Tomb Raider

[Reverend]

Mr. Adventure wrote:

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The little Tomb Raider I've played never struck me as open world. Are the later games that way?

No, not open world like Skyrim or Fallout 3, but it does have large open areas around which you a free to investigate in your own time to discover hidden secrets and figure out how to open the way to the next area.

From what I've seen of Uncharted, the areas are *much* more linear. Indeed, to me it felt very overly scripted, almost like an old rail shooter.

[RoJoHen]

I like the linear nature of the Uncharted games. Honesty, I'm getting tired of all these open world games. I play video games for the stories they tell and for the running, climbing, shooting, and stabbing.

[Kelthaz]

If you're just interested in the story than the linear nature of Uncharted would be fine, but there really isn't much gameplay in the series. When I played the first game I enjoyed it okay, but it felt like the game was playing itself while I was just along for the ride.

In a game like Mega Man the linear design works fine because you have a choice on how to approach each obstacle or enemy and you need skill to overcome these problems. In Uncharted, I was just pressing the X button to advance to the next cutscene and watching my character make death-defying leaps and shoot bad guys.

[Owain Taggart]

Reverend wrote:

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No, not open world like Skyrim or Fallout 3, but it does have large open areas around which you a free to investigate in your own time to discover hidden secrets and figure out how to open the way to the next area.

From what I've seen of Uncharted, the areas are *much* more linear. Indeed, to me it felt very overly scripted, almost like an old rail shooter.

They're linear, sure, but then so were the Tomb Raider games. Uncharted just perfected on the formula and while I admit they aren't as open, there are some really nice areas that have the feel of being open, plus there's lots of treasure to collect just like Tomb Raider. I'd describe Uncharted to be like an action movie with intricate setpieces with some puzzle solving thrown in. Uncharted 2 for example felt like a good James Bond/Indy mashup.

[RoJoHen]

^Totally agree. Drake is a modern day Indiana Jones.

[Kelthaz]

Owain Taggart wrote:

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I'd describe Uncharted to be like an action movie with intricate setpieces with some puzzle solving thrown in.

Yeah, that sums it up well.

[Owain Taggart]

RoJoHen wrote:

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^Totally agree. Drake is a modern day Indiana Jones.

In fact, it made a better Indiana Jones movie than the Crystal Skull With the marketing for Uncharted 3, they even had Harrison Ford play it.

[Reverend]

Owain Taggart wrote:

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They're linear, sure, but then so were the Tomb Raider games. Uncharted just perfected on the formula and while I admit they aren't as open, there are some really nice areas that have the feel of being open, plus there's lots of treasure to collect just like Tomb Raider. I'd describe Uncharted to be like an action movie with intricate setpieces with some puzzle solving thrown in. Uncharted 2 for example felt like a good James Bond/Indy mashup.

I guess my main problem with Uncharted was that shooting people was really all there was to do. In Tomb Raider, killing people was not what you spent most of your time doing. In that respect I guess Uncharted just felt mindless and shallow to me.

I suppose it doesn't help that I've never been much of a Bond fan and it takes more than a series of flashy set pieces and scripted events to hold my interest. I like a little more scope in my action adventure games, with a little more emphasis on the adventure and a lot less over-dependence on the action.

Again, this is all just personal preference, but I like there to be many peaks and valleys in gameplay. Too much non-stop action and it just becomes a meaningless blur. I like Tomb Raider's semi-open areas as it offers some nice calm, but still challenging gameplay that's only occasionally punctuated by some exciting action.

Hell even in straight up shooters (the good ones) this is the case. I mean how much time playing HL2 was spent in a pitched gun battle compared to how much was spent just exploring the environment, enjoying the scenery and becoming immersed in the world? Compare that to the likes of Halo, which in my experience was just a repetitive room clearing exercise.

[RoJoHen]

I mean, there is an awful lot of climbing in Uncharted. There might be more climbing than shooting! In Uncharted 2, there's even a part where Drake laments, "I am so tired of climbing shit."

[Owain Taggart]

Reverend wrote:

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I guess my main problem with Uncharted was that shooting people was really all there was to do. In Tomb Raider, killing people was not what you spent most of your time doing. In that respect I guess Uncharted just felt mindless and shallow to me.

I can see where you're coming from, but I'd suggest playing the full game rather than just the demo, because mindless and shallow it isn't. It's actually got quite a bit of depth to it due to its strong focus on story. In comparison, I'd be calling Tomb Raider the shallow one Now, mind you, if you're getting your impressions from the first game , the first game is completely different from the next two and is definitely more shooting.

As for those moments you describe about Tomb Raider, there are plenty of those in Uncharted, particularly when it drops you into a beautiful environment while and when solving puzzles. Some of the environments are breathtaking, which is something that I've never really seen Tomb Raider do very well despite the globe-trotting she does. I like quite a bit of adventure as well, and I have to say these games have it in spades.

Btw, this is not a knock on Tomb Raider, as I do have the Trilogy on PS3 and I do find them quite fun. I'm just happy to see that it will take some of the aspects of Uncharted and put its own spin on things, and considering it will take place on an island, I have a feeling we'll be doing lots of exploring.

[Cutter John]

Mr. Adventure wrote:

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Never play Far Cry 3.

Don't plan on it. I've watched a couple of Let's Play's.

Hell, I even have a hard time killing animals in Minecraft.

[Jim Steele]

I played a bit of the new Tomb Raider at the Eurogamer Expo last year, and attended a talk by the devs, and I can say that its similarity to Uncharted is pretty superficial. It's a different beast. For one thing, Uncharted is pretty much a funnelled sequence of action set pieces (that's not a criticism - I ADORE the Uncharted trilogy). TR has a bit of semi open world exploration, RPG-lite character progression, and even a crafting system if I remember correctly.

I'm not sure it'll satisfy any hardcore Tomb Raider fans because it's quite a departure, but they're doing something different with a franchise that's been going through the motions for a *very* long time, so I do hope it works out. Looking forward to it.

[Owain Taggart]

That sounds good. I think that anything that will re-invigorate the franchise is a good thing. The franchise was feeling rather dated, even with the more recent ones.

[Jono]

Jim Steele wrote:

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I played a bit of the new Tomb Raider at the Eurogamer Expo last year, and attended a talk by the devs, and I can say that its similarity to Uncharted is pretty superficial. It's a different beast. For one thing, Uncharted is pretty much a funnelled sequence of action set pieces (that's not a criticism - I ADORE the Uncharted trilogy). TR has a bit of semi open world exploration, RPG-lite character progression, and even a crafting system if I remember correctly.

I'm not sure it'll satisfy any hardcore Tomb Raider fans because it's quite a departure, but they're doing something different with a franchise that's been going through the motions for a *very* long time, so I do hope it works out. Looking forward to it.

So is it more like a third-person Far Cry 3 or is that too long a bow?

[Jim Steele]

^ Hmm. I'd say that's a more apt comparison, yeah. Certainly not as open as FC3 but it's in the right ball park.