I liked Rise of the Tomb Raider because it felt like a well made Rambo simulator. Until they make one of those games starring the man himself nu Lara will have to do.
I occasionally get the urge to play a female-starring action-adventure with modern graphics and install one of the new Tomb Raider games. Within two minutes of playing, five tops, I remember everything I dislike about them and uninstall again in despair.
They're a hell of a lot better than the other modern AAA action adventure games. I'll take them over Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, Gears of War, etc. any day.
I would rather play Uncharted, but low bar.
Setpieces that come off as less conspicuous/obvious and scripted. Not so game-like and stupid in their presentation.
No weapon upgrades that force you to go into tedious menus and read descriptions and shoot bullet sponges if you refuse. The pickups drive mobility in the gunfights. When you have no more ammo, you need to run for another gun.
More verticality in the gunfights, a melee attack that's quick and doesn't bog you down or disrupt the shooting.
No automatic crouch like in Tomb Raider. Sadly, no crouch at all. But if I have to choose between not being able to crouch and crouching through the whole gunfight, give me the former.
I tried to use little to no cover. Works best in Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy, but those games unfortunately have plenty of linear action sequences that force popamole. It sucks that you can only swap shoulders while aiming (since that was how I used cover without actually sticking to it) and that the field of view is so crammed while aiming.
Nathan Drake and Chloe Frasier as protagonists are more confident than nuLara. They enjoy what they do and don't ever break down into tears. I prefer their voices.
As platformers and exploration games, they are both shitty. But I find the collect-a-thon nature of new Tomb Raider where the maps are littered with so much shit for experience points that you redeem for perks and weapon customization in cumbersome menus more insipid.
Uncharted has better art direction and music than Tomb Raider.
Only Uncharted 4 has the incredibly stupid journals that all the new Tomb Raider games are crammed with. Notes left in the elements for two hundred years and somehow legible, people documenting everything for seemingly no one.
Uncharted
Uncharted 2
Uncharted 3
Uncharted 4
The Lost Legacy
Tomb Raider 2013
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider