Well since he is playing the game he maybe right but what he said and shown actually made me want to play the game more. Frankly, most reviewers rarely relate to how I like a game or not with a few exceptions. For example, going back or back tracking - oooh I most have missed something - more exploring - fun. Kinda like the same experience the first two games - GREAT! I had a blast last time, I hope it is not much different.
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Shadow of the Tomb Raider
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ghostwich
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Jim Sterling is quite honest with his subjective viewpoint and if you're unfamiliar with him yes, his reviews are often like that now (hence you'll feel his "don't give a shit" attitude all over the place).
On the other hand, reviews from more centralized sources (IGN, Gamespot, Polygon, Kotaku, etc.) will all try to generalize stuff to appeal to a wider audience.
(And therefore those sites will regurgitate a lot of what is released from press statements or "reviewer guides" by the publisher/dev - leading to a same-y feeling to a lot of those reviews. I find it's best to take a wide cut across many different reviews to understand what we're looking at.
ACG (review was posted here as #158 - https://hardforum.com/threads/shadow-of-the-tomb-raider.1916131/page-4#post-1043825280) is my favorite non-sponsored reviewer, going through most of what I want to hear about in videos about as succinct as you can make them. When given review copies, he'll buy one and give it away to Patreons/commenters - not bad, more ethical than I find any of the major sites.
On the other hand, reviews from more centralized sources (IGN, Gamespot, Polygon, Kotaku, etc.) will all try to generalize stuff to appeal to a wider audience.
(And therefore those sites will regurgitate a lot of what is released from press statements or "reviewer guides" by the publisher/dev - leading to a same-y feeling to a lot of those reviews. I find it's best to take a wide cut across many different reviews to understand what we're looking at.
ACG (review was posted here as #158 - https://hardforum.com/threads/shadow-of-the-tomb-raider.1916131/page-4#post-1043825280) is my favorite non-sponsored reviewer, going through most of what I want to hear about in videos about as succinct as you can make them. When given review copies, he'll buy one and give it away to Patreons/commenters - not bad, more ethical than I find any of the major sites.
His review seems pretty spot on even in the first 2 minutes of his video. It's 'objective' enough to anyone who hasn't played the first two games.
Ultimately end result is this: If you liked Rise of the Tomb Raider there is no way in hell you're not going to like Shadow of the Tomb Raider. But it does seem like it's basically the same game with a different setting. A bit of a missed opportunity to make a jump that TR did to RotTR but who really cares. When it comes to sequels we know why they exist. Because we want more of the same.
I only just got to the first village with people and I feel like the game fits like an old shoe. I'm digging it. I just wish Jonah wasn't around and I'm waiting for the part where he separates from Lara. As for the story, it’s been over the top since the first reboot so I don’t know why people nit pick the narrative.
Also the game looks absolutely stunning and that on its own will keep you playing.
And to state the obvious, people’s reviews are their own opinions. If you like backtracking and all that then more power to you. If the reviewer hates it that’s his problem. I for one am a sucker for 100%-ing these types of games so I’ll go back and over the same areas all day with no problem just like I did with the first two games.
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I'm at 1440p with a GTX 1070 and when running the in-game benchmark there's pretty much no difference in fps when using SMAAT2x, TAA or SMAA...SMAA 4x gets 15 fps lower...so I'll just use SMAAT2x
I like the native language setting where characters speak in their native tongue (with English subtitles)...definitely more immersive
I like the native language setting where characters speak in their native tongue (with English subtitles)...definitely more immersive
M76
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That is exactly why I refuse to play on the hardest difficulty. If a ledge looks like it can be grabbed, you should damn well be able to grab it! Even if it leads nowhere. Second guessing whatever the level designers thought is the obvious route, is not my idea of fun. No hints mode only works if the physics is environment based, and not a flag on a ledge set by a level designer.
LurkerLito
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I have to agree with this. There are several walls that looked climbable that aren't and there are several jumps that you can make that look absolutely impossible given the distance you died trying on other jumps. Funny thing is on those jumps you can make that seem impossible, you can see them make Lara kind of float in the air just a bit longer like she is flying in order to make it.
M76
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Yes with hints sometimes you stand there and just look dumbfounded thinking, no way that is the right route. And when you try you can make it, even without trying that hard. At least in old platformer games you had to time your every jump perfectly to the last possible moment. Here you can jump 5 feet from the ledge and still make a jump.
And even with the hints on, there were places where I fell, when I jumped on things that looked very obviously accessible, but then you just bounce off an invisible forcefield and fall. I can't even imagine what a frustrating experience the game might be without the painted ledges.
Even when you just want to climb on top of a rock in an innocent situation you'd be jumping around at every wall trying to figure out which one works. Dreadful!
The level design, and early tutorial bits, quickly teaches the player what is and isn’t an interactable ledge. There is no second guessing. All possible interactable ledges, trees, walls, etc are established very early on in the game. They all usually have very obvious similarities regardless of the setting. I don’t agree with your gripe on that.
I play this game with all the survival instinct crap turned off as I have the previous game because it takes all the thinking out of the equation.
Games have too much hand holding these days it’s sad.
Also, if it took that guy an hour to figure out that he was doing something wrong then...well, I just don’t know what to say to that.
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M76
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Well if it not obvious to me with the hints on, then allow me the benefit of assuming it won't be obvious with them turned off. You might have the exact same mindset the level designers had and see exactly as they did, good for you if you can play without grabbing air every 2 seconds.
Finding out which ledges physics apply to, and which ledges are fake is not thinking. Or at least not the kind of thinking I want to do.
Therefore the point point of the hand-holding is not to reduce the amount of thinking as it highlights interactable objects. Which shouldn't even be a thing as normally every object in the world is intractable. Meaning it offsets a limitation of the game which is necessary for my suspension of disbelief. Because it takes an obvious game mechanic that is not a thing in reality out of the equation, that would otherwise make it very hard for me to immerse myself in the setting and the story.
If the game world was fully interactive there would be no need for any hints, and you could come up with solutions to any problem that is valid by basic physics. I wish TR was like that. Then it would be a 9/10 game at least, and not a 6-7-ish as we are used to.
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What's with all the frame dropping in towns? Maybe it's because I have a 1080 Ti paired with a 3770K...
M76
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Haven't noticed that yet.
On the other hand the game just dropped at least 2 points for me in the course of about 2 minutes. Anyone at the segment after "The Head of the Serpent"? That's why. I won't tolerate such abominations. I hope there won't be more like that because it was just pathetic.
The most hilarious part was that I suddenly lost all weapons, they weren't even shown on Lara, and then as the segment ended they magically re-appeared. I've seen bad game design, but this is a new low, especially for an AAA game.
I suddenly lost all interest in continuing to play it left such a bad taste in my mouth.
On the other hand the game just dropped at least 2 points for me in the course of about 2 minutes. Anyone at the segment after "The Head of the Serpent"? That's why. I won't tolerate such abominations. I hope there won't be more like that because it was just pathetic.
The most hilarious part was that I suddenly lost all weapons, they weren't even shown on Lara, and then as the segment ended they magically re-appeared. I've seen bad game design, but this is a new low, especially for an AAA game.
I suddenly lost all interest in continuing to play it left such a bad taste in my mouth.
that's the beauty of not showing hints!...if you were able to easily detect which walls were scalable etc it would be the same as having those hints turned on!!...trial and error is the entire point of disabling that option...I love all the various options the game gives you...of course you can't make everyone happy as some people want the game to have options catered specifically to their needs but overall it's fantastic
M76
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For the story to work you have to believe that Lara is so awesome that she does all this shit on the first try! If you have to approach the game with trial and error as a strategy then how do you keep believing that this actually can happen at all?
I want the events in the game to be at least conceivable. If I'm falling off left and right, because I have to guess the correct route that hardly makes it conceivable.
So yes, no hints make the game much worse for me. And the biggest problem is that if I want hints, then that comes with additional options I don't want. This wasn't the case with the two earlier games. So for me his is two steps back.
M76
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In real life all ledges that look like ledges you can grab onto! In the game you can't! That's my entire problem. In real life ledges are not magically made grabbable by an invisible hand who designed the rock faces.
Isn't it curious that the only ledges you can grab in the game you actually need to grab? And nothing else can be used? Ask real life mountain climbers if the only ledges that they grab during a climb are the only ledges that can be grabbed at all!
So for the sake of my sanity, and suspension of disbelief, I need hints and in my head make it plausible by assuming those are not the only rocks that you could grab. Otherwise I might as well play tetris, where there is no need for immersion, as it doesn't try to depict a realistic story.
Falling of cliff edges and structures that look like perfectly climbable is not real life it is the end of my rope.
SnowBeast
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Love this game. Can't wait to get my 4K projector back and play through it slowly. Only 54% is what I got on the first play through. Going to do the harder level without clues as already played through and turn up the intensity. I really like how you can customize to YOUR game play.
If you are going to treat a game with some "life like" real world features, then like other posters have said, I should be able to grab a ledge that looks like a ledge period. If not that ledge should just be crumbled or a straight drop off.
If you are going to treat a game with some "life like" real world features, then like other posters have said, I should be able to grab a ledge that looks like a ledge period. If not that ledge should just be crumbled or a straight drop off.
This is my only major gripe with this game.
It seems built for HDR. It's either too dark or too bright. I'm always having to adjust the brightness.
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M76
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Haven't noticed that, I think it looks excellent. Almost as if I had HDR and I don't. I hate when night is bright in games and you can see just as well as in daylight.
LurkerLito
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I also think they definitely made it more HDR friendly than for normal monitors. I generally find it fine outdoors, but in the caverns I always run into the situation where the game thinks your in an area you don't need the flashlight, but on my monitor it's too dark, then you step over past a certain point then Lara finally turns on the light and I can finally see again. I find it kind of stupid that they made the flashlight automatic rather than manual.
Domingo
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I haven't put a ton of time into it yet, but I think the HDR feels off or at least calibrated differently than anything else I have on my PC (or consoles for that matter). My normal color pre-sets still look kinda washed out. I had to turn the default HDR brightness way down to see the symbol they show in the calibration. No sir, I do not like it when anything uses the Win10 HDR setting instead of doing it natively.
M76
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I think you might have your monitors set up incorrectly. As I never encountered any issues with brightness. Do you all run the game with the latest drivers? Maybe that can also cause problems with brightness levels.
LurkerLito
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Yeah latest drivers, and monitor is setup properly with a Spyder 4 Pro so grey levels should be spot on. It definitely is better in HDR mode if I turn on my TV and switch the game to use it instead of my main monitor. Well I should amend what posted earlier, it's not that I can't see like it's black, but it's very difficult to see till you step to the part where she will turn on her flashlight. Well it's a minor issue overall.
hypertek_s30
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ever since 2013, i think the modern TR games have always been a treat for eye candy.
my aging i5 4690k (i forgot what my overclock is) and gtx 1070 slugging away at 4k around an average 35-40 fps is highly playable on high settings.
my aging i5 4690k (i forgot what my overclock is) and gtx 1070 slugging away at 4k around an average 35-40 fps is highly playable on high settings.
it's not the darkness by itself...nothing wrong with having really dark areas...it's that they totally crushed details in the dark which is what makes it look off...I've only reached the Peru jungle area so I'm hoping the issues were just for that beginning/tutorial area...the jungle area does look a lot nicer...it's not Crysis level of foliage but it does look impressive for the amount of trees, leaves etc
M76
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For me there is only a brief moment when I can't see in the dark, exactly the amount of time it takes for eyes to adjust to a darker environment. And I don't mean my eyes, it is the game simulating that effect. IDK, what settings are you playing on? Maybe it has to do something with the LOD?
I have another issue: I can't use melee in the game at all. No matter how I try, can't hurt enemies apart from stealth take downs. It's completely ineffective, and as I've seen there aren't even any skills that would enhance this.
Am I doing something wrong or is melee really this useless this time? In Rise you could basically go trough dozens of enemies only using the axe, here I can't kill a single one if my life depended on it.
I have another issue: I can't use melee in the game at all. No matter how I try, can't hurt enemies apart from stealth take downs. It's completely ineffective, and as I've seen there aren't even any skills that would enhance this.
Am I doing something wrong or is melee really this useless this time? In Rise you could basically go trough dozens of enemies only using the axe, here I can't kill a single one if my life depended on it.
M76
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You can't see details in real life in the dark either. Could you upload a screenshot of a part that you have problems with?
I think the game's rendering of light / dark, is by far the best of any game I ever played. Until now every game I saw portrayed darkness as either pitch black where nothing was visible, or as a slightly different palette to daylight where visibility was the same, only everything had a blue/grey hue. Not any more.
the early tutorial part looked to take place right before nightfall and doesn't look right in terms of color...overall the lighting is excellent and whenever there's a light source things look really good but there is black crush in the dark areas...I took some random screenshots which weren't meant to show the issue but you can see that dark area details are not good...and yes dark details can look good in other games/Blu-ray movies etc
LurkerLito
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Melee works, but can't really take anyone down by just hitting them, they have to fall over first then you can finish them off to do a full melee kill. But you will lose if there are multiple enemies with guns as you still take damage as you do the finishing off animation. I took down a guy while other gun enemies surrounded me and as I went to finish him off (the animation was already playing) she fell over and died before the animation finished. My usual usage of it is if stealth got broken then I melee (usually 2-3 hits by spamming Y on the controller) then the person falls over but not dead, then you get the prompt to press Y to finish him off and that's the only time he won't get up again.
hypertek_s30
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think i found a happy setting for my system..
wanted to rock out at 4k, but i was looking mostly at 30-40fps..
knocked it down to 1440 with a mix of high settings gets around a smooth mid 50s.
Now i do find it annoying having to switch windows to hdr before launching the game.. Im still mixed on that, and also what the best settings for my screen would be (rgb full vs ycbcr 422 limited or 444 limited etc)
wanted to rock out at 4k, but i was looking mostly at 30-40fps..
knocked it down to 1440 with a mix of high settings gets around a smooth mid 50s.
Now i do find it annoying having to switch windows to hdr before launching the game.. Im still mixed on that, and also what the best settings for my screen would be (rgb full vs ycbcr 422 limited or 444 limited etc)
with the optional challenges (such as collect 5 flowers from canopies etc) you can't see what the various challenges are until you discover them yourself?...meaning there's no way of viewing what they are unless you explore and find them?...with the previous 2 games you can see what the challenges are in your map/inventory book
M76
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Yeah that worked early in the game against trinity, but later against the cult and guardians I simply can't hit with melee, they seem to be dodging all my attempts.
M76
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I see nothing wrong with that. You're not supposed to see details in the dark. Maybe you gotten so used to games portraying darkness wrong that you're expecting it that way. I can't remember any other game where darkness looked this good. But I'll check the screenshots on my gaming monitor later as well.
VF31Tomcatters
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That tsunami level really pissed me off, I almost rage deleted it but gave it one more shot and finally beat it.
twonunpackmule
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I aim for the third leg.
VF31Tomcatters
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Does Laura ever get back to using her rifle and sidearm? Sure, the bow and arrow is good and great for stealth but I want some rat tat tat at bang bang too.
At the part where she fights the one of the big kitty the 2nd time.
At the part where she fights the one of the big kitty the 2nd time.
You're not far off at all from the part where she gets some firearms. Just a tiny bit further.