The Broken Record ... Short ... But Good! :-p
Everyone is probably aware that this version is short ... but also packs a punch. It's in just about every review you read about it. It's also mentioned that this game brings new life to the series, which I'd also agree with. I just think I'll add to what makes and doesn't make this game happen.
Doesn't Make It Happen:
- On a medium difficulty level, shooting a guy feels like you're shooting a stationary sand bag. The enemies will just stand there and only jostle the slightest bit by a speeding bullet repeatedly ... until finally they've had too much and fall back or down or what not. It would have been nice to see better reactions from the bullets.
- Limited range of weaponry and the shooting does get tiring.
- Let's add a limited enemy list as well. The enemies are all dressed the same, which gets very boring. There's a lack of the animal enemies that livened up the first few of the series.
- The motorcycle levels are WAY too long and boring. It feels like you just wasted 10% of the game, hehe.
- There's still a cartoonish element about the game, aside from the impressive environments, I think one big detriment to the series is how cartoonish Lara Croft looks herself. The oval shaped face without much realism (e.g. texture) makes it harder to consider it realistic. We're in the age of the 360 and PS3 and the face is still modeled from the polygonal limitations of the PSONE that made her face shaped just so.
Makes It Happen:
- The gameplay is great in terms of her movement and interaction with the environment. I think that's been the forte of the series in general, the interaction with the jungle gym environment. It kinda gets you to looking at your own environment like "I wonder if I could climb this ledge here, swing from that pole to there ..." hehe
- Though the weapon choices are limited, she can pull off some pretty cool moves with a pistol or two. She can flip off of somebody's head and slo-mo shoot them as she lands.
- The environments are beautiful and very well detailed. I was impressed with a lot of the atmosphere in terms of its look and design. They seemed to nail what they were hoping for, looking at the concept art, much like Condemned.
- The story was actually rather interesting and kept me wanting to know what happens in the end.
- The lip movement was suprisingly good. Not the best I've seen, but still deserves a pat on the back. Some other games pay no attention to that, even with close-ups, but this one does.
Overall:
Good value. I might recommend renting it before you buy it ... however ... I am finding that even with a thorough playthrough of the game that I still have yet to find quite a few of the hidden items. I even accidentally erased a save file with like 75% completion and ended up having to play it back through and still didn't find everything. The extras are decent, but not too much to brag about. Her manor is a level in itself, which is pretty neat. Anyhoo, that's my review.