This game is underrated. I'm not talking about it in terms of it's reception. It's sitting at 96% positive on steam with over 125k reviews so it's done quite well in that regard. Instead I'm focusing on videogame discussion because tomb raider is never brought up in any conversation involving best games or favorite games of the decade. After playing it, I can understand why but it's a shame because the potential and spark I see in this game makes me wish it took that slightly different direction that I wanted it to go in.
Tomb raider (2013) came out during the height of the Uncharted series. The third game had released a couple of years prior and thus Crystal Dynamics was quick to try and fill that void by coming up with their own rendition, through a series reboot of a forgotten franchise. While they did end up making a great game, I wonder how this trilogy would be talked about now, if it's primary inspiration came from Metal Gear Solid 3, instead of Uncharted.
Gameplay:
Tomb Raider borrows almost everything from Naughty Dog's magnum opus and props it into the newly revamped, gritty world of Lara Croft's misadventures. Cover shooting, shitty climbing minigames, cinematic action cutscenes, etc. all show up here. I like the way Lara controls in this game. I love the way the physics of her jump works as well as how good it feels to shoot the bow, especially on a controller. There are 4 main weapons in the game, 2 of which I feel are redundant. The pistol becomes useless once you get the rifle, and the shotgun isn't even the best option at close range but I can't gush enough about the bow. It is completely overpowered but sooo satisfying to use. I wish the weapons had more utility and unique interactions though. For example, it would be cool to use the rope bow to pull enemies towards you.
There is stealth in the game but it doesn't work after you kill your first enemy. Once you get that first kill, every enemy in that level is alerted to your presence. There are also light survival elements but none of them are too in-depth. You collect scrap from boxes and chests which you can use to upgrade your weapons. You loot ammo from dead bodies and ammo caches but I never felt the need to scramble for bullets because I never ran out. Overall, I think this game needs more variety. I felt bored after an hour of play session every time. It could've desperately used a survival system akin to MGS3. Imagine crawling through the dirt and muck of this hostile environment, trying to hunt for food, avoid disease and predators. I believe if the developers put more thought into the mechanics of survival and stealth instead of following the footsteps of Uncharted, this could've been a truly special game.
Narrative and Visuals:
The story is nothing to write home about but it does it's job. It portrays Lara's journey from being just an archaeologist to becoming a badass and it does it well. It doesn't do a great job of building up other characters or the comically evil antagonists for that matter, but not every story needs to be profound or have n-dimensional characters, it just needs to be entertaining and this game delivers.
The entire game is dripping with a depressing atmosphere. The blood and the gore are used to a great effect here. The castles are massive and foreboding, the enemy camps look like they've been put together using scraps, the caves are claustrophobic and truly pitch black. You can sometimes almost smell the rotting corpses that Lara has to wade through. It's actually too disgusting at times. A lot of the enemy designs are generic but it gets wild towards the end. The death animations for Lara are brutal but you become numb to them after dying to the same quick time event for the 1000th time.
In summary, Tomb Raider (2013) is Uncharted for sadomasochists.
3.5/5
Tomb raider (2013) came out during the height of the Uncharted series. The third game had released a couple of years prior and thus Crystal Dynamics was quick to try and fill that void by coming up with their own rendition, through a series reboot of a forgotten franchise. While they did end up making a great game, I wonder how this trilogy would be talked about now, if it's primary inspiration came from Metal Gear Solid 3, instead of Uncharted.
Gameplay:
Tomb Raider borrows almost everything from Naughty Dog's magnum opus and props it into the newly revamped, gritty world of Lara Croft's misadventures. Cover shooting, shitty climbing minigames, cinematic action cutscenes, etc. all show up here. I like the way Lara controls in this game. I love the way the physics of her jump works as well as how good it feels to shoot the bow, especially on a controller. There are 4 main weapons in the game, 2 of which I feel are redundant. The pistol becomes useless once you get the rifle, and the shotgun isn't even the best option at close range but I can't gush enough about the bow. It is completely overpowered but sooo satisfying to use. I wish the weapons had more utility and unique interactions though. For example, it would be cool to use the rope bow to pull enemies towards you.
There is stealth in the game but it doesn't work after you kill your first enemy. Once you get that first kill, every enemy in that level is alerted to your presence. There are also light survival elements but none of them are too in-depth. You collect scrap from boxes and chests which you can use to upgrade your weapons. You loot ammo from dead bodies and ammo caches but I never felt the need to scramble for bullets because I never ran out. Overall, I think this game needs more variety. I felt bored after an hour of play session every time. It could've desperately used a survival system akin to MGS3. Imagine crawling through the dirt and muck of this hostile environment, trying to hunt for food, avoid disease and predators. I believe if the developers put more thought into the mechanics of survival and stealth instead of following the footsteps of Uncharted, this could've been a truly special game.
Narrative and Visuals:
The story is nothing to write home about but it does it's job. It portrays Lara's journey from being just an archaeologist to becoming a badass and it does it well. It doesn't do a great job of building up other characters or the comically evil antagonists for that matter, but not every story needs to be profound or have n-dimensional characters, it just needs to be entertaining and this game delivers.
The entire game is dripping with a depressing atmosphere. The blood and the gore are used to a great effect here. The castles are massive and foreboding, the enemy camps look like they've been put together using scraps, the caves are claustrophobic and truly pitch black. You can sometimes almost smell the rotting corpses that Lara has to wade through. It's actually too disgusting at times. A lot of the enemy designs are generic but it gets wild towards the end. The death animations for Lara are brutal but you become numb to them after dying to the same quick time event for the 1000th time.
In summary, Tomb Raider (2013) is Uncharted for sadomasochists.
3.5/5
bighatpaul
2 years ago