Tomb Raider hands-on: “a lack of meaningful interaction”

[Nsanity]

Kotaku:

My overall impression of Tomb Raider was positive. The game looks lovely, the performances are strong, the puzzles seem smart, provided they ramp up in difficulty to the extent that hardcore series fans like me want. The combat is a bit floaty and stealth is weird, but as long as those two things aren't the main focus of the game, it should still be fine. Moreover, Crystal Dynamics looks to be succeeding in its goal of re-creating a more human Lara Croft; the opening hours play like a gritty but surprisingly believable origin story. I'll have more specific thoughts about Lara's evolution later on today or tomorrow (Hughes and I chatted quite a bit about how Crystal Dynamics has approached her character), and more on Tomb Raider later this week.

CVG:

That said, our first two hours with the game was a little disappointing, but only in the respect to how it compares to Crystal Dynamics' own (and Core's earlier) Tomb Raiders. It's a gorgeous, polished, well-produced action game, but there was too much shooting, too many scripted sequences, and not enough exploration and puzzle solving. But we have no way of knowing how reflective this is of the larger experience, so we're still remaining cautiously optimistic until its release on March 5.

VG247:

While three hours spent with Tomb Raider feels long enough to be assured of Crystal Dynamics’ ability to deliver on its promises, it’s not nearly long enough to sate my appetite for Lara’s latest adventure. The mechanical elements of Tomb Raider appear to be sound, and a special mention must go to both the visual arts team and the audio composers and engineers. Tomb Raider’s rugged beauty is complemented by a potent aural atmosphere, keenly highlighted as the roar of a wind-lashed jungle gives way to the eerie quiet of a subterranean cave system.

In truth, I could go on, but 1,200 spoiler-free words should surely be enough to relay a simple, underlying truth: Lara is back, her presence is relevant and she’s set to reclaim her place as video gaming’s leading lady.

Shacknews:

While I'm still genuinely concerned by the complaints I've addressed here, there's something to be said about a game that feels like I've barely scratched the surface after more than two hours of gameplay. The point of Tomb Raider is to see Lara grow--and I'm interested to see if Crystal Dynamics can mature both the character and the gameplay in meaningful ways.

DigitalSpy:

Despite some unoriginal and occasionally frustrating approaches to combat, Tomb Raider is shaping up rather nicely. It's a departure from the Tomb Raider of old, certainly - it's more linear and with a tighter focus - but it still appears to satisfy an appetite for adventure.

Venturebeat:

Tomb Raider has potential. If Crystal Dynamics really does follow through on the exploration — the Metroidvania aspects — and tells a decent story in the process, it could end up being a very good game indeed. At this point, the best thing Crystal Dynamics can do is downplay the Uncharted-style action and continue working to give Tomb Raider its own identity. After all, who needs Nathan Drake when you’ve got the original Lara Croft?

Eurogamer:

After three hours playing the game, it's clear that no expense has been spared on this reinvention of the action-adventure series and its iconic heroine Lara Croft. No trend has been left unfollowed, either. Tomb Raider is an exhaustively complete collection of fashions in contemporary blockbuster game-making.

Graphic violence, bad language, gritty art, brutal finishing moves, shaky-cam quick time events, experience points and upgrade trees, mini meta-challenges, 'detective mode', survivalist gameplay, stealth assassinations, collectable backstory, a lead character on a personal journey: it's got the lot. You'll run, jump and raid tombs, of course, but you'll also harvest resources, craft weapon upgrades, press Y to execute and then cry at the cut-scene. (Maybe.)

...

It's not all bandwagon-jumping. In a lovely return to - in fact, extension of - the tomb raiding concept, you can stumble across secret "challenge" tombs as you explore the areas. These micro-dungeons present a puzzle to solve and a treasure chest to loot and are as close to the Indiana Jones action-archeologist fantasy as anything in the series ever has been.
Joystiq

As the demo progressed and I found myself nearing the end, I kept wondering if I was going to see any of the old Tomb Raider series rear its head. After some more light exploration, one stealth sequence before infiltrating a dilapidated Japanese WWII base, and finally a full-on base assault led by one woman with a bow-and-arrow, it was obvious that Tomb Raider was not only a reboot of the character but of its original genre classification. Crystal Dynamics isn't making a game full of stone levers and intimidating ancient decor, and I was completely fine with that. In two hours of playing Tomb Raider, I had already wrestled with more emotions than I had with any prior entry in the series

EGMNOW:

At this moment, I feel like the men and women at Crystal Dynamics love Lara Croft. Sure, that may sound cheesy—and a little weird, depending on your interpretation of “love”—but I get the impression that the development team legitimately cares not only about who Lara is and how she’s presented, but also how the player sees her. It’s evident in the little things, like those purposeless hand animations. It speaks in the quiet moments, when the game slows down for long enough for Lara to process what’s happening around her. It’s displayed on her face, when we’re shown that her reactions are the best way for us to understand what the game is doing to her.

With Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics wants to present to us a Lara Croft that is weak and fragile and afraid and vulnerable, but also a Lara Croft that is strong and brave and capable and versatile. The question is, can the new Tomb Raider live up to the new Lara Croft—and I came to understand that I can’t understand that just yet.

In many ways, Tomb Raider feels fresh, daring, and exciting; in other ways, I worry that neither its ideas nor its creators will be capable of fully realizing their goals. What I can say—with certainty—is that while my expectations for Tomb Raider are now a little more realistic, my excitement is still just as genuine.

1up:

I realize that at some point you have to say, "It's just a game, I should really just relax," but the detail and consideration Crystal Dynamics has invested in this game -- as regards the relatable, human nature of Lara in particular -- means the moments where it falls on back on game clichés (because that's just how games work) feel disappointing in their predictability and lack of imagination. Less than a day into her career as an tomb raider, Lara's already taken on steeper odds than anything she faced in her previous -- that is to say, subsequent -- adventures. It doesn't make the game unplayable, but it does work at odds with Tomb Raider's thoughtful narrative. Crystal Dynamics may be looking to Casino Royale for inspiration, but these shootouts feel more like Quantum of Solace.

If this sounds like unfair criticism of a game that still has a few months of refinement to go, perhaps it is... but I criticize only because these few sticking points stand out in a game that otherwise seems so carefully considered. I'm eager to play more of Tomb Raider and revisit all those nooks and crannies I couldn't reach before, but I do wish that didn't mean I'll have to revisit some of the worst clichés of modern blockbuster gaming to get there..

Gamespot:

The upcoming Tomb Raider reboot from Crystal Dynamics has made a point of emphasizing the believability of its protagonist Lara Croft. We are led to believe the much-loved gaming heroine has been re-worked into a younger, more vulnerable creature without her trademark impishness and overt sex appeal. We are told the game will pay more attention to Lara as a person, giving her a more complex set of feelings and capturing the not-so-glamorous side of a human being coming to terms with her own mortality; a necessary reminder that heroes are made, not born.

But if the first 2.5 hours of the game are any indication of what's to come, then Tomb Raider might not live up to these promises.