OK I’m now 10hrs into the game… and Lara is back searching for the Divine Sauce, which is in my opinion would be a close run battle between Hollandaise & Bechamel.
I’ve been able to take a benchmark run with some indication of my settings on my work PC:
As you can see it can hit a playable average & max framerate but drops down into very choppy single digits when there’s a lot of effects happening. Also the whole hair effect is awful in this game, even with Pure Hair off, Lara’s pony tail bounces around like the torturous winds of Tartarus itself are blowing continually in her face. It’s distracting & just plain annoying, I’d have been happy for her to have the same plastic shell hair as all the NPCs because it would be less ridiculous during overly emotion fraught cut scenes.
Two more chapters down and the writing doesn’t show any chance in improving. The story is too cliche ridden with no hint of irony; it brings nothing new to the genre & is tries to unsuccessfully straddle the line between pulp campy action and serious character based drama. I do give respect for the fact she is mortal and they’ve kept the brutal death sequences. Despite what some overly-sensitive commentators think, her death sequences don’t equate to a torture doll simulator, instead they provide an actual impetus in showing that her story has high stakes. This is a very necessary narrative/dramatic requirement for story building. There’s no story as boring as one where the viewer’s central point of connection has no risk of danger or is all-powerful. This is why the Achilles Heel exists in stories, because otherwise we couldn’t relate to a struggle that is never in doubt, how boring would Superman be without Kryptonite?
A major gripe I have with the actual gameplay is the requirement to rely on “Survival Instinct”. This is the same cheap & nasty god-mode ability that almost ruined the Batman Arkham series as well as Assassins Creed. One click of the button & you see everything you’d ever want to. You can tell which enemies are safe to kill & which ones aren’t’… it’s ridiculously cheap & overpowered and is pandering to the lowest common skill set; I’m trying to not play with it but the fact that they chose to implement this system irks me. Additionally there are parts of the story that essentially require the player to use it.
Still love the actual Tomb Raiding, but the Crypts are underwhelming. Where Challenge Tombs require some thought & physics manipulation, the Crypts are just stumbling around in the dark until you find the coffin.
The skill upgrade system has quite a bit of variety & I like that you can slowly build a Lara for the style of play you want. Currently going for a brawler/assassin with some survival skills. I am still having serious issues with the combat - either I’m not quite on the same wavelength as the game or the low level of my system is causing lag during battles. Especially when faced with “boss” type enemies that charge you. I managed to do something right however and take out Colonel PussPuss despite him thinking I was more addictive than salmon rubbed in catnip.
So onward to more exciting adventures… see you for the next installment of Lara’s Siberian Adventure of Doom. Otherwise known as “Only You Can Help Us, Because… Reasons”
