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There is no doubt that next year's Tomb Raider will be nothing less than spectacular. Even with the fill of shooting, hunting and surviving jungle terrain in the wildly exciting Far Cry 3, Lara Croft's hardcore quests will be welcomed with open arms.
We had an opportunity to check out the upcoming Tomb Raider game and got an up-close preview of what gamers can expect. If you're as excited as we are for this, read on for the rundown.
The Pacing Is Great
The demo session provided a revisit to the many playable areas and cutscenes that were previously shown since the game’s formal reveal. It’s not only interesting to see these scenes connected in a cohesive playthru, but to also have the realization that Square Enix has mostly limited 18 months of gameplay reveals to these first three hours.
With this fluidity, there’s momentum. This cohesion, from the ensemble-driven narrative to the first puzzle, works well in propelling both the player and Lara forward, which is good considering how much she needs to take care of. She needs to find her friends, defend herself against mercenaries, and explore this island which was her original goal to begin with.
And with momentum, there’s pacing. The beauty about most video games is that it’s often hard to see the narrative road markers that are easy to spot in films or TV shows. When you’re watching a two hour investigative crime drama, it’s easy to figure out how close the detectives are from solving the case when there’s only so much running time left. I have an optimistic suspicion that Tomb Raider will have its share of unpredictable pacing and story developments. I certainly wouldn’t want to see forums early and see what the total playtime is for most players.
It's Not "Uncharted" Starring Lara Croft
The circle of influence from Uncharted is apparent, but just as how Naughty Dog transcended its initial Tomb Raider comparisons, this reboot is already showing signs of carving its own identity; and this goes beyond creative camera work in the game’s platforming sections. It also helps that so much attention is focused in this being an origin story, something that Uncharted barely explored.
These first areas do not hold back in toughening Lara. It’s not that she had a cushy, charmed upbringing; she just comes off as merely inexperienced. “It’s scary how easy it was.”, Lara says when reflecting on her first kills. That said, the more I played Tomb Raider, the more I wanted to fire up Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, as opposed to say, the Tomb Raider Trilogy compilation.
Quick Time Events Are At A Minimum
Of the many gameplay features, it’s hard to imagine many players putting quick time events on their Want List in a new Tomb Raider. QTEs are certainly in the game though these parts are brief and appear sparingly.
I think I have a high tolerance for QTEs compared to most gamers, which is why it was all the most disappointing that the game didn’t seem to detect my inputs consistently. The now-familiar cave escape scene was part of this preview session and included some analog stick waggling. Even after clearing that step in my fifth attempt, it was hard to figure out what I did differently to fail my previous four attempts, waggling the stick as fast as I could each time. Here’s hoping that Square Enix will fine tune that mechanic during the game’s polish period.
Hunting And Crafting Are Actually Fun
The game’s diverse feature set would not have been possible without the Crystal Dynamic’s under-the-hood loading design. Going from hunting to organizing at base camps to cutscenes, transitioning to and from all the game’s elements is nearly seamless.
The hunting and forest exploration in Tomb Raider provide elements of survival that the older games lacked. Hunting with the bow and arrow is easy to grasp and this early section of the game offered more than enough arrows for Lara to carry. Speaking of on-site item procurement, there’s an uncomplicated crafting feature in the game, and it’s heavily dependent on the pieces of salvage that you come across. These areas allow the game to breathe a bit, a contrast to many previous Tomb Raider titles where more emphasis was placed on straight paths to and within ruins.
Skills Are Manageable
Another way Tomb Raider is separating itself from Uncharted is with its character progression. It fits perfectly in the context of an origin story like this and the list of unlockable skills is quite basic and often self-explanatory: Bow Expert, Ammo Capacity, Animal Instincts, Scavenging, Pain Tolerance. These are conveniently categorized into two aptly titled lists themed on hunting and survival.
My OCD tendencies often steers me to becoming a headshot-obsessed sniper in shooters, so I was glad Steady Shot was one of the first available combat unlockables. For someone as ragged as Lara, it almost felt premature for her to hold pistols and bows with an incredibly stable arm. Not that I’m complaining; it’ll just be interesting how the skill unlock progression works in the overall flow of Lara’s growth throughout the game. It’s doubly curious when--assuming these hunting and survival skill lists do not expand further later in the game--there’s only 18 skills to learn. Hopefully this doesn’t tie to my aforementioned thought about road markers and whether or not the game is close to its end after unlocking all the skills.
Battles Can Be Challenging But Enjoyable
Enemy combat behavior in Tomb Raider keeps up darn well with some of the best AI in today’s shooters. And like past games in the series, the non-locals are an even bigger threat than the natives. When stalking a pair of mercenaries, you’ll quickly get into the habit of moving the camera to make sure there aren’t more enemies around, because there most likely is. Pull off your steady-arm headshots and stealthy takedowns, and you should be able to prevent full on combat. Miss, and you have an alerted guard who’ll shoot a flare within seconds to call in backup.
Then again, if you do like heated gun battles, Tomb Raider appears happy to oblige. Whether it’s two mercs or a whole squad, there’s some stimulating unpredictability to deal with. Enemies seldom pop out of cover from the same position twice and some are brave enough to charge toward Lara while she herself is in cover.
Even the environments can become an issue during combat. At one point I was engaged in a shootout along a tower staircase, trying to get my usual headshots both at enemies hiding around corners as well being mindful of the incoming reinforcements. Little did I know that the floor below me was being consumed in flames. This left me little time to rely on conservative tactics where I’d try to pick off enemies one by one.
The Verdict
The more I reflect on this preview session, the more I’m curious about how the rest of the game will play out. The elephant in the room is the shortage of actual raiding of tombs. Sure, there are optional, moderately sized tombs and a wealth of collectables scattered throughout these initial areas, but will Tomb Raider actually feature ancient monolithic structures? Developer Crystal Dynamics have clearly laid out the proper beats and pacing for Lara Croft’s trial by fire. I just hope the game doesn’t end the moment she has matured and unlocked all her skills.