We've talked a little bit about when we feel it's right to write up a First Impressions article and after only two hours with Tomb Raider (the 2013 reboot), I feel that I'm just about ready, which is not to say that I know exactly what to expect from the game, just that I'm ready to talk about my two hours.
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| Pretty good looking game, despite all the destruction. |
First off, this game is gorgeous. I'm running the game on "Normal" settings for those of y'all who want to know, but that's because I'm not sure if my computer could handle the "Ultra" settings and even at "Normal," gorgeous. I'm also using mouse/keyboard controls instead of a controller because the keyboand preset bindings didn't look to be too complicated (Looking at you Dark Souls and Assassin's Creed) and I have had no problems with playing the game. There have been a number of instances where I have been required to quickly tap the left-right buttons (A and D), which is kind of awkward, but so would trying to fight off a wolf who is going for your throat.
Presently, one aspect of the game that I feel it suffers from, is the "hurry up and go do something else in the meantime" syndrome. I'm sure there's a better name for that, but I cannot think of what it is. What I mean is, in the beginning of the game, you're trying to locate a member of your team who has gone missing, so the remaining members start looking away from you. After leaving camp, the person you're with radios for you to meet them up a hill. I then proceeded to thoroughly explore two open-ish areas connected by an underground tunnel. I also explored an optional cave turned tomb (My first foray into raiding I guess) and I still have a bit more to explore after finding a treasure map. The point is, in each area, the game tells you how many tombs, artifacts, team member journals, et cetera can be found in an area, and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave stuff in an area unexplored and undiscovered. It's been the same with Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, that there are some pseudo-time sensitive ("Quick, you need to do this!") quests/missions that you can put off while you explore and upon meeting back up with your quest NPC's, there is no acknowledgement that you've been off gallivanting around uncovering buried bits and pieces of who knows what.
I know that I could just roleplay Lara Croft and only uncover items when I come across them, as opposed to actively searching an open area for them, but the video gamer in me constantly tells me that I should go and find these items because getting to certain areas is basically a puzzle. AND because the game is actually telling me that there are a specific number of items to be found and what percentage of the items I've already found, I'm going to feel like a failure if I knowingly leave an area without finding 100% of the items. Granted I say this now, but if there's a scene where I have to Indiana Jones away from a 12 ton boulder, I'm not going to stop and look for that one elusive GPS device.
So only two hours in, I'm very happy with Tomb Raider, being the first game in this illustrious series that I've played for more than 10 minutes (I previously tried Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider 2 on the PSX, and couldn't stand the control scheme so I had to stop). It's already passed the Bechdel Test (which is nice since it's currently 2016, although the game was only made three years ago) and Lara's outfit seems fitting for the character/story (I like the nod to a similar color scheme as the original series) and doesn't play directly towards the T&A community. That's really all I have to say about a game that I'm maybe, 5% through. More to follow later.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
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