In order to address this dissonance, the developer has to be willing to commit 100% to the idea of vulnerable character and realistic scenario. It doesn't work halfway, as is clear with Uncharted and this particular Tomb Raider. Uncharted gets away with it because the gameplay is so good the story doesn't really matter. Ditto for Far Cry 3.
By commitment I mean developer has to be willing to make the gameplay specifically focused on survival. Enemy encounters must be rare in order for that action to carry the sort of gravitas this design direction calls for. It cannot be a shooty shooty action game and a story of inexperienced survival at the same time. I Am Alive tried to do this with some success. The Last Of Us appears to be making an effort towards this type of thing as well.
Agreed 100% The problem with Tomb Raider is it wants to have its cake and eat it too.
spot on. they made tomb raider into a 3rd person shooter. i mean, consider that simple fact for a second. why even call it TOMB raider, when you primarily spend your time ending lives. i mean- i'm glad the writers recognize the disconnect- but you can't toe the line between mass murder and emotional distress without some sort of consequence. if they want to tell a realistic and "gritty" story, why not have the sequel be a heavy rain style game where lara spends her time in and out of therapy while battling flashbacks. it would be more believable.
and of course i recognize the "games need to be games at a certain point" argument...but don't set her up to be realistically vulnerable then! stick with the old lara!
The old Lara wasn't selling copies anymore. And was old. They had to try something different. I mean at least give them credit for doing something different with the formula. Going through this thread I really wonder how many people have actually played the game. I know it's not true because it's doing critically so well but I get the impression that only a few people are playing the same game I am. Which is nuts cause why would dudes speak to a game they haven't played. Maybe I'm just buying into this game more then other people.
Plenty of people who haven't played the game are talking out of their asses. That much is certain reading through these threads and seeing people post false information about Lara killing hoards of enemies as soon as she gets weapons or claiming that its linear with little exploration when you can spend a good amount of time using new skills to explore areas.
I'm tempted to make a thread to see who is actually playing the game and who is simply repeating opinions they heard.
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