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Rise of the Tomb Raider controls: why is it so loose and clunky?

N

nynt9

Member
I don't know if it's too early for a LTTP thread, so I'll just focus on my main gripe with the game. The controls. It comes in two flavors: movement and aiming.

1. Movement
The platforming feels extremely loose. There are many objects/surfaces that look like you should be able to jump or hold onto on them, but you can't. Also the game doesn't have the sticky platforms that many of its peers have, so if your jump is slightly off due to your aim being a bit off (more on that later) you'll just fall to your death because you missed a ledge by a few centimetres. Or maybe that ledge isn't climbable at all! It just feels inconsistent.

2. Aiming
The aiming is horrible in this game. There's clearly a decent amount of input lag, so trying to zone in on fast moving targets is tough. To add to that, it seems like there's a noticeable dead zone in the aim, which makes aiming even harder. The human enemy AI is some of the worst I've seen in a game recently, so that's no challenge whatsoever, but wolves for example are impossible to shoot as they move fast and your aim is laggy and inconsistent. This can be an issue with the platforming as well as I said, because you can misalign yourself accidentally and miss a jump.

Anyone else have these issues? Why are the controls of this game so clunky? It's not even in an intentionally clunky way that survival horror games do to enhance tension, it's just bad.

Shin-Ra said:
I don't think the aiming's just input lag, but lack of analog sensitivity close to the dead zone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6gntKyAvA&feature=youtu.be&t=32m55s (32m 55s)

This also demonstrates broken AI, with the last guy in the first group just standing there waiting to get shot. Shortly after that..

https://youtu.be/KQ6gntKyAvA?t=33m51s (33m 51s)

Two arrows miss the mark and the guy walks into the wall where the arrows hit.
Click to expand...
 
D

Dunkley

Member
Weird, I mean especially with the 360 apparently not having those input lag issues it is bizarre that they remain unfixed for the Xbox One version.
 
N

nynt9

Member
antitrop said:
Is it significantly different from Tomb Raider 2013?
Click to expand...

I played that one on PC so I can't really compare. Also that one had simpler environments so the platforming was less of an issue - what you could jump on or hang onto was clearer.
 
M

Mr.Fletcher

Member
As someone who felt Tomb Raider 2013 played better than Uncharted, in terms of gunplay and feel, I must agree that Rise of the Tomb Raider felt like a step back.

I adjusted and still had a really good time with it but after playing the UC4 beta, which feels fantastic, it sticks out even more.
 
TriniTrin

TriniTrin

war of titties grampa
Agree it is a bit clunky on platforming sections sometimes. Can't tell ya how many times i fell to my death because she just wouldn't go where I wanted! That input lag is definitely apparent for me too.

Just finished the game though and still really liked it despite the control issues I had.
 
H

Hixx

Member
Didn't mind the movement but as someone who thought the aiming and shooting in Tomb Raider was quite good I was shocked by how horrible it felt in RotTR. In the end I stuck with the shotgun and SMG purely because of their lack of need for precision aiming when in the original game I loved using the bow and even the pistol.
 
N

nynt9

Member
Hixx said:
Didn't mind the movement but as someone who thought the aiming and shooting in Tomb Raider was quite good I was shocked by how horrible it felt in RotTR. In the end I stuck with the shotgun and SMG purely because of their lack of need for precision aiming when in the original game I loved using the bow and even the pistol.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm trying to use the bow but it's not really a great option, by the time I line up my aim properly Lara's grip runs out, it's bad especially when trying to shoot far away things and the target is really small. I got the grip upgrade so it's a bit better but it's still not great.
 
TriniTrin

TriniTrin

war of titties grampa
Hixx said:
Didn't mind the movement but as someone who thought the aiming and shooting in Tomb Raider was quite good I was shocked by how horrible it felt in RotTR. In the end I stuck with the shotgun and SMG purely because of their lack of need for precision aiming when in the original game I loved using the bow and even the pistol.
Click to expand...
I straight just used the auto targeting feature because of it. LOL
 
L

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
The game has really bad input latency. Something not seen since probably KZ2 or UC3 on PS3. UC3 feels like a whole different game on PS4 thanks to significantly reduced latency.
Ironically, X360 version of new Tomb Raider has much smaller input latency, there was a short video posted that showed that.

zsynqx said:
Wait so it feels worse than the first game? Hope the fix that for the PC version.
Click to expand...
Way worse, especially compared to FPS unlocked PS4 version of 2013 TR. I guess that's what the very ambitious rendering pipeline can do to a game.
 
M

mindsale

Member
antitrop said:
Is it significantly different from Tomb Raider 2013?
Click to expand...

Haha, oh god. (Wipes away tear). It's the same wepaons and upgrades with a new backdrop. She can't dual-wield pistols or anything.

Update: I read that hastily; mistook as "is the game any different." The controls are loose-feeling. Precision was difficult. I can't remember the original being super-precise, but I thought in Rise the controls felt a lot like Last of Us before you invest in weapon sway reduction. The clunkiness was highlighted by some of the "on-the-fly" weapon construction like molotovs, that whole process was a clumsy cherry on top.
 
N

nynt9

Member
mindsale said:
Haha, oh god. (Wipes away tear). It's the same wepaons and upgrades with a new backdrop. She can't dual-wield pistols or anything.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is also very disappointing, and the tombs are still small-ish challenge chambers that can easily become frustrating due to the horrible platforming, so the game isn't a big improvement over the original to me except visually (and it looks great), in fact it being the same thing a second time around kinda makes it worse and it's less focused.
 
S

Shari

Member
I'd bet money is all in the input lag. The system as I've seen in the videos seems to be the same and I've been told the input lag breaks pretty much the handling.

Doubts will be gone as soon as the PC version hits. I'm waiting.
 
Shin-Ra

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
nynt9 said:
The aiming is horrible in this game. There's clearly a decent amount of input lag, so trying to zone in on fast moving targets is tough. To add to that, it seems like there's a noticeable dead zone in the aim, which makes aiming even harder. The human enemy AI is some of the worst I've seen in a game recently, so that's no challenge whatsoever, but wolves for example are impossible to shoot as they move fast and your aim is laggy and inconsistent. This can be an issue with the platforming as well as I said, because you can misalign yourself accidentally and miss a jump.

Anyone else have these issues? Why are the controls of this game so clunky? It's not even in an intentionally clunky way that survival horror games do to enhance tension, it's just bad.
Click to expand...
I noticed both the aiming and AI looked dodgy in pre-release footage but few seem to take issue with it, or even talk about it.
 
O

Oneself

Member
Oh no, I hope the issue will be solved by the time the PS4 version comes out. I thought the controls of TR:DE were pretty much perfect and definitely better than Uncharted. If not broken, why change it?
 
M

mindsale

Member
Oneself said:
Oh no, I hope the issue will be solved by the time the PS4 version comes out. I thought the controls of TR:DE were pretty much perfect and definitely better than Uncharted. If not broken, why change it?
Click to expand...

Believe me, "if it's not broken, don't fix it" is the motto of this game.
 
N

nynt9

Member
Oneself said:
Oh no, I hope the issue will be solved by the time the PS4 version comes out. I thought the controls of TR:DE were pretty much perfect and definitely better than Uncharted. If not broken, why change it?
Click to expand...

It's unclear if it's intentional as some say the 360 version works fine apparently, so maybe it's related to some tech they use on the Xbone version that causes the lag? Time will tell I guess.
 
T

Traumnovelle

Member
I really liked the game but I definitely noticed input latency/aiming problems that I don't remember experiencing in the 2013 title. Not as bad, but definitely the worst I've seen since the unpatched Uncharted 3.
 
D

DrGonzo615

Banned
Oneself said:
Oh no, I hope the issue will be solved by the time the PS4 version comes out. I thought the controls of TR:DE were pretty much perfect and definitely better than Uncharted. If not broken, why change it?
Click to expand...

I just replayed the DE (PS4) a couple weeks ago and I noticed in a few parts (I believe the shanty town was the worst) where there was a huge input delay in the controls. I really hope its not that bad with Rise
 
F

FunkyDealer

Banned
I didn't find it too bad. Apart from the input lag.

I rarely had any issues with movement, and combat was only problematic when you got up close and personal.
 
Z

zsynqx

Member
nynt9 said:
Have they acknowledged it at all? I'm not on twitter often so I wouldn't know.
Click to expand...

Hammer the devs with these issues.

With the first day of the UC4 beta there was a slight deadzone issue and they fixed it within a couple of hours because of the outcry. Devs need to be made aware of this stuff by the community for anything to be done.
 
S

Skilletor

Member
I've never missed a jump in this game. Sometimes it seems like I should, but Lara kind of glides to the platform or ledge.
 
N

Nev

Banned
nynt9 said:
The platforming feels extremely loose. There are many objects/surfaces that look like you should be able to jump or hold onto on them, but you can't. Also the game doesn't have the sticky platforms that many of its peers have, so if your jump is slightly off due to your aim being a bit off (more on that later) you'll just fall to your death because you missed a ledge by a few centimetres.
Click to expand...

I hate that this seems to be a legit complain. Fuck automated platforming. I'd love to see you play the first Tomb Raider games. The SLIGHTLY less automated platforming in TR2013 was one of the few things it did better than Uncharted, being able to control Lara in the air alone makes its platforming miles better than what Uncharted calls platforming.
 
N

nynt9

Member
Nev said:
I hate that this seems to be a legit complain. Fuck automated platforming. I'd love to see you play the first Tomb Raider games. The SLIGHTLY less automated platforming in TR2013 was one of the few things it did better than Uncharted, being able to control Lara in the air alone makes its platforming miles better than what Uncharted calls platforming.
Click to expand...

I played the original TR games, I love them. But if you're going to do auto-platforming, do it right. It's inconsistent in this game and causes deaths, so it's bad.
 
L

lumi7890

Member
Yeah, the controls in this game were super clunky and awkward. witch i was surprised at, cause the controls in the last game were pretty good.
 
P

Pound_lb003

Member
The only thing I've noticed from watching it is the OTS view is horrible. It looks like she's shooting off to the left or right depending on which shoulder you're aiming over.

Her gun should be more front facing. It really irks me. But I've only watched bits of RotTR, not played.

I wasn't into how Reboot felt anyway, this just looks worse.
 
S

Skilletor

Member
Nev said:
I hate that this seems to be a legit complain. Fuck automated platforming. I'd love to see you play the first Tomb Raider games. The SLIGHTLY less automated platforming in TR2013 was one of the few things it did better than Uncharted, being able to control Lara in the air alone makes its platforming miles better than what Uncharted calls platforming.
Click to expand...

It isn't. The platforming is as automatic as ever. It's braindead. The only way you'll miss a ledge is if you are not near it at all...like at all. She is magnetic. If you're anywhere near a ledge, the worst that will happen is that she'll grab it and you'll have to press X to get your grip.

There is no challenge whatsoever to the platforming in this game.
 
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