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chameleoneel
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2005
- Messages
- 7,594
Maximus said:
I have to respectfully disagree. Uncharted 1 and 2 (I haven't played 3, yet) is overall a much better package than Tomb Raider.
Uncharted 1 and 2 blows Tomb Raider away, in combat. The A.I. is just way beyond Tomb Raider and Uncharted's gunplay controls are much tighter. Some extra options like shooting from the hip, shooting while hanging, grabbing while hanging; really opens up the gameplay. and again, the A.I. reacts to all of that quite well. There are just way more possibilities in the flow of combat. Not just from the player, but the A.I. can work you pretty hard sometimes (although I felt like Uncharted 2 was dialed back, slightly). So you actually need to utilize these play options, to succeed in the game. Tomb Raider's combat is pretty much shoot shoot shoot. or melee melee melee. There is really no penalty to melee and the QTE finishers grant you invincibility. In Uncharted, especially the first one, you can't even think about melee a lot of the time. You have to wait for/work for viable openings. And they can't be prolonged, otherwise your ass will get shot up the entire time you are exposed, until dead. A lot of the melee in the Uncharted games ends up being super quick. squeezed in, between cover spots, between bullets. The enemies don't stand around and watch you beat on their comrades. They work together to shoot you, flush your out, flank you----oh man the flanking in the Uncharted games is like the secret best part of the whole thing.
This next bit is more subjective than objective: I like that in Uncharted you have to press buttons for cover. It makes you feel like you are actually doing something. Its deliberate, it adds to the tension. You also then get access to more unique ways to take cover. I mean, Lara just crouches no matter what she's near and their's not connection to the cover. its so loose. Nathan presses against things and it could be crouched, standing, leaning, etc.
Tomb Raider definitely made some strides to try and make you feel like you weren't climbing by the numbers, which is a big flaw in the Uncharted games. In Tomb Raider you mostly have some choices with how and where you climb. I definitely think this is one of the core strengths of the game. It adds a lot to the exploratory feel. Also, the mult-tiered structure of everything really drives home the feeling of being in a mountainous area. If you thought the mountain region in Uncharted 2 was impressive---that was kid stuff. Tomb Raider still has a big problem with its climbing mechanics: Your jumps are assisted. all you really have to do is move a little and press the jump button. The game then carries you over the gap and makes sure you make it. Its halfway automated. It makes it feel very loose. Its still holding onto Uncharted's coat tails. I really like pressing buttons to re-enforce hand holds after a slip or a broken ledge or something. It would really be amazing if we actually had to make our jumps, like a semi-serious plat-former. Then we might be able to get some rhythm and flow into the jumping and climbing. Uncharted 2 did have some amazing set-pieces for the climbing sections, so the linearity wasn't highlighted quite as much.
Uncharted has way more identity and personality than Tomb Raider. Even the First Uncharted, from the gate, is way more sure of what its trying to accomplish with its story and characters. It sets up Nathan's motivations and initial investment in the plot right away and makes you clear on why you are where you are. and all of the characters have well developed personalities that are utilized to great effect in the plotting. It all may be pulply, but it makes no bones about it. On top of that, the gameplay is pretty sure of itself, overall. Uncharted knows its a smart, sleek shooter with light puzzles and climbing around scenic areas, sprinkled in for an almost ambient flavor. Tomb Raider is not a very cohesive experience. It borrows nearly all of its beats from everyone else and ends up with something competent, overall. but the specifics are mostly lacking.
In Tomb Raider, Initially, I barely caught why we (the player/lara/her group) were at this island. It apparently is some big undertaking/personal mission for Lara, for which she convinced these other people to invest in and follow along with. and then once things start going wrong, she becomes apologetic and regretful. and we are supposed to care at these particular moments. Instead, I was actively struggling to piece together this setup, while these otherwise important scenes were happening and therefore nearly being lost on me. It was almost like there's a preface somewhere that I missed or something. and then, nobody has any sort of identity/personality. The characters are simply there to deliver key lines here or there to validate Lara's current mood. The overall story is pretty decent, but scene to scene its pretty weak and struggles to connect each scene to the last. It also struggles initially, to connect Lara with the plot. It struggles to connect her and the other characters. I feel a lot of the blame should go to the forced in need for an "origin" story. Its the same problem with all these superhero movies. You spend a good chunk on the "origin", but you still have to fit in a full plot arc after that. Its misguided. We don't always need to see the the literal beginnings of a well known character. But if you are going to do it, you need to go all in. Tomb Raider cops out in a couple of areas during the Origin segment and it hurts the game.
Initially, it presents this game of survival and struggle. Yet, there aren't really any game systems to support this. You go shoot a deer in a convincing forest and watch Lara make a fire in a cutscene. The end. I thought I was going to be playing a game where I periodically had to harvest animals for subsistence. Instead they are just experience cows for the fake upgrade system. They play a little bit with the idea that Lara has never had to survive before or that she's never been in any real danger. but soon after you are shooting up the forest and the bad guys like a character that's 7 games deep. The whole first segment was trivial and a bit misleading. Tomb Raider seems like it really wants to be a shooter, but at the same time, I'm not sure it does! Or that it should be, at least.
I'm halfway through the game and there is no villain or source of opposition. Yeah, I've fought a fair number of guys. I don't know who the fuck they are or why they don't like me. and its pretty clear they aren't the same guys as the in-your-face cult caves that you happen across every now and then. There's also reveal at some point (i'm being vague here in interest of preserving the experience) with an enemy that is dropped in front of your with no hint or build up. Its just like, well ok...
There's a lot of cool scripted segments where you just move from Point A. to Point B. and a ton of stuff happens around you. It looks cool and is certainly exciting. But you specifically, didn't do much. I feel like these scenes are trying to pull you into something that you might see in an Indiana Jones movie or something similar. That's great, but I'd like to do more of it. Interact. Again, everything is so loose and halfway automated, I'm barely playing. There's no tension, there's no work for reward.
The best thing about Tomb Raider is the overall impression made by the climbing and jumping around. and the flow of the environments from one to another. I feel like a lot of information is communicated to the player through the environments, before its literally told to you. Which is brilliant. ;SPOILER; Before you actually know that you really are going to be dealing with a lot of Japanese stuff, you start coming across Japanese architecture and artifacts. (Yes I realize that you could know this if you read up on the game a lot, but I didn't. As presented in game, I didn't really know where Lara and crew where at or what they were getting into.) before you are told that there may be some legitimacy to the legends, you start getting into old temples and tombs communicating that possibility. You also get a sense of time and history from a lot of these places. The set dressing and environment design in this game are really top notch and all of it serves the plotting very well. I'd like to see them take it a couple of steps further and create puzzles that feed us the info to read and interpret some of the stuff found in the tombs. Instead of just a cutscene where Lara looks at some paintings and pulls some detailed info out her butt.:END SPOILER:
*I didn't dislike playing this game as much as it may seem. But it could stand to see a lot of improvements and more focus.
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