Tomb Raider is amazing

WOW. That's how to best describe Rise of the Tomb Raider.

I was going to wait until it released on PS4 next year to pick it up, but I'm so glad I didn't. This game is great and has very little flaws, honestly in a year full of open world RPGS all trying to outdo eachother (Witcher, Batman, Metal Gear, Fallout) this game is like a breath of fresh air.

I've never seen a developer take virtually every complaint about a game and fix it all in the sequel. There is so much to do, from finding relics and documents, skinning animals, finding resources, and upgrading and crafting your arsenal of items. The approach they took to the game's world is great, too; it's not exactly open, but it gives you enough freedom to explore the areas you go in with plenty to do. This game will take a good while to see and do everything if the player chooses to do so. Way more content than TR 2013.

Most importantly, its so fun to explore the optional tombs (which are WAY better than the embarrassing ones of TR 2013). The cistern tomb is one of the earlier ones and it reminds me a little of the Cistern from the original Tomb Raider game. They are longer and more elaborate, and your rewards are worthwhile. While most games fall into the trap of offering XP or money (oh boy!) for doing side missions/quests, this game actually gives you perks and items that helps you along the way as you complete the main story. Think Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker type shit here.

Seriously. this game offers more in gameplay variety than the Uncharted trilogy and the first TR reboot. Uncharted 4 is going to have to be insanely good to top this because it offers so much more than what we've seen of Uncharted. You can purchase attachments for your weapons and upgrade equipment to carry more resources/ammo, which is more in depth than simply grabbing a gun from a dead guy in Uncharted and shooting it til you find the next one to pick up.

It's a shame this game is going to get overlooked because of its shared release date with Fallout 4. It's honestly a better game. Fallout 4 is getting no slack for its lack of innovation to the series as its basically a reskinned Fallout 3, let's be real here. And this game is glitchy, buggy, and the movements are clunky- yet its getting great praise while any other game I feel would be getting wrecked for this type of stuff. Biased much.

TL;DR

Tomb Raider is amazing. Uncharted 4 is going to have to really switch up the formula to top this one. and Fallout 4 shouldn't be overtaking sales or publicity from Tomb Raider like it is.

Uncharted 4 will be 60 FPS though.

only in the MP. Pretty sure they said the SP is 30fps

so this is what you guys take from it?

I'll get it when it's cheap like I did for the first game.

@jcrame10 I'm not getting the vibes that its Uncharted 2 level yet, at least for its time. For the Uncharted is full of crap fans, Im sorry but I have to compare it to that lol. They are very similar type of games and that one set the bar. In the review scene they seem to be split but generally indicating a great game that I gotta play at some point.

@EZs Uncharted 4 will not be 60 fps. Maybe just the multi player will be.

@ellos: Actually Rise of the Tomb Raider doesnt play like Uncharted really so far. There are less scripted areas, more freedom in gameplay, much more freedom in overall game mechanics (gathering resources, crafting items, upgrading gear and weapons) side missions to do, a lot more items to collect, a wide variety of animal enemies compared to most games just taking the general human soldier approach, the game is just way more in depth than Uncharted or TR 2013. The tombs are awesome so far as well.

The cover is more natural too; no sticky cover. And there arent really scripted gun shootout areas with waist cover. the environments look more natural.

It's more Far Cry then Uncharted now, but the tombs do remind me of the old TR games so i guess i might pick it up when it's really cheap.

@Ant_17: because of the animals? Don't forget the majority of enemies in the old games were different animal types. You just couldn't skin them like you can in far cry or Rise.

I guess it could be amazing, I will still wait until it's on PS4. It's just not a priority for me now, there are better games to play currently (e.g Fallout 4)

No, not the animals, i think they need more animal fights, like the Gorillas from the original and not as set peices, but regular enemies, but the tombs being optinal is my biggest drawback.

@Ant_17: there's wolves you find and you can follow them into their caves. They won't come out at you until you go deeper in out of the light. It had such an old school feel to it haha.

I get what you mean though, like the set up with the bear had too much hype and set piece like.

I also wish the tombs weren't optional, the the modern gamers attention span is on run and gun, and they can't risk it I guess

Watched the DF analysis, all i saw is jaggies and extreme shimmering everywhere. My eyes did not enjoy their time with TR.

Now your really making it hard for me to wait. I really like these types of games when done right. I could really sit there and play and skip everything.

@Bigboi500: By the time it gets released on Ps4, it will be very cheap on Xbone, brother =)

Same

@Ant_17: I like gorillas.

@ellos: I'm telling you, I love uncharted and think it's one of the best game series of last gens. I played through TR reboot multiple times, and after playing this game for a few hours I don't think I could enjoy the uncharted series as much and I definitely don't ever want to play the TR reboot again. It just takes everything about the game and makes it so much better. People talk about sequels lacking innovation and being more of the same but this game is like the complete opposite. You just have to experience it firsthand if you like these types of games, it's like the best action adventure third person game in a long while.

if you like upgrading weapons and exploring then play The Last of Us. Leave Uncharted alone, it's working brilliantly by itself and inspires the hell out of Tomb Raider and vice versa

The i recomend to get TR aniversary - remake/upgrade of the original.

The Gorillas are more scary then the Tank in Left 4 Dead. Don't get me started on the T-rex.

@morf-muziks: rise of the tomb raider blends elements of uncharted and last of us together perfectly. They are all amazing games. TR is really pushing the bar here.

@Ant_17: ahg nothing beats the yetis in the dark in TR2....

I agree Tomb Raider reboot gameplay was a lot better than Uncharted aside from the AI and damage model. But the story telling was way behind compared to Uncharted, hopefully this one improves on that

@silversix_: Is that how you play all your games through DF.

I've put 20hrs into TR so far and I know you're full of it.

@morf-muziks: the story is a lot better and interesting. My point wasn't that the reboot was better than uncharted, it was that rise of the tomb raider is better than both the reboot and uncharted

that is great to know that you've put 20h but what's your point? You're telling me that only your copy doesn't include jaggies/shimmering only seen in couple of current gen titles (Halo 5 one of them) and mostly during 7th gen? I don't know what's happening with the xbone but this kind of jaggies are unacceptable.

@silversix_: Well I don't take screenshots/pause the game to look, i just play it which is why I haven't noticed any. It seems people have lost the ability to enjoy games these days unless it's a 100% perfect, which no game is.

Basically I'm having a blast playing the game, and I hope I never get to the point where I have to look on a website to "see" if a game looks great before I play it, because if that days comes I will give away gaming altogether.

Good day to you.

I'm actually quite surprised about Rise of the Tomb Raider's success, given that Square Enix is not a very talented group of developers who haven't really accomplished anything significant in the past when compared to Naughty Dog this game isn't bad at all if you can ignore their pathetic business practice of putting microtransactions in a singleplayer game. Honestly I find Uncharted 2 a more significant accomplishment than RotTR.

@GhostHawk196: I'm not sure if you really do know much about the game developer as it is Crystal dynamics (who has made TR since Legend back in 05), square is just the publisher

@jcrame10: Same shit, Crystal dynamics isn't exactly brilliant and Square Enix doesn't exactly publish the best franchises. I'd hardly put Tomb Raider, Hitman, Just Cause 3, Thief, Fantasy in the same league as titans like Uncharted, The last of us, Metal Gear Solid, Halo, Mass Effect.

Square Enix's franchises may have been great 10 years ago but you have to realise this change after such a long time.

I feel kind of bogged down by the resource gathering bits, but the parts where I get to fighting and stealth are fun.

So far I don't like the idea of hunting for resources. The hunting part is fine and it's not even the tedious part of it that bugs me so much, it's just the degree of it I need to do to upgrade gear makes me feel a bit greedy and excessive, I feel like I'm in RDR hunting the buffalo on the prairie.

@GhostHawk196: I mean im not really concerned about those franchises or ten years ago right now, Im talking about how the game they released a few days ago easily rivals and in some areas surpasses gameplay mechanics of Uncharted and Last of Us.

@jcrame10: That's a bit subjective don't you think? I gathered from reading your thread that it is a combination of good character progression and a blend of stealth and combat as well as good platforming which made it great. The last of us also did all of those with the exception of platforming. Look please don't interpret this as a PS4 v XONE type of debate because as you can see I couldn't care less, I simply like to enjoy good games but I honestly wouldn't put Tomb Raider in the same league as say The Last of Us.

@GhostHawk196: The Last of Us is one of my favorite games and I have over 30 days logged into factions; it doesnt change the fact that Tomb Raider took ideas from it and built itself into a great game.

@GhostHawk196: SE just owns the studio. It isn't home grown talent.

Their butchering of Thief aside, what battery acid are you on to even humor that the 4 franchises I left on here, come close to stacking up with Final Fantasy in raw influence and impact on this medium. Halo has its impact, Naughty Dog? none what so ever.

Quality? Sure that's arguable, but FF V and 6 aren't exactly slouches, and the better FF games don't need the excuses for their gameplay the way say Mass Effect does. And Thief? Yeah, it's only to this day still has the best 2 pure stealth experiences in The Dark Project and The Metal Age. Wildly outclassing the lobotomized stealth you find in games like Uncharted and TLOU, or even a well made series Metal Gear. And Hitman might not have drawn big or been paraded around as the citizen king of midgets that is video game story telling, but Naughty Dog's never made a game that comes close to the sheer depth of systems of a game like Hitman Blood Money.

Throw in the part where that company has made stuff like Chrono Trigger, Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve, and it's painfully you started gaming last gen.

@jg4xchamp: That was 2 generations ago, it's pretty obvious SE has not have a huge impact in gaming since then. I don't deny I haven't been gaming for as much as you guys but the fact is the gaming landscape has changed since 2 generations ago. I think most would agree with me that the games which have made the greatest impact in recent times would be The Witcher, Mass Effect, Uncharted/The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto. I may have missed others however they're most certainly not Tomb Raider or any SE game.

@GhostHawk196: Hahahahaa. "Those games were so 2 gens so". Proceeds to name gta, which became huge in that gen.

Also, TRs gameplay mechanics of 3D platforming/exploring/combat were the beginnings of most of the games you mentioned. TR was one of the series that paved the way for 3d gaming

@jcrame10: And GTA was still huge and made a huge impact Last gen and this gen...

I don't discredit the fact that Uncharted took certain ideas from Tomb Raider and made it better. All games were built on some kind of foundation just like Gears of War wasnt the first game to use the cover mechanic however it was the one which made it the absolute best. No game should be given credit for innovating a new mechanic alone, it is those who take the idea and make it awesome which should fully deserve the praise.

My point is, compare the accomplishment of Uncharted 2 back in 2009 (not sure can't remember exact year) to Tomb Raider's right now. It is obvious Uncharted 2 made a greater impact in proportion to what Rise of the Tomb Raider has made now. What I cannot agree with is the fact that you are placing 2015's tomb raider in the same league as 2009's Uncharted 2. Given the advancement in technology, one would absolutely be expecting that gameplay wise, it would be better in 2015 than it was in 2009, 2011 or 2013.

The Witcher has influenced nothing

Mass Effects influence goes back more to KoTor than anything

Uncharted over Gears of War? UC2 is a better game, but let's not front; it's not the impact/influential game. Ditto The Last of Us, considering I can't think of one game borrowing it's play book.

Metal Gear Solid's influence is probably from 2 gens ago, because MGS4 didn't impact shit.

GTA is the same way ,GTA 3 is a highly influential game, and yeah it's a big money maker, so even your current criteria is mistaking commercial success, with actual impact and influence.

The funny thing is you say Tomb Raider isn't important, but if we're talking the history of this medium, you absolutely can skip the chapter on Uncharted, but Tomb Raider on the other hand can't actually be ignored. Not the least of which is that the very first Uncharted was straight up considered Tomb Raider meets Gears of War. And I'm not exactly a member of the Tomb Raider fan club.

To be fair is there ever going to be a AAA game with fundamentally new ideas anymore? Plot wise and premise, perhaps, but from a gameplay standpoint? I doubt it. We are in that age where everything has been done in all mediums. There will always be good stuff being made, but nothing that will reshape game design going forward. Though I would love to be wrong on that one.

As for Naughty Dog, bless them, they really thought they were innovating with Crash Bandicoot, then they saw Mario 64 at E3 lol. They are good at accessible well executed games that don't bore you with excess depth. And they always seem to be free of the 'poor mans version' stigma. Even if what they are tackling is fairly derivative. And they always manage to leave their mark on a genre. But they aren't innovators.

I agree with your OP for the most part, but the bolded is untrue. There are places where it's obviously scripted areas created entirely for shootouts with waist high cover. I just escaped with Jacob out of the Gulag and the predictable firefight after was abysmal, just terrible. When exploring, this game's marvelous. The environments and architecture are brilliant, beautiful, and it conveys a wondrous sense of grandeur and scope. But frankly, the gunfights and combat suck ass, and it's made worse by the fact that they spam you with enemies constantly. It feels cheap, artificial, and it's made worse by the fact that it's there just to be there. It's unnecessary. Honestly, I'd be more forgiving if the combat were more enjoyable. I just got the AK47, and the sound design is laughable.

Watch starting at 32:50, and listen to it. It sounds like a peashooter. For an assault rifle, it's pathetic. I don't know who does the sfx, but all I can say is.....major fail. Have these designers fired a single gun in their entire lives? There's only one game I've played that really nailed how guns should sound, and more importantly feel, and that's The Last of Us..

I'm surprised I haven't seen more praise for the graphics. From the videos I've seen, it looks like the best looking game on Xbox One.

I mean you say this but Demon's Souls is last gen, and while a version of that style of online play exists, the pseudo still single player/still online stuff, that stuff is clearly influenced by Dark Souls, it's out right stated by the devs. The Wonderful 101 is a game that doesn't play like any other beat-em up, to pretend otherwise would be to have a superficial grasp on how beat-em ups work. Arkham Asylum last gen, yeah Assassin's Creed was pulling that note (**** that's another one) with the combat on some level, but you want to talk influence, yes Arkham Asylum has absolutely had influence with its combat engine being replicated quite often.

Specifically how they handled the idea of being in rhythm, where as all Ass Creed has was hit x to hit em, and y to counter. It is a fallacy to assume "everything has been done". For the longest time we thought Batman couldn't work as a video game, because his melee combat would be far too limited in comparison to Devil May Cry. There was a half truth there, but funny enough someone came up with a combat system that absolutely fits Batman, was enjoyable to play, and went on to be everyones go to "we're making our game accessible" combat engine.

Either way to dismiss Square's IP's, and gas up Uncharted when it has one good game to show out of 3 entries, and its influence is basically non-existent in comparison to say Thief or mother fucking Final Fantasy is absurd.

There will always be ways to get things working. But finding a way to make a Batman game fun isn't revolutionary. It's a 3D beat em up with tried and true gameplay and side missions. They just managed to match up ways to make it fit with Batman. Demon's Souls/Dark Souls is a given. Before it nothing quite did what it did especially the online stuff. Sure, there's always going to be ways to make new things. But DeS was long enough ago to where my point still stands. We're in another gen now, and so far is there anything that has done something that really makes you think is the future? Minor innovations aside.

It is a jaded way to put it, but in the same way I can't see a new genre of music coming into fruitation without it being some completely abstract space age thing that nobody but a cult would listen to, I can't see games doing something completely different that will shape the industry.

I'm looking forward to Horizon Zero Dawn but I don't see it doing anything that hasn't been done before. Keep in mind I am talking literally changing the way games are made, not combining existing elements to make something new. I still think there are a lot of amazing games yet to be made, don't get me wrong.

Of course saying Naughty Dog innovated as much as anybody is indeed absurd, let alone Square.

No it's just buying into the triple A space being safe, and being like yeah okay. It be one thing if I said ND didn't innovate, but I wasn't strictly talking just that, I was talking influence. Shit simply isn't there, and Batman's combat totally had influence nad it was due strictly to what Arkham Asylum did with it, not what the games before did.

Just like there were cover schemes before Gears of War, but Gears of War is the influence, because Kill Switch simply didn't make a good game around the mechanic. Gears did, because it had the over the shoulder stuff, speaking of which, I'm sure someone can find an over the shoulder shooter before Resident Evil 4, but Resident Evil 4 gave the blue prints on why that shit will work flawlessly and improve the third person shooter. And it did, in so many ways.

Besides if we're arguing quality, I wouldn't have bothered responding, but the utter dismissal of franchises like Thief and Hitman (and I'm not the biggest Hitman guy), for a bunch of franchises that don't stack up favorably from a game design standpoint, or an influential standpoint when it comes to Thief, is lunacy. You have the right to like something more than the other, that's whatever, the ignorance however, can and should be corrected.

Waiting for the PC version so I can use nude mod.

@i_p_dailyCompletely with you,, if you find a game fun then thats the most important thing , i started gaming on a ZX spectrum 58k and the graphics where terrible back then but i enjoyed the games, this lot are fond of nit-picking over stupid little things that should NOT get in the way of your enjoyment.

If they are going to let things like that get to them and spoil there enjoyment then they really should think about finding another Hobby.