Post by Angel of Darkness on Jun 12, 2007 14:51:17 GMT -5
What would come of me if I didn't mention my favorite game series of all time?
God...this game though...it's....GREAT!
I've been waiting 11 years for a remake and now that we've finally been blessed with one, I am so f-ing gratful! The controls are pretty much perfect with the exception of maybe the manual grab but you can turn that on or off. The game play modes are perfectly balanced. Easy is pretty easy, Medium is not too easy but not too hard as well, and hard is just that, hard. I'm playing through on hard mode and I love how I don't know what's around the corner so I save ammo and health.
Tomb Raider has always been about exploration, jumping, puzzles, etc. When Crystal Dynamics received control of the game starting with Legend, they faltered a bit and made it overly filled with action. But, they made a great comeback with their second time making a Tomb Raider game and took out some of the action and made it into what Tomb Raider is, a game where you must use your wits and brain to figure out where to go next instead of firing your gun every five seconds.
Of course, every game has its flaws. What am I talking about? This game has almost none and I'm not saying that because I'm a fan. I feared for the AI after I played the Demo. The animals would only go so far and then stop, never to give chase to you. However, they fixed this for the final version and now I find myself running and eventually turning to fight because the creatures will persue you relentlessly.
So where does this game fall? Well, it is very frustrating if you want to replay a level only to see that you have to beat that entire section of the game to replay one level. For example, if I wanted to replay the first level of the Greece section, St. Francis' Folly, I would have to wait until I beat all of the Greece levels before I can do that. Another flaw is a small glitch that I occasionally come upon in Hard mode. When ever I use a small medipack which is supposed to give me about half my health back, I only get like, 1/5 of it instead of half. I'm not complaining about this really, I enjoy it because it makes the game that much more challenging. A third "flaw" which is actually a plus to me is that in some levels, you'll spend quite a bit of time running around and looking at things, figuring out what to do. Great for fans like me, but not as good for people with absolutely no patience. The forth and final flaw? Croft Manor. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love exploring her house but it seems like Crystal Dynamics got lazy making this part of the game. The huge gym has been stripped almost bare with very little to do in it. This is a huge disappointment to me because I loved the gym in Tomb Raider: Legend. Also, the few new rooms they added just don't seem creative. It feels like I've been in the rooms before when I haven't. And the maze.....god....it's a nightmare. Sure, they give you a "map" but if you get lost a bit, the map won't help you at all. I'm hoping I can find a lighter somewhere in the manor so I can burn it down and get what I need out of there >> <<.....
Story: LOVE IT! It takes the original story line and expands it so much more. Natla has much more personality now. Before, her "baddest" (as in, evil quote line, whatever) line was, "Too late for abortions now!" Now, we got, "Look inside your heart! It's as black as mine!!!" and much more powerful lines which I won't go into because it may ruin the experience. The other characters, Larson, Pierre, Kold, Kid, Qualopec, and Tihocan, have been given more personality too and throughout the game I want to know what's going on with these characters. And as for the main character Lara, she has been improved on as well. She has more lines and more character. Before she was seen as a killing machine that was after a treasure for almost no reason. Now, she's seen as a human being that has trouble killing humans and feels guilty (but this feeling changes after she kills a couple hundred more in TR2 onward lol) about it.
So what is the game about? Lara lost her mother as a child thanks to an incident with Excalibur (King Authur's sword) from Tomb Raider: Legend. Her father, wanting to find his wife, searched for the ancient Atlantian Scion to find her. However, he died before he could ever find it. One day as Lara is reading a book, Larson comes in with a computer. Setting it down for Lara to see, Natla comes onto the screen and introduces herself. She tells Lara that her company is searching for a piece of the Scion and knows how much Lara and her father searched for it. Natla tells Lara where to find the Scion so that she can bring it back to her for her company. Of course, Lara leaves without hesitation, bringing along a journal which contained some text from her father's explorations. This is where the gameplay begins. Ready to set off, she enters the caves alone after an incident with wolves leave her without a guide. After exploring some caves, the lost city of Vilcambamba (pronounced Vil-ca-bam-buh), and a long forgotten valley filled with dinosaurs, she finally finds the lost Tomb of Qualopec. After finally finding the Scion inside, she leaves and emerges from the water to find Larson waiting for her. He explains to her that he is going to take the Scion back to Natla with Lara dead. Lara of course doesn't take it and takes down Larson and interogates him. After pulling information from him, she sets off to find the remaining two pieces of the Scion to find out the truth about Natla, Atlantis, the Scion, and of course, her own Mother.
Throughout the game you go to different places such as Peru, Greece, Egypt, and then to the lost continent of Atlantis. Each section pulls of its theme perfectly and you feel like you are actually there.
So what do I rate this game? I give it a 9.5 out of 10. Most of the flaws really don't hurt the gameplay for me. Here is a quick break down of everything...
Pros:
* Great story
* Near perfect controls
* Remake of the first Tomb Raider
* Return to exploration
* Traps suited to each level
* Less action than Legend
* Really good voice acting
* Can now choose to grab manually or automatically
* Hours of gameplay
* Great music
* Ambience really keeps you on your toes and is used perfectly
* And of course...Lara Croft ^^
Cons:
* Can't replay levels until you beat the entire section they are in
* Medipack glitch can frustrate others
* Croft Manor just isn't as good as it was in Tomb Raider: Legend
Now that I've finished this long review, I suggest that you go out and buy this game. I mean it, buy it, don't rent it. This game is that good. I really hope this review will get others to buy the game and I look forward to turning people into fellow Tomb Raider fans! I'll leave you with screen shots of the game.
God...this game though...it's....GREAT!
I've been waiting 11 years for a remake and now that we've finally been blessed with one, I am so f-ing gratful! The controls are pretty much perfect with the exception of maybe the manual grab but you can turn that on or off. The game play modes are perfectly balanced. Easy is pretty easy, Medium is not too easy but not too hard as well, and hard is just that, hard. I'm playing through on hard mode and I love how I don't know what's around the corner so I save ammo and health.
Tomb Raider has always been about exploration, jumping, puzzles, etc. When Crystal Dynamics received control of the game starting with Legend, they faltered a bit and made it overly filled with action. But, they made a great comeback with their second time making a Tomb Raider game and took out some of the action and made it into what Tomb Raider is, a game where you must use your wits and brain to figure out where to go next instead of firing your gun every five seconds.
Of course, every game has its flaws. What am I talking about? This game has almost none and I'm not saying that because I'm a fan. I feared for the AI after I played the Demo. The animals would only go so far and then stop, never to give chase to you. However, they fixed this for the final version and now I find myself running and eventually turning to fight because the creatures will persue you relentlessly.
So where does this game fall? Well, it is very frustrating if you want to replay a level only to see that you have to beat that entire section of the game to replay one level. For example, if I wanted to replay the first level of the Greece section, St. Francis' Folly, I would have to wait until I beat all of the Greece levels before I can do that. Another flaw is a small glitch that I occasionally come upon in Hard mode. When ever I use a small medipack which is supposed to give me about half my health back, I only get like, 1/5 of it instead of half. I'm not complaining about this really, I enjoy it because it makes the game that much more challenging. A third "flaw" which is actually a plus to me is that in some levels, you'll spend quite a bit of time running around and looking at things, figuring out what to do. Great for fans like me, but not as good for people with absolutely no patience. The forth and final flaw? Croft Manor. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love exploring her house but it seems like Crystal Dynamics got lazy making this part of the game. The huge gym has been stripped almost bare with very little to do in it. This is a huge disappointment to me because I loved the gym in Tomb Raider: Legend. Also, the few new rooms they added just don't seem creative. It feels like I've been in the rooms before when I haven't. And the maze.....god....it's a nightmare. Sure, they give you a "map" but if you get lost a bit, the map won't help you at all. I'm hoping I can find a lighter somewhere in the manor so I can burn it down and get what I need out of there >> <<.....
Story: LOVE IT! It takes the original story line and expands it so much more. Natla has much more personality now. Before, her "baddest" (as in, evil quote line, whatever) line was, "Too late for abortions now!" Now, we got, "Look inside your heart! It's as black as mine!!!" and much more powerful lines which I won't go into because it may ruin the experience. The other characters, Larson, Pierre, Kold, Kid, Qualopec, and Tihocan, have been given more personality too and throughout the game I want to know what's going on with these characters. And as for the main character Lara, she has been improved on as well. She has more lines and more character. Before she was seen as a killing machine that was after a treasure for almost no reason. Now, she's seen as a human being that has trouble killing humans and feels guilty (but this feeling changes after she kills a couple hundred more in TR2 onward lol) about it.
So what is the game about? Lara lost her mother as a child thanks to an incident with Excalibur (King Authur's sword) from Tomb Raider: Legend. Her father, wanting to find his wife, searched for the ancient Atlantian Scion to find her. However, he died before he could ever find it. One day as Lara is reading a book, Larson comes in with a computer. Setting it down for Lara to see, Natla comes onto the screen and introduces herself. She tells Lara that her company is searching for a piece of the Scion and knows how much Lara and her father searched for it. Natla tells Lara where to find the Scion so that she can bring it back to her for her company. Of course, Lara leaves without hesitation, bringing along a journal which contained some text from her father's explorations. This is where the gameplay begins. Ready to set off, she enters the caves alone after an incident with wolves leave her without a guide. After exploring some caves, the lost city of Vilcambamba (pronounced Vil-ca-bam-buh), and a long forgotten valley filled with dinosaurs, she finally finds the lost Tomb of Qualopec. After finally finding the Scion inside, she leaves and emerges from the water to find Larson waiting for her. He explains to her that he is going to take the Scion back to Natla with Lara dead. Lara of course doesn't take it and takes down Larson and interogates him. After pulling information from him, she sets off to find the remaining two pieces of the Scion to find out the truth about Natla, Atlantis, the Scion, and of course, her own Mother.
Throughout the game you go to different places such as Peru, Greece, Egypt, and then to the lost continent of Atlantis. Each section pulls of its theme perfectly and you feel like you are actually there.
So what do I rate this game? I give it a 9.5 out of 10. Most of the flaws really don't hurt the gameplay for me. Here is a quick break down of everything...
Pros:
* Great story
* Near perfect controls
* Remake of the first Tomb Raider
* Return to exploration
* Traps suited to each level
* Less action than Legend
* Really good voice acting
* Can now choose to grab manually or automatically
* Hours of gameplay
* Great music
* Ambience really keeps you on your toes and is used perfectly
* And of course...Lara Croft ^^
Cons:
* Can't replay levels until you beat the entire section they are in
* Medipack glitch can frustrate others
* Croft Manor just isn't as good as it was in Tomb Raider: Legend
Now that I've finished this long review, I suggest that you go out and buy this game. I mean it, buy it, don't rent it. This game is that good. I really hope this review will get others to buy the game and I look forward to turning people into fellow Tomb Raider fans! I'll leave you with screen shots of the game.