Tomb Raider

A while back I played through the new Tomb Raider game.  Yes, I know, I don't post as much as I used to.  When fall comes around, I will post more frequently.  Writing these posts makes for a good stress reliever inbetween classes.

So before it gets too outdated (though already pretty outdated) I will quickly go over the new Tomb Raider game titled Tomb Raider.

My friends have already heard me rave about this game so they have probably stopped reading at this point if they even started to read it at all.  In fact, in reality, only my friends read these posts so, theoretically, no one is going to read from here on.  However, I will continue to write anyways.  Just for the hell of it.

To start, I basically think that the old Tomb Raider games suck.  The controls are some of the worst that I've ever seen in a game on any platform.  The graphics were always sub-par.  The action is weird (mostly because of the broken controls).  If you haven't played the old ones, I wouldn't recommend trying them now.

What I would recommend is the new Tomb Raider game.  If you like Batman Arkham Asylum, Batman Arkham City, or Sleeping Dogs, this game is right up your alley.  The gameplay is similar to those listed.

The graphics are breathtaking.  Though, at this stage of the game, we expect no less from Square Enix.  Amazing graphics are about the only good thing you can expect to have in a Final Fantasy game nowadays.  I'll be honest, when the intro. cutscene started, I thought I was watching a live action clip.  Everything looked that polished and developed.  It's by far the best graphics that I have seen on the Playstation 3 thus far.

The story is basic but also rather deep.  I won't talk about it here though because I don't want to spoil anything.  Regardless, the story is certainly better than what we had seen on previous Tomb Raider games.  The plot is solid.  What also contributes is a bunch of collectibles.  This game is one of the few games in the new generation of gaming that I actually put a decent effort into finding all of the collectibles.  Many of the collectibles tell the player about the characters or the history of Lara Croft's surroundings.

The voice acting is on par with many Hollywood films.  It won't disappoint.

The controls are fluid and natural.  No more stumbling around and awkard sidestepping like in previous Tomb Raider games.  Weapon use is standard and easy to get a handle on.  If you played the Batman games or Sleeping Dogs, you will feel right at home.

Square Enix does a beautiful job of seamlessly combining cutscenes and gameplay.  A lot of games have issues with having gameplay with a bunch of cutscenes awkwardly thrown into it.  This game is not one of those.

Exploration is a huge part of the Tomb Raider series and this game certainly has exploration!  I still haven't finished finding everything.  Secret tombs, documents, diaries, etc. give you tons of extra gameplay from the main story.

Experience and skillpoints are pretty effective.  By the end of the main game, you will have many of the skills and weapon upgrades but not all of them.  This progression rate is about what I look for in a game.

You feel like you can use Lara's survivalist skills to the fullest everywhere you go.  Between pulling down walls with her grapple and bow, lighting stuff on fire with flame arrows, etc., there is a ton of options for what you need to do when and where.

The fighting/action is pretty fun as well.  However, when sneaking, the enemies can be really stupid about it.  It's similar to how the sentries act in the Metal Gear Solid games.  Though, in MGS it's at least comical.  Here, it's just stupid and easy.

The only other downside is the overall difficulty of the game.  There's essentially no penalty for dying.  You die, you get setback a couple of feet with all of the items and stuff that you collected before you died.  Really easy.  Hosever, I will admit, I only played through the game on normal difficulty.  Perhaps it is much more difficult on hard.

Overall, if you like action/adventure games, this game is a must play.  I had a ton of fun playing it and I can't say that for very many new generation games.  If you have a friend that owns it, there's no reason you shouldn't borrow it and at least give it a try.  Not to mention that this new Lara Croft is, in my opinion, hotter than the old one.  Play it.  Even if it's just to see how hot Lara Croft is.  I'm telling you.  You don't want to miss this one.