Lets begin with what the game gets right. First of all its a true sequel to the first game. We get more of the same stuff story and gameplay wise plus some new things. New cool puzzles. Great story in caves/crypts we explore. Audio files and collectibles are awesome. For me it was the Ancient stuff that was the most cool where the audio diaries from everyone EXCEPT the psycho soldiers were mediocre. The psycho soldiers are truly entertaining to listen to.
The graphics and voice-work during the cinematics are truly Tripple A and the lib-sync is top notch. Except outside of cinematics. Combat has had a few tweaks but I didn't really enjoy it much. Felt a bit clunky still in my opinion but hey... thats my opinion.
The game is quite big for a 3rd person shooter. Took me ca 18-20 hours to complete the entire game and thats with doing every side mission. I still only have a 75 % completion rate so I'm still missing a few things. In other words. The game is big. Lot of content for your money here. No doubt about that. This is not your typical 3rd person shooter you sit down and finish in 1 sitting...well...unless you're REALLY hellbent on it. I personally go by it a steady average phase.
What's also worth mentioning is what we 2013 players requested more of. We have had our survival system upgraded. It feels more immersive now and meaningful like in 2013 that gave us a taste of it. Animations as well as much more really give you the feel that Lara is alone in the wilds. She's cold, hungry, tired and in peril. Its all awesome.
The concept and execution of a Lotta things are truly great. But... yes there is a but. Now I'm gonna discuss what the game is not doing so well in my opinion.
First of all. Lara has lost 90 % of the character progression that we saw in the first game. Lara feels like she has it all under control now and she doesn't hesitate at going from not killing... but butchering her way through 500+ soldiers?! yes she's fighting for survival but this gunning thing...is getting completely ridiculous in my opinion. 2013 one made sense because it was fanatics and otherwise monster samurai. Though she was killing we still saw a side of her that was like... Why am I here. I don't want this. Killing to escape etc.
That made the action more meaningful in a Tomb Raider kind of way. I wanna find Treasure. Not go on a rampage.
In this game however it feels more streamlined in the poorer sense of the word. I dare even go as far to say partial Uncharted clone. It's such a god damn shame.
I wish Tomb Raider could be its own thing but it seems like Crystal Dynamics or Square Enix is either favoring Nathan Drake otherwise there's pressure on its consolization and in my opinion... dumbing down on mature content. This might offend people but thats how I see it.
Compared to the older games this feels more like a running and gunning simulator than ever before and I dislike that. And what makes it worse is the fact that every cave/crypt dungeon you can explore has a BIG title infront of its name that says: OPTIONAL. Basically to tell people who just wanna gun and NOT REALLY wanna play Tomb Raider that it's totally fine. Go shoot some more. Nevermind what makes Lara Croft...Lara Croft.
My question to this is: Why? Who are you appealing to? Because it sure as hell isn't the old school fans. If you remove the dungeons and the survival you practically have a female Nathan Drake on your hands. Not an overstatement.
Is it that bad you might ask? Well yes and no. Luckily dungeons and survival and more is NOT shoe-horned in. It's good content. But I cannot deny that the 3rd person shooter genre aspect is weighing in significantly. The end boss fight is a QTE for gods sake.
Buyer Beware. If You like like Tomb Raider you might wanna give this a shot. The content you find in tombs, collectibles and more is interesting and relevant to your progression. However the perks we get from major crypts I personally find absolutely stupid and definitively consolized as hell. Its not making your gameplay experience more logically superior or improved. No. Its giving Lara superpowers where in to see through walls, and have trees, bushes and traps GLOW as if they were fully lit Christmas trees. Its absolutely ridiculous and kills immersion. I want this removed in the next game. Its stupid and makes you feel like you're a generic guy running around in some shooter game RATHER Than Lara Croft...the legendary, clever explorer.
All in all it feels increasingly like a typical console game. Which I find sad. Not surprising due to the corporate BS exclusive.
Is it a bad game? No. It's an okay game with a lot of content. Stuff for us old fans and stuff for the guys who just wanna shoot and call it a day. Its a mixed bag. And thus I rate it a 6 out of 10. Its above average. A good game. And though I feel like giving it a 7 due to its cool dungeons, (Though some are streamlined and lackluster) survival features, graphics design, super cool sections of amazing immersion plus partially relevant DLC. I just can't. Its too much gunning and senseless slaughter for a traditional Tomb Raider experience. All which hurts when the combat system isn't that appealing.
I liked it. But in regard to replay value, I think I'll stick with the survival DLC. I wont play through this entire game again. Too much gunning. Not enough Tomb Raider.
The graphics and voice-work during the cinematics are truly Tripple A and the lib-sync is top notch. Except outside of cinematics. Combat has had a few tweaks but I didn't really enjoy it much. Felt a bit clunky still in my opinion but hey... thats my opinion.
The game is quite big for a 3rd person shooter. Took me ca 18-20 hours to complete the entire game and thats with doing every side mission. I still only have a 75 % completion rate so I'm still missing a few things. In other words. The game is big. Lot of content for your money here. No doubt about that. This is not your typical 3rd person shooter you sit down and finish in 1 sitting...well...unless you're REALLY hellbent on it. I personally go by it a steady average phase.
What's also worth mentioning is what we 2013 players requested more of. We have had our survival system upgraded. It feels more immersive now and meaningful like in 2013 that gave us a taste of it. Animations as well as much more really give you the feel that Lara is alone in the wilds. She's cold, hungry, tired and in peril. Its all awesome.
The concept and execution of a Lotta things are truly great. But... yes there is a but. Now I'm gonna discuss what the game is not doing so well in my opinion.
First of all. Lara has lost 90 % of the character progression that we saw in the first game. Lara feels like she has it all under control now and she doesn't hesitate at going from not killing... but butchering her way through 500+ soldiers?! yes she's fighting for survival but this gunning thing...is getting completely ridiculous in my opinion. 2013 one made sense because it was fanatics and otherwise monster samurai. Though she was killing we still saw a side of her that was like... Why am I here. I don't want this. Killing to escape etc.
That made the action more meaningful in a Tomb Raider kind of way. I wanna find Treasure. Not go on a rampage.
In this game however it feels more streamlined in the poorer sense of the word. I dare even go as far to say partial Uncharted clone. It's such a god damn shame.
I wish Tomb Raider could be its own thing but it seems like Crystal Dynamics or Square Enix is either favoring Nathan Drake otherwise there's pressure on its consolization and in my opinion... dumbing down on mature content. This might offend people but thats how I see it.
Compared to the older games this feels more like a running and gunning simulator than ever before and I dislike that. And what makes it worse is the fact that every cave/crypt dungeon you can explore has a BIG title infront of its name that says: OPTIONAL. Basically to tell people who just wanna gun and NOT REALLY wanna play Tomb Raider that it's totally fine. Go shoot some more. Nevermind what makes Lara Croft...Lara Croft.
My question to this is: Why? Who are you appealing to? Because it sure as hell isn't the old school fans. If you remove the dungeons and the survival you practically have a female Nathan Drake on your hands. Not an overstatement.
Is it that bad you might ask? Well yes and no. Luckily dungeons and survival and more is NOT shoe-horned in. It's good content. But I cannot deny that the 3rd person shooter genre aspect is weighing in significantly. The end boss fight is a QTE for gods sake.
Buyer Beware. If You like like Tomb Raider you might wanna give this a shot. The content you find in tombs, collectibles and more is interesting and relevant to your progression. However the perks we get from major crypts I personally find absolutely stupid and definitively consolized as hell. Its not making your gameplay experience more logically superior or improved. No. Its giving Lara superpowers where in to see through walls, and have trees, bushes and traps GLOW as if they were fully lit Christmas trees. Its absolutely ridiculous and kills immersion. I want this removed in the next game. Its stupid and makes you feel like you're a generic guy running around in some shooter game RATHER Than Lara Croft...the legendary, clever explorer.
All in all it feels increasingly like a typical console game. Which I find sad. Not surprising due to the corporate BS exclusive.
Is it a bad game? No. It's an okay game with a lot of content. Stuff for us old fans and stuff for the guys who just wanna shoot and call it a day. Its a mixed bag. And thus I rate it a 6 out of 10. Its above average. A good game. And though I feel like giving it a 7 due to its cool dungeons, (Though some are streamlined and lackluster) survival features, graphics design, super cool sections of amazing immersion plus partially relevant DLC. I just can't. Its too much gunning and senseless slaughter for a traditional Tomb Raider experience. All which hurts when the combat system isn't that appealing.
I liked it. But in regard to replay value, I think I'll stick with the survival DLC. I wont play through this entire game again. Too much gunning. Not enough Tomb Raider.