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[User 479360]

Great scores! Had a blast with the reboot, so I am happy this one looks to be of similar quality.

I was kind of worried this title would be low 8 material. That would be fine with me, but with the current competition that would probably mean a huge loss in sales. This period is packed with massive AAA games. These 9's however will surely convince some gamers. And if the game is really good, it should do well too in the eventual ports.

But still, I am a bit worried this won't do well in terms of sales though, with Halo 5 and Fallout 4, and recently Batman, Witcher, and MGS. I don't mind the exclusivity, I really don't. Was there really not a better timeframe to release this one? (a few weeks later perhaps?). Even the marketing seems somewhat absent, opposed to other recent titles. Why?

I hope it'll do well, because it deserves to. It may not be perfect, but it's a very good game.

An 8 is a great score, though. I'll never understand why people are so stuck on 9s and 10s and won't play anything lower than an 85 or so. There have been plenty of games I'd give a 6/10 that I've enjoyed. Hell, even the odd 5.

 

[Lothars]

I wanna say I heard it in an interview with Phil back at E3.

Why don't we get this kind of whining for SFV? It's the same situation, except SFV was guaranteed to come out no matter what.

So you come up with a imaginary quote out of your ass and than don't provide proof?

SFV has proof that it wouldn't exist at this time if it wasn't for Sony but from everything that's been posted tomb raider was multiplatform until Microsoft decided to buy a year exclusivity.

 

[SlickVic]

The reviews are about what I expected when Brad Shoemaker was holding back his excitement on the Bombcast because of the embargo.

I was going to wait for the PC/PS4 version if this scored in the 7.5 range, but the devs squashed most of my concerns and hit it out of the park. XB1 it is, I'm not waiting a year to play what seems to be a great game.

I think this game ends up being around $35 at Best Buy with GCU + $10 Pre-Order Certificate and Discover Best Buy Cash Back.

Based on the existing reviews and me already liking the 2013 game, I feel pretty confident I'm going to like this one, but I'm still curious to see what Brad gives it (assuming he's doing the GB review). I'm guessing 4/5, but we'll see.

 

[Trigonometrize.]

Expected but it sounds like a bigger, shiny TR2013, which is no good to me. Even the first one received great reviews but I hated pretty much everything of it, so.. yeah, to each his own. I'll see when it comes to PC with a very good deal, as for now my money are safely placed on Fallout 4.

I'm in the same boat. Right now it is only doing moderatly better than TR2013 360, so yeah that doesn't bode well for someone that thought the original was a terrible game.

 

[jbluzb]

Watching tomb raider gameplay and it looks and plays like uncharted excited for the game, great graphics.

 

[Blue Ninja]

My review at Eurogamer Benelux. It's in Dutch, but I'll give the cliff's notes version for you guys.

If you thought Tomb Raider 2013 was awesome, you'll love this one. I guarantee that fact. Rise of the Tomb Raider feels, in a lot of ways, like a carbon copy of that one.

With that out of the way, however, I didn't think it was particularly noteworthy. Game tries to be a lot of things at once and, imo, isn't particularly good at any of them. Combat isn't special, exploration feels a bit shallow and I felt the tombs were very disappointing after reading so much about them. Solving the puzzles is cool, though, and the game is really pretty. Texture quality, animation quality, everything is just gorgeous.

But, most of all, everything explodes around Lara the moment she arrives, just as it did two years ago. If you enjoyed that, you'll get more of it out of Rise of the Tomb Raider. If you didn't, you won't like this one either.

 

[Alo0oy]

Come on guys, stop talking about the exclusivity deal. I wanna know about the combat and the Tombs, not the exclusivity deal which has been discussed to death a million times.

So those of you that read the reviews, how are the Tombs? And what combat additions were in the game?

 

[statham]

You are having a laugh if you don't think that Microsoft locked down the deal between E3 announcement and Gamescom. They would have made everyone aware of its exclusivity at E3 otherwise.

just correcting him, thats all.

 

[User 479360]

My review at Eurogamer Benelux. It's in Dutch, but I'll give the cliff's notes version for you guys.

If you thought Tomb Raider 2013 was awesome, you'll love this one. I guarantee that fact. With that out of the way, however, I didn't think it was particularly noteworthy. Game tries to be a lot of things at once and, imo, isn't particularly good at any of them.

It does try to do too much, but it does a lot of things quite well imo.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

And for anyone that think this will kill the series, highly unlikely and if it does its Square's fault for taking the deal. The money they took has to offset lost sales, if it doesn't it's their fault no one else's

 

[brainslug]

Great reviews. Will get later this month.

 

[Industrialist]

You tell me? It's launching on the same day as the most hyped game of the last 3 years with almost no marketing...

Has plenty of marketing.

Not only that, but it'll be in stores when people go to pick up their copy of Fallout 4.
Not only that, but it coincides with a couple of "Buy 2 get 1 free" promotions that are kicking about.
Not only that, but it doesn't need all that much marketing to sell a lot of copies. The marketing was done at the front end of the cycle with the whole "exclusive" thing.

 

[BrianAltano]

Rocketed to the top of my game of the year list, and I've played everything this year. Rise of the Tomb Raider is the best game this year. Stunning, exhilarating, and fun as fuck. 20-30 hours of joy and adventure. Loved it all. Play it immediately, even if you have to borrow an Xbox One. Don't wait a year.

 

[DR2K]

Hmm looks like I might lose that will power and snatch me up an X1 for Black Friday.

 

[CryTharsis]

You don’t have to worry about endless waves of enemies. (from DarkStation)

YESSS.

 

[GnawtyDog]

Reviewing almost exactly like the first one.

 

[Stupid Sexy Flanders]

Wow lots of great scores! The devs must be over the moon

I wasn't that big a fan of the reboot but I'll still probably pick this up down the line

 

[Always-honest]

Wow, good scores.

 

[User 479360]

So those of you that read the reviews, how are the Tombs? And what combat additions were in the game?

The challenge tombs are more intricate than what we got in the reboot. They're more varied and you'll sometimes need to get specific gear in order to get to them.

Still, they maintain similarities in that you enter into a big room and need to solve a few puzzles to get from point A to point B. More complex puzzles, though, and more work was obviously put into the tombs.

The first one is a frozen ship.

The combat? Brutal finishers like drownings, for one. The combat is quite similar, and you have a lot of options: pistol, shotgun, bow (fire, poison, grenade arrows), and rifle (assault, bolt action).

There are bottles that can be made into molotovs and cans that can be made into grenades and smoke bombs.

 

[Inuhanyou]

I'm not disputing your point, just pointing out why they are perceived differently. A cross-gen game will never be viewed on the same level as a next-gen exclusive.

Your right about that, fully.

 

[Blue Ninja]

It does try to do too much, but it does a lot of things quite well imo.

That's why reviews, in the end, are subjective. I wasn't impressed with the game, looks like a lot of other reviewers were.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

Nice scores, though can't say I'm surprised.

No idea what game I want to start first on Tuesday, this or Fallout. I guess it's a good problem to have.

 

[Industrialist]

You don’t have to worry about endless waves of enemies. (from DarkStation)

YESSS.

I absolutely cannot believe that more reviews didn't pick up on this. I mean seriously, what are they doing? DarkStation is absolutely right. FAR fewer enemies this time around. Game is much better for it.

 

[User 479360]

That's why reviews, in the end, are subjective. I wasn't impressed with the game, looks like a lot of other reviewers were.

I don't disagree. To each their own.

 

[SolidChamp]

Rocketed to the top of my game of the year list, and I've played everything this year. Rise of the Tomb Raider is the best game this year. Stunning, exhilarating, and fun as fuck. 20-30 hours of joy and adventure. Loved it all. Play it immediately, even if you have to borrow an Xbox One. Don't wait a year.

Daaaayum son!

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Ha ha, that is great. Whoever is behind this account is a proper witty dude.

Eurogamer puts it the best way:

I liked TRE a lot, but I lament the loss of the old style of games. Exploring a massive isolated tomb or cavern with no one else nearby and a feeling that you were the first person to be there in thousands of years was amazing. That being said, I will probably still get this at some point and I'm glad to read that it seems to be a notable improvement on the last one. Is the plot and writing any better? I've only read a couple of reviews and they didn't really cover it any much detail.

Ugh. The better this reviews the worse I'm going to feel. It deserves better than to have buried like a JRPG behind the industry's biggest brand name IPs with massive marketing budgets. A lot of blame is going to be placed on the very negative reception the game had at its reveal because of the exclusivity window, too. Those are 100% avoidable corporate decisions wrecking a game's destiny, and it sucks.

If this game fails it's 100% Square Enix's fault. They shouldn't have had such unrealistic expectations for the first game's sales, they shouldn't have taken the exclusivity deal, and they shouldn't be releasing this right slap bang in between Halo, Fallout, Battlefront and COD. It's like a perfect storm of destined failure.

Good to hear that the game is good but this will bomb so hard, at least judging by the preorders at the store I work for.

Interesting tidbit. I expect it will do reasonably well on opening week, and then very quickly slide right down the charts.

 

[Grief51]

Don't want to go off-topic, but I have a really fishy feeling about Fallout 4.Somethings not right. Don't think it will be as awesome as many think.
I predict a 80 metacritic score. Significantly less than Rise of the Tomb Raider.

 

[KooopaKid]

Great review scores! Loved Tomb Raider 2013. This one seems just as good. I can wait one year though.

 

[Harmen]

I hope it'll do well, because it deserves to. It may not be perfect, but it's a very good game.

An 8 is a great score, though. I'll never understand why people are so stuck on 9s and 10s and won't play anything lower than an 85 or so. There have been plenty of games I'd give a 6/10 that I've enjoyed. Hell, even the odd 5.

Yes, I agree.

And no game is perfect. Batman had the repetitive batmobile focus, Witcher 3 the janky combat, MGSV an unfinished story and grindy progression, Halo 5 a short campaign, Fallout 4 seems like a technical mess etc. etc. Not even stating my own opinions/findings here, just points I regularly see on gaf. But it shows that for every game there will be a group of gamers that are not happy with the product.

 

[ShogunX]

Tempted to cancel my Amazon uk order and download from the us store

Singapore store has it for around £32.50, would go with that instead if you want digital.

 

[Radec]

Amazing scores.

 

[User 479360]

Yes, I agree.

And no game is perfect. Batman had the repetitive batmobile focus, Witcher 3 the janky combat, MGSV an unfinished story and grindy progression, Halo 5 a short campaign, Fallout 4 seems like a technical mess etc. etc. Not even stating my own opinions/findings here, just points I regularly see on gaf. But it shows that for every game there will be a group of gamers that are not happy with the product.

Yeah, there always is.

 

[tuxfool]

Don't want to go off-topic, but I have a really fishy feeling about Fallout 4.Somethings not right. Don't think it will be as awesome as many think.
I predict a 80 metacritic score. Significantly less than Rise of the Tomb Raider.

What is the basis for this prediction? What you suggest seems extremely unlikely.

 

[GnawtyDog]

What is the basis for this prediction? What you suggest seems extremely unlikely.

Only 5 more hours or so.

 

[Bishop89]

LMAO!!

Thats easily the best account on twitter.
Fucking beautiful

 

[Stereogatari]

Is it a bit more traditional exploration TR compared with TR 2013?

 

[GlamFM]

Don't want to go off-topic, but I have a really fishy feeling about Fallout 4.Somethings not right. Don't think it will be as awesome as many think.
I predict a 80 metacritic score. Significantly less than Rise of the Tomb Raider.

"Don't want to go off-topic, but let me go completely off-topic"

 

[SRTtoZ]

Don't want to go off-topic, but I have a really fishy feeling about Fallout 4.Somethings not right. Don't think it will be as awesome as many think.
I predict a 80 metacritic score. Significantly less than Rise of the Tomb Raider.

OK Kreskin.

 

[Farsi]

Lara, my sweet princess I for one couldn't wait for your return.

 

[mrklaw]

The challenge tombs are more intricate than what we got in the reboot. They're more varied and you'll sometimes need to get specific gear in order to get to them.

Still, they maintain similarities in that you enter into a big room and need to solve a few puzzles to get from point A to point B. More complex puzzles, though, and more work was obviously put into the tombs.

The first one is a frozen ship.

The combat? Brutal finishers like drownings, for one. The combat is quite similar, and you have a lot of options: pistol, shotgun, bow (fire, poison, grenade arrows), and rifle (assault, bolt action).

There are bottles that can be made into molotovs and cans that can be made into grenades and smoke bombs.

how brutal? Any gruesome deaths like the previous game?

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Square was NOT GOING TO MAKE THIS GAME until Microsoft said "WE'LL FUND IT" and that is how it got made.

This is not paid exclusivity.

This is Microsoft paying Square to make another Tomb Raider.

Can we cool it with the Uncharted mentions and whining about Microsoft? An exclusive's an exclusive. It's reviewing well. No need to start whining about that.

If you think Square Enix were not going to make a sequel to a 7-million selling game then you are high as a kite.

 

[Lettuce]

Haha, been even better when PS4 owners will be asked to cough up £40 for a year old game!

 

[glassgannon]

was hoping to wait for the ps4 version but pc it is then(ill have my upgrades by january)

 

[User 479360]

Is it a bit more traditional exploration TR compared with TR 2013?

There's lots of exploration. You'll find caves (wolves' dens and bear dens), knock down walls in those and explore ruins. Usually when you knock down a wall it's either leading to a treasure or is the route to a tomb.

There are also trees to climb that lead to platforms where you'll find things, challenges and side quests. A metric fuckload of collectibles too.

I didn't play a lot of the original Tomb Raider games, so I'm not a great judge of how much exploration was in those. But it's more expansive and there's more to do than in TR13.

 

[TiberusX87]

GameCloud – 9/10
http://gamecloud.net.au/review/rise-of-the-tomb-raider

 

[NightOnyx]

Glad to see the good review scores. I really enjoyed the last one a lot, so I'm disappointed that I have to wait and play this since I dont have an XBone. However, it's also not like I don't have a ton else to play the next several months. Hope everyone getting this enjoys it though.

 

[Stereogatari]

There's lots of exploration. You'll find caves (wolves' dens and bear dens), knock down walls in those and explore ruins. Usually when you knock down a wall it's either leading to a treasure or is the route to a tomb.

There are also trees to climb that lead to platforms where you'll find things, challenges and side quests. A metric fuckload of collectibles too.

I didn't play a lot of the original Tomb Raider games, so I'm not a great judge of how much exploration was in those. But it's more expansive and there's more to do than in TR13.

It does indeed sound much better on that front!

 

[Alo0oy]

The challenge tombs are more intricate than what we got in the reboot. They're more varied and you'll sometimes need to get specific gear in order to get to them.

Still, they maintain similarities in that you enter into a big room and need to solve a few puzzles to get from point A to point B. More complex puzzles, though, and more work was obviously put into the tombs.

The first one is a frozen ship.

The combat? Brutal finishers like drownings, for one. The combat is quite similar, and you have a lot of options: pistol, shotgun, bow (fire, poison, grenade arrows), and rifle (assault, bolt action).

There are bottles that can be made into molotovs and cans that can be made into grenades and smoke bombs.

Thanks. I like the addition of grenades.

Did any review talk about a new melee system or hipfire? How about the platforming parts?

 

[GnawtyDog]

If you think Square Enix were not going to make a sequel to a 7-million selling game then you are high as a kite.

He's just hyped!

At least this thread is going well for the most part. The Halo 5 review thread for a game that reviewed extremely similar went crazy in comparison. Expectations make a whole lot of difference.

 

[GRaider81]

Great scores, will def pick it up on PC