Overview: A reboot of the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider series which explores Lara Croft's origin story.
20180130 Part 1:
I played Tomb Raider for the first time. It was exciting.
Setup: I set the graphics to High Quality.
Steam Game Time: 114 minutes
20180130 Part 2:
After being pulled away from the game, I was able to return to it. I couldn't wait to experience more of the gameplay and story.
There were several moments throughout the game where I shook in suspense. For example, when Lara is climbing the radio tower.
On a different note, the plot of the story shares similarities with the plot of television series Lost.
In any case, I took a break from the game at the campfire located after the pilot.
Steam Game Time: 3.6 hours (total game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ A griping and emotionally driven story. Exciting to play.
+ Intricate player character interactions with the environments. Makes for immersive gameplay.
+ Fresh gameplay mechanics.
Neutral:
~ The level up system is an interesting gameplay mechanic. I suppose it allows for an experience similar to action adventure games such as Batman: Arkham Asylum and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Con:
- Save system intertwined with skill locations. Why can't this game allow players to save anywhere they want? Like any Half-Life or Zelda game?
Major Con:
- Quick time events (QTEs). I never quite understood the point of QTEs. Perhaps they're a reminder of the player character's mortality. I suppose I'd complain less if there was less time between failing the QTE and trying again, but the amount of load time takes away from the immersion. Ironically, I think the intention of a QTE is to immerse the player.
[After first 114 minutes]
Summary:
With the exception of the quick time events (especially the longer ones), which would benefit from non-lethal introductions before serving up lethal counterparts,* Tomb Raider is an excellent game for it's wonderful story. The game had an exceptional ability for evoking the sense of danger and emotion which Lara was experiencing.
Without elaborating, Tomb Raider stands on the shoulders of giants, taking what has worked well in the action adventure genre, thematically applied it to the Tomb Raider franchise, and added it's own set of improvements (forgive me if these elements already existed in other games) to create a fulfilling gameplay experience.
I would highly recommend Tomb Raider to any fan who enjoys the action-adventure genre.
[After 3.6 hours of game time]
20180131:
Today I decided to play more Tomb Raider.
I spent some time backtracking, only to find myself unintentionally following the main story again! Though I did manage to 100% one of the areas in my endeavor.
Overall, while I continued to enjoy the game, I found some of the joy diminished and the appeal of the game was not everlasting. That is, I was not addicted to the point to stay up and continue the game throughout the night. In fact - although I don't remember why - I had reached a point in the game where I wanted to stop playing, but had to press on because I hadn't reached a campfire.
I was finally able to save and exit the game after receiving the fire arrow ability and defending myself against a group of enemies.
Steam Game Time: 6.6 hours (total game time)
20240227 Snapshot:
Today I randomly looked off to the side to see "Manual" under Additional Content section. I decided to read through it. It reminded me of back in the day where physical games all came with manuals which I would read before playing the game. Often the manual contained the entirety of the story and context. In otherwords, it was assumed that the player would first read the manual prior to playing the game. I certianly miss that experience and I wonder how many times I've complained about a game's lack of tutorial when perhaps th game had a manual tucked away under "Additional Content."
20240227:
Today I picked up the game again and managed to proceed with very little problems in terms of figuring out where to go next, how to fight, and how to move about. I did, however, find that the game was less amazing than I remembered it. The graphics were great, but the movement sometimes felt clunky and the combat sometimes felt unnatural. In terms of combat, I disliked how the enemy came in waves and how the melee characters were invincible to ranged attacks. On the bright side, the story was excellent and while the quick time events can be annoying because of how finicky they can be, they do give a feeling of excitement that can't be achieved through normal course of gameplay. I also thought the checkpoints for the quick time events were generous.
Gameplay Log:
Save file started at 39%. Shantytown.
Reached Summit Forest.
Setup: I've been playing many games in QHD, but for Tomb Raider I made sure to crank the resolution up to 4K. In the launcher, I set the graphics quality to Ultimate and turned off the motion blur. Also while I've been playing many games on controller, I decided to play Tomb Raider with keyboard and mouse.
Steam Game Time: 10.3 hours (cumulative game time) / 3.7 hours (session game time)
20240228:
Gameplay Log:
Made my way to the camp. Slowly took out enemies one by one
Decided to go back to previous locations and collect objects.
: Coastal Forest was already almost complete with just some objective called Ghost Hunter left at 6/10. I didn't go back to it
: Mountain Temple was already complete.
: Mountain Village was the first area I returned to. There was a mechanic that I didn't remember until about halfway into the area: standing near a post, Lara can shoot at a bundle of rope and she'll tie the end off on the post to create a zipline that can be traversed. It would have been good to know earlier. In any case, I got the area to 98% completion. The last objective to complete is Egg Poacher at 4/5 (there are nests with eggs on various roofs)
: Base Approach. This area was at 1/1 + 1/2 + 1/2 and I completed it.
: Mountain Base. I completed finding objects in this area and an objective called Non-Believer was already at 4/5. Not remember what it meant, I looked it up: there are posters on the wall that need to be burned. I went looking for the last one and found it. The area is now 100% complete
: Base Exterior. Skipped this area.
: Shantytown. I had a lot to find in this area. By the end I was at 97% complete with Silencer at 3/4 (break the alarms).
: Geothermal Caverns. Skipped this area.
Steam Game Time: 13.2 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.9 hours (session game time)
20240316:
Gameplay Log:
Reminded myself of "Ghost Hunter": "Shoot and break all ten Skull Totems (Fetches) in the Coastal Forest."
After some trying, used a guide to determine location of fourth Silencer: near gondola pulley
Found four Firestarters. Then looked at a guide to find the remaining two.
Proceeding with story.
Why is it that Lara is being attacked by enemies on this broken pirate ship when her friends were at the shore fixing a boat without problem (as in, wouldn't the enemies have attacked her friends at the shore by this point?)
Hmm... this guy is definitely suspicious now... Lara observes he said he ran for miles and yet he didn't break a sweat. Seems like a great point that the others for some reason didn't catch onto
Steam Game Time: 15.4 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.2 hours (session game time)
20240319:
Gameplay Log:
After much searching, I used a guide to find the last "Previous Inhabitants" location: high above in a crane... far away where no regular person would think to look.... Area complete.
Steam Game Time: 17.7 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.3 hours (session game time)
20240320:
Gameplay Log:
Morning Session. 20.3 hours
Evening Session.
Notified of point of no return
Go back to Mountain Village to look for last "Egg Poacher". Found it.
Going to Summit Forest which is only 20% finished.
I completed the area except for a single "Red Cap Roundup".
After a thorough search I tried to use a guide.
When reading the words weren't enough, I tried to use the corresponding map. I went to each of the locations twice over with no success.
I then decided to stop playing and review my screen capture for the original pick-ups:
: When I enter the Forest I had 1/10.
: The second mushroom was the one in the middle (not along the edge) [53:04]
: The third mushroom is about 7 o'clock of the main clearing [57:43]
: Fourth mushroom at 4 o'clock of the main clearing [1:05:38]
: Fifth mushroom at bridge [1:11:31]
: Sixth mushroom at 11 o'clock of the main clearing [1:11:53]
: Seventh mushroom along the path that connects start of zone with main clearing [1:13:12]
: Eighth mushroom is the one to the left at start of zone [1:14:09]
: Ninth mushroom at 6 o'clock of the main clearing [1:21:07]
By deduction, I'm either missing the one near the start of the zone or the one near the wolves
It turns out it was the one near the start of the zone. It wasn't quite where I thought it was pinned on the map and it was hidden behind a tree.
Next was Shipwreck Beach where I was luckily able to spot the last "Mine Sweeper" soon after arriving! In fact, I barely moved from the camp. It did, however, take a while to navigate where I had to be to shoot it.
Feeling my odds for finding the last "Cairn Raider" to be low, I used a guide to find it. Unlike with "Red Cap Roundup", it was at the first map pin I checked (second from top), having known with certainty that the topmost pin was one which I had already obtained. Note that I was very happy to have used the guide, because this last one was just out in the open but since this area is so large, it would have felt like finding a needle in a haystack.
With Shipwreck Beach completed, I headed to Research Base.
It took me a while, but eventually I found the first such object needed for "Sun Killer". After that I found three more and had trouble finding the fifth.
After trying myself, I eventually tried to use the map pin but I still couldn't find it. So I looked at the detailed guide and it seems this last one was very well hidden.
Completed the game. 100%
Credits were slow
Steam Game Time: 23.7 hours (cumulative game time) / 6.0 hours (session game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Love the music and sound effects
+ The graphics and movement seem good with respect to when the game was released, but some of the animation has room for improvement
Neutral:
~ some quick time events make the game feel more exciting and some result in a less immersive experience
~ sometimes a gap appears far and yet when Lara jumps towards it the gap seems to magically shrink
Cons:
- the idea of having some enemies that can only be defeated by melee is silly - especially because triggering the counters feels like a chore (unless I'm doing something wrong)
- completing challenges can sometimes depend too much on using Lara's Survival Instinct, which can feel annoying
Rating: 4.0 out of 5
Tomb Raider (PC) (2013)
Relevant Links:
Tomb Raider (2013 video game) (Wikipedia.org)
Tomb Raider (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Tomb Raider (Steam Store Page)
20180130 Part 1:
I played Tomb Raider for the first time. It was exciting.
Setup: I set the graphics to High Quality.
 |
| Lara Croft and her bow |
Steam Game Time: 114 minutes
20180130 Part 2:
After being pulled away from the game, I was able to return to it. I couldn't wait to experience more of the gameplay and story.
There were several moments throughout the game where I shook in suspense. For example, when Lara is climbing the radio tower.
 |
| Lara makes her way to the very top of the radio tower. She's high above the ground. It's tense. |
On a different note, the plot of the story shares similarities with the plot of television series Lost.
In any case, I took a break from the game at the campfire located after the pilot.
Steam Game Time: 3.6 hours (total game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ A griping and emotionally driven story. Exciting to play.
+ Intricate player character interactions with the environments. Makes for immersive gameplay.
+ Fresh gameplay mechanics.
 |
| The game's not afraid to give Lara a wound every now and then. |
Neutral:
~ The level up system is an interesting gameplay mechanic. I suppose it allows for an experience similar to action adventure games such as Batman: Arkham Asylum and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Con:
- Save system intertwined with skill locations. Why can't this game allow players to save anywhere they want? Like any Half-Life or Zelda game?
Major Con:
- Quick time events (QTEs). I never quite understood the point of QTEs. Perhaps they're a reminder of the player character's mortality. I suppose I'd complain less if there was less time between failing the QTE and trying again, but the amount of load time takes away from the immersion. Ironically, I think the intention of a QTE is to immerse the player.
 |
| Lara traverses (under) the rope with her hands and legs |
[After first 114 minutes]
Summary:
With the exception of the quick time events (especially the longer ones), which would benefit from non-lethal introductions before serving up lethal counterparts,* Tomb Raider is an excellent game for it's wonderful story. The game had an exceptional ability for evoking the sense of danger and emotion which Lara was experiencing.
 |
| Lara slowly moves along the outside of a mountain, clinging close to its walls while bracing herself against the high-speed winds. |
Without elaborating, Tomb Raider stands on the shoulders of giants, taking what has worked well in the action adventure genre, thematically applied it to the Tomb Raider franchise, and added it's own set of improvements (forgive me if these elements already existed in other games) to create a fulfilling gameplay experience.
I would highly recommend Tomb Raider to any fan who enjoys the action-adventure genre.
[After 3.6 hours of game time]
 |
| Making upgrades to the rifle. |
20180131:
Today I decided to play more Tomb Raider.
I spent some time backtracking, only to find myself unintentionally following the main story again! Though I did manage to 100% one of the areas in my endeavor.
Overall, while I continued to enjoy the game, I found some of the joy diminished and the appeal of the game was not everlasting. That is, I was not addicted to the point to stay up and continue the game throughout the night. In fact - although I don't remember why - I had reached a point in the game where I wanted to stop playing, but had to press on because I hadn't reached a campfire.
 |
| Lara meets up with and rescues Roth, the Captain of the Endurance and Lara's mentor. |
I was finally able to save and exit the game after receiving the fire arrow ability and defending myself against a group of enemies.
Steam Game Time: 6.6 hours (total game time)
20240227 Snapshot:
Today I randomly looked off to the side to see "Manual" under Additional Content section. I decided to read through it. It reminded me of back in the day where physical games all came with manuals which I would read before playing the game. Often the manual contained the entirety of the story and context. In otherwords, it was assumed that the player would first read the manual prior to playing the game. I certianly miss that experience and I wonder how many times I've complained about a game's lack of tutorial when perhaps th game had a manual tucked away under "Additional Content."
20240227:
Today I picked up the game again and managed to proceed with very little problems in terms of figuring out where to go next, how to fight, and how to move about. I did, however, find that the game was less amazing than I remembered it. The graphics were great, but the movement sometimes felt clunky and the combat sometimes felt unnatural. In terms of combat, I disliked how the enemy came in waves and how the melee characters were invincible to ranged attacks. On the bright side, the story was excellent and while the quick time events can be annoying because of how finicky they can be, they do give a feeling of excitement that can't be achieved through normal course of gameplay. I also thought the checkpoints for the quick time events were generous.
Gameplay Log:
Save file started at 39%. Shantytown.
Reached Summit Forest.
Setup: I've been playing many games in QHD, but for Tomb Raider I made sure to crank the resolution up to 4K. In the launcher, I set the graphics quality to Ultimate and turned off the motion blur. Also while I've been playing many games on controller, I decided to play Tomb Raider with keyboard and mouse.
Steam Game Time: 10.3 hours (cumulative game time) / 3.7 hours (session game time)
20240228:
Gameplay Log:
Made my way to the camp. Slowly took out enemies one by one
Decided to go back to previous locations and collect objects.
: Coastal Forest was already almost complete with just some objective called Ghost Hunter left at 6/10. I didn't go back to it
: Mountain Temple was already complete.
: Mountain Village was the first area I returned to. There was a mechanic that I didn't remember until about halfway into the area: standing near a post, Lara can shoot at a bundle of rope and she'll tie the end off on the post to create a zipline that can be traversed. It would have been good to know earlier. In any case, I got the area to 98% completion. The last objective to complete is Egg Poacher at 4/5 (there are nests with eggs on various roofs)
: Base Approach. This area was at 1/1 + 1/2 + 1/2 and I completed it.
: Mountain Base. I completed finding objects in this area and an objective called Non-Believer was already at 4/5. Not remember what it meant, I looked it up: there are posters on the wall that need to be burned. I went looking for the last one and found it. The area is now 100% complete
: Base Exterior. Skipped this area.
: Shantytown. I had a lot to find in this area. By the end I was at 97% complete with Silencer at 3/4 (break the alarms).
: Geothermal Caverns. Skipped this area.
Steam Game Time: 13.2 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.9 hours (session game time)
20240316:
Gameplay Log:
Reminded myself of "Ghost Hunter": "Shoot and break all ten Skull Totems (Fetches) in the Coastal Forest."
After some trying, used a guide to determine location of fourth Silencer: near gondola pulley
Found four Firestarters. Then looked at a guide to find the remaining two.
Proceeding with story.
Why is it that Lara is being attacked by enemies on this broken pirate ship when her friends were at the shore fixing a boat without problem (as in, wouldn't the enemies have attacked her friends at the shore by this point?)
Hmm... this guy is definitely suspicious now... Lara observes he said he ran for miles and yet he didn't break a sweat. Seems like a great point that the others for some reason didn't catch onto
Steam Game Time: 15.4 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.2 hours (session game time)
20240319:
Gameplay Log:
After much searching, I used a guide to find the last "Previous Inhabitants" location: high above in a crane... far away where no regular person would think to look.... Area complete.
Steam Game Time: 17.7 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.3 hours (session game time)
20240320:
Gameplay Log:
Morning Session. 20.3 hours
Evening Session.
Notified of point of no return
Go back to Mountain Village to look for last "Egg Poacher". Found it.
Going to Summit Forest which is only 20% finished.
I completed the area except for a single "Red Cap Roundup".
After a thorough search I tried to use a guide.
When reading the words weren't enough, I tried to use the corresponding map. I went to each of the locations twice over with no success.
I then decided to stop playing and review my screen capture for the original pick-ups:
: When I enter the Forest I had 1/10.
: The second mushroom was the one in the middle (not along the edge) [53:04]
: The third mushroom is about 7 o'clock of the main clearing [57:43]
: Fourth mushroom at 4 o'clock of the main clearing [1:05:38]
: Fifth mushroom at bridge [1:11:31]
: Sixth mushroom at 11 o'clock of the main clearing [1:11:53]
: Seventh mushroom along the path that connects start of zone with main clearing [1:13:12]
: Eighth mushroom is the one to the left at start of zone [1:14:09]
: Ninth mushroom at 6 o'clock of the main clearing [1:21:07]
By deduction, I'm either missing the one near the start of the zone or the one near the wolves
It turns out it was the one near the start of the zone. It wasn't quite where I thought it was pinned on the map and it was hidden behind a tree.
Next was Shipwreck Beach where I was luckily able to spot the last "Mine Sweeper" soon after arriving! In fact, I barely moved from the camp. It did, however, take a while to navigate where I had to be to shoot it.
Feeling my odds for finding the last "Cairn Raider" to be low, I used a guide to find it. Unlike with "Red Cap Roundup", it was at the first map pin I checked (second from top), having known with certainty that the topmost pin was one which I had already obtained. Note that I was very happy to have used the guide, because this last one was just out in the open but since this area is so large, it would have felt like finding a needle in a haystack.
With Shipwreck Beach completed, I headed to Research Base.
It took me a while, but eventually I found the first such object needed for "Sun Killer". After that I found three more and had trouble finding the fifth.
After trying myself, I eventually tried to use the map pin but I still couldn't find it. So I looked at the detailed guide and it seems this last one was very well hidden.
Completed the game. 100%
Credits were slow
Steam Game Time: 23.7 hours (cumulative game time) / 6.0 hours (session game time)
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Love the music and sound effects
+ The graphics and movement seem good with respect to when the game was released, but some of the animation has room for improvement
Neutral:
~ some quick time events make the game feel more exciting and some result in a less immersive experience
~ sometimes a gap appears far and yet when Lara jumps towards it the gap seems to magically shrink
Cons:
- the idea of having some enemies that can only be defeated by melee is silly - especially because triggering the counters feels like a chore (unless I'm doing something wrong)
- completing challenges can sometimes depend too much on using Lara's Survival Instinct, which can feel annoying
Rating: 4.0 out of 5
Tomb Raider (PC) (2013)
Relevant Links:
Tomb Raider (2013 video game) (Wikipedia.org)
Tomb Raider (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Tomb Raider (Steam Store Page)
Date/Time
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
@
13:00
Labels
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__rating.0
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100% completion
,
action
,
adventure
,
main game completed
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origin
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reboot
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