It’s a bit weird to be community reviewing what is basically an upgrade of a year old game, but here we are. This is what the dearth of new releases has done to us.
Has anyone picked up Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition? I’m toying with it because I played through roughly half of the game when it was first released, but never got round to finishing it. Also: I’m a sucker for stupid visual things: like that whole individual strands of hair falling independently and all that. Yeah, all that completely insignificant stuff is totally significant to me.
Anyone here pick it up? What did you think?
I mean, Tomb Raider is about as polished as a ‘game’ game can be, in that it’s a linear, well crafted experience with light RPG elements and shooting and platforming, etc. I guess what I’m saying is this: it ticks most of the boxes and it ticks them well. Not entirely sure that I’m all that interested in playing through it a second time though.
Is it worthwhile?
Comments
36 responses to “Community Review: Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition”
I played the definitive edition on PC months ago. It was good.
HUEHUEHUE
HAIL! ALL HAIL!
Praise GabeN
Console version looks better
Delusion
There’s a bunch of added environmental effects and upgraded physics engine and Lara’s clothes are now a lot more reactive to everything (blood, water, mud) and none of that is in the PC version.
So yeah, the console version actually looks better in this case.
Agreed. Picked it up cheap on steam, but then got it on my Xbox One due to the lack of any other games to play. Looks better in the Xbone.
There are certainly some upgrades. However the DE still lacks tessellation and the high res textures of the PC version. It also can only handle FXAA whereas a choice of methods are available on PC, and obviously depending on configuration the PC version is capable of higher resolutions and framerates.
It’s really not surprising that the DE is better in some areas, since they’ve had the best part of a year to keep working on it. If the DE improvements were released on PC then we could compare apples to apples.
funny but not true, they haven’t upgraded the PC version….
I’m all about the cheap laughs.
Haha nice
waiting for it to arrive from nzgameshop
It looks great but the animations are weird. Lara seems very twitchy. Like she’s methed up or something. Also her hair seems to glow in low light.
Besides that having not really got very far into the game previously I’m very much enjoying it. The additional and new environmental effects really add to the atmosphere immensely.
Well I loved the game last year. So unless it’s like the HD re-release of Silent Hill 2 and 3 then everybodys opinions will probably be the same.
I picked it up for the XBOX One last week but I still haven’t had the chance to play it. I’m one and a half games away from playing it. =P
It set my PS4 into a vicious cycle of safe mode reboots.
Couldn’t handle all the hair physics.
Has that been fixed yet, or what?
Yes, although it did make me hesitant to touch the PS4 for a while…
This comment made me chuckle.
If you own it on last-gen, absolutely no point to buy the updated one. It’s visuals only. $70 is insane, and there’s no “pay $10 for digital upgrade” offer, which is BS.
I played it on Xbox 360. The visuals were okay, and I’m used to maxing out anything on 2560×1600.
Fair point, but I’m cutting them a break on the still new price and lack of upgrade options since they’re supporting the new consoles. It beats them holding back the XBOX 360/PC/PS3 versions for nearly a year in order to do a simultaneous release or worse, simply not releasing the game on next gen at all.
Even at $70 with mostly cosmetic upgrades it beats the GTAV method of just ignoring XBOX One and PS4.
See, I’m in this situation where I just finished it on 360 and I’m all excited for a second playthrough, and actually completely prepared to shell out $70 to play it with the updated visuals on my Xbone instead of just playing the copy I already have. I understand that “just visuals” is an excellent caveat for people who already have the game, but I saw so much promo/comparison for the Definitive Edition that when I finally played the 360 version Lara looked completely different/wrong to me.
I think I’m going to do it. I’m such a consumer whore.
Well, by all means, buy it! 😛 If you love the game that much to play it again (not a practise I usually perform), the upgraded visuals will just be a cherry on the top and a new way to look at the game. Go for it.
I normally don’t play a game a second time either, because I’ve got a pile of shame a mile long of games I want to get to or haven’t finished. If I do, you can take that as an extremely rare endorsement.
I’ll consider buying it when they’re not trying to flog it off at new game prices.
Same. I expect it to drop off pretty quickly
But if you haven’t played it what exactly about it is old enough to consider a brand new price tag for this version unreasonable? Don’t get me wrong, I feel the same way, this has just got me asking why and I can’t really come up with a good answer.
That said, if you’ve never played it before it’s truly next-gen and a great purchase. For example, the hair physics? It doesn’t even work properly on PC and comes with a massive performance hit, so the devs really took the time to polish the PS4 version.
My understanding is that the PC version runs on the same engine as last-gen whereas the Xbone/PS4 version is a new engine, so it’s more than just a matter of cranking the settings to max.
Tomb Raider is like a good movie; I finished the original and it was amazing fun, now I’m playing it again with the added detail and it’s really proving worthwhile.
For x hours of great interactive entertainment $70 really isn’t that much to ask. Sqeenix can have my money twice if it keeps them pumping out more high-quality games.
I’ve found it a worthy upgrade. Visually it’s stunning, sure it can look as good on PC but that’s on the condition you have a pc that can run it at max settings at a solid frame rate.
I also really like the voice commands for the menu’s i found really great. It sounds hokey but being able to just go ‘Show map’ and ‘Close’.
If you have a PS4 i’d recommend grabbing it to show the system off.
Bought it last week, managed to finish it in 10 hr, return it back to EB games for full refund 🙂
i didn’t play the original version so i dunno the comparison is like but i notice there’s some glitch on PS4 version but overall the graphic, particle effect, and lighting was great.
Played this on release, loved it, and see no reason to pay to play through again. Maybe if there’d been some extra tombs or side-missions. What this release has inspired me to do is to get out my original PSone copy of Tomb Raider and play through that again.
picked it up for less than $60 online, only played a little at a mates previously. Im looking forward to it. To be honest though, with the lack of games on Xbone at the moment, id look forward to playing a paint drying sim. So take from that what ye will.
I picked it up on thursday; certainly looks pretty, which I’m all for. Would’ve been nice to have some form of trade-in for those of us who had the previous-gen version though. Regardless I was just happy to have another title for my PS4, and it is rather neatly polished so it makes a decent game to play on a regular basis. Not to mention the completionist side of things in raiding all of those tombs!
The flickering on the controller LED is unnecessarily distracting and pointless. I don’t mind the touch-pad torch-igniting, even though there’s another button for it making it redundant, it can be slightly quicker and more convenient to use. Although what’s the point when Lara seems to ignite or put the torch out herself automatically 90% of the time? Enter a dark cave, out comes the torch. Exit the cave, away it goes. But those are nitpicks not specific to this re-release. 😛
One of my favourite parts is the auto-cover system. Really well done. Though I wish they had worked enemy AI ever-so-slightly in regards to losing sight of Lara. At this stage it’s like Uncharted: once you’ve been spotted in a section, all enemies are blissfully aware of your position at all times until combat ends. Playing stealth makes me miss the Last of Us even more.
Anyway, I know it would be far more appealing if it had either a digital upgrade or trade-in option. The price is a tad much for those that paid the full price initially. Especially when it makes that previous version rather obsolete. Silly sausages like me with disposable income left post-bills might be alright with the fork-out, but it’s pretty much the largest obstacle for most would-be new owners of the DE. The main thing that actually tided me over was the simple fact that we’re in an (expected) game drought for our new consoles and I actually play my PS3 far more than my PS4 at the moment. Paid $70 to give a $550 investment more use!
EDIT: Oh, and as has been mentioned, it would’ve been pretty damn awesome if they’d added a bunch of tombs to sweeten the deal. For many they’re the best part of the game. Tomb Raider, who’d have thought?