Tomb Raider 9 General Discussion and Opinions

    Hello there! :wave2


    Since lots of material have been released about the upcoming Tomb Raider game and I'm sure many people have thoughts and opinions about the game, I decided to open this thread for general discussion. Keep in mind that there's already an Official Screenshot Discussion thread, so if one wishes to discuss about screenshots one shall do it there. ;-)


    Gameplay videos from E3 2012 and trailers (Turining Poin and Crossroads) can be watched for example via Youtube, and screenshots and concept art images can be viewed for example at the Official Gallery here (Screenshots) and here (Concept art)


    Hopefully this sparks up some discussion. :-) Feel free to post your thoughts and opinions!


    Now, as the general guidelines and links have been listed above, here are some of my thoughts about TR9:
    I'm quite happy about how the gameplay video that showed deer hunting confirmed that in addition to escaping scavengers and fast-paced action there are also rather calm sequences and less scary environments. I remember being worried about the game turning out to be too scary, but since the videos show a bit of sunshine instead of constant darkness in caves, I have a feeling that I don't necessarily be all :shock: while playing. [hehe]


    But speaking of fast-paced action, some of the fighting scenes seem a bit too brutal for my taste. I've never been so interested about how realistic and accurate things are in video games, I only play games for fun and entertainment. The amount of gore and blood is a bit worrying. :S I hope there'd be an option in a menu to turn bloodsplatters off...

    The general direction of the game is very similar to Uncharted, but from what was shown so far Tomb Raider will focus more on additional exploration than on shooting with guns. In Uncharted all you have to so on the side is find the treasures and the one strange relic. In Tomb Raider there are going to be treasures, finds like letters that tell little stories (of missing family for example), finding all skulls one can shoot and so on.


    All in all it's like they have taken bits of the classic Tomb Raiders (shooting the skulls reminds me of shooting the bones found in TR4; the axe is like having the crowbar back...) and of Uncharted (hand-to-hand combat, manual aiming, the movie-feeling, climbing on plane/train wrecks...) mixed with a few new ideas.

    tombraidergirl wrote:

    The general direction of the game is very similar to Uncharted, but from what was shown so far Tomb Raider will focus more on additional exploration than on shooting with guns. In Uncharted all you have to so on the side is find the treasures and the one strange relic. In Tomb Raider there are going to be treasures, finds like letters that tell little stories (of missing family for example), finding all skulls one can shoot and so on.


    All in all it's like they have taken bits of the classic Tomb Raiders (shooting the skulls reminds me of shooting the bones found in TR4; the axe is like having the crowbar back...) and of Uncharted (hand-to-hand combat, manual aiming, the movie-feeling, climbing on plane/train wrecks...) mixed with a few new ideas.

    Sounds good to me. :D Pretty much the only similarity I've noticed between Tomb Raider and Uncharted has been the combat, and I don't mind it at all.


    Am I wrong if I remeber hearing/reading somewhere that the axe could serve as a multiway tool: as a weapon, for climbing and prying off objects etc.?

    Yes, that's true. It's kind of multi purpose. It is also used for sliding down ropes in the videos. (See list above.)


    We have not jet seen it used as a weapon, so I hope that at GamesCom we might be able to play a bit of the demo to find out. In some interview it was said that it can be used as a weapon, though. (Maybe it was Karl Stewart, but I don't remember.)

    Wile E. Coyote wrote:

    I hope that at GamesCom we might be able to play a bit of the demo to find out. In some interview it was said that it can be used as a weapon, though. (Maybe it was Karl Stewart, but I don't remember.)

    I'll keep my fingers crossed (or "thumbs up" as we say here up North ;-) ) for the GamesCom! :thumbsup Do you think they'll show new things or will they concentrate on already released material?


    Also, there's apparently going to be quite a lot of interaction between characters (I remeber hearing Karl Stewart saying something of that sort on one E3 video), I'm pretty interested on how they'll do it. In that sense, AoD was a good experiment with it: it did matter which option you chose in the dialogue parts (e.g. with Margot Carvier when Lara had to get Werner's diary and with Louis Bouchard). I wonder if the interaction between characters is like the following:


    go to person X, press action
    Person X: Oh, hey Lara!
    and that was it.


    Or would there be lines to choose from, a meaningful dialogue that sort of affects the course of the game? It'd be cool, but also probably quite difficult to make (or what do I know about making games :shy: )... :think:

    Unless they have changed their mind since the last time we had the opportunity to ask, there will not be dialogue options and there will be no other playable character than Lara Croft.


    The promised interaction will be part of the storyline and part of Lara's character development.


    In the full 2012 E3 demo there is a scene where Lara kind of interacts with Doctor Whitman. It starts off in the video where he tells Lara, he'll scout ahead while she is resting at the fire place (aka one of the "Base Camps") and then carries over to the actual game play where Lara then has to catch up with him at a closed gate. There are two wheels which open this gate and while Whitman is manning one of the wheels, Lara figures out that she cannot turn the wheel on her side as the handle is missing and her tool (again the axe) is not strong enough to serve as a replacement handle. They spilt up again while Lara looks for parts to improve the axe and then meet up again once they are ready to open the gate together... In this part all the interaction is scripted and the outcome is always the same. They also said there were not gonna be multiple endings, the main storyline is linear. What you do in-between and how many side missions you do is up to you.

    tombraidergirl wrote:

    Articles I have written about the Tomb Raider Reboot can now also be found on tumblr:
    http://tombraidergirl.tumblr.c…ed/Tomb%20Raider%20Reboot

    Those a great articles, tombraidergirl! :thumbsup Lot's of things that I didn't know about the upcoming game, especially about the Game Mechanics! 8o


    tombraidergirl wrote:

    Unless they have changed their mind since the last time we had the opportunity to ask, there will not be dialogue options and there will be no other playable character than Lara Croft.
    The promised interaction will be part of the storyline and part of Lara's character development.
    In the full 2012 E3 demo there is a scene where Lara kind of interacts with Doctor Whitman. It starts off in the video where he tells Lara, he'll scout ahead while she is resting at the fire place (aka one of the "Base Camps") and then carries over to the actual game play where Lara then has to catch up with him at a closed gate. There are two wheels which open this gate and while Whitman is manning one of the wheels, Lara figures out that she cannot turn the wheel on her side as the handle is missing and her tool (again the axe) is not strong enough to serve as a replacement handle. They spilt up again while Lara looks for parts to improve the axe and then meet up again once they are ready to open the gate together... In this part all the interaction is scripted and the outcome is always the same. They also said there were not gonna be multiple endings, the main storyline is linear. What you do in-between and how many side missions you do is up to you.

    Allright, that side mission thing sounds good. Adds many hours to the gameplay, and possibly replay value. :-)


    After reading that article about the Game Mechanics, there's one thing that bugs me a bit: earning XP. In a way it was in AoD, in the form of the strenght upgrades. Occasionally it was really annoying if you came across e.g. a pit, but Lara wasn't strong enough to jump over it and had no idea where to get the upgrade. But it won't be the case this time, since it's apparently purely earning the XP by e.g. hunting.


    Sort of the whole XP things starts to sound a bit too RPG'ish for my taste... :chin But it won't make me any less excited about the game! ;-)

    Many players are worried about the XP feature, but I think it's unnecessary. The way I see it this is only used to adapt Lara's abilities to the player's needs.


    A certain number of XP will gain you a skill point which can then be spent to buy an upgrade. So far the Ingenuity Upgrades have been explained best.


    Three of these are available from the start (on the lowest tier):

    Quote

    Arrow Retrieval - Completing this upgrade will enable Lara to collect shot arrows from dead bodies.
    Survivalist - Gain XP from gathering plants.
    Hunter - Make hunting easier.


    Like if you have trouble hitting the targets and waist a lot of ammo, you pick arrow retrieval, if you have more trouble approaching prey unnoticed use hunter, and if you are skilled but want to upgrade fast pick survivalist. That's the way I understand it. (I did not get around to experiment with it a lot, so I am not sure about the long-term gain of any of those options.)

    tombraidergirl wrote:

    The way I see it this is only used to adapt Lara's abilities to the player's needs.

    When put in that way, the XP starts to sound like a good thing. :-)

    tombraidergirl wrote:

    Like if you have trouble hitting the targets and waist a lot of ammo, you pick arrow retrieval, if you have more trouble approaching prey unnoticed use hunter, and if you are skilled but want to upgrade fast pick survivalist. That's the way I understand it. (I did not get around to experiment with it a lot, so I am not sure about the long-term gain of any of those options.)

    Interesting... :chin It's good that there are options on what upgrades to choose. I wonder if it's mandatory to upgrade Lara at least a bit? :chin Meaning, that towards the end enemies etc. get more and more trickier, so that it's really hard to pass them without any upgrading.

    I guess a really good player would not need to upgrade Lara, but it will make life easier.


    Which reminds me, I still have to post the list of "combat upgrades", guess that will be the first thing I upload to the wiki.

    Wile E. Coyote wrote:

    I think it's really nice! What do you think?

    That looks amazing! :D I like all of the Tomb Raider concept art, they really have a nice, mysterious atmosphere. :thumbsup


    I've watched all of the recently released videos about TR, but still I've got to say my worries are pretty much the same as they were in August: :S

    The Poet wrote:

    But speaking of fast-paced action, some of the fighting scenes seem a bit too brutal for my taste. I've never been so interested about how realistic and accurate things are in video games, I only play games for fun and entertainment. The amount of gore and blood is a bit worrying. :S I hope there'd be an option in a menu to turn bloodsplatters off...

    Some of the climbing axe wielding was a bit too much for my taste... :dead


    Happier thoughts are that I might pre-order the Survival Edition of Tomb Raider, since I really don't care that much about the figurine that'd come with the Collector's Edition. This would be the very first time I'd pre-order anything, so I have think about it a while before I place my order. But the DLC that'd come with the preorder - a Weapon Pack, would defnitely be a must-have for a silly raider like me! :shy: [hehe]


    Has there been any official word about a multiplayer feature, by the way? As I was googling around in the World Wide Web I stubmled across a possibility that the TR9 would have one... :chin I hope not, though, I don't think multiplayer suits TR that much. :S

    The Poet wrote:

    Has there been any official word about a multiplayer feature, by the way? As I was googling around in the World Wide Web I stubmled across a possibility that the TR9 would have one... I hope not, though, I don't think multiplayer suits TR that much.

    It has been pretty much confirmed - yes. You most likely won't find any valid source though, as Crystal got them deleted, once they were found by some fans.


    I'm also not too keen on it, but as long as the single player game doesn't suffer from it (becomes shorter or has parts that are only accessible, once they got unlocked in MP-mode) I'm OK with it. :)

    Soul wrote:

    It has been pretty much confirmed - yes. You most likely won't find any valid source though, as Crystal got them deleted, once they were found by some fans.

    It's a bit silly how almost every time some fans figure out something, all the edivence gets deleted... :chin Come on, Crystal Dynamics - the cat is out of the bag, just admit it! [hehe]

    Soul wrote:

    I'm also not too keen on it, but as long as the single player game doesn't suffer from it (becomes shorter or has parts that are only accessible, once they got unlocked in MP-mode) I'm OK with it. :)

    I really hope that'd be the case with the multiplayer, just have to wait and see... :weird


    March 5th 2013 can't come soon enough! :-) I'm really excited! :happyjump Hehee, these days remind of the time when I was eagerly waiting for TRU. :shy:

    Well, at first I was like "Oh no! It really is true!" :shock: But then I was okay and I hope it turns out the way Soul described earlier. I'm pretty sure I won't play the game with the multiplayer mode at all, though. :yepp


    Have to wait till January 8th for the magazine to hit the stores, and read more then. The cover looked a bit "suspicious" since it had Lara and Roth as main figures in it. So, I'm guessing for a Totec & Lara -kind of "one helps another to reach places etc." multiplayer. The news also mentioned how the magazine will tell more about the modes and characters available, so another guess is for the multiplayer in TR to be similar to Uncharted multiplayer (?). :chin

    Possibly. I kind of hope so, I really liked the U3 Multiplayer mode, especially the one where you can play Split Screen with a friend on the same console.


    In the end, the Single Player Mode decides it the game is any good, but I don't worry about that. Everything I heard/read so far tells me the game will be great.