Is there anything going to change anything that works in mathematics and attracts millions of players? One camp will call after the change, the other will defend it as the devil crosses. This is a year-long truth, which has not been confirmed by many strong brands, and is now confirmed with the release of another part of the rebooted Tomb Raider series. There is still one Friday left for the release, but we have the opportunity to try the game now and the impressions are clear. No matter whether you played it yourself or not.
With the current Gamescom demo, I really enjoy an interesting experience. Perhaps a few minutes after I came out of the closed door where the journalist presented the demo I got a message from a friend because at the same time a new gameplay video from Shadow of the Tomb Raider was released. He asked me if this is really the third time the same game. And although I had a fresh show, I could not answer him very well. In principle, yes and no. Square Enix and Eidos really took what worked in the two incarnations before, but they added something new. Little on the game page. In terms of character and story, there is more to be said now.
We started with a small and inexperienced Lara who survived the trauma on the mysterious island. She moved to Siberia. Now, she's actually the experienced tomb cracker that the older generation once knew. And it is going to be the biggest adventure to date, combining everything that the last two games have brought and the end of the world. Shadow of the Tomb Raider will develop a story in which Lara must prevent the Mayan apocalypse. But there is no connection between the story of her deceased father and the Trinity organization, who again has something in her fingers.
Try a demo that you can watch in the video (from Xbox One X and, unfortunately, without the sound of the game due to a grabbing error) and it's actually a bit of it. There is a short sketch of the story you find yourself in Central America, and the theme is even more emphasized by celebrating the feast of the dead. But that's all. Just such a teaser of the story so the authors do not divulge more than they must (which is rare on similar exhibitions). Then there was a short splinter of what we play in our full version in the full version, but these passages were just to supplement the context and go for action.
Although it must be acknowledged that this is not an accurate description of what was done in the demo. It was all based on a "raid tomb", so shares were relatively low. However, it did not hinder the overcoming of obstacles, traps and other dangers. And all this with the standard, modern Tomb Raider gameplay, which must not miss the exploration of the environment, the gathering of raw materials as well as experience points. So we roamed through the cave, looking for hidden objects and trying to reveal something about the background of the story from ancient Mayan references. In this respect, Rise of the Tomb Raider may have changed nothing, and if you liked the game, you could get something right to your liking.
Lara, however, is experienced not only in combat but also in acrobatics and rock climbing, which is an integral part of the modern series. He always has his bow tie on his side (if you watched the video, you know I forgot it a little at one moment), but he's also self-help. And if something demo shows us, it's a fact that we enjoy the climbing habadej. And with him there will be no different puzzles in an environment where we will try to skip to a seemingly inaccessible place. Sometimes using muscles, sometimes with the help of the mechanisms offered. And there are moments when you will have to prepare these mechanisms yourself.
Personally, however, I am a bit angry that the authors still could not leave the QTE concept in borderline moments. It's been years since I personally thought it was something interesting about the gameplay. You have to press the button when the character is captured at the last minute. This is not playability. Moreover, at least those moments in the demo were very predictable. You just know when something attacks you. Just as you know when the rome will break you. Also, the traps of mine were too obvious.
On the other hand, it is true that I was not bored with a demo and I also enjoyed a level design that was built mainly vertically, but also knew how to turn horizontally when the situation required it. That's why we've practically always had to think of a bow and a rope in their gear that can get where it would not otherwise be. But that's also not something we did not know from the past. On the contrary, swimming below the surface opens new possibilities for exploring the environment, and it is already clear that a treasure hive will be hidden in secret caves and somewhere in the day, but you will have to guard oxygen if you do not want to drown.
In addition, we also tested the game as part of Nvidia's presentation on the occasion of their RTX graphics in another demo. New Lara looks prettier than ever before. More elaborate models and animations are no exception, but this time, the new RTX raytracing technology from Nvidia is the difference. The demo has been intentionally prepared so that the possibilities of the new illumination are best presented. The scene was full of objects, that's wooden boards that cast all sorts of shadows. But it does not really matter in the game itself. We were tuned to the Nvidia conference and the impressiveness of graphic processing instantly hit us. After a few hours of play, you get used to it and you are especially perceived as playability.
In addition, new technology will not know old cards to use. So it will have to shut down and the developer has nothing to do but make the game impressive without new technologies. We did not have time or space to explore the system we were playing. Only one of the new RTX GeForce graphics is used. But we can not judge the effect on performance. In fact, all of the previous Tomb Raider games looked more than good for their time, almost every setting. Overall, there is no reason to worry about graphic processing.
It is a shame that Square Enix did not offer Actioncome on Gamescome, as they themselves say that Lara is now more dangerous than ever before. Likewise, we could not look at things to produce and ROG elements to improve different skills, but we do not expect them to change anything in these areas. And again, we're going back to where we were at the beginning of the article. The game takes well-known elements that have worked and adds something new. Not revolutionary, but at least a little fresh. It looks like if you like the predecessors, you will come to your own. If not, it probably will not even be the title for you. In the area of technical qualities and production value, however, the game is again kicking the first league, which in the demo proves the audiovisual processing, dubbing and also music. The release of the game is scheduled for September 14th.
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