Hello guys!
It's been a while since I posted in this community. I wanted to talk about something that's been on my mind for a while now. It's about these AAA open world games. Now I'm not necessarily talking about the ones that released recently.
Let's got back a bit to understand this. Back in 2014 I got my first low end gaming laptop and I was thrilled to play computer games just like any other kid who was dying to get his hands on one. Before all that the only games that I played on a Gaming center were GTA San Andreas, TOAD and Road Rash.
Since I have a laptop with a GPU, I have some processing power so I tried out a bunch of different games preferably open world games like Assassin's creed brotherhood, Far cry 3 etc because these were in turned back then. Now most of us gamers know that these games are quite popular and entertaining but what about the current state? Most of sequels of these games are still open world but it's filled with filler boring missions and mid main missions. Dot believe me? Go to reddit and twitter and judge for yourself.
It makes you wonder what these big companies are doing to these successful series when they have more than enough budget. Visually, these games are stunning but that's just one part of the game which makes a any game successful. Gone are the days where games are affordable and optimised. You need to spend a good amount of money on a rig to play these unoptimised crap lately and even so you a question pops up in our mind. Was it worth it?
Tomb Raider 2013
Yesterday, I decided to look into some old adventure games just because of the above reasons plus my current laptop doesn't have a dedicated GPU but it has a Ryzen 3 3250u with 16GB ram and 246GB SSD which is more than enough to play older games at 720p resolution.
I chose tomb raider because it's a linear game and when it's linear devlopers can focus more on level building in that particular area and make the experience even more entertaining. Take farcry 4's missions for example. Most of them are an extended version of outpost liberation missions with bits of stories. When you compare it to the missions and side quests of Tomb Raider there is no competition here. Tomb raider is simply better when to comes to story telling. People often ignore games like this because of the lack of open world and marketing which is a big mistake. I admit that I'm one of those people who did that. I remember installing this game back in 2014 but didn't give much attention to it because of other open world games like far cry 3, GTA V etc
Official Trailer
source: YouTube
Gameplay
I played the game for a few hours and finished the first mission and some side quests and wow just wow!
The level design on this game is miles ahead for a game that's realised in 2013 and you know what's even more interesting? The game is cheap af now. It's selling at 2.25$ on steam now. That's a steal XD. Although I would strongly suggest you guys to get a physical copy from Amazon for 3-4$ because lately I'm hearing a lot of issues regarding game removal from digital libraries without the consent of the owner by simply saying that they updated their polices etc.
Visuals
I'm sure some of you guys are wondering about the graphics. It looks really good for a game that was released in 2013. With my current specs I can only run it at 720p normal settings and it still looks so good. A reason for this is that the game supports AMD gaming evolved app which is currently discontinued however every game with this logo in the intro has been working very well on my laptop.
The first mission after the successful escape from a cult like worship place is the jungle which is located in a place called Dragon's triangle in Japan. This place has a good amount of vegetation and volumetric fog and that right there is a major fps breaker but for some reason it's working very well on my system. I guess I have to thank the developers of this game for optimising it really well. Lara's model is also made really well and the facial expressions are also on point. Honestly, it looks better than Assassin's creed Mirage's facial animations which was heavily criticized by the community after launch.
Gameplay Mechanics
Tomb raider games often have lots of puzzles to solve around as your progress forward. It's one of things that makes the game stand out from others than action and stealth. This is both good and bad because people might lose interest if they can't solve the puzzle in a certain amount of time but at the same time it's also feel so rewarding when you figure it out on your own. It's like that movie National Treasure where Nic Cage and his team set on an expedition to find a lost treasure, solves puzzles and eventually discovers the big treasure in the end. Same stuff but you do it alone plus lots of people are after you and you will figure out why later. In the game expect a lot of mystical elements, inscriptions on walls which are clues to what's coming in the end. I don't want to spoil too much because it's a surprise hehe.
Lara is clearly athletic and can climb mountains, buildings etc with ease. It will remind you guys of Assassin's creed's Parkour. As you move forward through the story you get more and more weapons, skills, attachments etc.
Story
Lara Croft is an Archealogist like her father who is after the The lost Kingdom of Yamatai and it's legendary Queen Himiko.
Lara and her team sets on a expedition to find this lost Kingdom with a group of people. It's located in Dragon's triangle, a place similar to Bermuda Triangle because it's surrounded by storms and other unexplained things. They decided to go there anyway through team voting but their ship gets wrecked and eventually the team gets seperated.
From there on out the missions begin!
Conclusion
In short linear games are worth trying out and it might even surprise you like it surprised me with Tomb Raider. They are usually cheaper and more optimised than AAA games and can be appealed to a wider range of gamers if they are willing to take a leap of faith. Tomb raider survivor version is a trilogy. The sequels won't run very well on my pc but I have a already watched gameplay's of it and if I ever build a decent rig the last two will be definitely on my list to play.
I hope I was able to introduce you to some underrated linear games like Tomb Raider. One other game similar to this is Bullet Storm. This one is pure craziness xD. You get all sorts of physics defying guns to blow enemies to hell haha. Do try that out as well if you can.
Ah it's a long blog and I hope I didn't bore you to death haha.
All images posted here belongs to me otherwise credited
Thank you so much for your time :)