Tomb Raider 2013

[luj1]

As you said, the rest of the team stayed for TR2 - and it shows.
It is a very good game with lot of nice additions, that JarlFrank already mentioned - and on par with the first one IMHO.

Agreed

Don't see a big disparity

 

[luj1]

As you said, the rest of the team stayed for TR2 - and it shows.
It is a very good game with lot of nice additions, that JarlFrank already mentioned - and on par with the first one IMHO.

It is a good game with some great levels, but the tonal shift from TR1 and higher focus on combat are very noticeable.

I would blame that more on the publisher pushing for a sequel with more action than on conscious decisions by the dev team though.

Never noticed a big tonal shift from TR1 in TR2

 

[janior]

As you said, the rest of the team stayed for TR2 - and it shows.
It is a very good game with lot of nice additions, that JarlFrank already mentioned - and on par with the first one IMHO.

It is a good game with some great levels, but the tonal shift from TR1 and higher focus on combat are very noticeable.

I would blame that more on the publisher pushing for a sequel with more action than on conscious decisions by the dev team though.

Never noticed a big tonal shift from TR1 in TR2

deaf

vs

 

[Ash]

You have to play the first game to really understand Tomb Raider. It's unique, no other game in the series comes close (TR4 comes closest). Exploration in long forgotten ruins, completely alone... no other game captures the sense of isolation quite as well.

RE 2 comes close or maybe Silent Hill 1

Nigga put like 50 PS1 games in a hat and pick out at random. That system alone is one half of the peak (late 90s) of the golden age, the other half being PC of course. Nintendo were already in a slight state of decline at this point though credit to the moderate incline of their handheld systems and the N64 wasn't a bad system or catalogue overall, just definitely notably inferior. lastly RIP sega. Gayzi Taxi and Shenmue? GTFO here. No console will ever surpass the PS1, far too many legendary games. I could talk with just as much fondness and detail about TR as I could many other PS1 greats.

As you said, the rest of the team stayed for TR2 - and it shows.
It is a very good game with lot of nice additions, that JarlFrank already mentioned - and on par with the first one IMHO.

It is a good game with some great levels, but the tonal shift from TR1 and higher focus on combat are very noticeable.

I would blame that more on the publisher pushing for a sequel with more action than on conscious decisions by the dev team though.

Never noticed a big tonal shift from TR1 in TR2

deaf

vs

this doesn't make any sense, sorry. TR2 had more atmospheric ambience than TR1. TR1 has "caves", whereas TR2 has approx 5 such tracks and if I recall it recycled caves also. Play teh game.

 

[luj1]

You have caves in TR2 too

 

[Ash]

Where though I dont recall exactly. "The Deck" from the Maria Doria set of levels I think.

 

[janior]

I quit after venice so maybe it has some good stuff later idk but it has totally different vibe initially at least

 

[Ash]

Yes Venice is very different, but things do get more tomby, isolated and spooky later from time to time. The dark, destitute and trap-infested opera house (lvl4) is the start of that and it kind of escalates from there. To me at least, each level has deep atmosphere and tone though, even Venice.

 

[JarlFrank]

And yeah I too question Toby Gard's significance regarding the games overall design and vision, given his involvement with Anniversary in addition to that recent game he put out, which seemed like poop.

Hmm, credit where credit is due it seems. See below. I guess come Anniversary he had lost his way and was riding the same realism/story/graphics/sellout/decline train every dev was on.

Same brain rot that happened to many other developers, I'd guess.

A lot of people who made great games from the 80s to early 00s suddenly became casual decline enablers from the mid-00s onward due to how awed they were by the technology.

"Wow, these modern graphics look like a movie! So realistic! This is exactly how we envisioned our games back in the day!! Wow!"

The most radical example is Underworld Ascendant. Ex-Looking Glass people who had worked on Ultima Underworld, System Shock, and Thief, get together again after years of taking a break from the industry.
And they waste all their time playing around with Unity's modern design tools, awed at all the physics systems and high poly models that are possible.
The end result is an unfinished game that barely qualifies as a tech demo.

"Wow, technology has progressed so much, we're amazed, wow imagine what we would have done if this existed back in our day!" and then they just forget to design an actual game.

 

[Ryzer]

And yeah I too question Toby Gard's significance regarding the games overall design and vision, given his involvement with Anniversary in addition to that recent game he put out, which seemed like poop.

Hmm, credit where credit is due it seems. See below. I guess come Anniversary he had lost his way and was riding the same realism/story/graphics/sellout/decline train every dev was on.

Same brain rot that happened to many other developers, I'd guess.

A lot of people who made great games from the 80s to early 00s suddenly became casual decline enablers from the mid-00s onward due to how awed they were by the technology.

"Wow, these modern graphics look like a movie! So realistic! This is exactly how we envisioned our games back in the day!! Wow!"

The most radical example is Underworld Ascendant. Ex-Looking Glass people who had worked on Ultima Underworld, System Shock, and Thief, get together again after years of taking a break from the industry.
And they waste all their time playing around with Unity's modern design tools, awed at all the physics systems and high poly models that are possible.
The end result is an unfinished game that barely qualifies as a tech demo.

"Wow, technology has progressed so much, we're amazed, wow imagine what we would have done if this existed back in our day!" and then they just forget to design an actual game.

More like they are just a bunch of hacks with overinflated egos.

 

[racofer]

It is laughable how automated most of this game is.

You know what's not automated?

Loading screens.
The game has no loading screens, instead you slowly squeeze your way through a narrow gap. And it's not a cutscene, you must actively hold down W to walk forward.

There's nothing I hate more than these loading screen masking sequences, because on a modern state of the art PC the loading screens would be over in 5 seconds. This way it always takes a minute.

 

[Ash]

Regarding music: TR1 also has frantic classical music just like TR2's Venice, such as the encounters with Pierre.

Ultimately the soundtrack of 1-3 are all equally legendary. That Nathan guy is epic. Among the earliest game to use classical motifs, and still among the best to do so. I hate all the modern generic classical and orchestrated music in games and remakes, lacks the soul and nuance seen in earlier games like TR.

Best tracks:

TR1: Title theme.
TR2: Cradle to Grave
TR3: Puzzle element

 

[cretin]

Hi frens, the nu-raider trilogy is on steam for like $15, worth picking up?

 

[gabel]

Hell no.

 

[bat_boro]

No, although I liked Rise as it was mindless action through and through. The other ones are snoozefests, especially Shadow. Just awful all around, just remember no one can give you back the time you sunk into those turds

 

[Melcar]

I would buy them for $5 max. And yeah, Rise is the more "fun" of the three.

 

[janior]

Shadow is kinda unplayable even if u enjoyed rise agreed

 

[Ivan]

no, avoid

 

[Ash]

Yup, just play actually worthy games. Stop being molepoppers, play old games!

You have to play the first game to really understand Tomb Raider. It's unique, no other game in the series comes close (TR4 comes closest). Exploration in long forgotten ruins, completely alone... no other game captures the sense of isolation quite as well.

RE 2 comes close or maybe Silent Hill 1

Many great games capture sense of isolation very well. Classic Tomb Raider, Ultima Underworld, Silent Hill 1, Resident Evil 1 (not 2 as much! and not the stupid remake!), Arx Fatalis, System Shock 2, Alien Trilogy, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Doom (PSX version in particular), Darkwood.

If I recall, Jarlfrank doesn't play horror games, all the good ones of which are oppressively isolationist by design, so he can't really say. Total pussboi. Tomb Raider does at times almost match classic horror mastery, so he should be able to handle it...oh well.

 

[luj1]

Alien Trilogy yeah. Quite scary too

 

[DemonKing]

Hi frens, the nu-raider trilogy is on steam for like $15, worth picking up?

I think they got progressively worse as the series went along but they're not terrible if you're in the mood for some light 3rd person combat, nice visuals and a bit of fairly simplistic parkour and puzzle solving.

 

[Ezekiel]

Hi frens, the nu-raider trilogy is on steam for like $15, worth picking up?

I think they got progressively worse as the series went along but they're not terrible if you're in the mood for some light 3rd person combat, nice visuals and a bit of fairly simplistic parkour and puzzle solving.

The trilogy has no parkour. It was replaced with the boring pickaxe climbing. You can't even run and kick off a wall.

 

[Melcar]

You can roll and dash like a monkey. Also, Lara got uglier in each installment.

 

[DemonKing]

The trilogy has no parkour. It was replaced with the boring pickaxe climbing.

Yeah - by Parkour I meant climbing/jumping sections of which the pixkaxe plays a big part.

Also, Lara got uglier in each installment.

Also her breasts get smaller...

 

[Ezekiel]

You can roll and dash like a monkey.

Yeah, auto-crouch combat sucks ass. No idea why so many people praised it, saying how nice it is that she goes into cover from a low position herself rather than having the player stick to it with a button. It looks lame and is still worse than simply moving behind walls and swapping shoulders. I know how to take cover even if the cover is ten meters away from me, meaning I would rather position myself where the cover is between me and the enemy than stick with a button or roll around and dash like a monkey. Just stepping to the side for a couple of shots and then stepping back or pressing the crouch button to stand above cover for a few shots is not difficult. It should be the ideal, because it allows for more movement, less popping moles. Now the third-person shooting standard, whether Uncharted or Control or Tomb Raider or whatever is that you don't even get a crouch button. First-person shooters all have them, but third-person ones, mostly no.

Also, Lara got uglier in each installment.

I didn't care for her face in the first game. Looked like it was made to be sad/distressed.