Should I get Rise of the Tomb Raider? (On sale at Humble/Steam)

Hey guys,

Just wanting to know what you thought of Rise of the Tomb Raider. I'm not looking for a "It's a few pennies so get it." Time is more important to me than money.

That said, for those who played it, what did you think of it?

If I played TR2013, am I missing out on anything?

Could I skip it and just play Uncharted 4/Lost Legacy instead?

Could I play it and just enjoy the graphics?

Thoughts about how you felt while playing it are much appreciated.

its a pretty good game, i'd say its worth playing

Definitely worth picking up. It only has loose connections to the previous game, so you'd have no trouble jumping in.

Nah it sucks.

Yes, it's an excellent game and most definitely worth getting.

Yes, very well done

For the price, it's a no brainer for me.

Easily gets a yes from me, I love it and it's one of my favourite games from this gen.

@FrozenLiquid:

It's a great game on all counts. Plenty of exploration, tons of stuff to enjoy including modes where you can just have fun killing baddies and collecting artifacts while surviving. You can skip TR2013, it would probably be best if you did because Rise does everything so much better.

The story mode can be done in like 2 playing sessions of 8 hours and you can explore to level Lara up too. On a scale, Rise of the Tomb Raider is a very different game than Uncharted so it all depends on you and what kind of game you prefer or if you enjoy both. Uncharted is point A through B and Tomb Raider is A, B, C, E but in a small sandbox.

Graphics are phenomenal, new Lara is still a great lead. But I didn't love it. Personally I think Uncharted 4 is better for sure. First off I thought RotTR was just a bit too similar to 2013 game. There's very little to set it apart gameplay wise, nor are there any really spectacular set-piece moments. The enviroments, allthough pretty, are a bit samey (snowy wilderness) and not that exciting imo.

Then Crystal insists on pushing their stupid idea for the game's structure. They wanna be a linear game, but with the side stuff of an open-world game. Now the problem is that the side stuff (hunting, some quests characters give you) is pure filler garbage. The game would have been better cutting it.

All this being said I had a good time, but was left a bit dspointed that's all.

It's amazing... definitely get it.

@Sushiglutton: I like your analysis. are the tomb challenges fun?

Disclaimer: I'm pretty whiny :)

Yes and no. They are similar to 2013 in that there's just one idea/tomb basically. So they are pretty short. I don't understand the benefit of having them on the side, rather than as part of the adventure like they do in Uncharted. But they do have some neat ideas and they tend to look pretty cool. Don't expect Talos Principle though :).

wow, thats a pretty darn good deal, I think I'll pick it up tomorrow!

The game was my first PS4 game, and it was an amazing way to start the console. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay is great. While the story is bit weaker than 2013, it is still great with some pretty good characters.

Yeah it's better than Tomb Raider (2013) was. Even the combat is somewhat enjoyable in Rise.

Its a good game and worth the $12 and this is coming from a guy that never really liked Tomb raider games and found the 2013 one mediocre. ROTR improves slightly on the 2013 one in most areas but thats enough to make it a decent game . There are some flaws/design choices such as the crafting/item collecting system which becomes a nuance , the collectibles ,and the not so interesting story

well if you like original than get this. but i personally think both TR 2013 and rise of TR are among the worst games ever ever made.

absolutely awful games all round.

If you liked the 2013 reboot then you'll probably enjoy Rise. Sadly, it's not as good as the 2013 game.

Gotta disagree with ROTTR having "very little to set it apart gameplay wise". The biggest improvement to the game, what fans complained about most in TR2013, is in the tomb design. The previous game, it wasn't just that they were optional but so simple and devoid of challenge. All the puzzles were very easy to solve and the tombs (some of them being 20th century installations) had no exploration to them. Now I wouldn't have expected any of them to be the size of Yamatai itself, but c'mon.... you could actually see the goal of the chamber right from the entrance!

Thankfully Crystal Dynamics listened and put a lot more effort into the tombs. I'm not gonna say the puzzles were mental torture sessions, but a lot more thought went into the puzzles so you'll actually have to work your way through them. Which is bolstered by the much improved level design, having more to explore and navigate to complete them. And when I say level design, it's both in the structure/geometry as well as it's artistic & architectural design, which many are just beautiful. These really evoke nostalgia of the classic games, delving into ancient cultural ruins while working out how to navigate through them. The Cistern and Bathhouse are among my favorites from this game, that made me feel like I was really playing a modernized version of the classics, making the experience quite satisfying.

And to finalize this point, they also gave more meaningful rewards to completing the tombs. Not just the nondescript treasure that Lara sigh's over when she opens the chest, now we get manuscripts that unlock unique skills, ones that aren't found on the standard skill tree that you can allocate XP towards, but can only be acquired from completing the tombs.

Speaking of skills, there's one other addition to ROTTR I just appreciate so much because of how relevant it is to Lara Croft's character. So you got the skills she would need for survival and combat. But then there's that other that stands apart by not being in the XP skill tree. I'm speaking about language. Throughout the game where you come across all manner of murals, plaques, and wall carvings, Lara learns to read simpler texts in Russian, Greek and Mongolian, to build up her language skills to decipher the more complex scripts of these three languages. It's based on the practice method, the more she reads, the more an experience meter fills in each language to level them up. So along the way Lara is developing not just as an adventurer but as an archaeologist.

The higher level (more complex writings of the language) monoliths will reveal locations of hidden items in the world map. But that's not really the point. Even if it doesn't have a major impact on Lara's success in combating her enemies or even helping to solve the tombs and puzzles, sure it's a minor thing yet as I said before, very contextual to the skills you would have in an archaeologist, uniquely relevant to Lara Croft. As part of a new origin, I really enjoyed helping Lara develop her academic and intellectual characteristics that I as a long time fan can really appreciate. I guess you could say it's a more nuanced feature, and quite refreshing from the usual skill development we very often see in strength, endurance, weapons proficiency, crafting skills, even unique from just generalized intelligence and charm.

As for the rest, combat is still solid, the platforming and traversal are satisfying as ever, and of course excellent graphics with stunning and environments and Lara has never looked better. So yes yes YES, this is a must-buy!! I want to ask you @FrozenLiquid is this a GOTY edition with the Baba Yaga and Croft Manor DLC? Or at its price just the main game? Because those two are also very much worth getting with the game.

And you better get the game. If not... I will find you, and I will destroy you Liam Neeson style! ?

I gotta believe you're being intentionally hyperbolic with this statement. I fully agree that 2013 was not a masterpiece and had a lot of room to improve (I haven't played RotTR), but it was pretty, not-broken, and frequently fun to play. There are a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTT of games I have played that are far worse in all of those areas.

He's not being hyperbolic. He hates everything post 1997 and basically lives in the past.

Get it, it's a very good game.

but I like Doom 2016, Prey 2017, Hitman 2016.

you can read my tomb raider review by clicking my profile for more info.

It's not bad. I haven't beaten it yet but it is definitely worth a play through.

Was the tomb design really that much improved? Could be my memory is fuzzy. But, as I recall it, in both games the tombs are basically puzzle rooms. When I read the previews about how improved the tombs were, I was expecting full levels with consecutive rooms with traps, navigation challenges and puzzles (perhaps this was unrealistic lol). In 2013 I recall this tomb with a window that you could close, or open which afftected the wind in the room. Were the tombs in RotTR really that much more elaborate? Now as for meaningful rewards, that's a good point and I agree with you on that one.

I appreciate that they are developing Lara's archeological side, but I disagree that this was a well developed mechanic. It's so typical AAA. Everything must feel so effortless that it becomes mundane, and then you shower the player with rewards. The player clicks a button, a meter fills up and then you will get bitsized reward (like candy to a dog). How about instead making it into an actual mechanic so that you actively needed to decipher stuff by say filling in a code book? But no, that would require the player to think and we can't have that. This is not a dig at Crystal, I'm sure they made the right choice. It's just so boring that this is how it must be. Rather than developing the players "academic and intellectual characteristics", so it becomes an actually interactive experience, they just show it through a meter. Meh.

I didn't say any of the new tombs are the size of Manhattan, but again, where the 2013 tombs were roughly half the size of a barn, and the end goal being literally just 20' right from the entrance, those were ridiculously small in scale and challenge. The newer tombs were by far expanded in their scale and with more variety in the mechanisms of the puzzles....

Here's a video of the Ancient Cistern tomb. The actual entry point being around 4:25. As Lara enters, just notice the overall architectural scale. We're talking a fair sized cathedral. Now while you do see the goal immediately in the center of the structure, it's actually quite deceptive as the direct bridge breaks away and then Lara must search for an alternate pathway. From which the scale unfolds navigating the various adjoining chambers, as you discover the mechanisms to manipulate the water flow towards the puzzle solution back to reaching the central pillar. They're not all as large as the Cistern, but still more intricacy to their mechanisms into the puzzles.

Exploring the Cistern, and some of the others... it really did bring me back to the feeling of the classic games, of the discovery of ancient and exotic locales.

So yeah, possible SPOILERS here to anyone who hasn't played yet, but basically if you just watch about 3-4 minutes (past the 4:25 mark) you'll get enough of the scale and mechanics of the tomb without the solution just being given away.

Hmmm, you are correct. That cistern puzzles did have many stages to it, more so than any puzzle (I can recall) from 2013. So yeah, I give up :).

ROTTR is a great game and worth getting whether it is on sale or not.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is the perfect game to pick up during a sale, it is a fun game to play when you're bored but nothing special but you get what you pay for...if you buy it during a sale when its cheap.

I 100% the game.

It's a cool game. Looks beautiful on PC. Wish they had done things different, like dual pistols and crazier bosses.

My takes on bold ^^^

Every ghosts4ever comment ever boiled down into one post.

Well my poor memory means I can replay the game and all the tombs will be fresh to me. But for you they are now spoiled forever :p!

Cheers dude!

Yeah, these tomb challenges will make or break the decision for me. Going to watch them now!

>enjoy the graphics

what did he mean by this?

But yeah you should buy it, length is decent, combat has a lot of options and the exploration and tombs are a lot better than the first.

I can just play the game and enjoy its technical and artistic merits, especially since this is the first monster PC rig I'm buying since 2007.

As an aside, I don't care about length. Four minutes of banging sex is better than a twenty minute lame blowjob. Every game I play from here on out better be banging sex, or Destiny 2.

Right now my 2017 to-play list looks like:

Destiny 2

The Witcher 3

South Park Fractured But Whole

That's a lot of gaming for me, but I'm open to more. I actually haven't played any big title significantly since 2014.

I asked about Tomb Raider since I'm an old fan of the series.

And like I said, don't watch too much of them. ? Just a couple of minutes from when Lara enters the tomb to get a basic sense of their design in level layout and mechanisms, just enough without the solution being spoiled.

might be in the minority here but i enjoyed it more then UC4.