Welcome Back Croft

[The Yosemite Bear]

well I didn't see one for last week's premire of the new TOMB RAIDER game, looking for other's tips and comments, so here we go.

Also the so called "Rape Scene" is more a kick the pirate in the balls and bite off his ear scene.

[PeZook]

It's a clear case of sexual assault there though IIRC he actually murders her if you fail the QT events. The thing that differs from most games, though, is that she fights the creep off by herself, rather than being rescued at the last minute by a Big Strong White Thirty Something Christian Male who will then Protect Her while she Lets It All Out in his big muscular arms.

[Grumman]

Is the game more linear or more sandbox?

[xthetenth]

Very linear with some exploration thrown in.

I was quite fond of how the character model changed over time to reflect how much of a toll the story was taking on Lara. More games should do it, it was great in Spec Ops for different reasons, but in this it made her a lot more relatable as a character because she wasn't some hulking mass of testosterone-laden cliche, she was someone who just wouldn't stop. That alone made up for a good bit of silliness.

[PeZook]

The plot silliness is kinda grating at times,though: like when Lara barely escapes a deranged cannibal, and then upon meeting some strange man at the campfire (who then disappears mysteriously with her friend) doesn't say anything when the survivors from her ship make a brilliant plan like "Let's split up to look for them".

...or when she's stabbed right through her side and basically just walks it off

Still, it's well put together so I can excuse those...

[The Yosemite Bear]

Mind you the quick time event of pulling the arrow out, I kept fucking it up, once again It sounded to my roomie like I was watching a porno or something. very linier but a little bit o sandbox.

[xthetenth]

The plot silliness is kinda grating at times,though: like when Lara barely escapes a deranged cannibal, and then upon meeting some strange man at the campfire (who then disappears mysteriously with her friend) doesn't say anything when the survivors from her ship make a brilliant plan like "Let's split up to look for them".

...or when she's stabbed right through her side and basically just walks it off

Still, it's well put together so I can excuse those...

Plus, the protagonist incompetence really happened right at the start where a bit of it is perfectly explainable because they're new to the whole business of trying to survive and they don't know that everyone's hostile.

[PeZook]

Maybe it's deliberate - Lara at this point is 1) Still a rookie in this matter of crazy Indiana Jones adventures and 2) Dead tired and wounded.

[Zixinus]

Out of curiosity, how does the characterization of Lara compare to games made in the past? Aside the focus of past games of putting her in more and more revealing clothing?

[xthetenth]

Most of the game she's a lot less assured, because a lot of the story is about her becoming the assured and capable character she's been in other games. At the start she looks to the more experienced crewmen for guidance but by the end she's pretty similar characterization wise to how she's always been.

[The Yosemite Bear]

;ets see khaki pants, white tee shirt, sensible sports bra, hiking boots, web belt and a necklace.

[xthetenth]

Luckily enough in this installment what she's wearing is only symbolic of the rest of her characterization rather than most of it.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Mind you the Grey's Anatomy actress' arse looks really fine in those khaki pants....

[AniThyng]

Mind you the Grey's Anatomy actress' arse looks really fine in those khaki pants....

So,is this

A legitimate praise and admiration of beauty
B sexist creeping and objectification
C other, please elaborate

[Stark]

Bear does that shit all the time.

Anyway, I'm surprised anyone bought this, when nobody apparently buys any of the other big releases. Was it the hilarious 'rape' news hype that drew people in? The superannuated branding? The bow - bows are so hot right now?

[xthetenth]

It was that the 'rape' thing looked really awkward and like it didn't fit in with the game which otherwise seemed interesting because what the hell do you do with a tomb raider game without objectifying Lara? It looked like it had an answer to that question and I was curious. That and a friend got it with an AMD card bundle and went "you know, you were right, this is actually not shit".

[The Yosemite Bear]

I got it from one of my co-workers, while I was saving money for other things....

[Stark]

It was that the 'rape' thing looked really awkward and like it didn't fit in with the game which otherwise seemed interesting because what the hell do you do with a tomb raider game without objectifying Lara? It looked like it had an answer to that question and I was curious. That and a friend got it with an AMD card bundle and went "you know, you were right, this is actually not shit".

Dude Lara is such a rich ground for character work it's terrible someone can say 'what can you do with this character that isn't objectifying them'.

I mean, they tried like three times and people hated it every time... just like they hated not balloon tits in DOA5 testing.

[The Yosemite Bear]

fact that even me was was playing just because i'm a sucker for story, get's a bit sexist after spending 12 hours watching a digital actress back. (which is the default view except for the cut scenes) right now I'm blowing things up with a bow and arrow like Rambo, and enjoying it immensely.

[PeZook]

Bear does that shit all the time.

Anyway, I'm surprised anyone bought this, when nobody apparently buys any of the other big releases. Was it the hilarious 'rape' news hype that drew people in? The superannuated branding? The bow - bows are so hot right now?

I only heard of the hype after buying it

For me it was that my wife is a Tomb Raider fan and wanted it, so we got it. Nothing to it

[Simon_Jester]

It was that the 'rape' thing looked really awkward and like it didn't fit in with the game which otherwise seemed interesting because what the hell do you do with a tomb raider game without objectifying Lara? It looked like it had an answer to that question and I was curious. That and a friend got it with an AMD card bundle and went "you know, you were right, this is actually not shit".

Dude Lara is such a rich ground for character work it's terrible someone can say 'what can you do with this character that isn't objectifying them'.

I mean, they tried like three times and people hated it every time... just like they hated not balloon tits in DOA5 testing.

Random thought: maybe they just had to wait for the guys who played Tomb Raider in the '90s as a bunch of hormone-overcharged adolescents to grow up enough that they could play the game for nostalgia without expecting a one-dimensional bikini babe character like they got when they were fourteen. Sadly, this seems to have taken 15 years...

[xthetenth]

It was that the 'rape' thing looked really awkward and like it didn't fit in with the game which otherwise seemed interesting because what the hell do you do with a tomb raider game without objectifying Lara? It looked like it had an answer to that question and I was curious. That and a friend got it with an AMD card bundle and went "you know, you were right, this is actually not shit".

Dude Lara is such a rich ground for character work it's terrible someone can say 'what can you do with this character that isn't objectifying them'.

I mean, they tried like three times and people hated it every time... just like they hated not balloon tits in DOA5 testing.

Forgot the second half of that sentence actually. When you take away the excuse plot, tits, guns and puzzles marketing driven idea of what to do with the license, you've got a pretty awesome character who's pretty hard to screw up, so marketing stuttering around looking for something to sell was a big endorsement for me.

[Zixinus]

Anyway, I'm surprised anyone bought this, when nobody apparently buys any of the other big releases. Was it the hilarious 'rape' news hype that drew people in? The superannuated branding? The bow - bows are so hot right now?

The new take on the genre, rooted more in survivalism aspect (which has ways of going wrong) of what Lara has to go through rather than any new outfit she has. Granted, that aspect is dropped pretty quickly. The fact that Lara is characterized as an archeologist with some genuine interest in history is a good point too.

It's not a perfect game, likely not a great game but it is a good game: the game design works, it's fairly fun to play, most of the quicktime events happen when you expect them and the story at least works with the game.

There are problems, the biggest of which is that control is frequently railroaded. It is also odd that Lara seems to have found a pocket-sized set of precision power tools, as some of the weapon upgrades really do not sound like DIY by the fireplace stuff. Another problem is that Lara is constantly reacting, not initiating action on her own.

[Thanas]

How does the story compare to Legend? Because that was the only TR game I enjoyed.

[Vendetta]

There are problems, the biggest of which is that control is frequently railroaded. It is also odd that Lara seems to have found a pocket-sized set of precision power tools, as some of the weapon upgrades really do not sound like DIY by the fireplace stuff. Another problem is that Lara is constantly reacting, not initiating action on her own.

How many times does Lara fall off of things in order to be Dramatic and Exciting Setpiece?

Because I've noticed that this is happening a lot these days, whenever lazy developers want something exciting and tense they just have the character fall off or slide down something, possibly with QTEs. That shit happened to Isaac in Dead Space 3 all the time and it got p. tiresome.