Tomb Raider PS3

While i think the game is great and has been kept close to the genre. It still lags some refinement.

The multiplayer is somewhat redundant and the generel bug is/was? just annoying. Luckily people found a workaround.

As a trophy hunter it annoys me that there are so many highly missable trophies in the Single Player. I however found the way to a Platinum trophy, thanks to great gameplay and a great story!

People should try it out for themselves! It is definitely a great game :)

When tomb raider was facing a reboot like many over games fans were scared that it would damage its reputation but it has been saved with this epic remake

This new tomb raider stars a inexperienced lara croft and crafts here in to the hardened survivor she has become today , the story to this game is that lara and her crew along with her mentor are ship wreaked on the island of yamatai and all is not as it seems on the island

This is when the game grabs you and pulls you into the horrors and hostile inhabitants that await lara and her friends on this island. as soon as lara makes it to the beach she is kidnapped and starts fighting for survival this is when you start to feel every knock and punishment lara takes and makes you want her to keep fighting and survive

The game takes the best bits from games like uncharted to deliver a thrilling game from start to finish when lara starts out she is scared and alone and must start to learn survival skills needed to stay alive and the game slowly gives you the skills to do this.
you find your bow and start to hunt animals like deer and rabbits and gather resources needed to upgrade her skills which are hunting , gun upgrades and fighting these are like rpg skill trees which add a welcome addition to the game.

The areas of the game are in like hubs which you can explore at your own pace at any time to find hidden items like relics and notes left by the islands people. there are also hidden tombs to find and explore which have there own puzzles to solve but these are quite easy and most times require you to burn something.

the games environments show off the games fantastic graphics from forest areas to burning bulidings to old war bunkers and shanty towns which feature some fantastic action and thrilling moments like crossing a crumbling bridge which makes you feel on edge

the controls feel tight and responsive and are easy to master from climbing cliff faces to countering enemy's with deadly finishing moves. this game is a must buy for any fans of a great story and action games
the games multiplayer is a miss for this game just feels added on at the last moment


pros
great story
graphics

cons
multiplayer just added on

It's hard to say anything bad about Tomb Raider because it's a fantastic game, in fact it's really quite pointless writing a review trying to convince you to try this game out because the reality is, you'd be crazy to not grab a copy right now!

There's no denying the clear parallels to the Uncharted when it comes to this new Tomb Raider series reboot. We have a 3rd person action shooter with cover, climbing and even down to collecting ancient treasures. To be completely honest, this was probably a crack at giving Xbox users the change to play a game like the playstation exclusive series, but dare I say it.... have they possibly outdone Drake here?

Well the thing this game has going for it is the story, the emotion, the pain you go through with Lara. The beatings she takes, the horror she experiences, the skills she learns and the lives she saves. There really are very few games that can get you this invested in a character with perhaps the exception of Heavy Rain. Again if you want a game you can get behind, this is for you.

The action is top notch, though there's nothing new to fans of games like Uncharted, Spec Ops The Line and Mass Effect. Though this game certainly has it's own place in the market, it's not a massively open game like Mass Effect, but it's nowhere near as linear as an Uncharted game, and this shoudl be applauded. Sometimes you want to just fire up the game and go looking for treasure without having to reload a level and shoot your way through it.

Aside from the supernatural elements (which I have never been a fan of in the Uncharted series) there's nothing bad I can say about this game aside from the uninspired multiplayer and silly trophy/achievement list. While plenty of you may want to grab this for the online experience, forget it, the story alone is worth the price of admission and if you want some top quality multiplayer go grab the uncharted 3 multiplayer which is currently free!

Ok, game of the generation may be a bit strong, but it's definitely one of the better surprises and a must own from this excellent generation of games.

Reboots can be a touchy subject, on one hand we have DmC and Bomberman Act Zero, DmC was fine, good even but lets face it, it was no DMC3 plus we couldn't get over the fact that man was not Dante......well he is but he.....you know what I mean, it just wasn't necessary but I can admit it was a good game.....Bomberman Act Zero should never have been done. On the other hand we have XCOM, Mortal Kombat, Ninja Gaiden, Prince of Persia, Resident Evil 4, all successful reboots that not only did the series proud but in some cases surpassed them.

Then we have Tomb Raider which is another story, its already got a reboot under its belt starting with legend which split the fans, some fans felt that the gameplay from 1-5 (not counting Angel of Darkness as it was poo) had gone as far as it could while some felt the change to a more action based experience hurt its cause.

One thing everyone seemed to like was that Lara was given a more humourous and edgy side to her character plus her backstory gave the game meaning to push forward, it was pretty cool, Legend and Anniversary were great games then Underworld killed it with outdated gameplay and nasty bugs.

I didn't think Lara had raided her last tomb but what I saw next was nothing I could have predicted, I saw a trailer for the a new Tomb Raider game and when I finished it I didn't know what to think, I just saw Lara going through something that you'd expect to see on a hardcore bondage site.

I went into this game thinking it was going to be ok but nothing memorable however I was wrong, this game made me a believer, its that good folks. The story, the action, the platforming, the atmosphere, nearly everything is good, the multiplayer........not as good but I’ll get to that.

The story involves Lara and a group of misfits being involved in a shipwreck near the island of Yamatai, almost immediately after washing up on shore you are knocked out and when you wake up from that you are fighting for your life from a collapsing cave, from there you fight for your life from the elements, a crazy cult and to escape an island that seems to have a mind of its own. The story is damn good, it honestly feels like you are trapped on this island with escape being impossible, takes me back to resident evil 3 and thats cool, the only problem I have with the story is the characters, Lara and Roth are ok but Lara's friends are poor and in most cases borderline racist, tough black chick, angry scotsman, gentle big guy, nerdy guy, yup they are all here with a generic bad guy called Mathias.....he is exactly as you picture him with that name.

The gameplay is amazing, it takes the best features of Batman Arkham City & Uncharted and mixes them into a pot but it feels like its own unique game. You control Lara with minimal survival tools and skills at your disposal, after a while you gain new equipment and abilities, the game comforts you into getting your footing then by games end you know every ability off by heart. You gain a couple of tools, an axe, a few guns, rope etc, some of these can be upgraded for extra damage, extra bullets, burst fire and so on plus when you upgrade your weapon changes in appearance which is a smart idea as it makes you feel stronger to the challenge when your weapons look better. The main gameplay involves you jumping around, shooting when needed and solving a puzzle when required, it all feels great and it swaps things around enough that you never get tired of one thing for long. Overall its amazing but I have a problem with the gameplay.

You are allowed to hunt animals, now this is a great system but they don't do anything with it, my thought is that they could have added a stamina system that would effect your aiming, climbing, how fast you heal as well as other things and you replenish your stamina with food you hunt from animals (like from MGS3) which you could take to a camp fire to cook and eat, I feel they missed out on a great system that could have added a lot, after a while I felt Lara was surviving the odds in storyline rather than the gameplay.

The MP is unplayable, its so damn buggy that I don't think it'll be ready for at least a few patches let alone one but even if it wasn't that glitchy its just a poor mans Uncharted so I’d stick to that.

Forgetting the horrible and unfinished Multiplayer, (Tomb Raider 2013) is so worth it even for just the single player. Gameplay good, music good, story good, background good. Could it be better? Yeah but thats what Tomb Raider 2 is for. A must Buy.



Reviewed by J-D

As a keen player of the Tomb Raider series since I was 11 years old when the first game come out in 1996, I was quite dubious about the remake of the series. Even though the series had stagnated quite a bit with the poor Underworld, and average Legend; Anniversary showed how it should be done and was a fantastic game.

I only completed that game again the other week on the HD collection, and it was a thrill from beginning to end. Now the remake is out, I wanted to do something different and compare the two. Several areas need to be looked at when comparing these games, and several shouldn't be compared.

Graphics is one, seeing as Anniversary was a PS2 game it wouldn't be fair. However comparing Tomb Raider and another PS3 game, lets say for example Resident Evil 6, Tomb Raider looks like a different more superior generation anyway!

The game play is more fluid with this new generation Tomb Raider too and jumps feel a bit more real and less frustrating. New tools allow for the exploration to be a bit more varied than just jumping from one ledge to another like the older games. Maybe this wasn't the older games fault seeing as they are now very much a distant memory, but it shows how much thought has been put into this game.

The atmosphere is also electric. I have never played a game since Silent Hill and felt so on edge about whats going to happen next. In fact it is fair to say that Tomb Raider has now moved from the platforming adventure tag and moved to a more sinister Action Survival Horror. Its what Resident Evil should have been after Resident Evil 3 Nemesis. One of the areas, which was built during World War 2 according to Lara, took me right back to the days of Resident Evil 2. Crikey walking into the police station for the first time, put me in the mood for the rest of the game. And the game did the same here too.

There is so much love and attention put into this game its easy to see. There are still puzzles here, as it wouldn't be Tomb Raider without them, but now its a lot more than find cog, put cog in right place. They are probably simpler, but keep the game flowing and some provide enough challenge to keep it fresh. They use common sense, what would you do in a real-life location?

The game is also oozing with extras. I enjoy the hunt for some neolithic mask that is sat somewhere in a chest on the top of a rock. I understand (I haven't fully completed the game), that it opens up once the story line is done. And that's good. I don't think I have scratched the surface.

One bugbear I have with this sort of game however is "fast travel". I don't understand why a game thats all about exploration needs it, and its designed brightly enough that if you didn't want to select it, you don't have to. If you did that across Skyrim, you would miss half the extras out. And the same for this game. Tomb Raider is a great game you don't need it as its not a chore running back through some wolf infested ruins.

The sound of this game is also fantastic and adds to everything. If I was asked before playing this game, does Tomb Raider need a reboot, I would of said "No"... but in fact, I was wrong. This is why Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics are such good companies. This is one of the best games of all time, and if anyone is thinking of skipping this title, they are missing out on something not just big but something exciting too!

I would suggest pressing "Buy" entering in your card number and playing The Best Game of 2013!

Been a massive fan of tomb raider since about 12 (14 years of Lara) and have played every title. I personally think that this is one of the best in the series. Obviously for any true fan this is never going to top TR1 but hands down it beats every addition since. The graphics are very good and the cut scenes are truly impressive. The game play feels much like uncharted which can only be a good thing. The story line is great and doesn't feel driven in any way as it keeps an open world feel from start to finish. The upgrade system is fantastic. And the side quests/challenges/tombs add hours to the gameplay. I've only scratched the surface of multiplayer and to my surprise its actually not that bad! Obviously there will be bugs and glitches that will need patching before long but it's still fun to play and doesn't ruin the game in anyway... Dead space 2/bioshock fail! All round a brilliant game and a must for any gamer. 5star.

...but sorely tempted by this. My initial impression was 'Tomb Raider meets Uncharted', which can surely only be a good thing? Would rather have it on PC, but my poor thing is knackered and the processor won't handle it on max.

watched trailer on youtube yesterday the revamp looks very good, looking a lot like uncharted hopefully this will be a good one pre ordered as i think this well might be a dark horse!