Rise of the Tomb Raider

[fragger]

The ledge-leaping one returns, will be available for PC early in 2016.

I might keep this one in mind as I quite enjoyed the last title in the franchise despite some of its shortcomings, like too many QTEs and cutscenes, and too much emphasis on gunfights over the clever puzzle-solving that made the older TR games so engaging. This one looks to be on about the same level as the last TR in those regards. Nevertheless TR was still a fun adventure.

Graphics look pretty cool :-X

One gripe I have already - she no longer looks much like the Lara I've come to know and love. She used to have such a great face, but now they've gone and changed it. And isn't it time for her to ditch the pants and don her trademark khaki shorts? Come on Eidos, get with the program...

! No longer available

[Art Blade]

those graphics indeed look nice except Lara's hair. Moves as if in slow motion  ::)

[Dweller_Benthos]

I've been watching a video series on this, and there's a lot more combat and a lot less tomb raiding/puzzle solving than the original games. About the same as the last game, open world stuff that leads to a fairly small area with a single goal, then back out to the open world. Not so many quick time events as the last game, but still some. Since it's third person, I wouldn't play it, but for fans of the series, it might be fun.

[PZ]

It's too bad that many of the early versions of games were the best, and with each subsequent iteration they become worse.  They seem to enjoy adding more of the timed events, cut scenes, etc. as fragger mentioned.  I personally have no use for either when done to excess, especially if it becomes the more dominant part of the game

[fragger]

I agree with your thoughts chaps. I might let the price be the final determining factor as to whether I get the game or not :-D Maybe it'll be a bargain-bin job some time later.

There's often not a huge amount of replay value in these games, as fun as they can be. I only played the last one through once as there were many areas that I was glad to put behind me and wasn't keen to tackle a second time. I never quite finished the last game as I smelled a major boss fight coming up towards the end and I just knew it was going to be one of those affairs where you have to frantically run here and there and shoot this or that in an unforgivingly time-critical manner and I hate that sort of stuff.

Some of the end/mid-game bosses in earlier TR games were just so ridiculously difficult that I hunted down cheat codes online and skipped over them :-\\ I got sick of coming this close to doing it only to make one misstep, fail and have to go all over again.

I miss the puzzles where I could take my time and think things out. Without those, TR becomes just another run-of-the-mill TPS game. This is probably yet another instance of devs pandering to those with no patience and short attention spans.

[PZ]

My favorite missions are those that when completed, have me feeling that I already want to replay again.  Like you fragger, i detest those that one is relieved to be done with - where is the fun in that.  ... and bosses... that is why I lost my interest in the Far Cry series ( that stupid red devil in FC3).  I'll probably still play the best parts with a heavily modded game, but I'm in no hurry.

[Art Blade]

boss fights got to be kicked back to the 1980s where they belong.

[PZ]

Indeed, I see them as the most childish addition to a game one can imagine.  It would not be so bad in a game full of monsters and such, but when you have a relatively realistic open world game, bosses are just plain stupid and ruin the experience.

Imagine watching an old John Wayne movie when suddenly a boss appears and John has to run around like an fool firing everything in his gun belt.  An idiot director producing a movie like that would be out a job after his first film.

[Art Blade]

the script writer(s) should never be allowed past pitching that rubbish.

[fragger]

Yep, the whole concept is old and over the hill.

Many of the bosses in the older TR games have been of the huge statue-come-to-life variety (the old Jason and the Argonauts film springs to mind). These actually sort of suited the quirky and comicky nature of the earlier TR games, but they're totally out of place in the last couple of games where the devs have gone for a more "down to earth" approach. Silly, silly stuff, needs to be buried once and for all.

PZ, the first time I saw that giant demon thing rising in FC3 my first thought was "Aw crap Ubi, a boss? Tell me you haven't..."

[Art Blade]

funny how bloody often "UBI" tends to show up in rants. >:D

[fragger]

Yeah, funny, that :-()

[OWGKID]

The game has some serious PC specific issues on the Windows Store version: No SLI/Crossfire support, runs in borderless-only mode (which isn't supported by SLI/Crossfire :D), V-sync is forced on (no way to disable), no modding possibilites, mouse macros doesn't w@&k, no overlays (Fraps and other recording software don't w@&k) and you cannot add it to your Steam library, the game is treated like a Windows App (therefore no .exe is used to launch) 

Source

If any of you want the game, buy the Steam version ;)

[fragger]

Thanks for the heads-up - oh, I was going to say "GKID" but you've changed your username :-D Thanks OWGKID (and a salute) :-()

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah, that windows store looks like a dumb idea all around, oh wait, this is Microsoft we are talking about, so why be surprised?

[Art Blade]

MS and UBI should team up.  :-D

[PZ]

They probably already have and we just don't know it.  After all, everything we do is supposed to be open to their scrutiny, but everything they do is private.

[Art Blade]

it should be the other way round, really.

[PZ]

Indeed.  However, it seems like most everything right/wrong in the world these days is the other way around

[OWGKID]

I was going to say "GKID" but you've changed your username

Yeah, I just realized I could add "OW" before my username some weeks ago :-D So it would be Open World Games KID7891  :-()

[Art Blade]

now that you added something, you might consider subtracting something. like, 7891. That would turn your username into something that I could actually pronounce without my teeth popping out. :-D

[OWGKID]

 

[Binnatics]

 
What does that 7891 stand for actually? ????

[OWGKID]

Nothing special really, it's just some numbers I added to my username.