Tomb Raider · 9:32pm Jul 7th, 2014
Yeah, the newest Tomb Raider came out a year ago now. However, I only just recently got it, as a gift from a kindly soul named InsertAuthorHere, and more importantly only just recently beat it.
Holy balls is this a good game. I haven't had this much fun just playing a video game for awhile now. Whatever minor complaints I have about it are utterly swallowed up by just how much fun I had while playing through it that make any of my problems just nitpicks at best. And I mean the game, too. Normally I'm far more interested in story than gameplay - it's one of the reasons I can't normally enjoy MMOs - but Tomb Raider managed to make me care way more about the gameplay, just running around and enjoying the engine and finding secret stuff and so on. In fact after beating it I almost immediately went back just to continue exploring the island you're trapped on to try and get 100% completion, something I haven't cared about doing since The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Which is not to say that its story is lacking - it's not. Imagine Temple of Doom crossed with Resident Evil 4 with a touch of Farcry and you've basically got the story, but they managed to make it work. The game is a prequel, and seeing Lara gradually evolve into the badass raider of tombs that we know and love was fun.
So, yeah. If you haven't played Tomb Raider, go forth and correct that mistake. It's available on Steam, as of this blog post it's $19.99. Worth it, especially seeing as that will include all the DLC stuff, notably the alternate costumes. I like the Aviatrix one the best.
...oh, and in case you can't tell: this is why I haven't been very active recently. Tomb Raider'ing.
So... Nazis infected with Cordyceps?
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I was going more for "lone hero sucked into trying to stop an evil cult that's really into gore, and also there's sort-of some zombies towards the end of the game."
I dunno, that was the first analogy that popped into my head.
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No. He said Temple of Doom. So it's an evil cult that worships a god of destruction... infected with Cordyceps.
Same story, X-COM here. For an extra challenge, try defeating a level by capturing every alien with the arcthrower.
2265203 It was "The Last Crusade" that had Nazis. "Temple of Doom" had that evil cult gathering stones, the blonde ditz, and... Short Round. And in Resident Evil 4 the parasite is called las plagas.
Yeah, finished the game just two weeks ago, bought it a bit earlier on steam summer sale (was just 7€ for the DLC edition *squee*).
Definitly best investment in a while.
During the last part when you fight the Stormriders/Oni I was screaming "HAVE SOME 20TH CENTURY, BITCHES!!!" while wielding my fully equiped AR.
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I loved that part, taking on the Stormguard. It was awesome. But nothing tops the end of the game, since one of my minor complaints that I mentioned was that Lara had only one pistol through the whole game. My exact words to a friend were, "as long as the final boss involves me getting a second pistol to kill him/her/it with, I'll be okay with this.
2265307 F***S SAKE!!! How could I have forgotten that crowning moment of epic!
Lara going full akimbo on that douche was probably the best combat related moment ever. Especially since it holds the weight of Lara getting her beloved dual pistols.
I actually used the pistol for the majority of the game and the AR only after the first upgrade. So yeah, I could "feel" that scene.
Also, Competition bow. When old school meets new school.
:Q____________
I just got something to say about it:
At the moment, I refuse to spend any money until after Bronycon. I want to maximize my loot, and Cons are EXPENSIVE.
Still, this is, what, the 2000th great review for this game, I really should get it.
Also, you think your Slowpoke is mighty?
I still haven't played Fallout. Any of them.
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Nor have I.
I still haven't played any Dragon Age, either (and actually even though I just got DA1, it's...meh. I probably won't play it), nor Twilight Princess, nor Skyward Sword, nor any Gears of War nor Halo, nor Mass Effect 3, nor any WarCraft game...
I am really, really happy that you are enjoying the game. I loved playing it when it first came out, and while there were some story deficiencies, it was a well-done entry in a series that has, as a whole, seen better days.
Just sad that it was the only Eidos property Square Enix has done well with. Kane & Lynch never deserved a sequel, but the one it got was still a mess. Hitman: Absolution strips out the massive levels and variety of choices in favor of linear paths, a lazy story that has 47 betray the Agency out of the blue to rescue a little girl and fight off a mutant Mexican and his Texan master, and a disgusting segment where you murder assassins dressed like nuns for no reason other than to be sexy. And Nosgoth fills me with a murderous rage...
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Dragon Age is one of those things that rises and falls in quality frequently throughout. Throwing out the morality meter was a great idea, as was the focus on relationships with your party members. It was also nice to see them at least try to get back to their older style after going full-blown Action-RPG with Mass Effect 2. Heck, some of the stories were pretty nice, such as the political backstabbing of the dwarves or the stuff with the werewolves.
Unfortunately, it also breaks any sort of balance over its leg with how overpowered magic is, you can lose a party member and all of their awesome gear because of one bad click, there's quite a bit of filler, the graphics look muddy and terrible, and the story is so unrelentingly dark and dour that it really makes you just wish everyone you see dead on general principle. Heck, the whole central conflict of the game, confronting the traitor who took the throne from his daughter after killing her husband? Turns out the daughter is just as much of a bastard as he is, and she'll gladly have you killed the minute the conflict's over if you don't make things go her way. The only way out of that is to have her marry Alistair, and the only way to make that work is to use a sidequest to turn him from a fun-loving guy into a cynical tyrant-to-be. And he'll gladly leave you if he doesn't get revenge on the traitor.
It desperately wants to be Game of Thrones, but it doesn't succeed. And the second game...I haven't played enough of to comment on, but more people liked the original endings of ME3 than DA2, so make of that what you will.
(Speaking of which, you should play ME3, but only after you've beaten ME2 with, at the very least, all the DLC characters. I've actually been marathoning through the whole trilogy the last couple weeks, making it the first time I played the same Shepherd through them all.)
...
(Yes, I said first time. I started the series on the 360, but when I bought ME3, I discovered that my brother had deleted my ME2 save. I plopped down the cash again and bought the PC version, then downloaded a character save that was roughly where my character was and used that.)
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Personally, you aren't missing much, at least outside of New Vegas. Okay, everyone says that 2 is a masterpiece, but the game pisses me off the minute it starts with that damn temple, you spend about a third of the game without any actual gun unless you sequence break, and the plot could be written on the back of a cocktail napkin.
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I played Dragon Age 1. For about 3 hours.
While I applaud Bioware for working so hard on the story and gameworld, it really just didn't feel much like a game.
I can very strongly recommend Skyward Sword though. Fantastic. Mass Effect 3 was a wonderful game too, despite it's infamous ending.
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If you have never played any ME, start with the first one. If you have played 2....you might find the first hard to play. 2 had it's flaws, but it added a certain variety to the gameplay that makes one just feel repetitive. Which is a damn shame, because 1 had a lot going for it.
3 rather effectively combines what worked well from both games. It really is the best in the series IMO
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Mostly for me it's the unrelenting darkness. I can't really get behind an organization (the Grey Wardens) that doesn't tell people it'll kill you if you don't pass the Initiation rite until said Initiation rite has already begun - and killed someone because, by the way, you have to drink demon blood, too.
If I was allowed to play the character I wanted then the second Duncan started to go and gut that guy, I would have either turned and bolted, or else drawn steel and attacked Duncan to try and stop him.
You want to get rid of the Morality meter, that's fine, but don't force me to be part of something that years of playing your RPGs is telling me is EVIL.
Funny you're mentionning Wind Waker, I got the HD remake on WiiU and it has been keeping me busy recently
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I had just assumed the Grey Wardens were going to end up being the bad guys, or something like that, and you deal with them. Since I never got very far, I don't actually know if that happens or not.
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God I need a WiiU. I want Wind Waker HD. Second favorite Zelda game. I just absolutely adored it.
yep, I also absolutely loved TR
beat it on the Xbox360 and then got a new PC and now going at it again with full maxxed ultimate graphics, 1080p and TressFX - damn, it (and Lara) is gorgeous. And yes, finding the collectables is arguably the best part of the game.
Can't wait for the sequel.
Did i mention Lara is gorgeous ?
2265562 yea, if you like Wind Waker get Skyward Sword. The story is nothing like it, but the feel is very similar. Probably as close as you'll ever get to a direct sequel in the Zelda series. I mean the style is more realistic, but it's still a great big vibrant world. Twilight Princess has a whole darker and edgier vibe going, but really that's all it is. It's not that differnt from any of the other Zelda games, and the only exception being sometimes you turn into a wolf and feels more like playing Okami. I don't consider this a bad thing at all however.
The first three warcraft games are great if you like RTS, but WOW is where that world really shines. Unfotuneately it has a 10 buck a month (give or take) fee and I recently decided it wasn't something I was willing to keep paying. However I can't recomend you try it even though there is a free trial thing until level 20. I got hocked playing up to level 10 on my brothers account near the beginning and it took a long time to stop. There are some people that take it way to seriously, but it's a fun game if you have the money and time.
I love the first two fallout games. There is just so much you can do in them. And while it's almost nothing but dark humor it's often hilarious.
ALso, yea tomb raider was awesome. I picked it up during a steam sale so I'm not sure exactly how much I paid for it, but it was worth it. The funny thing is I think the pistol was what I used the least. I used the bow a ton, and was fond of the shotgun, but rarely the pistol. One of the things I liked is despite everything how clear they made it Lara just loves history. She just can't help but be impressed by the ancient buildings, even though everything on the island it trying to kill her.
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Sorry I'm late in replying. I'm the real Slowpoke.
Yep, Dragon Age has a nice, heaping helping of good old Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy. It wants to be a dark fantasy a la that book series they made into a popular HBO show so badly that it forgets that audiences generally like having a shred of hope or decency somewhere in there.
I do have to admit that I liked Sten. The guy's sexist and a child killer (albeit during a psychotic break and he surrendered to authorities right afterward), but he loves fine art and cookies, snarks over the came's stupid levels of darkness, complains loudly about going on stupid sidequests when there's an army of demons coming down on you, and enjoys kicking ass.
Plus, this line neatly sums up the series in general:
(Yes, I pulled it from TV Tropes. I have no desire to play the game again to find the line, but it is there.)
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Nnnnope.
Although to be fair, they're pretty much all dead except for you and Alistair after the first two hours, so even if they wanted to be the villains, they kind of can't. Besides, you have plenty of assholes besides the Wardens that need killing.
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I was actually playing as a female elf, so I got to say that line to the king. Sadly, it doesn't really go anywhere, near as I can tell.
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It was a nice reality check for the idiot, at any rate. Too bad he goes and dies before it can do any good.
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I want to play the version if Dragon Age (that doesn't exist) where you save the king and go on awesome adventures with him. He may have been an idiot, but he also seemed like the most likeable guy in the first 30 minutes of gameplay.
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He's probably the most likable guy in the game. As much as he likes to bounce around and act like he's the good king of a heroic fantasy land, some of the stuff you find lying around indicates that he was a lot more cunning and intelligent than he let on, and he was apparently a decent enough king in his own right. The traitor (I can't remember his name right now) doesn't betray him because he's incompetent; he betrays him because he hates where the Grey Wardens are coming from (the nation, not the whole "drink the demon blood or I'll kill you" thing).
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Personally, I want to see more of what was done in Neverwinter Nights 2. Particularly when you become lord of a run down castle in order to restore it so it can function as a defense against the invading army of evil. That was actually pretty fun, especially when the army actually showed up, and you got to show off just how strong you made your defenses.
I was particularly impressed with the fact that you are able to make use of an entire dragon horde in a somewhat practical manner. The game lets the party pick the juiciest loot out for themselves, the magic armour and weapons and such, then the gold gets hauled by wagon to the treasury, and goes a loooooong way towards fixing the place up.