The marketing for Tomb Raider was a disaster from start to finish. To see a great game reduced to cheap exposure tactics and appalling trailers for the entirely of its pre-release window was maddening.
The 'Reborn' trailer was the final straw, so I decided to take a shot across the bow of Square Enix's marketing department with my own take.
We shot and edited this in about 4 hours. The lines could have been funnier, but an evening was all I was willing to give to it if I'm honest. I'd love to talk about the game myself, but I'm under embargo here. I will next week, but Carolyn's review is spot-on as far as I'm concerned.
the one big thing that bothered me about this game was did it really have to be this gleefully violent and brutal? growing up on the T rated tomb raider games of old, i was unprepared for the high level of blood and gore and brutal killings in this game despite its M rating. not that i am opposed to that kind of game content, i just wasnt expecting it from a tomb raider game considering its lineage. and yes i know its a reboot so no need to point that out.
1 Like This was a very good video and it totally sums up my opinion of the new Tomb Raider. While it was a success, to me it was not, reason?...Its not a Tomb Raider reboot, more like a re-skinned Uncharted.
There is something different about taking inspiration from something and making it your own unique product and doing the CTLR+C with a few tweaks
Holy hell. You just hit the nail on the head. Is Lara playing second fiddle to Nathan Drake?
Anyway, Great video!
I usually exercise discretion in regards to media exposure, but am glad I relented in this instance.
Take that, Marketing Division!
I think the new Tomb Raider looks great. I'm just tied down with alotta other games I haven't beaten yet. Then, there's Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (PC, Steam), which I've become addicted to.
But, for me, the biggest issue is that gaming is less and less of a priority these days. I still prefer games over movies -and especially over TV. But my other interests are really taking off of late. I know some really good games are floating around. But why blow so much funds when the bulk of my time is elsewhere and I'm sitting on a crapload of already really good unfinished games?
What's with the Nathan Drake comment anyway? A few people have been saying it and it's been bugging me... Was Drake not born from the Tomb Raider games / Indiana Jones in the first place? O.o
5 Like @Fr0oTy Yea that line is low-hanging fruit for sure. I'll often stick in a few obvious jokes that seem to appeal to a certain crowd. Usually YouTube to be honest! As for its accuracy, it's probably more to do with how this Tomb Raider has lots of cinematic sequences a'la Uncharted. The original games were 3D puzzle games. So though in terms of theme, Uncharted borrowed from old Tomb Raider, mechanically it was very unique. This new Tomb Raider takes a lot of mechanical cues from Uncharted. At least that's how I see it.
1 Like @dannyodwyer @Fr0oTy Yeah, after playing it I was somewhat disappointed with the overall direction of it. The puzzle element was virtually not there, I think there were 6 or 7 in the entire game and at first glance you knew exactly what to do - uninspired.. I think I killed more people in this one 10 hour game than in all of the previous entries combined :( Suffers from CoD syndrome I think -- thinks the players are drooling idiots who can't survive longer than 2 minutes without explosions going off in your face D:
I think the Island itself is the game's biggest redeeming factor though - the Island felt "natural" and was actually fun to try and explore.
Overall, a good Uncharted game - a mediocre to bad Tomb Raider game (if you consider the "spirit" of the game)
It's all speculation. I can see they borrowed from each other but of course I can't prove it anymore than you can prove the opposite.
However you're missing one important piece of logic.
They were well aware of the Tomb Raider games when they made Uncharted and therefor you can't rule out that they were inspired by it.
It's a case of "yes, I saw how their invention works but mine just looks and works like it by accident".
@Saketume @dannyodwyer Except your logic is flawed, if Tomb Raider didnt exist, Uncharted would have still existed since Indiana Jones was the source material. On the other hand, if Uncharted didnt exist, this new Tomb Raider wouldnt exist (mechanic wise)
3 Like Never really got the rape controversy, but most of the interviews were full of sexist tidpits that managed to be both misandrist and misogynist. Oh well, it doesn't really matter as long as the game is good.
P.S. The simpleness of "I am clumsy" wins the day.
1 Like @Foolz3h There was a risky joke referencing that in the original edit. But I showed it to a bunch of people and it wasn't funny enough to break through the horrible subject matter it was lampooning. We do a lot of peer-review stuff in this office, moments like that remind you how useful second, third and fourth opinions are. Opionions too.
4 Like so ....brilliant ... your line at the end is priceless "my tits used to be triangles ...and once I shot a dinosaur!"
@zombiedriveby actually it happened at least three times (if we count only the T-Rex and only the first five games)... If we count every single dinosaur she has shot we would probably outnumber Dino Crisis... xD
@s_h_a_d_o @zombiedriveby We rushed the hell out of this script. It was written by myself, Johnny and Martin in about 10 minutes. We felt like a lot of the jokes are weak to be honest, but an easy way to make a half-decent punchline is to take the piss out of yourself.. So I wrote in that bit where the three of us are arguing and my dude is a bit of a dumbass. My favourite line is actually Guy's random "I'm Sparticus". Kind of sums up how dumb and random the entire idea was! :D
1 Like I think maybe I'm the only one who liked the "I miss my butler" line.
The contrast of her bloody dirty abused kill or be killed situation and that stupid annoying butler who's always close with his tray of refreshments.
It broke me down mentally just thinking about it. She probably misses locking him in the freezer.
Oh yeah like a Bastion type commentator. That would be sweet.
So when's the next Mount Stupid coming out?
1 Like I'm on board this idea. Having Danny as the protagonist would be like watching MST3K
Most games need more humour. The sooner developers realize this, the better.
Just think of how sucky Deathspank would be if they removed the jokes.
Humour is a big part of why WoW was so great (before they got overly greedy).
