I love Uncharted! Especially the believable chemistry between the characters (appart from the foes which I feel kind of bland), the story, the scenery and even a tiny bit because of the gameplay, althougth I would desire less firefights and more exploration bits.

Does Tomb Raider have an interesting story, characters and scenery, with that semi-open world of his and Unchated-ish action?

Tomb Raider has crappy characters, mediocre gameplay and cheap music. I liked the first two Uncharted games, but thought Tomb Raider was pretty weak.

Story? Eh. Characters? Awful. Scenery? Kind of. Tomb Raider is the most overhyped game of 2013 IMO. It's a solid game and that's it. Not a must play, not special like everyone made it out to be.

Tomb Raider is poo compared to Uncharted. But if you want to play it, go ahead. It's at least a 3 out of 5.

Uncharted has better moments and I think Drake and crew are better characters, but I liked Tomb Raider a lot, the combat/shooting/traversal is all better in Tomb Raider, I hated Uncharted multiplayer, I liked Tomb Raider multiplayer, though it was a lot harder to get a match going (probably impossible now).

If you like Uncharted, Tomb Raider is well worth playing.

I enjoyed Tomb Raider. It isn't too bad

It should be I think.

It's more Die Hard-ish than Indiana Jones-ish. But Laura is a badass and there are crazy moments. Not Uncharted 2 level but good ones. And the combat it much better than Uncharted's. It's very satisfying.

It's more open and explorable too. So different for sure, but very good take on a similar basic idea. It's not Uncharted 2 level but it's better than Uncharted 1 or 3 to me.

I thought the combat was worse too, and I don't even love Uncharted.

I've never really played much of the uncharted series due to not having a playstation until very recently (and I use it mostly for netflix and blu-ray. And the Last of Us.). However, I really liked Tomb Raider, and I think it gets too much negativity. It's really a good game with a decent story, beautiful scenery and some characters that I did actually like. It's definitely worth playing, and it was worth more than the 10 dollars I got it for during the steam sale. It was my best purchase over the holidays as far as games go.

I mean, if your standards are low enough to like Uncharted that much, then you should be blown away by Tomb Raider.

...Sorry, I'll never stop picking on Uncharted. It's incredibly overrated but it's not actually that bad. Tomb Raider is just much better from a pure gameplay perspective. It also looks fantastic on the PC.

So, yes, go pick up Tomb Raider.

EDIT: Worth mentioning, "crazy moments" and "big set pieces" aren't really things that I look for in a game. I think games can be way, way more than just bland quick time events where players don't actually put much into the game. Tomb Raider might be lesser than Uncharted on the big, fancy "wow, that looks cool" level, but on a deeper, more mechanical level, I think it vastly outclasses Uncharted.

But then, there are some really great moments in Tomb Raider as well. @artisanbreads said that Tomb Raider is more like Die Hard than Indiana Jones and, after giving it some thought, I agree. Lara's got a good amount of luck, but just as often she seems to pull out of situations with ingenuity, whereas Nathan Drake almost always depends on good luck.

I liked it more than the Uncharted games for what it's worth.

The characters are not the game's strong suit, they're alright but the characters in Uncharted that are good are far better. I never though that the Uncharted games had a strong story since they are fairly cliché adventure tales and I would put Tomb Raider at the same level but since Uncharted does have the more interesting characters it is more engaging there.

The gameplay part in Tomb Raider is much better though. I enjoyed exploring the hub-areas and had a lot of fun playing nearly exclusively with the bow. The level design in Uncharted is pretty bad for the most part and while you do shoot quite a number of dudes in Tomb Raider I never got tired of its gameplay whereas I really disliked the shootouts in the Uncharted series especially in the later parts of the games when they just throw a ton of dudes at you that take ridiculous amounts of bullets. I just felt that Tomb Raider did a much better job in balancing exploration and combat and also provided more interesting combat scenarios.

If the story and the characters are a breaking point then you might not really enjoy it but otherwise you should give it look. I would put it in my top 5 of last year.

I think Tomb Raider plays a lot better and at least technically also looks better on pc. I also feel like it is slightly better paced than Uncharted, although they're both pretty good in that regard. What you won't find in TR are interesting characters other than Lara and the kind of globetrotting level variety Uncharted has (although TR still gets a good amount of variety out of its island-setting).

I really enjoyed Tomb Raider and I really love the Uncharted series. The more open-worldness and serious plot makes it a bit less like Uncharted. The combat seems pretty similar... I can't say a lot for it since I played it using the bow and arrow only. I still like the Uncharted series better, but I do like the direction Tomb Raider took in their new release. I think you'll have a fun time.

I liked playing it better than the Uncharted games, but I think the Uncharted games work better as a cohesive narrative, both individually and as a sum of the trilogy.

Tomb Raider does some interesting things with the game play that drive the combat a little more than Uncharted really did. You upgrade your weapons and some skills which actually give sense of a progression for the character (i.e.: she is getting better the more time she spends on the island). The enemies go down realistically too. You don't have dudes taking half a clip to the chest and still coming at you. The melee combat, though not really important in either game, also works a little better, I think. She isn't a brawler, so her moves are more about evading direct combat than knocking a mother fucker out cold. Instead she does things like jam arrowheads into the back of their knees (which is really messed up), and eventually smashes them with her climbing pick.

The minor characters serve their parts, some better than others, but they're nothing compared to the well written, brilliantly acted, and diverse crew in the Uncharted games. Nobody really seems to do character development better than Naughty Dog. Honestly, the major arc in all of these adventure narratives usually only serves as the driving force behind why the character is where they are, and not really why you are paying attention. Much like Uncharted, the whole mythos of the island and treasure kind of falls to the wayside compared to the character story that's really being told. In which case, narratively, it holds its own right along side the Uncharted games. Probably better than Uncharted 3, actually.

So, unless you're an incredibly busy person and can only fit one adventure game in your life, it's absolutely worth checking out. Especially if you have any previous interest in the Tomb Raider series. This game takes that character to a really interesting place.

For what it's worth, I played the Uncharted games extremely late, finishing them probably only a month or so previous to this game. And coming into this with everything fresh in my mind, it still held up.

Uncharted is a better spectacle.

Tomb Raider is a better game.

Then again, I hated Uncharted 1 and found Uncharted 3 to be incredibly boring. 2 was pretty neat, though.

Not really, they're pretty different from each other. The only similarity is probably the whole treasure and old mysticism angle as well as being a third-person shooter with acrobatic traversal.

Alright, maybe they are pretty similar. I found Uncharted to be more enjoyable in every way, at least the second and third. This is probably closer to Uncharted 1, being the first in a series (first of the rebooted series at least) with lots of potential, just replace the jovial tone with a serious one. That said, that playful Indiana Jones-esque style is a big part of the Uncharted games, so don't expect Tomb Raider to hit those same areas for you.

It's still a good game though. The weapon upgrading is fun, the combat is great, it's a good looking game, and, well that's mostly it. The story is OK, nothing special.

I liked it more than the Uncharted games. I think the combat is better and the exploration is better; you know, the part of the game where you actually play it. The writing is also better than Uncharted 3's incoherent mess of loose plot threads.

@jeust: I hadn't played it, and will be picking it up on PS4; pretty excited about it, but I had asked my friend if he had played it, and he said it was the best Uncharted game aside from two. Now, that's great news, except for the fact that two's my personal least favorite Uncharted (I know, unpopular opinion), but I'm sure for most, that's a great thing.

It's the ingenuity, like you say (Laura gets some gadgets and everything) but also Laura starts as an everyman of sorts and then gets in this crazy situation, and we stay with her through the whole time and see that she is hardened through the experience. And takes a lot of physical damage too. Obviously very similar to Die Hard's arc.

Also there is a legit dark tone too, which Uncharted mostly dodges, even though it dabbles. You see some human sacrifice, some evil rapey creeps, and you can see Laura go out in very grizzly ways, Dead Space style. Defintiely has a harder edge than Uncharted and really feels like a fight for survival rather than a globe trotting adventure. Where with Drake it's always like "oh how are you going to get out of this one?!" when anything happens, with Laura in TR it feels like there are more stakes and she could very easily bite the dust.

It'll be interesting to see what a sequel is like. It could keep TR1's tone or become more Indiana Jones-like, with Laura now made a real adventurer.

I believe Tomb Raider is a pretty good game, but the comparison with Uncharted is rather shallow... the biggest similarities are in the cover based combat and the "cinematic" platforming sections. Other than that, TR is more of an open world game with some simple puzzles and a metroid-like level design. Also, the bow and arrow is a lot more satisfying than most weapons in Uncharted.

Edit of what I said previously:

The open areas don't really add anything to the combat, since the fights are so contained. In the bigger areas the enemies always wait in little, widely dispersed groups (conveniently having conversations for you every time) and because of the upgrade system they're too weak, just right or bullet sponges. I'd rather pick up the nearest gun during combat than keep and upgrade it, as I would in real life. It makes a shootout more hectic and adds importance to jumping and running. They made the guns much less effective than they should be just to add an illusion of depth. But the shootouts become really easy if you explore, collect and upgrade your guns with the excessive XP. The game needs higher difficulty modes. I found more enjoyment with Crushing in Drake's Fortune and Hard in Uncharted 2. They tried to mix it up with those big fighters, but their sizes made those moments look pretty silly and weird. The guy on the ship was like 9 feet tall for some odd reason. The stealth is no better than in Uncharted 2, since the enemies can neither hear nor see arrows whizzing by and since you always have a suppressor if you own the Special Edition.

The wildlife is an illusion too. Only the wolves are threatening and only at one part in the beginning does Lara need to feed herself. Contrary to how the devs marketed it, it's not a survival game at all.

The characters are poorer, the music is cheap (I actually turned it off for the first half of one playthrough.), the animations are rougher, there is less detail, there are more "cinematic" interruptions, little things that take control away from the player ("I can't do that now.") and the setpieces are more ridiculous and artificial feeling. Lara has laughably horrible luck, even compared to Nathan Drake.

I always thought Nathan Drake was kind of a douche, but at least he has charisma and fits the setting. He is a less likable Indiana Jones. I found Lara Croft's voice too meek, her face bland, her breasts too big and didn't believe her transition. She is a boring character.

None of the exploration feels important. The tombs are sparse and easy and just there for the old fans. The puzzles, few as there are, are better than in Uncharted, though. All the little relics you find are filler and there are an absurd number of journal entries, as if the characters wrote them just for you. There aren't even many open areas, aside from the beach and the shanty town. Uncharted doesn't have as many things to do on the side, but it doesn't need to to tell its story. Being able to backtrack to previous areas wasn't a plus for me either. I only fast-traveled when I went for 100 percent completion. I actually prefer Uncharted's levels because my file doesn't become useless after I finish the story. I can replay it and collect more of those relics. In Tomb Raider there is almost no one left to fight and little motivation for being there.

If you'd like, here's some spoilers about the ending gameplay that stood out to me the most:

Lara gets herself a 2nd pistol, duel wields it, and shoots the final antagonist to death with it. And you have to pull the triggers yourself, with each trigger corresponding to that side's specific pistol. LT RT LT RT LT RT.

It's really, really satisfying.

Yep, I'd say it's better than Uncharted 3 too. It's a really good female Uncharted.

I like the added depth and sense of freedom Tomb Raider has to offer, but Uncharted is better in every other way.

@white: That bit alone made me glad I was playing it with a controller. Wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying on a mouse.

I've played all 3 Uncharted games to completion and I am not a big fan, so with that said I will not deny that they are amazingly made games, but personally I enjoyed Tomb Raider much more than I did any of the Uncharted games, it was just a more fun experience to me. Uncharted may have it's lovable for some reason protag and friends and may be more fun to watch than Tomb Raider, but Tomb Raider is more fun to play.

I hope this makes some sense. :)

Well this is a completely subjective topic but I think Uncharted has mediocre gameplay. Tomb Raider doesn't raise the bar in terms of the genre but I found it far more accessible, especially with the more open world and varied environments playing into Lara's strengths.

@jeust: Personally, I liked the new one better than any Uncharted game. That is just me though.

If you DON'T like the firefights, maybe steer clear as this is what the game does best. I liked how snappy switching weapons was, and it made for some interesting battles over the course of it. The storyline gets weird toward the end much like the Uncharted games but that transition didn't bother me as much because the gameplay stays more or less the same. The game does not have the cast chemistry of Uncharted though, and is a darker toned game in general. I actually found that kind of refreshing, it treated a psychotic band of killers like a psychotic band of killers, it wasn't as cavalier about the volume of violence taking place like Uncharted does. So, pluses and minuses. The campaign has some really great stretches, but it starts kind of slow.

I picked it up in a Steam sale for 12.49 and felt good about it. I'd suggest trying it, but it has its own quirks so it won't scratch your Uncharted itch. I found the campaign pacing better than that in the third Uncharted, frankly as I'm one of those folks that found the pirate level in that game completely knocked that game off the rails.

If you're after character chemistry, set pieces and a decent storyline you might want to try The Last of Us if you havent already. Tomb Raider is a much better game mechanically. One of the problems I had with the latest Uncharted was that it felt like step back gameplay wise. (and I didnt much care for the new characters either) Enslaved is another good action adventure game. It's a bit clunky like most of Ninja Theory's games but the scenery, characters, etc. are all well done.

So much hate. It's not bad at all and will definitely scratch the Uncharted itch, other than not having a puckish rogue as the main character.

Maybe if you're a crazy person who can satisfy the feeling of Infamous with Prototype.

Story and characters are not as good. The environment is unique and fun to explore. It has an open world exploration that Uncharted doesn't have along with upgrades. The combat and overall gameplay is fantastic. It was one of my favorite games last year.

Basically what everyone else has already said. Uncharted has significantly better writing (least in the dialogue) and characters than Tomb Raider, but TR is a more mechanically diverse and ultimately fun game to play, with some pretty good Uncharted-esque set-pieces moments. Though while TR does have better gameplay, I think Uncharted 2 as a cohesive whole is still better by a pretty large margin.

Sheesh!

tomb raider is unsatisfying for fans of fan.

Tomb Raider is a better game than Uncharted 1 and 3. Its narrative and characters don't hold a candle to any Uncharted but the actual gameplay is better than 90% of the gameplay in the Uncharted series.

This is how I feel.

I'm an Uncharted fan and i didn't find TR satisfying.

Thanks guys for all the replies! I'm going to consider all of your opinions. :)

Funny you spoke of The Last of Us and Enslaved. I played both of those games, and loved Last of Us and liked Enslaved to lesser degree, but I agree with you on scenery, characters and story. They are very well done.

It is alright, better than UC1 and UC3... god UC3 pretty spectacle but what a drag of game.. I never finished it.

It blows Uncharted out of the water. Then again that's not saying much. Better shooting, more exploration, and just more fun to play. Doesn't rely on set pieces constantly like Uncharted does.

All I could think of when playing Uncharted (1) was "This is going to be great when they give me more environments to actually explore!". Then Uncharted 2 came out and it was the same linear crap.

Tomb Raider gave me what I wanted out of Uncharted, with more bows and less smarmy white dudes.

I would say the story and characters are not as good as Uncharted, but from a game standpoint Lara is a more believable heroine than Drake. She actually shows remorse for slaughtering countless people, and the events of the game take a tole on her both physically and psychologically. But she isn't as "fun" a character to control. Drake and Sully and crew are just fun dudes to be around. And their adventures, while not very original, are well told. And the big set piece encounters are really the best in the business.

Now all that said, I think Tomb Raider is a much more fun game to actually play. The controls feel a lot tighter, the combat feels much more balanced, and the skill tree and weapon upgrade system add a lot of depth to the game. Plus going back to previously cleared out areas and just exploring them without fear of getting shot can be really rewarding. And the actual tomb raids are an enjoyable little side activity that revolve solely around platforming and puzzle solving. So I would say in almost every aspect Tomb Raider is a better playing game. But if you are in it for the story, characters, and set pieces I think you'll be disappointed as none of those are as strong as what Amy Hennig has created in the Uncharted series.

If you want Uncharted without the charm but with greatly improved gameplay then yes.

As a huge Uncharted fan I found Tomb Raider very underwhelming. Take from that what you will.

I don't much get the comparison to Uncharted, except for the cosmetic of the whole thing. It plays a lot more like a Batman Arkham game that anything else. Especially the way the game is built.

It's a very good game too, one I beat about 4 times during 2013.

YUUP.

Even if the story is a bit lesser, it gets a lot of mechanics better than Uncharted. So give it a whirl.

It's weird. The things that Tomb Raider does better than Uncharted have nothing to do with what makes Uncharted great. The combat, world design, exploration, and pretty much every aspect of the gameplay is better in Tomb Raider, but the gameplay isn't the reason I enjoy Uncharted.

Tomb Raider doesn't even come close to Uncharted in terms of characters, dialogue, story, voice acting, and pretty much all the narrative elements. Based on what you said you liked about Uncharted, I don't think you're going to like Tomb Raider as much, but if you're looking for a good third person action adventure/shooter that's weak in narrative department but plays well, you should like Tomb Raider.

Funny enough it's a situation close to mine. My least favourite Uncharted is also 2. ahah

And thanks guys for the opinions!