anything else.

The total package was well worth the few gripes I had. They did a pretty good job making Lara a badass while making her pretty relatable as well.

I've only died maybe once or two during actual combat, but probably at least 30 times during QTEs. And when they combine QTEs and change the camera angles I have no chance. There is this one stretch before you get to palace where you have to run on collapsing structures as you are being shot at, and I had literally no idea what to do. I was about to punch my new monitor! lol

 

[xeledon20005]

Thief is next.



and after that hopefully chrono trigger makes an appearance =D!

 

[tygeezy]

Thief is next.



and after that hopefully chrono trigger makes an appearance =D!

One can only hope. I loved both chrono games and it has been forever.

 

[Childs]

This is fun... :biggrin:

 

[Phobic9]

This is fun... :biggrin:

Is that you playing that?

 

[Childs]

Is that you playing that?

Yeah...I have these moments in these kinds of games. I rush through the "hard" parts no problem, but then these kinds of hollywood film sections give me all kinds of problems. There was another bridge section where the camera changes so back is now forward...died like 5 times! lol

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I'm really enjoying this game. I pulled me away from HotS. The graphics (character models and hair especially) are great. The controls, camera, fluidity of the motion, and the animations really draw you in. It is a very immersive game.

Performance is a little inconsistent, perfectly smooth and then it bogs down in places I wouldn't expect.

 

[Dankk]

This is fun... :biggrin:

lol. Certainly took you a while to figure out that you needed to hook onto that wall.

I kinda understand though. I think I died on that part too. Not with the rock wall, rather, it was identical to your first fail; I didn't time my jump correctly, and... down I go.

 

[Childs]

lol. Certainly took you a while to figure out that you needed to hook onto that wall.

I kinda understand though. I think I died on that part too. Not with the rock wall, rather, it was identical to your first fail; I didn't time my jump correctly, and... down I go.

Yeah, looking back at it I see it right away, but getting in that shack put me in the wrong mindset. I was convinced inside the shack was the key. Then I'm like, well, if I can't jump down from the shack, surely the river will break my fall! :awe:

 

[VulgarDisplay]

The only things that really gave me problems were QTE's and stupid camera angle changes during set pieces.

 

[Zenoth]

Ok I have to ask some questions. I'm considering this game but lately (since a year or so by now) I kinda refuse to pay for full game prices at (or near) release. I don't want any big spoilers either (I skipped most of this thread for this reason). I don't want to watch too much footage on YouTube either which of course might answer my questions but I might also look at someone's game-play who happens to be far in the game and I wouldn't be aware of it.

So I'm asking here for specifics...

1) How "explorable" is the environment? Is it like Crysis 1 style, pretty much linear point A to B but with some space in between to veer left or right and "explore" like one cave until the next map loads? Or is it more in the veins of Skyrim or Far Cry 3?

2) Enemy "camps", do they respawn mobs constantly even after you clear them? Or is it "cleared" forever until you finish the game? I'm mostly referring to human enemies here, wouldn't care much if rats respawn in a cave or stuff like that.

3) I've read about a fast-travel system, ok got that one, but what else is there to travel? Or is something like "oh look a conveniently forgotten glider placed at the right spot for me to use right here so I can travel down this mountain", or is it mostly on-foot at the risk of falling down from an unstable cliff side?

4) Wild life? Anything to "worry about" other than the obvious "bandit camp over there"? Evil bats from Tomb Raider 1 make any return? No? Any starving tigers or unnaturally aggressive wolves roaming around waiting for you?

5) How is the enemy A.I.? Is it Mass Effect "I take cover here you take cover there and we exchange fire until health bars deplete" kind of hidden poor A.I. mechanism, or it is more in the veins of "I'm totally going to throw a grenade at you and you won't see a big 'GRENADE AT YOUR FEET' warning on-screen when I do so"?

6) Last, but not least, re-play value? The game is still new and most people might still be playing their first play-through, but does anything change for a second play-through? Different enemy placement? Different items (randomization) in crates or chests? Does anything change at all or it is the same weapon parts found at the same exact spots all the time, the same enemies paroling the same exact routes all the time? Etc? (In other words, how linear and/or predictable is it)

Well that's many questions, but I wanted to avoid story-related and obviously puzzle-solving-related footage or comments. I just want to experience the story and the known Tomb Raider's puzzle solving on my own, however I want to know if "the rest" corresponds to something I'd pay $50 for (and I want to avoid the potential mistake of doing so yet again after so many recent significant disappointments, not to say plain failures).

 

[Dankk]

Ok I have to ask some questions. I'm considering this game but lately (since a year or so by now) I kinda refuse to pay for full game prices at (or near) release. I don't want any big spoilers either (I skipped most of this thread for this reason). I don't want to watch too much footage on YouTube either which of course might answer my questions but I might also look at someone's game-play who happens to be far in the game and I wouldn't be aware of it.

So I'm asking here for specifics...

1) How "explorable" is the environment? Is it like Crysis 1 style, pretty much linear point A to B but with some space in between to veer left or right and "explore" like one cave until the next map loads? Or is it more in the veins of Skyrim or Far Cry 3?

2) Enemy "camps", do they respawn mobs constantly even after you clear them? Or is it "cleared" forever until you finish the game? I'm mostly referring to human enemies here, wouldn't care much if rats respawn in a cave or stuff like that.

3) I've read about a fast-travel system, ok got that one, but what else is there to travel? Or is something like "oh look a conveniently forgotten glider placed at the right spot for me to use right here so I can travel down this mountain", or is it mostly on-foot at the risk of falling down from an unstable cliff side?

4) Wild life? Anything to "worry about" other than the obvious "bandit camp over there"? Evil bats from Tomb Raider 1 make any return? No? Any starving tigers or unnaturally aggressive wolves roaming around waiting for you?

5) How is the enemy A.I.? Is it Mass Effect "I take cover here you take cover there and we exchange fire until health bars deplete" kind of hidden poor A.I. mechanism, or it is more in the veins of "I'm totally going to throw a grenade at you and you won't see a big 'GRENADE AT YOUR FEET' warning on-screen when I do so"?

6) Last, but not least, re-play value? The game is still new and most people might still be playing their first play-through, but does anything change for a second play-through? Different enemy placement? Different items (randomization) in crates or chests? Does anything change at all or it is the same weapon parts found at the same exact spots all the time, the same enemies paroling the same exact routes all the time? Etc? (In other words, how linear and/or predictable is it)

Well that's many questions, but I wanted to avoid story-related and obviously puzzle-solving-related footage or comments. I just want to experience the story and the known Tomb Raider's puzzle solving on my own, however I want to know if "the rest" corresponds to something I'd pay $50 for (and I want to avoid the potential mistake of doing so yet again after so many recent significant disappointments, not to say plain failures).

1) It's more the former (Crysis 1). The game is mostly linear. However, the environments are somewhat large and ripe for exploring; the game rewards you for poking around in nooks and crannies, and for trying to swing/climb/swim into hard-to-reach areas. You'll find collectables and salvage crates, which give you XP and salvage (used for upgrading weapons), respectively. You'll also find hidden and completely optional tombs to explore. So while it's a linear-ish game, there is certainly a fair amount of exploration to do.

2) When enemies are gone, they're gone. There are no respawning camps in the traditional sense. (Although there may be scripted events related to the story that involve enemies appearing where there previously were none, but those are pretty minor and atypical).

3) The fast-travel system exists so you can return to previous areas that you explored way back near the beginning of the game, without making any tediously long treks. This is one of those features that make the game not-so-linear. You're free to put the main story-missions on hold and warp to all the different locations on the island at your leisure, so you can grab any items that you may have previously missed. The game is very similar to Metroid Prime in this regard: There will be collectibles early on in the game that you won't be able to reach, until you get the right equipment upgrades much later and you must travel backwards to find everything. I hope that makes sense.

4) There's a fair amount of wildlife. Most of it is harmless. I think the only time I got hurt by something is when I was trying to pin a wild boar with one of my arrows, and it charged into me and did damage, hahah. Well, you'll also encounter some deadly wolves, but that's pretty rare. Generally, the wild animals don't really hurt you and they only exist so you can kill them for XP and salvage (if you want).

5) The enemy AI is perfect, IMO. Not too dumb, but not too overpowered and "cheaty". Human enemies are legitimately dangerous if you don't play your cards right. The stealth system works really well... you can silently take out entire enemy camps with only a bow and arrow, but it requires real timing and precision. Very rewarding and very fun. If you mess up and an enemy notices you, you can expect to engage in a pretty big firefight.

6) I don't see myself replaying the game anytime soon. That's not to say the game doesn't have any replayability, because it certainly does; you can try putting your skill points into different abilities, and try different playstyles. For me though, it's one of those games where it's like, now that I've experienced the game once, I can't really experience it again with the same excitement... like a good book or a movie.

If those answers satisfy you and you think the game's worth $50, then definitely buy it. But I completely understand if you'd rather wait for it to go on sale for cheaper.

Personally though, I heartily recommend Tomb Raider. I know I've already gushed about it earlier in the thread, but it's worth saying again that the game definitely surpassed my expectations. I was not expecting the storyline, characters, and atmosphere to be so well-done. And that's on top of the great combat and gameplay. It's overall just a stellar game. IMO it's definitely worth a full $50 purchase, unlike many AAA games these days.

Edit: You can get the game for $10 off ($40) on GMG if you use the voucher code GMG20-NT7TS-SY2RT. http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/us/en/pc/games/action/tomb-raider/

 

[Zenoth]

Alright thanks, I appreciate the information.

It sounds very interesting, all I need now is my week's paycheck and I'm in. I think that what is convincing me more than anything right now is the lack of constantly-respawning enemies in camps. That killed Far Cry 2 for me (more than the driving, more than even the stupid malaria system) which might have been an otherwise good game (sure the driving would still have driven me crazy quite literally, but the malaria part was "manageable" despite being annoying, rather than game-breaking). So if indeed as you describe in Tomb Raider once we clear a camp of it's occupants and it remains as such pretty much permanently then I can't praise the developers enough already for having thought about it.

Additionally, on a related subject, I've read that the game runs on a "modified" Crystal Engine, which is an updated version of the Legend-Underworld engine (also used for Deus Ex: Human Revolution). Now I'm not familiar at all with that engine, is it mods-friendly for the PC community? Anyone knows?

Well yeah anyway, I'll buy it, Friday precisely (so this week-end is pretty much Tomb Raider + Pizza + Beer mode, can't wait).

 

[PowerYoga]

Pretty sure they are somewhat random and staggered. I got all parts to every gun after beating the game but at like 80%

Optional tombs gave me a bunch

yeah, it's always a hoot when you find hand gun parts in some ancient treasure chest.

 

[Eureka]

Now, maybe it's just me, but does anyone else think it's odd how many skulls and red candles they have in this game? I understand people wash up but there must be nearly a million skulls in this game, and all those dead bodies? And who has the time to keep all these candles lit, especially all the ones in those hard to reach places?

 

[Dankk]

Now, maybe it's just me, but does anyone else think it's odd how many skulls and red candles they have in this game? I understand people wash up but there must be nearly a million skulls in this game, and all those dead bodies? And who has the time to keep all these candles lit, especially all the ones in those hard to reach places?

Them cultists be crazy.

 

[KaOTiK]

When I was playing, I was always asking myself, who the fuck is lighting all these candles and laterns?

 

[Eureka]

Skulls for the skull throne. Feels like the storms stranded a shipment of skulls for Khorne...

 

[CPA]

Them cultists be crazy.

Not only cultists, but if I understood correctly, the island

Spoiler

was home to the Japanese during WWII and there were possibly battles there.

 

[Childs]

Finished it in around 12 hours, at 81%. Strangely, when I got to around 50%, the game started crashing every hour or so. This was just annoying, because the save system is pretty good and you load up almost exactly where the game crashed. One time a crash did eat the last shotgun part I needed and I didnt find it again for another hour, but that was the only issue.

I thought that big guy with the club would be tougher, but that dodge is Assassins Creed level OP. Kinda made all the boss battles pretty easy. And thats considering I'm too slow to do the finishing moves. Case in point...

I think as a Tomb Raider game it was kinda a bust, but by itself a pretty good game. I hope they get back to more puzzles and platforming. I dont think any tombs or environmental puzzle took longer than 5 minutes to solve. And I didnt use cheater vision!

The skills, hunting, or weapon unlocks didnt really add anything positive to the franchise. If they went away in the next version I dont think anyone would miss them. Especially when you consider by the time you get all the weapons fully pimped out, the game is essentially over. I guess thats a gripe against most games that do unlocks, and I dont see why they do it. The melodrama was a little too forced. You could also see the various plot points coming a mile away.

But that being said, it was fairly enjoyable. You only really nitpick when there is nothing major to complain about. While I dont think I'll be going back to it anytime soon, I feel I got my money's worth. In this case $25, and I wouldnt have felt cheated at $50. It was about the right length and didnt overstay its welcome. The bow was badass, and gunplay in general was pretty good. Really nice level design, if maybe a bit morbid with the skulls and blood all over the place.

I think I'd give this a 7/10, mainly due to the technical issues. Otherwise, a solid 8/10.

 

[dust]

Finished it in around 12 hours, at 81%. Strangely, when I got to around 50%, the game started crashing every hour or so. This was just annoying, because the save system is pretty good and you load up almost exactly where the game crashed. One time a crash did eat the last shotgun part I needed and I didnt find it again for another hour, but that was the only issue.

I thought that big guy with the club would be tougher, but that dodge is Assassins Creed level OP. Kinda made all the boss battles pretty easy. And thats considering I'm too slow to do the finishing moves. Case in point...

I think as a Tomb Raider game it was kinda a bust, but by itself a pretty good game. I hope they get back to more puzzles and platforming. I dont think any tombs or environmental puzzle took longer than 5 minutes to solve. And I didnt use cheater vision!

The skills, hunting, or weapon unlocks didnt really add anything positive to the franchise. If they went away in the next version I dont think anyone would miss them. Especially when you consider by the time you get all the weapons fully pimped out, the game is essentially over. I guess thats a gripe against most games that do unlocks, and I dont see why they do it. The melodrama was a little too forced. You could also see the various plot points coming a mile away.

But that being said, it was fairly enjoyable. You only really nitpick when there is nothing major to complain about. While I dont think I'll be going back to it anytime soon, I feel I got my money's worth. In this case $25, and I wouldnt have felt cheated at $50. It was about the right length and didnt overstay its welcome. The bow was badass, and gunplay in general was pretty good. Really nice level design, if maybe a bit morbid with the skulls and blood all over the place.

I think I'd give this a 7/10, mainly due to the technical issues. Otherwise, a solid 8/10.

I'm guessing there's something bad with your install! I'm 30 hours in, at the second run, I've had like three crashes all this time, 2500k with 670.

 

[Phobic9]

I was also getting the hourly crash on my GTX670 until I installed both the nvidia and game patches. I was able to play for hours on my laptop though for some reason, which has a 650m.

 

[geniusloci]

I can't believe people aren't rating this game higher. Maybe they're just jaded? Or I haven't played enough stuff in the last several years? This is one of the best games I've ever played. It has a few minor annoyances, mostly with QTE, but they don't detract from the overall package.

I enjoyed myself immensely. I really felt like Lara was quite real and I was helping her, not controlling her. The graphics were incredible, the action was essentially non-stop. I loved it.

"Get the hell out of my way!"

 

[Qbah]

I can't believe people aren't rating this game higher. Maybe they're just jaded? Or I haven't played enough stuff in the last several years? This is one of the best games I've ever played. It has a few minor annoyances, mostly with QTE, but they don't detract from the overall package.

I enjoyed myself immensely. I really felt like Lara was quite real and I was helping her, not controlling her. The graphics were incredible, the action was essentially non-stop. I loved it.

"Get the hell out of my way!"

Yep One of the most enjoyable experiences for me in a really long time!

I finished the game last weekend and had a blast (95% completion). All maxed, FXAA and TressFX ON at 1080p and the experience was flawless for me. There was a slowdown or two during one or two cutscenes, but the game itself was perfect for me.

All in all I'm really happy A wonderful game with amazing visuals and great gameplay & story. And it all played great on my PC

Lara yelling "You can't stop me!" or "That's right, run you bastards, I'm coming for you all!" in the latter parts of the game were really epic moments Simple thing but really made Lara so badass!!

 

[Aikouka]

I found it odd that some people were getting crashes at all on nVidia hardware. I was running the latest beta drivers at release and had Tessellation turned on with full-screen exclusive, and I never crashed. Who knows? :hmm: