Tomb Raider

[flarty]

Well i just completed it, and I'm a little under whelmed by the whole experience. Is this what constitutes a survival game? It was a depressing version of uncharted, and there was zero survival elements. I remember MGS3 having better survival elements than this and that game is nearly 10 years old.

Tomb Raider seems to have received favorable reviews on the most part. Why? Its done nothing new. It hasn't refined anything to the point that it wows the audience, unless you haven't played a game this gen at all. It is merely average and deserves 6/10 in my opinion.

Anyone else got any thoughts?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Yeah, I was pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing too.


It's a very nice looking game, but there's just nothing to it, it's just an Uncharted clone with none of the character of Uncharted.

And I don't even like Uncharted that much ^-^'

The franchise needs to decide what it wants to be, hopefully a sequel will be more focused.

 

[Professor Lupin Madblood]

Well i just completed it, and I'm a little under whelmed by the whole experience. Is this what constitutes a survival game? It was a depressing version of uncharted, and there was zero survival elements. I remember MGS3 having better survival elements than this and that game is nearly 10 years old.

Tomb Raider seems to have received favorable reviews on the most part. Why? Its done nothing new. It hasn't refined anything to the point that it wows the audience, unless you haven't played a game this gen at all. It is merely average and deserves 6/10 in my opinion.

Anyone else got any thoughts?

If you thought that it was a survival game, you must not have been paying much attention to the press surrounding it. Survival is a theme in the game, but (unfortunately) not a mechanic.


In short: it has potential and some really great parts, but it's structured very poorly and doesn't do enough to set itself apart from the pack.

 

[flarty]

Well i just completed it, and I'm a little under whelmed by the whole experience. Is this what constitutes a survival game? It was a depressing version of uncharted, and there was zero survival elements. I remember MGS3 having better survival elements than this and that game is nearly 10 years old.

Tomb Raider seems to have received favorable reviews on the most part. Why? Its done nothing new. It hasn't refined anything to the point that it wows the audience, unless you haven't played a game this gen at all. It is merely average and deserves 6/10 in my opinion.

Anyone else got any thoughts?

If you thought that it was a survival game, you must not have been paying much attention to the press surrounding it. Survival is a theme in the game, but (unfortunately) not a mechanic.


In short: it has potential and some really great parts, but it's structured very poorly and doesn't do enough to set itself apart from the pack.

Nope i didn't really pay much attention to the press. I shouldn't have to either. If you going to use the words survival and survivor so prominently in your advertising, I'm going to expect a survival game.

 

[Zhukov]

I thought it was okay. It drifted somewhere around that space between "Yeah, alright" and "I'd recommend it."

Not sure why people thought it was going to have survival mechanics. That was never shown in the marketing, at least not so far as I'm aware.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I quite liked it actually.

It is basically Uncharted, but with a nice couple of areas that give you some free-reign and with a way more fluid cover system.
It does lack genuine personality though. The characters are all pretty much interchangable, and I think the only reason I had any connection with Lara at all is because of the fact that I was controlling her.

The amount of murder Lara commits is very much butting heads with the story portraying her as this fledgling adventurer, but the fire fights were so damn good that I was willing to turn a blind eye.

 

[flarty]

Not sure why people thought it was going to have survival mechanics. That was never shown in the marketing, at least not so far as I'm aware.

Even on the steam page both trailers end on a note about survival. There is a survival edition and the synopsis starts

"Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,"

Which led me to think it was suppose to be a survival game, or an action game with survival elements.

 

[Zhukov]

Not sure why people thought it was going to have survival mechanics. That was never shown in the marketing, at least not so far as I'm aware.

Even on the steam page both trailers end on a note about survival. There is a survival edition and the synopsis starts

"Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,"

Which led me to think it was suppose to be a survival game, or an action game with survival elements.

The word survival just means staying alive and Lara does plenty of that. The word does not automatically denote "survival mechanics" as gaming generally regards them.

What would these theoretical mechanics of yours have been anyway? A hunger bar? That's all it usually comes down to.

 

[flarty]

Not sure why people thought it was going to have survival mechanics. That was never shown in the marketing, at least not so far as I'm aware.

Even on the steam page both trailers end on a note about survival. There is a survival edition and the synopsis starts

"Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,"

Which led me to think it was suppose to be a survival game, or an action game with survival elements.

The word survival does staying alive and Lara does plenty of that. The word does not automatically denote "survival mechanics" as gaming generally regards them.

What would these theoretical mechanics of yours have been anyway? A hunger bar? That's all it usually comes down to.

So every action game is now a survival game?
Using snares and traps would be a good mechanic. Having to find herbs for health and poison tipped arrows. Hunger Bar where different foods can be poisonous. Just a few off the top of my head.

 

[Zhukov]

[snip]

So every action game is now a survival game?
Using snares and traps would be a good mechanic. Having to find herbs for health and poison tipped arrows. Hunger Bar where different foods can be poisonous. Just a few off the top of my head.

Okay, so what about the game gave you the idea those mechanics were going to be in there?

You read the word "survival" on the Steam page and decided that must mean there were going to be snares, poison harvesting and a hunger bar? Then felt miffed when those things weren't in there?

Did you perchance watch a trailer at any point? Maybe read a review? Watch some gameplay footage?

 

[flarty]

[snip]

So every action game is now a survival game?
Using snares and traps would be a good mechanic. Having to find herbs for health and poison tipped arrows. Hunger Bar where different foods can be poisonous. Just a few off the top of my head.

Okay, so what about the game gave you the idea those mechanics were going to be in there?

You read the word "survival" on the Steam page and decided that must mean there were going to be snares, poison harvesting and a hunger bar? Then felt miffed when those things weren't in there?

Did you perchance watch a trailer at any point? Maybe read a review? Watch some gameplay footage?

No i didn't say i expected them to be in the game. You asked me what mechanics i would put in since you could only think of a hunger bar.

Yeah i watch a the trailers, hence me saying they ended on a note about being a survivor etc. They were the expected fast paced exciting explosive trailers you'd expect. As for reviews i don't really bother, and this game is a perfect example, 4/5 and 9/10s, what a joke.

I didn't just read the word survival. Its plastered all over the marketing. "survival edition" "Survivor trailer" "There is survivor in all of us" "If i dont survive, none of us will" "A survivor is born"
"Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,"

All promotional material on the steam page and the box. With so much mentioning of surviving, i was expecting a one or two survival mechanic. Of course that's my fault after having the concept of survival rammed down my throat. If it was said to be a story of survival i would be ok. But its taken the use of the word to the extreme, and where it does mention it is a story of survival, it follows it up with the line "Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,". What it should mention is you are armed with some incredibly heavy weaponry.

 

[Professor Lupin Madblood]

I didn't just read the word survival. Its plastered all over the marketing. "survival edition" "Survivor trailer" "There is survivor in all of us" "If i dont survive, none of us will" "A survivor is born"
"Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,"

All promotional material on the steam page and the box. With so much mentioning of surviving, i was expecting a one or two survival mechanic. Of course that's my fault after having the concept of survival rammed down my throat.

It's your fault for doing zero research on the game beyond shitty trailers and a shitty promotional blurb, yes. Tell me, when you go to see movies, do you judge them solely by the poster?

Of course you don't. The posters tell you nothing about the movie. You read reviews from a number of sources, maybe look at the Rottentomatoes and IMDB pages. Considering that a game like Tomb Raider is going to cost you five times as much as seeing a movie, it is staggering that you wouldn't bother to do any research on it.

If you think this sounds like a lot of work, then perhaps you should just stop consuming media altogether, because this sort of informed decision is what being a consumer means.

If it was said to be a story of survival i would be ok. But its taken the use of the word to the extreme, and where it does mention it is a story of survival, it follows it up with the line "Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,". What it should mention is you are armed with some incredibly heavy weaponry.

And yet survival is a prominent theme in the game. It's not carried over into the gameplay, but it does feature prominently in the narrative and the overarching themes.

 

[hazabaza1]

It was alright to me. Firefights were generally nice and tense with good build up and while "survival" didn't really do anything I never really expected it anyway. It would have been nice to see, but I can imagine it just getting annoying really quickly.

Most of the side characters were absolute shit though. Could've used more of the supernatural stuff too.

 

[flarty]

I didn't just read the word survival. Its plastered all over the marketing. "survival edition" "Survivor trailer" "There is survivor in all of us" "If i dont survive, none of us will" "A survivor is born"
"Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,"

All promotional material on the steam page and the box. With so much mentioning of surviving, i was expecting a one or two survival mechanic. Of course that's my fault after having the concept of survival rammed down my throat.

It's your fault for doing zero research on the game beyond shitty trailers and a shitty promotional blurb, yes. Tell me, when you go to see movies, do you judge them solely by the poster?

Of course you don't. The posters tell you nothing about the movie. You read reviews from a number of sources, maybe look at the Rottentomatoes and IMDB pages. Considering that a game like Tomb Raider is going to cost you five times as much as seeing a movie, it is staggering that you wouldn't bother to do any research on it.

If you think this sounds like a lot of work, then perhaps you should just stop consuming media altogether, because this sort of informed decision is what being a consumer means.

If it was said to be a story of survival i would be ok. But its taken the use of the word to the extreme, and where it does mention it is a story of survival, it follows it up with the line "Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,". What it should mention is you are armed with some incredibly heavy weaponry.

And yet survival is a prominent theme in the game. It's not carried over into the gameplay, but it does feature prominently in the narrative and the overarching themes.

Survival is no more a prominent theme than in any other action game. To be honest i just looked at a couple of reviews which tout it to be a type of survival horror

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danieltack/2013/03/11/tomb-raider-is-brilliant-brutal-bliss/
http://kotaku.com/5986619/tomb-raider-the-kotaku-review

So in all fairness if i did read a review prior, I'd still be in the same boat. Another example as why i dont read reviews.

 

[mohit9206]

Tomb Raider is an action adventure game with survival themes as in survive the wrath of the island and its inhabitants not survival as in hunger,thirst,shelter etc.
The game itself was very good.Id give it an 8/10 and i quite enjoyed the game.The graphics, the really nice automatic cover system, good combat mechanics,good platforming elements. The story was nothing special though and the characters were also not very good except maybe Roth. The only bad thing about the game was the annoying and sometimes frustrating QTE's other than that it was a damn fine game, definitely one of the better games of this year if not the best. I dont expect it to win any GOTY awards but it successfully achieved what it set out to do ie to reboot the series and give us an origin story about Lara Croft and how she came to be what she is today. The reviews the game has got are well deserved.
I just completed the main game yesterday and now on to the extra stuff like collectibles and optional tombs.

 

[mohit9206]

Tomb Raider is an action adventure game with survival themes as in survive the wrath of the island and its inhabitants not survival as in hunger,thirst,shelter etc.
The game itself was very good.Id give it an 8/10 and i quite enjoyed the game.The graphics, the really nice automatic cover system, good combat mechanics,good platforming elements. The story was nothing special though and the characters were also not very good except maybe Roth. The only bad thing about the game was the annoying and sometimes frustrating QTE's other than that it was a damn fine game, definitely one of the better games of this year if not the best. I dont expect it to win any GOTY awards but it successfully achieved what it set out to do ie to reboot the series and give us an origin story about Lara Croft and how she came to be what she is today. The reviews the game has got are well deserved.
I just completed the main game yesterday and now on to the extra stuff like collectibles and optional tombs.

 

[Professor Lupin Madblood]

I didn't just read the word survival. Its plastered all over the marketing. "survival edition" "Survivor trailer" "There is survivor in all of us" "If i dont survive, none of us will" "A survivor is born"
"Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,"

All promotional material on the steam page and the box. With so much mentioning of surviving, i was expecting a one or two survival mechanic. Of course that's my fault after having the concept of survival rammed down my throat.

It's your fault for doing zero research on the game beyond shitty trailers and a shitty promotional blurb, yes. Tell me, when you go to see movies, do you judge them solely by the poster?

Of course you don't. The posters tell you nothing about the movie. You read reviews from a number of sources, maybe look at the Rottentomatoes and IMDB pages. Considering that a game like Tomb Raider is going to cost you five times as much as seeing a movie, it is staggering that you wouldn't bother to do any research on it.

If you think this sounds like a lot of work, then perhaps you should just stop consuming media altogether, because this sort of informed decision is what being a consumer means.

If it was said to be a story of survival i would be ok. But its taken the use of the word to the extreme, and where it does mention it is a story of survival, it follows it up with the line "Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance,". What it should mention is you are armed with some incredibly heavy weaponry.

And yet survival is a prominent theme in the game. It's not carried over into the gameplay, but it does feature prominently in the narrative and the overarching themes.

Survival is no more a prominent theme than in any other action game. To be honest i just looked at a couple of reviews which tout it to be a type of survival horror

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danieltack/2013/03/11/tomb-raider-is-brilliant-brutal-bliss/
http://kotaku.com/5986619/tomb-raider-the-kotaku-review

So in all fairness if i did read a review prior, I'd still be in the same boat. Another example as why i dont read reviews.

Survival is a much more prominent them than in most other action games. There's a difference between avoiding getting killed in a very immediate sense (CoD, Gear of War) and enduring - surviving, one might even say - a repeated onslaught: the island is trying to kill Lara, the cultists are trying to kill Lara, Lara is in danger of freezing, starving, falling, etc. to death.

Also, Forbes isn't a gaming magazine and Kotaku is a rag. Read reviews by people who actually know what they're doing (Gather Your Party, Rev3Games - I also remember Gamesradar being pretty good, but that was a while ago), and research who actually does know what they're doing in the journalism scene.

 

[WoW Killer]

I liked it. Mainly just because the core combat was good. The guns felt very satisfying to use, and I thought the RPG elements (i.e. weapon upgrades, ability unlocks) were surprisingly well done. I think I was under the impression there would be more of an open world style, but it was pretty linear actually. As I say, I liked it, but I do think a bit more of a sandbox slant might have made it better, so I get the point about the survival elements.

 

[flarty]

Survival is a much more prominent them than in most other action games. There's a difference between avoiding getting killed in a very immediate sense (CoD, Gear of War) and enduring - surviving, one might even say - a repeated onslaught: the island is trying to kill Lara, the cultists are trying to kill Lara, Lara is in danger of freezing, starving, falling, etc. to death.

Also, Forbes isn't a gaming magazine and Kotaku is a rag. Read reviews by people who actually know what they're doing (Gather Your Party, Rev3Games - I also remember Gamesradar being pretty good, but that was a while ago), and research who actually does know what they're doing in the journalism scene.

Story wise yes. But game play wise it isn't. After reading the write up stating "Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance". It turns out it meant you press Q every once in a while to highlight points of interest with "survival instinct". But to be fair I'm not even that miffed about the lack of survival elements. I'm more miffed about the high scores it received and it does nothing new or well.

As for reviews i usually stay clear of them because of above reason. I usually read the write up and check the over all average on meta-critic.