Hmmm, QTE boss fights vs. making 2m somersaults to and fro whilst unloading dual pistols until the boss dies, which is better and why?
I've played the 2013 tomb raider for about 8hrs over the last few days. The complete % shows that im nearly halfway through.
So far, I have mixed feelings, but haven't uninstalled it yet. May even muster the strength to actually finish it, which is a feat, cause the last Tomb Raider I played from start to finish was the one from 1997.
It's a console game through and through, it even has lousy mouse implementation for menus, combat isn't really challenging, there are QTE sequences from the very beginning, very limited exploration.
However, it somehow works, and makes a neat cinematic experience. Even though the popamole is evident, it seems to be the better kind.
Story has some inane moments when it tries to be emotional, but it's not that bad overall. Maybe I am biased as I've recently played Far Cry 3, which uses a very similar setting and themes, and compared to that Tomb Raider felt like
the deves and writers actually knew what they were doing. Not a big feat, beating FC3, I know, but I was pretty impressed with the environments.
Lara is pretty likeable, they obviously wanted to make her into your slightly retarded but likeable little sister. It'd say they succeeded. Not tha same Lara she was back in the 1997, but it makes sense seeing how thay want to make a prequel-reboot.
Now, the gameplay.
Exploration is limited, but I had good fun searching the map for the relics, documents, GPS trackers and the like. It felt rewarding in itself, even though there's no actual reward for doing so.
Examining found relics to discover hidden info (and an occassional made in china marking) was a nice touch.
For me, Tomb Raider was always about pseudo-archeaology and walking around the map, trying to figure out how the hell do I jump to that ledge over there.
While the jump puzzles in the 2013 Tomb Raider are by no means challenging (and the cheat vision makes them even more trivial), it somehow manages to provide an ersatz of the gameplay I remember from 1997.
I'd say, it's a solid foundation to build a much better game upon.
The optional tombs can be fun, but are very, very short. Each contains one simple puzzle, after which you pretty much get to the big chest of goodies, thus solving it.
Unfortunately, the Q cheat vision trivializes the already easy sequence. Shame. Because if the tombs were longer they could be immensely fun.
The combat is typical hide behind cover and pop moles, but I dare say that it's a cut above your typical popamole. You get ranged enemies that will shoot you dead when you get out of cover, you have grenadiers that throw bombs/molotovs
to flush you out, and you get two types of melee combatants who'll rush you. One is easily dispatched, the other is immune to regular shots due to shield. Combine all these together, and I say you have popamole done right.
It's not realy that challenging unless you play on hardest diff and/or gimp yourself on purpose, but makes for a nice break from your regular exploration and tomb raiding.
And finally, there are QTE sequences. I'm not a fan of these, especially when they result in an instant death when failed.
But, I have to give it to the devs, they managed to make them challenging enough to add a bit of that cinematic feeling, easy enough not to distract you too much (once you learn which cue is for E and which is for F),
and short enough not to annoy you too much when you fail it.
The part where the game fails big time for me is the crafting and exp system. Now, it was eveident from the get go that if anyone expected to see hardcore survival elements in the game, they were in for a dissapointment,
but that's not the point. The main problem is that the whole system is pointless. At 40% complete, I have 4 unspent skill points and over 4000 unspent scrap. If it were my second playthrough, I don't think I would actuall bother spending any.
It's pretty sad, because it makes the exp rewards you get from raiding tombs and finding collectibles useless.
The skills are mostly pointless (gain more exp? gee thanks. gain more scrap? you already get plenty of that), or break the game (kill enemies quicker? the combat is already easy, mark loot loctions on the map? thanks for spoiling the fun).
Like I said, the exp system is very poorly designed. There are no choices to make, as you basically have to get them if you want to get to higher tiers.
Verdict: Good for what it is(tm). If the devs learn from their mistakes and capitalize on what they've gotten right, the sequel may be on par with the recent Batman games.
This game on the other hand, is worth a torrent. After the first hour, once you get to the first open area which allows for some actual exploration you'll get a good idea if the game's to your taste or not.
If you consider buying, may be worth picking up at -50%.
If you can rent it, I'd say go for it unless there's something better available.
To get the most fun out of it, play on hard difficulty, avoid using the cheat vision and don't upgrade Lara's skills and weapons too much.
And I honestly haven't seen ludonarrative dissonance this bad since Max Payne 3.
Shit like this makes me wanna firebomb tvtropes...
Seriously though, have a go at Far Cry 3 it'll give you a proper perspective as to really, really bad ludonarrative dissonance.
