Tomb raider was first released in 1996 and developed by Core Design.Since then Tomb Raider and its leading lady Lara Croft have been all over the globe from the tallest skyscrapers to the deepest tombs.The last time we had seen Lara was in Tomb Raider Underworld in 2008, the 4th Tomb Raider game done by the Great Group of developers known as Crystal Dynamics.Now with 5 years gone by its time for Lara to try to take back her title from Nathan Drake as the best artifact collecting adventurer in video games with this years Tomb Raider reboot.
Forget what you might already know about the Tomb Raider of days past.Tomb Raider opens with a great scene showing how the young Lara Croft ends up on an island full of crazies and lunatics.This is the beginning of Lara's struggle to stay alive and become a more capable adventurer.From the start of the game you know Lara is no hardcore adventurer,shes never killed an animal let alone a person so when things start to go bad you can clearly see how unsure she is about what it is shes going to have to do. Throughout her story and all of its twists, Turns, disappointments, heartaches and the occasional happy moment she becomes capable, not just at surviving but at exploring and defending herself from the many dangers that lurk around every turn of this island.
The Island itself is beautiful.Full of all types of rich bright colors and animals(and psychos).While playing I found myself walking from area to area allot without even noticing I was doing it.I was busy staring at the amazing graphics of the island, the characters, the animals and the backgrounds.Any time your treated to a cut scene your eyes will be glued to the screen not just for the graphics but for the story itself.The only time I noticed any type of hard edges was in very close up scenes of Lara like when shes waist deep in water moving through small tight tunnels.This might be less noticeable on a normal size TV. Iv been playing on a 120 inch 720p 3D projector(this game is not 3D)so in those few areas like that lara is gigantic on my screen but on a normal 50 inch TV I doubt you would notice it.
The game play in Tomb Raider is very fun.It starts off slow with Lara having no weapons or the skills to use them. throughout the game Lara gets equipped with all types of weapons and tools to help her survive and explore.The first weapon your introduced to is the bow and arrow. Thankfully Lara had some previous training with a bow and is capable of using it.The bow will become probably your most used weapon and tool.It lets you take out enemy's quietly from a good distance giving you options on how to approach an upcoming battle.When your near bad guys Lara will hear them and get ready to fight.You will see her pull out her weapon and crouch meaning its time to be alert.Moving up to any wall or barrier will make lara take cover and this system works flawlessly. I never had trouble popping out and shooting or making a quick getaway from cover but sometimes you will have to switch your aiming side(L3)to get a good shot.The puzzles you come across for the most part are fairly simple and easy to figure out especially when you use your survival instincts(L2) to highlight anything in the area you might need to use.While the main story has you run into some easy puzzles I found that exploring some of the hidden tombs will have harder puzzles to figure out.
To upgrade your equipment and weapons you will be searching for salvage. Little bits and pieces of scrap left by other shipwrecks and island dwellers. As you explore the island you will find box's, crates, burnable hanging bags, artifacts and books.In some crates or box's you might find a bow part or rifle part.collecting a set number of these pieces will give you an upgrade to your gun that can only be gotten by finding these pieces. As you get more and more salvage it can be used to make attachments for your weapons at day camps.At the day camps you can also use skill points you've earned to give Lara more skills like carrying more ammo or using your climbing pick as a close quarters weapon. You can also fast travel to areas you've already been to for some extra exploring.
The audio in this game is great aside from a small glitch here or there.There were a few parts where a gunshot or audio of someone talking would lock up an repeat until the game was sent back to the title screen. It was a slight annoyance but it didn't keep you from the game for very long. The music just seems to fit well. When approaching a fight you will hear the music start very low and when all hell breaks loose it really kicks in.The firing of arrows gives you a reassuring sting snapping sound and the bang from the different guns sounds like they should.Screams of agonizing pain and people pleading for there lives echo through the buildings where people are being tortured and killed but most notable are Lara's screams and moans.From the start to the end this woman takes a beating from everything around her with little time to heal up and her voice shows it.You can tell when Lara's hurt, scared, sad, angry or determined just by listing to her.
Overall this is a great reboot of a classic game and one of the few games out to star a strong(most of the time) female protagonist.From the sights and sounds all the way down to the game play Tomb Raider is a work of art and I cant wait to see where Lara lands for her next adventure...hopefully for next gen systems.
Lara Croft is among the most recognizable characters in gaming, so here's a list of the absolute best Tomb Raider games.
Given that Naughty Dog is giving up on one of its staple franchises, now is the best time for Tomb Raider games to capitalize on that.
This nonsense article also neatly sidesteps the fact that just because Naughty Dog are moving on from the franchise, that doesn't mean the franchise stops. ALL of the Uncharted games were amazing and the last one was a moving finale for Drake, but you can bet your bottom dollar the franchise will return after a well-earned hiatus with a BANG, even if it's handed to one of Sony's other studios to develop.
I love Uncharted (2 and 1 are my favourites). But there is such a thing as franchise fatigue especially with story or character driven games. So it makes sense to let a series rest, it’s good for the audience and it’s good for the developers who get to express their creativity on new projects. Like he⬆ said, it will return and if the gap is long enough that will be exciting for everyone.
Yea I don't see how naughty dog possibly giving us a new ip is a loss at all, it's exactly what I and most others want.
All the uncharted were awesome bit that series had its time now it's onto bigger and better things.
In 10 yrs time then sure I'd be up for another one but not now.
To some live service nonsense most likely.
I’ll be screencapping this reply for the time they do announce their new game.
It’ll be an open world Souls ripoff with microtransactions and events
Sony Bend did great work on Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Since it is unlikely we are getting a Days Gone 2 I would like Bend to continue the franchise (and finally port over Golden Abyss to any other platform then Vita 😞)
It's silly to think that one of Playstations most successful franchise sony will stop making even after making a blockbuster film about it.
Since when is not milking a franchise until it's diluted down to garbage like Call of Duty a bad thing? They have a golden franchise full of amazing games, no need to keep trying to squeeze more money out of it at expense of the quality of the game.
I agree. I’m actually glad that they’re not just making more Uncharted titles just to keep the franchise going. It ended. It was great. Let it rest.
"Loss"? "Giving up"? Bowing out after 6 extremely successful entries is not a loss, nor is it giving up. It's a well earned retirement. And honestly i dont have much hope in TR anymore, especially after being bought by Amazon.
Yeah, especially from a team like naughty dog who are well known to change it up from generation to generation
Naughty dog have amazing talent and I traditionally bought all of their games day 1. That is until TLOU2 (which I bought and enjoyed until 1/2 way through). Woke garbage.
They've been making the same two IPs since the PS3.
What exactly have then been switching up.
And I actually love their games; just trying to see what they've been actually switching up.
Are people just going to ignore the last PlayStation games medley commercial? There is a new Uncharted game coming; it’s just not created by Naughty Dog.
https://youtu.be/TXwhpK4y-5...
"They've been making the same two IPs since"
Same guy who never criticizes Xbox for Halo, Forza, Forza Horizon, Gears studios for only ever having worked a single IP EVER. Hypocrite much?
Naughty Dog at least is working on a new IP and will average 1 new IP each generation. Which Xbox studios even make 1 new IP each gen?
Literally always gives credit to Sony where I feel it's due.
Said I really enjoyed Halo Infinite's campaign, but acknowledge that they dropped the ball with the online.
Loves Forza Horizon, yet don't have any interest in the original series.
Yes I do love Gears of War.
I also love Uncharted and the Last of Us (mainly the first one).
What does that have to do with me asking someone who claims Naughty Dog switches up their stuff every generation, when all they have made over three generations have been two IPs?
Please tell me how I'm wrong. I'll wait.
I agree with you first and foremost! This year is different though, because Microsoft bought Bethesda.
Hi-Fi, Redfall, and Starfield are all new IP'S. Without Bethesda, Microsoft would have nothing new as far as IP'S this year. Hi-Fi is fantastic. Redfall I am not getting a good vibe from, and doubt it will be nearly as good as Deathloop. That leaves Starfield. I am taking a wait and see attitude. If it's a buggy mess that will suck. With 1000 planets, are they going to be empty?
All that said. Uncharted is probably my favorite Playstation IP. Fantastic story telling with top notch graphics!
@MadLad
Uncharted and TLOU were on ps3 and ps4 so that's two generations not three. They're making a new ip for ps 5 right?
"What does that have to do with me asking someone who claims Naughty Dog switches up their stuff every generation, when all they have made over three generations have been two IPs?
Please tell me how I'm wrong. I'll wait. "
I was quite frankly happy to hear they're not going to milk this franchise. I absolutely love it, and would hate to see it fall into Assassin's Creed territory. Another series I loved so much back in the day, I got a tattoo for it. At this point, I haven't even played half the AC games and never will. They hit it out of the park time and time again with Uncharted. Let it rest with dignity and on a really high note.
Uncharted 4 finished Drake's story perfectly, and after the medoicre 3rd entry in the TR reboot series I don't see how ND lost anything personally.
Pretty sure there will be another Uncharted game. It's Tomb Raider that has to actually prove itself as the last game in the series IMO, was not very good.
Tomb Raider has cemented itself as one of the best-selling video game franchises in history. The total sales of all titles in the series about Lara Croft’s adventures are now approaching the 100 million mark.
I'm curious where Embracer will take this beloved IP. Are any of the previous team members still involved in the next game?
I'm more curious to know whether they will put in the money required to make the big AAA ips they acquired recently.
Most of there games have been AA decent but nothing special, I hope they give tomb raider and dues ex the budgets they deserve.
You must mean Amazon - they're the ones publishing Tomb Raider now.
Embracer seems to do basically nothing themselves outside of just being a holding company for all of these other studios/groups. They even own the rights to Lord of the Rings.
I think the publisher does the marketing and consulting but not the actual development. From what I read, Embracer has all the companies/developers so they still need to do the work
That total would be so disappointing to Square Enix even though it’s more successful than Dragon Quest
Still makes me livid that we'll never get a Sleeping Dogs sequel because 2mil units sold for their first year wasnt enough.
These were bad numbers for Square.
Good numbers for Square are the amount of crap games they launched this year.
