Tomb Raider (Xbox, PS3, PC)

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 24, 2013, 5:21 am

GOTY!

It's only February but this is a Mass Effect early year high quality type release. What an outstanding reboot for Lara Croft. I'm playing the 360 version of it and am about 8% of the way through the game. My thoughts based on that 8%:

Immersion:

Best camerawork I've ever seen in a game. The way the camera moves as Lara crawls through tight spots, ducks, jumps, scurries, slides, dodges, etc is really well done. Lara's animations are terrific. The idea behind this game was about starting from the beginning with Lara Croft not yet being the bad-ass that she eventually becomes. She's in survivalist mode and pretty much learns as she goes.

Environment is excellent. Audio outstanding. Effects well done. Character models for Lara and others look great.

UI:

It has the feel of a next gen game and would have worked great as a launch title for either PS4 or Xbox720. The menus, inventory, etc all flow well and are easy to get to. You'll be happy to know you can save the game anywhere...no bullshit long distance save points. The UI is effective but leaves the screen almost entirely clear so you can enjoy the game/visuals.

Game play:

Lots of action. I'd call it a mix between a 3D platformer and shooter. By 3d platformer, I mean you'll be hitting buttons to dodge stuff, triggers, etc to climb up stuff, timed button hits to escape the clutches of bad situations, etc. There are also some puzzle type situations that you have time to figure out without imminent death pressing you to rush through. Other times you may be using a bow and arrow to hunt some food. There's a nice combination of action and stealth as well. There are plenty of tense situations to get your heart beating fast...especially in the beginning as you're running for your life, waiting to figure out what you need to do, while the game feeds you the controller commands just in time for you to use them the first time. You've also got a "Batman: Arkham City" detective mode that helps you see useful clues/items, etc.

One thing I really like...is you will die...maybe a lot, but the game pops you back just a few seconds before you die, and, just like their excellent decision to let you save anytime, you don't have to go through some mega long series of shit to get back to the place where you died. When Lara dies, she dies hard. I watched her get strangled to death several times before I properly kicked some dude in the balls and bit his ear off.

I also find it a nice that sometimes you have a few ways to succeed in a situation (shooting and missing something, allowing it to close on you, but then you have chance to escape/kill the person/animal another way.

Skills aren't overboard in depth. You've got enough skills you can master to make a difference but not overwhelming. Salvaging/Upgrading is also just about right (not super deep but enough)

Once you get a little ways into the game, you are able to fast travel back to various "base camps" you have. The areas are open enough that completionists will need to go back to find all the achievement stuff.

Story:

Good so far. Starts out, like most of the good games lately, with some serious action and then flashes back a bit to give some depth to the story.

The gore factor is pretty high. I was surprised at the detail of someone getting shot point blank in the face for example. Lara looks hot as you'd expect, but in a classy way. She has an American accent as opposed to the old English version. She also looks beat to shit, for good reason, and I think they successfully made her out to be "believable" as someone being thrust into a situation she wasn't prepared for.

Conclusion:

I've got to say, Square Enix has impressed me with some of their recent releases. Sleeping Dogs was very entertaining and Tomb Raider is GOTY candidate material. Maybe they will take some lessons learned and turn out a good FF game (after the last FFXIII comes out)

I'd say this is a must buy (at some point) for anyone other than those that want a wall to wall shooter type game like CoD.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 24, 2013, 6:25 pm

This gaming is freaking fantastic. It has it all...Puzzles, Action, Stealth, Story, Graphics, Suspense, tons to discover, skills/upgrades. The weather effects are outstanding as well. The game provides options on how you get things done. The platforming parts are so smooth and fun, not frustrating.

I feel like I'm playing slow and searching around and I'm when I look at the "zone" percentage complete stats, I missed over half the things you can find. I've played several hours today and went from 8% to 12% complete. Some of the areas have Tombs you can raid (if you discover them). That's where the best puzzles are. There's a good mix of outdoor and indoor (caves/tombs).

I've never had so much fun shooting a bow as in this game. Most situations allow you to go in with guns/bow blazing or take the stealth approach. The action is great either way. I'd suggest strengthening your bow (reinforced limbs) and also the Wrapped string (faster fire rate) weapon upgrades for the bow first when you have the salvage points. On that note, I suggest adding advanced salvaging/bone collector skills early which speeds up your weapon upgrades. I think you end up with all skills eventually, it just seems some are more helpful than others early on.

Still in progress, but this is verging on a 10/10 type rating. I can't imagine this would score less than 90 on Metacritic when the reviews start coming in. The game would have to take a horrible turn for the worse over the remainder to cause that. The variance between 90-100 will be determined by the rest of the story and ending.

Oh, I was wrong about the accent. Lara has a slight English accent, it's just not very pronounced. Likeable character. There are quite a few side characters but you are mostly on your own (or I have been so far). The other character personalities are being developed through camcorder flashbacks so you'll care more about them when the time comes I suppose.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » February 24, 2013, 9:57 pm

Are you going to buy it when it comes out?

Comes free with my AMD card. Thanks AMD! Not to mention the PC version will look tons better than console.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » February 24, 2013, 11:29 pm

I was gonna ask how you were playing it already when I read your post earlier, brain fart on my part obviously.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 25, 2013, 12:23 am

Aslanna wrote:Are you going to buy it when it comes out?

Comes free with my AMD card. Thanks AMD! Not to mention the PC version will look tons better than console.

Yeah, I'll be buying this one for sure. It plays awesome using a 360 controller. Hopefully you have one for the PC. There's some God of War type situations where you're punching keys, moving your joystick back and forth to swing, etc. The game looks fantastic on the 360 so I bet it will be really nice on the PC.

I've been playing all day and am 37% complete. That's with the storyline, not the entire collectible game so I'm guessing 30-40 hours for first pass through. About 25% through you reach a major objective and the game feels like it could have ended there and you'd be satisfied.

I few more weapons are introduced as you play through and additional weapon upgrades become available if you find upgrade sets. I'm playing on easy and have quite a few enemies being thrown at me so medium and hard should be fun for those that like action.

I've only had one sequence so far that was a little frustrating. It was a long action dodge, weave, avoid stuff during a fast paced scene. I must have died 10 times before I figured it out, and then another 5 times on the second half of it. Good thing the game starts you right before the action scene when you die.

Plenty of twist and turns in the story. Some creepy stuff. Some wtf is that scenes. Pretty graphic violence. Lara dies some nasty deaths.

I've picked up some abilities that I think might be required to actually reach some of the items in the first areas so it's a good thing there's a fast travel system between camps so you can easily jump around the game to complete all of that stuff later.

This is the most fun/intensity I've had in a game in awhile. It will probably end up ranking with Mass Effect for great games. It has a combination of so many things done well.

The puzzles are very satisfying and varied. Lara really takes a beating. The flow of the game is outstanding. You don't feel rushed. It's easy to take some time to explore or press ahead. I'm in some shanty town right now that's pretty big. I could spend a long time here rooting around, finding stuff. Looks like there's a few Tombs to raid in the area as well.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 25, 2013, 2:17 pm

Escapist and digital Spy have given Tomb Raider 100's so far:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... con-Reborn

http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/review ... asure.html

Kotaku didn't rate it but they have a positive review up:

http://kotaku.com/5986619/tomb-raider-the-kotaku-review

IGN gave it a 9.1

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/25/ ... r-review-2

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 25, 2013, 4:08 pm

Pros:

+ We can honestly say for the first time in in franchise history that the combat is good. Very good, even.
+ The new Lara is now relatable and a good character on top of being an icon.
+ The game has excellent pacing with varied types of encounters and scenarios.
+ Great set-pieces.
+ Good exploration. Areas feel like they open up significantly when returning to them with new tools with many goodies and snippets of history to uncover. Side-tombs are fun to discover and solve.
+ Upgrade system is rewarding complements Lara's growth into a hero.
+Good platforming and puzzles, albeit not much is as devilishly complex and clever as old-school TR.
+ The game only gets better as is goes. The final third of the game is spectacular.
+ Great ambient score and atmosphere. Exceptional visuals and animation. Weather effects are quite pretty.
+ QTE's are overall not nearly as prevalent as we feared once the game gets into its normal groove.
+ The island has an interesting history worth paying attention to.
+ Brutal setting helps distinguish the game from other action-adventure titles.

Cons:

- Multiplayer, while competent, offers little in the way of being unique. Thus is forgettable.

(who gives a shit about Multiplayer? It shouldn't have been in this game to begin with in a Tomb Raider game)

- A slow start that is perhaps overly sadistic on Lara, though very meaningful to her development to its credit.

(weak. the beginning is excellent)

- Lara's ruthless and slaughter of dozens of enemies is at odds with her character in the story.

(also a lame complaint)

-Sprinting is allegedly in multiplayer, but not singleplayer. Not really an issue as Lara isn't slow to begin with, but odd.

(another completely retarded "negative")

overall the negatives are pretty weak.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » February 26, 2013, 3:21 am

Here's Conan giving it a run. He seemed to like it!

http://teamcoco.com/video/clueless-game ... omb-raider

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 27, 2013, 12:16 pm

There's a part in the game that feels like you're nearing the end but it's nowhere near the end. Just a heads up!

Also, while the weapon/skill upgrades look a little thin to start with, they expand over time, even for existing weapons. Your bow becomes pretty bad ass. You'll notice, for example that you have trained all existing skills for your bow but you're only 50% complete for bow training because certain upgrades haven't become available yet.

Another thing, for the CoD type players, there are some pretty big full scale assaults that take place that should satisfy heavy firefight action peeps. I'm playing on easy and a one of those was super intense even on easy. I was basically running for my life launching grenades all over the place trying to cut down on the amount of fire I was taking. Great stuff. I prefer the stealth approach though. Bow headshots are the best. You can take out quite a few, or all enemies without them noticing, if you have some patience.

Great game. None of the game feels like its repeated in order to lengthen it. I also like how in some areas, there is a lot of adventuring packed into a small space. You can spend hours in the same location but there's so much detail, climbing around, etc. Great integration of puzzles while you play.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 28, 2013, 2:01 am

Finished the game. 9.3/10

After the credits rolled it said "congratulations, you finished the game with a 20% completion rating".....what? I took my time and found all sorts of shit. That 20% must include multiplayer achievements, etc. The saved game status said I was about 75% complete when I finished and that sounds more like it when I check the average area completion rates.

I'd say I died about 50 times...no idea but that's probably about right. Don't expect to get through the game without biting it! It's mostly from action scenes where you need to make multiple split decisions and also experimenting with jumps, etc, trying to figure out puzzles.

Satisfying ending. Kinda feel exhausted after playing this. There's a lot of action. I've gotten better over the years but still played this one on easy mode, partially because the puzzles don't become easier, just the killing and probably number of enemies, etc. Half the game is puzzle platforming and that difficulty doesn't change. There's a broad range of combat in the game. starts off pretty small but there are some massive battles during the course of the game which should be challenging on medium or hard level.

IMO Tomb Raider is so good because it combines great 3D platforming/puzzles with a really satisfying combat system which also has its share of stealth/full assault. It also gives you choices as to what you feel like doing. The hardest puzzles are in the tombs, which you can totally skip (you shouldn't, but you could). The combat allows you to figure out some stealthy ways to take down enemies or you can go guns/bow blazing...you can also stay back and range attack, but later, once you've raised your melee skills, you can go toe to toe (well you dodge a lot or die) with enemies.

There are several lengthy "cinematic/action" scenes that are really fun to watch while you punch away at buttons.

I'm happy to say that I made it through the game without once consulting any online help (if there is any yet). I figured out all the puzzles. I finished the majority of the tombs as well. Of the ones I discovered, I only left two for later. One or two of the main storyline puzzles took me awhile to figure out but they were all satisfying and different with minimal frustration...I'm sure you'll be able to consult online help as soon as the game is released though if you do run into something you get stumped on.

When I first started the game, I thought the weakest part might be the weapon upgrades but those double or triple as the game progresses.
Anyone who's played a Tomb Raider game in the past will like the ending...good ending for an "origins" type story.

Things they could work on for the next game would be a little more character development for secondary characters. It's there and I can see the potential but understandably, Lara is the focus.

I can't imagine playing this game without a controller. It handles beautifully using the Xbox controller (and I'm sure the dual shock as well, although you use the triggers a lot which isn't the best for the PS3 controller. Using your bow, you are holding the left trigger a lot aiming and then you can charge your shot sometimes with the right trigger.., doesn't seem like it' would work anywhere near as well on the mouse/keyboard combo...plus it's a 3D platformer so you're jumping all over the place and also using the joysticks a ton...just sayin...you should get a Xbox PC controller if you play it on the PC.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » March 11, 2013, 9:27 pm

Sounds like PS3 is the preferred console version to get! Unsurprisingly as far as visuals go the PC crushes both of them however. Also unsurprisingly they made no mention of any issues with the PS3 controller.

The console versions of Tomb Raider are still thoroughly recommended though. Despite some performance issues on both systems when the action is situated in more complex environments, the game manages to stick closely to the desired 30FPS update with only momentary lapses that impact the quality of the gameplay. While the 360 offers up slightly more consistent overall performance, for the most part the difference between the two games isn't significant, and it's also fair to say that the PS3 holds the advantage with regards to image quality and the general refinement of the overall presentation. This is a game where much of the experience is built around the spectacle and in that respect, PS3 offers an advantage of its 360 sibling. Aside from various instances where performance is visibly lower, the gameplay is otherwise just as enjoyable on Sony's system, and the sharper visuals better suit the overall feel of the game, highlighting the richness of the environments without as many unwanted side-effects. In that respect the PS3 version gets our recommendation as the preferred choice of the two console releases.

Kluden · Post by **Kluden** » March 12, 2013, 9:25 am

I'm enjoying it for sure. I don't know if its GOTY for me, especially with some awfully big titles still to come, but its good. Definitely an 8/10 for me. The graphics are fine, I have had some issues with the "action" sequences where the commands weren't registering correctly...it was bizaar. On the 360, last few games I bought were on the PS3, so decided to change it up.

I haven't gone back to old discovered joints yet, hopefully mobs respawn to at least make the old areas interesting.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 16, 2013, 7:13 pm

Here's 323 page Brady Guide

https://truck.it/p/ESk_9V6Gsr

pw: vv

I was going through the game again and noticed I missed the very first Tomb. PC version does look better but I'm not sure about the TressFX Hair effects:

http://www.polygon.com/2013/2/26/403181 ... essfx-hair

I turned the option on on the PC but I don't think you're missing much with it turned off!

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » April 30, 2013, 2:17 pm

You know.. few games come around that make me wish I'd bought it for full price to support the developers. This game is that good.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » April 30, 2013, 3:34 pm

While I found the graphics good I found the gameplay a bit lacking. Run around..shoot some dudes.. Do some QTE events. Repeat. And the 'supernatural' stuff was a turnoff but from what I understand that's a staple of the Tomb Raider games? I found it OK for free but happy I didn't pay for it. I really found no incentive to go around after finishing the game and doing other things.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2013, 3:46 pm

I had a blast with this game. Highly recommended. QTEs were sometimes annoying but the action was great. I liked the stealth system and all the different weapons were useful.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » April 30, 2013, 5:05 pm

I didn't even bother with half the weapons. I think I mostly used the bow and the machine gun. Otherwise I only used the other ones if I was running low on ammo which wasn't very often.

I'm not saying it's a bad game. I just found it... Uninspired I guess. Not sure really! It's decent as a $20 game but overrated at $60.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2013, 5:14 pm

I thought it was worth full price and I don't pay for many games!

One of the best reboots ever.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » April 30, 2013, 6:07 pm

It has a lot in common with Far Cry 3. Same 3 talent trees, environments, crafting system, and it even has the bow!

I'm not trying to take anything away from TR, but having recently beaten FC3 it feels like I'm kind of doing the same things all over again in TR.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 30, 2013, 6:21 pm

Climbing is more fun in TR

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » May 9, 2013, 2:09 pm

Wrapped this up a few evenings ago. What a ride! More of this please.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 23, 2014, 3:09 am

Just like the PS3 version was the one to get (on consoles) it seems for next gen Sony is still the way to go. I imagine that will be the pattern for most multiplatform games at least initially: If you want the better version of a game get the PS4 version.

Verified sources close to Rocket Chainsaw have detailed performance and rendering quality of both the Xbox One and PlayStation builds of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. And for that we’re thankful. So here it is!

On average:
PlayStation 4 = 60 fps
Xbox One = 30 fps

Yes, the PlayStation 4 build is, on average, twice the framerate of the Xbox One build. Both builds are rendering at native 1080p resolution, and generally look the same in graphical effects (though some minor differences may apply). Performance is a different matter. Both feature unlocked framerates, meaning framerate fluctuates between higher and lower values. The Xbox One build can technically reach around 45 fps, though this performance is generally only achieved during the most empty, simplest environments. For most of your play, and during action scenes, the Xbox One build will sit on around 30 fps. On the other hand, the PlayStation 4 build will attempt to hit 60 fps as often as possible, and does a pretty good job of doing so, but does have slight dips under 60 fps during certain scenarios.

Good news for XBO is that it's 1080p. Bad news is that, on average, it's half the frame rate.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » January 23, 2014, 8:22 am

With all the improvements as well as 60fps, color me impressed. Double the framerate for 3rd party will be the norm for 3rd games.

This should be absolutely no surprise to anyone who has not been blinded by fanboyism or anyone who has not been eating the shit MS has been feeding them. It has been obvious since the system stats were first revealed that the PS4 had a sizeable power advantage.

I will repurchase on PS4 once it hits $40 or less. I made it about 2hrs in my previous gen version that I got for $30. This is one of the only games I will have ever bought twice in my life.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 23, 2014, 10:33 am

So is the definitive edition pretty similar to what PC users would've experienced with the initial release?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 23, 2014, 11:07 am

Turn off the TressFX hair and they're both probably at 60 FPS. I turned it off on the PC version not due to performance but because I liked the other style better.

Great game. I enjoyed it on the 360. Anyone that hasn't played it yet should pick it up on one of the next gen consoles. Since you'll be playing it a lot, I'd go with the console with the more comfortable, ergonomically correct controller (Xbox One)

If this game deserves a sequel.

Square finally announced the game was profitable this week:

http://www.videogamer.com/pc/tomb_raider/news/tomb_raid

Animalor wrote:So is the definitive edition pretty similar to what PC users would've experienced with the initial release?

They changed some things. Laura looks a lot different if you look at the comparisons.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 23, 2014, 12:14 pm

Turn off the TressFX hair and they're both probably at 60 FPS.

Doubtful

You can find a twitch stream here where Crystal Dynamics go over some things while someone is playing through some of the scenes. And of course they are playing the PS4 version since it's just better and I didn't hear the guy complain about the controller.

It seems like the CD person is trying a bit too hard to justify the differences. If I had never played it I'd consider this new version on the PS4 but it's not something I'd be buying a second time especially at $60. For me it just wasn't a game I wanted to play again since it was a bit of a chore to finish it the first time. It looks nice but as I said in an earlier post I found it uninspired.

And, according to the twitch stream above, Tomb Raider 2 (or whatever they will call it) has been 'announced' but no date or anything so I'd guess it's at least two years away.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 23, 2014, 12:44 pm

Given that this will be coming out in the same general window(within 1-2 months) as Titanfall and next-gen Rayman Legends, I know where my money will be going.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 23, 2014, 1:09 pm

It comes out next week!

But yeah given that you've already played it I don't think there's much reason for you to double-dip.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 23, 2014, 1:45 pm

Also - Rayman Legends is going to be such a hit for my kids. I'm probably going to have to go buy 2 more controllers so we can all play together.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 23, 2014, 1:49 pm

Since you have a Vita make sure to get the new Rayman on PS4!

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 23, 2014, 3:45 pm

LOL. I have the Vita, not the PS4 =). That won't be in the cards for a good long time probably.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 23, 2014, 4:05 pm

It sounds like you bought the wrong console then!

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » January 23, 2014, 4:45 pm

I don' think so. Love my console.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 24, 2014, 3:38 pm

Tomb Raider for $9 on Amazon: PC Version

Code: Select all

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VFHGZ4?tag=kotakuamzn-20&ascsubtag=[type|link[postId|1508108507[asin|B007VFHGZ4[authorId|5727177402741770316

Stupid link doesn't generate so i placed it as a code!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 25, 2014, 12:51 am

Embargo lifted!

Lengthy comparison between PS4/Xbox One and PC versions of Tomb Raider

Bottom Line: Both PS4 and Xbox One versions look better than the PC version of the game.

http://kotaku.com/tomb-raider-on-ps4-is ... 1508613136

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 25, 2014, 11:24 am

Tomb Raider On PS4 Is More 'Definitive' Than On Xbox One

Duh. Get used to it XBO owners!

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » January 25, 2014, 11:32 am

Aslanna wrote:
Tomb Raider On PS4 Is More 'Definitive' Than On Xbox One
Duh. Get used to it XBO owners!

I think the xbone version maybe should have scaled down the resolution in order to keep 60fps. Unfortunately it sounds like that is going to be a common decision with developers on that system and neither choice is ideal. If you have both systems, the PS4 is the obvious choice for where to purchase your 3rd party games. This may be a launch issue though and perhaps things can improve in the future and reach closer parity with the PS4 versions.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » January 26, 2014, 3:57 pm

Post deleted. Moved to more appropriate thread!

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » February 4, 2014, 2:09 am

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition sold over twice as many copies on PlayStation 4 than Xbox One during its first week on sale, according to figures released by Chart-Track.

69 per cent of copies were sold on PS4, with Xbox One sales accounting for just 31 per cent.

Well it makes sense. Double the frame rate, double the sales. It's simple math!

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » February 4, 2014, 11:49 am

I bought this again, even though I had bought it on the 360. I was only maybe 4-5 hours into the game and really wanted to finish it, and being as I just bought a sexy new 60" LED I figured this would be a good game to play on it. I might go as far as to say this is the best looking game I've seen on any platform, ever. The detail in everything is just awesome, and it's also a really fun game.

I think this game is a no brainer for anyone with a PS4, and I suppose if you like inferior products, the One.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » February 4, 2014, 1:17 pm

This will be either an impulse buy or require a price drop. At least my 360 version's steelcase has no branding on it. I'll put my PS4 version in there when I get it!

I know there's not a lot out right now, but March looks like it will hit my wallet pretty hard.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » February 9, 2014, 1:00 pm

Impulse bought!

Damn, this looks nice. The graphical clarity really help moving objects pop out more. I notice the same thing in CoD: Ghosts and BF4.

I am already past where I was on the 360 version. That 60fps is a major difference. It's a fun game made even better. I'm really enjoying the use of the speaker on the Duelshock 4 for sound effects and mood setting too.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » February 13, 2014, 8:44 pm

The PS4 version has outsold the Xbone by a 2:1 margin.

No doubt other 3rd party studios are taking note of that fact!