Tomb Raider 2013

Arrives in under two weeks.

I'm really excited about this title, probably more so than any of the recent TR reboots or remakes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEOOishb5fY

They seem to have incorporated Skyrim-style gameplay elements, which I can only applaud.

Got it pre-ordered

I've been a long time fan of the series. The recent games have all been good, but it's been a long time since any of them have been truly 'great'. The Uncharted series has run circles around it really, so it did need another refresh to get itself back on track. I do hope this game impresses - although in all honesty I'm not expecting it to blow anyone away. Time will tell though.. my fingers are crossed.

Seems like every damn game has a bow & arrow these days too

Speaking of which, Crysis 3 unlocks tonight :Dinah:

I'm getting a pretty good feeling about this. On balance, I think it's the right time for a reboot, and if they're doing an overhaul of the mechanics then there's really no better example to follow than the 'Uncharted' series. Looking forward to seeing what Rhianna Pratchett (lead writer and daughter of Terry) and the developers have come up with.

Didn't take her long to go from a scared inexperienced girl to shotgunning people in the face like a pro

Also, Lara can cause MAJOR explosions!

Looks promising indeed. If they can nail the narrative and strike a good balance between action, exploration and MGS3-esque survival elements, we could be looking at an early contender for game of the year.

So the first wave of reviews are in, and it's received lavish praise pretty much across the board, particularly in this one on IGN.

^Bodes well, although I never trust IGN

Anyone jumped in yet? I played through the first hour or so last night, and was quite impressed

I hope to pick it up tonight.

^Bodes well, although I never trust IGN

They do have a tendency to overrate games, but there are countless other sites out there that I trust less.

A few hours in now, and I'm really liking it so far. Combat and climbing/exploration both feel equally good, plus it's a really pretty game. Best of all though, it actually manages to feel quite Tomb Raidery

It is rather easy though I have to say. I hope there's going to be some more complex climbing/platforming later in the game, but we'll see..

It is shaping up to be a good origin story, but I'd love to see a more ambitious game using this tech before too long. One with a mature Lara on an adventure much grander in scale.

I picked it up, around 90 minutes into it. I stopped playing at the point where Lara returns to Roth with the first aid kit.

Will try to play some more after the footie, but now it's time for Manure vs. Real.

Returned to it for a little bit after the footie was over, still on my way to the broadcast tower.

I've enjoyed it a lot so far.

Voices of reason PC Gamer finally reviewed it:

http://www.pcgamer.com/review/tomb-raider-review/

He gave it a good but not great review. Perhaps a little harsh overall, but I can't really disagree with any of the criticisms.

Anyway, I finished it today.. 100% and all. As much as I liked the combat (despite the AI being pretty ordinary), my favourite parts were all the optional tombs - they really captured the 'Tomb Raider' vibe most (yeah, the parts where you're raiding tombs.. go figure ). The only problem was that they were all in these bite-size chunks, and aside from those there were only a couple of proper puzzles in the main part of the game. Like I said before, I would so love to see the next game done on a larger scale. I want to see epic environments, and equally epic puzzles. More climbing too. I hope we don't have to wait too long for it

I finished the main campaign but have some sweeping up to do in terms of completion. Currently at 75%.

I do agree that the optional tombs are some of the most fun to be had in the game.

And for all the build-up, I found it to end rather abruptly.

My copy is winging its way to me as we speak. Can't wait to give it a whirl.

My game finally landed on the doormat on Wednesday morning. It's definitely a hit so far. I'm missing the vast underground tombs of old a little bit, but I'm loving the graphics, the combat, and the overall atmosphere.