Tomb Raider PS3 review

[85 78 73 81 85 69]

Just finished this today (360) and found it to be a real mixed bag of a game.

Gorgeous looking game and much of the gameplay was fantastic but the game almost had a split personality for me. The character's story was horribly clumsy and often didn't seem to relate to what she was actually doing in the game, the cutscenes almost felt like they were telling a different story that was different to the game I was playing.

I could almost feel for her watching the cutscenes but during gameplay she lacked any personality at all and her avatar could well have been replaced with another from another game without it feeling any more disjointed. At least when the Raziel DLC that I just made up arrives it won't fit in any worse than the current character.

It's a real shame that it failed so badly in some ways as much of the gameplay was really enjoyable although the stealth stuff really felt to me like it was forced into a game that just didn't want it.

Although technically the game was good I can't help but feel that it needed another six months to pull everything together. I still think it's worth playing but hopefully the next game will allow the developers to fill the gaps between the different parts of the game that just felt so jarring to me.

Did try the multiplayer but again it just felt like another six months was needed to make it worthwhile. It didn't do anything particularly bad or particularly and that pretty much sums it up for me.

[rmoxon]

So you completely ignored the part about the history of Lara Croft at a YOUNGER AGE than she is in this game, then go on to slag someone off for not actually playing the game.
.

Hes talking like he's played the game when he hasn't, and also making statements about her character in the game that are wrong, so yeah, I'm slagging him off because I think he's wrong to be making the posts he has. He is clearly complaint when he doesn't know what he's on about.

And I didn't ignore the mention of her history, I replied to it, you're the one ignoring things, and for some reason you're being a bit of an agressive dick about it.

The game doesn't play that much like the old games, the series has clearly moved forward with the times, but it's still a Tomb Raider game. Lara is still the same character, she still raids tombs and steals things and through the course of the game becomes very comfortable with killing, you see her character develop along the way.

[MrKirov]

Whilst I enjoy your ridiculous opinions and general buffoonery on the best of days, I refuse to allow myself to be embroiled in an argument with the resident forum simpleton.

I leave the thread with one final thought;

xmoron: Man, or spambot?

[rmoxon]

Like I said, a dick.

Thanks for confirming it though, helped a lot.

[nonny]

I think the comparisons to the previous games are obviously warranted but it is important to understand this is a re-imagining of the entire series (and character) so really you have to take it on face value and forget what has come before.

It's a new origin story and therefore makes no effort to fit in to previous chronology. This is a whole new entity, setting its own foundations etc... So sure Lara begins this as a emotional youngster with no desire to kill or even raid tombs. She does so begrudgingly through the course of the events of the game simply because she has to in order to survive. Plus in doing so, by the end of the game... she is not the same person and is shaped by her experiences.

Whether you think the game handles this transition well or fumbles along the way is your opinion (I think it did a pretty admirable job to be honest) but just accept that is what it is trying to convey. At the beginning she is not really willing to take lives or fight for her survival. By the end she is taking the fight to the enemy and calling out that she isnt afraid to deal death as required.

Really comparing this game to its predecessors is like comparing Batman Begins to Tim Burtons Batman... you're either going to prefer one or the other, admire both for different reasons etc... but they're similar in nature and character, just different.

I really like this game. I think for newcomers to the series its a great origin story and sets up a possible sequel with an already formidable protaganist an inviting prospect. Not least as it will surely arrive on new hardware but also because CD now have a template on which they can improve. This game is by no means perfect but a few tweaks here and there, some response to warranted critcisms etc... A sequel to this could be amazing.

[nakamura]

Possible sequel? You know this is the games industry right?

The sequel will have..

More guns.
More killing.
More blood.
More WAYPOINTS.
More automated parts.
More CHECKPOINTS.
Online co-op, with Lara's new twin or lesbian partner.
DLC on disc.

Probably.

[rmoxon]

I imagine a sequel will but much like Uncharted 2, in that it will have more variety of locations over the original. Now the character has been set up the story will be more like the old games, where she gies looking for trouble rather than it finding her.

Hopefully the sequel will expand on the tomb raiding element too. There are plenty of tombs in the game, but they are pretty small. They need to add bigger ones that contain things that creat a bit more of a sense of wonderment. I guess they could include a few more puzzles too just to make the people who have been complaining happy. Although we can do without backtracking thanks.

Besides that though, more of the same gameplay please.

[nonny]

Possible sequel? You know this is the games industry right?

The sequel will have..

More guns.
More killing.
More blood.
More WAYPOINTS.
More automated parts.
More CHECKPOINTS.
Online co-op, with Lara's new twin or lesbian partner.
DLC on disc.

Probably.

Lesbian alter-ego stuck in a limbo world?

As I said... sign me up.

[Adam]

All I know is this new reboot can't possibly go past 3 games, as they won't have anymore Uncharted to copy after that. Mwuhaha!

[rmoxon]

Well they could always copy The Last of Us with the forth game... If that actually comes out.

To be fair to the developers, the game does actually improve on Uncharted's gameplay in a couple of ways rather than just copying those games. Most notably they removed the need for a "stick to cover" button by having a more dynamic auto system that actually works. Anyone who has ever played the first Kane and Lynch game knows what a little miracle that is.

[dvdx2]

Like I said, a dick.

Thanks for confirming it though, helped a lot.

Your actually starting to annoy alot of people on here with your arrogance and calling people quite abusive names into the bargain.....

[charlesr]

Please can everyone check the forum rules, specifically the line " Under no circumstances should you retaliate publicly on the forums". Resorting to calling each other names and "idiots" is lazy. If the debate can't be resolved, then move on to a different thread. If someone resorts to name calling, report the post.

Thank you.

[rmoxon]

Your actually starting to annoy alot of people on here with your arrogance and calling people quite abusive names into the bargain.....

I suggest you read what actually happened. He got all personal with me out of the blue.

Like Charles says though I shouldn't have stooped to his level and retaliated in the same way that he attacked me, so I apologize.

We are grown men, but some people on here don't seem to want to act like it. In future I will just ignore the bait, that way I can't be drawn in to this immature rubbish. I come here to talk about games, not get into petty arguments with little boys.

[25.05.2005]

Back to good ol' murderer Lara then? I'll never forget that dirty feeling I had in Tomb Raider 3, killing security guards in the museum and that bit where she shoots a helicopter pilot in the head while smiling was just so wrong.

Yep, I had that too in later Tomb Raider games. After the 1st, it was just so...shocking...and out of place. It's not what you expected.

I am enjoying this game though...but is it a Tomb Raider game? No it isn't. I've enjoyed Lara the character since I first loaded up TR1 as a kid in my PS1...this isn't that Lara. Don't get me wrong though, still a very good game. But it is Tomb Raider in name only.

[rmoxon]

I think they added more human enemies after the first game because people complained at the time that there wasn't enough action. The combat was terrible in the old games though, you just locked on to an enemy and back flipped about until they were dead.... it took ages too because it took about 250 rounds of ammunition to kill one guy which was a bit weird. Enemies having giant health bars is a feature of the series that was bizarrely still in place in Underworld too, they just never seemed to want to change it.

The first game still plays pretty well because its focus is not on combat, however there was much more of it in the later games and they don't hold up that well anymore.