Rise of the Tomb Raider.

[DisturbedSwan]

Installed this yesterday on my XB1, struggling for motivation to play a bit though, don't know why, going to try to get in some time with it later today.

[DisturbedSwan]

If your good idea is that I always struggle to get motivated to play any games around Xmas then you'd be correct, Nag, you Scoundrel you

Anyhoo, less of Nag's conspiracy theories and some impressions coming right up.

Did manage to get 3 hours on this earlier, early impressions aren't great at the moment I'm afraid to say.

Ever since this was announced I've been looking forward to playing it, as I'm a fan of the 2013 reboot, but the opening hours have just left me feeling underwhelmed really.

The opening is impressive at times, as are some of the vistas, but throughout I just couldn't shake the feeling of deja vu, it just felt like I'd played this game already really which is a shame.

The graphics are nowhere near as good as I was led to believe either, you can tell this is a cross-gen title that's for sure. The lighting effects are nice though, and probably the only 'current gen' part of the game in my mind.

Another thing that had been hyped up was the proper Tomb Raiding in this, but the first 'Secret Tomb' I discovered things panned out almost identically to the 2013 reboot, just a quick couple of puzzles, discover an artifact and Bob's your Uncle, disappointing, hope the Tomb's get grander in scale as the game goes on.

Resolution and frame-rate don't help the game either, but at least the fps has been stable so far, that 'cinematic' 30fps jugging along is adequate for the job, would feel so much more fluid at 60 though.

Also had a nasty bug, went to read a Mural and the game froze, the sound went strange and you couldn't proceed, luckily it fixed itself when I quit out to the xbone dash and came back to the game.

Despite these issues, something about the game is still compelling, albeit nigh-on identical to the reboot. The miniature open-worlds are still satisfying to explore though and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it more tomorrow and hope things improve.

[DisturbedSwan]

With Ass Creed, I don't know what it is that keeps me going back really, I didn't really rate this year's AC (Syndicate) and it was probably the first time I've thought to myself 'I'm just going through the motions' in an AC game since 3. I think it's the different historical settings that keep me going back, it's the Historian inside me I guess, I can't help being fascinated by walking through 18th Century Paris or something

I don't know what it is about RotTR at the moment, but it literally feels like I've played this game before, everything feels ok, but nothing really jumps out and I haven't yet seen any major additions to the formula from the 2013 game in my only session with it.

It doesn't feel very unique either, I could easily be playing an Indiana Jones or Uncharted game at the moment, and a lot of the mechanics (like the crafting stuff and silent takedowns) just feel like they've been repeated ad nauseum by a whole plethora of games after the 2013 reboot came out and now.

It's not a great start, and I know I'm very early in so I can't really say anymore, I guess I'll have to see what I feel at the 6/9/12 hours marks if I make it that far I guess, I'm just disappointed, I was really looking forward to this, fingers crossed it improves.

[DisturbedSwan]

Is that DLC the one that gives you an extra Hard difficulty setting, Nag? Sounds interesting but I wouldn't pay extra personally just for a difficulty setting, the story DLC I may pick up though.

Didn't play any yesterday as I had a bout of ManFlu, but managed to put another 3 hours into it today, now 8 hours in I think.

Things have definitely clicked now I think, had a much better time with it today and made me remember how great the 2013 reboot was at times, its still not really done anything new per se, but the story has picked up, there's been a couple of really great action sequences and the shooty bang bang count has gone up considerably.

The exploration stuff and collectible collecting has become incredibly addictive now too, and one of the Tomb's I did earlier was really cool and reminded me of a story puzzle in the Reboot, so things are definitely poooking up, it's gone from a 7/10 to an 8/10 now, hopefully it gets even better the further it goes on.

Had a quick look at the Marketplace on the main menu as well today, what is the deal with those cards? I've unlocked some packs from doing story stuff in game but I've no idea what the cards are used for, is there some additional challenge mode or something that I've yet to discover?

More tomorrow!

[Jimboxy]

One last thing, anyone who has actually spent real life cash on those card packs is an absolute moron.

way to support the devs....

[DisturbedSwan]

Ahh, yeah, think I noticed that 'Expeditions' tab on the menu now you mention it, cheers for the info.

That Endurance stuff sounds better than I thought then, similar to Hardcore mode in Fallout:NV, must be hard as nails!

Yeah, the micro transactions just being there are a bit shitty to me in a £40 AAA game, I know they're optional and you seem to accumulate a ton of credits to buy packs if you wanted to anyway, but I don't like this trend of Microtransactions being present in Microsoft published games. First Ryse, Forza 5, then Halo 5, Forza 6 patched them in post launch, don't like it at all, but at least they're cosmetic in RotTR and not used at all in the main campaign, that's something I guess, I agree, you've got to be a massive moron to spend any real money on them.

Anyhoo...another 3 hours played earlier today, 11 hours in now, thought I'd be getting near the end to be honest but I'm barely half way through according to my completion stats (38%).

Some more cool set pieces in thrown in and plenty of exploration, with a bit of tomb raiding thrown in for good measure. Definitely feeling more like the 2013 reboot now, but I still don't know if I'm sold on the mini-open-worlds, I just don't find them that interesting to explore as the Reboot, they don't seem as tightly woven and interconnected as that game, I have just got to a new open world area though (Geothermal Valley) so I'll have to see what that's like.

[DisturbedSwan]

Shit man, didn't want to get into another long game, I thought this was only 15-18 hours long?! Guess that doesn't take into account how anal I am about collectibles....

[DisturbedSwan]

Finished this yesterday, took me 25 hours.

I did quite enjoy it after its uninspiring start. It gets into a nice groove after the 4-6 hour mark but the pacing is just completely off.

It just felt very stop-start, you'd get into a groove doing is story stuff, a few incredible set pieces with stuff blowing up all around you only to discover another open world area, then I'd have to go around and collect all the collectibles (because that's the way I role) which desperately slows down the pacing and flow of the game.

Why the 2013 reboot was so good for me is that it was a non-stop thrill ride, sure you still had downtime collecting collectibles but it felt much more contained, environs smaller and more intricate and the flow was just so much better.

The open worlds in RotTR just feel bigger for the sake of being bigger and have more collectibles for the sake off having more collectibles, I just don't know what was wrong with the size of the environs from the 2013 reboot.

No more is the shoddy pacing shown up as the last third of the game, tons of story stuff, lots of great set pieces and then you get to ANOTHER open-world area, admittedly it is the best one of the lot and the one that ties into the story and the world the most, but even so it's a bit of a kick in the teeth after you're expecting things to ramp up towards the finale and suddenly discover a whole new mini-open world to explore with tons of collectibles and a tomb and stuff.

After this last open world is over though the game shoots straight for the finale and it is amazing, going up a tower towards the end is incredibly cinematic and just amazing but then it delves into this semi-boss/horde mode battle at the end which just sours the taste a bit, luckily there's no awful boss battle at the end but the ending isn't the most satisfying.

I don't know why game developers insist on giving you 'horde mode' at the very end of games, it just seems lazy to me these days, 'oh he/she's near the end, he needs a challenge let's throw a load of enemies at him/her' it annoys me slightly but doesn't sour the game as a whole, it's a good game that should be played, but not a great one unfortunately.

[DisturbedSwan]

Yeah that's true enough, it is partly my fault, but I did the same in the 2013 TR and I didn't feel my collectible-collecting urges got in the way of the pacing, it was perfectly paced and didn't have too many collectibles to distract the player and didn't have huge open areas for the player to explore, the 2013 TR, to me, felt much more contained and focused, RotTR felt like a compromise between the cinematic thrill-ride game and an open-world game that just didn't quite work out, for me anyway.

I did enjoy it though, particularly the last 3rd (despite my pacing issues), the horde-mode stuff wasn't a big deal and I know it doesn't really last long compared to some games, but I just loathe it in any game now where I experience it, it just feels lazy in 2015/2016 to me, but I can understand why Devs fall back on that particular crutch.

Not sure how much the story-DLC is or when it comes out, but I may pick it up when it does.

[spatular]

Thanks to DANGERMAN and housemate (Thanks!!!) i've been playing this, very slowly over the past few weeks, playing an hour or so at a time inbetween watching olympics and whatnot. very much enjoying it, in a very similar way to the first one, like a better version of uncharted, mainly because there's less of everything. and it looks really nice. wasn't in much of a rush to finish it till sunday I realised deus ex was out soon and i could do with getting a move on, so did most of what was left yesterday and the last hour or so tonight. good stuff.

[DANGERMAN]

This is out next week on PS4 which might explain why I've started the PC version. 

 

I've been reading the thread and I agree with @Blakey about a few things. It does feel similar to the 'first' game in a way a lot of other games escape, but I think it's because of the style of some of the stuff it does. For me it's not the combat and the platforming, it's the the bits where the camera zooms in on Lara as she crawls through a tight space. Like there's a bit in the first game where she's wading through a stream of blood, while not the sane, wading under some floor boards with guards above really reminded me of it. 

 

I'd also agree that it starts a bit boring. I think it's commendable in a way, I think in reaction to the criticism the first game got they've toned down the violence in this one, at least for the first hour or so. You're doing other things for a while, only occasionally facing humans. 

 

It picks up though, I'm 36% in and I've not been underwhelmed in hours. I've had a few issues with the game freezing, seems like it might be an engine thing if it's happened on Xbox too. Kind of surprised it's not been fixed mind 

[HandsomeDead]

Been playing this quite a lot now it finally came to PS4.  I do like it quite a lot and I'm definitely finding it hard to put down but I also can't shake the feeling I don't like it as much as the first one.

 

Like, I feel like the combat isn't quite as fun.  The on the fly crafting is a good edition but I feel like taking away the ability to use your rope arrows on enemies is a big shame, as is taking away her ability to throw dirt in enemies eyes as a way to escape creeping enemies.  It feels a bit more by the numbers now and it also I feel like the spaces you fight in aren't as fun.  It feels a bit too Gears of War (not saying they have boring levels, they work in the context of that game's mechanics) but that just isn't interesting here.  I tend to just hunker down, far away, and head shot anyone.  It's not as playful as I'd like sometimes.

 

The larger environments don't seem quite as fun to explore but I suppose there is more to do.  It's just I used to get quite lost, in a fun way, on the last TR so it's a shame now it's a bit more obvious.  And the optional tombs are still fun to figure out so its not all bad.  Not that what is there is bad, far from it.

 

 

But I'm having a good time at the end of the day, though the story is also a bit shite in this.  They just keep talking about the Devine Source and not progressing anywhere.  

 

It could have ended up being a lot worse, though, and the first game was always going to be hard to follow so having something not quite as good but still a fun time is hardily something I'm gonna dwell on too much (after this post at least).

[Jimboxy]

...this!

 

blimey, that's a way to start a game. Just the right levels of cinema, slightly bonkers action and game play. 

 

Played up to the point of arriving back in the present day, so about an hour. It plays really well, just like the 'first' one and looks amazing. The story seems a bit well trodden in previous films and games, but I'm happy to go along with it. 

[AndyKurosaki]

Got this on the recent Playstation January sale. It's good,but i dunno,i'm not absolutely loving it yet. I think the previous game was better. Though it's early days yet...

[DANGERMAN]

I've gone back to this over the past couple of weeks. I wasn't really grabbed by it on my first stint, it was fine but I stopped knowing I was going to stop and was fine with that. Going back though, for whatever reason, I enjoyed it a lot more

 

There's still bits that were it's a bit of a grind, pissing around with the trebuchet for example, and I'm not sure the core gameplay will sustain another game in the next couple of years, but I'm glad I went back 

[retroed]

On 17/11/2015 at 2:04 PM, retroed said:

26% in and I love it. It improves on the reboot in every possible way. Strong hints of The Last of Us this time around as well with the way crafting and using items works, which only makes it better. So far there has been a lot more exploration than combat, too. It's a shame it sold so poorly in its first week, hopefully sales will pick up over the next month. I'll probably finish, trade in, and buy it again on PS4 next Christmas with all the DLC.

 

Slightly later than I said I was going to, but I have just bought this for £12.99 as it's PSN's deal of the week. 

 

I downloaded the demo on PS4 to see how it looked (it looks very nice), got to the end and unlocked the full game there and then. The game seamlessly carries on from the exact point the demo ends, and two trophies earned during that time popped. Good stuff. 

 

It'll be put on the back burner for a bit as it is almost God of War time, but I'm definitely going to get another play through done before Shadow of the Tomb Raider. 

 

[Whiskey_chaser]

I got this in the sale as well. Played about two hours last night and whilst i'm enjoying it, it hasn't quite clicked yet. Same as the last game - savage killing machine Lara just doesn't sit well with me.

 

Me: Oh look, there's a bear in the way.

Lara: "Poison will kill it."

Wait - what?

 

Lara: "I've finally made it to the long lost tomb of what's his face. I'm the first person to step foot in it for centuries - quick, I need to find away to flood it so I can reach that ledge!"

Me: I'm starting to doubt your credentials as an archaeologist Lara - is this why they kicked you off Time Team?

[Whiskey_chaser]

It didn't seem as bad when she consisted of half a dozen polygons, a cartoonish drawn on face and ropey animation. Now she's pretty close to photo realism (my wife thought I was watching a film when she got in) it doesn't seem to fit as easily with her image.

 

She takes a beating though. In the time i played she was smashed against a number of hard surfaces from various heights without so much of a wimper. And I forgot how gruesome the death animations were!

[Manicm]

An old thread I know, sorry, only got round to attempting to finish this today, on the xb1 did everyone else have the bugs in the game that I had??? The first gate I couldn’t activate the catapult thing, turns out a hidden unspawned enemy, the horde at the end was tedious and frustrating as I had no ammo...and Konstantin he kept disappearing....wtf I took him out first hit, then if i hit him again outside of the sequence he just disappeared, spent an hour just on that bit gave up for now, the game was awesome up to this bit...

[Manicm]

Finished it today! Bugs and all!!