370°

Tomb Raider will be 12-15 hours long, Lara will have regen health and can't swim

Although Lara is an adept swimmer in the Tomb Raider series, the upcoming reboot will apparently chronicle a time when she still needed floaties. On the upside, this was a time when she adopted Wolverine’s regeneration powers.

What exactly am I talking about, you ask? Crystal Dynamics global brand director Karl Stewart recently went on Twitter to answer fans’ questions about the game.

Abash4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

12-15 hours means more like 8-10 hours.

GuyThatPlaysGames4159d ago

And so the truth comes out with this game lol. More disappointments coming soon!!

Abash4159d ago

Honestly every Tomb Raider showing just looked like an engine showcase, there was barely any gameplay or anything of substance shown. Yeah the game looks visually impressive, but I have yet to see any promise in any other area of the game outside of graphics

Blacktric4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

"Our game will focus on a younger Lara whose only aim will be survival in a harsh environment with nothing much to help her."

And then they put auto health regen.

Quality game development right there. Not to mention taking out the ability to swim to save on dev budget and time.

rainslacker4159d ago

Swimming is hard...I mean the first game had it quite a bit. Of course, given how crappy the swim mechanics were of the first games maybe this should be considered a feature.

WrAiTh Sp3cTr34159d ago

8-10 hours has been the norm this gen. People's favorite treasure hunter this gen has been in games with the same length of time, lol, and I didn't hear a peep out of people. Don't get me started on re-gen health, seeing as though everyone complained about Far Cry 2 and the syringes and malaria medicine. I can't wait to see how the hunting portion turns out though.

vandal GAB4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

Tombraider @ Eurogamer expo 2012, plenty of gameplay and info..

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

The game looks awesome!

JoySticksFTW4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

@ Blacktric

Seriously. PS2's MGS3 had a harsh survival theme.

Naked Snake was hunting / hoarding animal and plant life for food and meds.

And he wasn't just eating to keep his health up.

If you let him go hungry, Snake's aim got shoddy and enemy soldiers might find him easier by hearing his stomach growl. Eat the wrong thing and you got a messed up stomach. Or really screw yourself if you can't or neglect to find the right plant for ointments and splinting broken bones.

And people pan Kojima. Please...

That's some survival right there. But as everyone knows, unless the name has a Souls at the end, games have been about hand-holding and a more "fun" experience for the mainstream audience this console gen.

Thank goodness for a few devs going in the other direction (Day Z!) to produce a challenging game, without using a higher difficulty setting in the options to simply bump up opponent health and use cheap AI tactics.

But I still want to check this TR out, even though the no swimming thing is irksome. I mean Lara out-swims sharks, so I figured she was a natural swimmer since she was a toddler.

Ah well, will wait and see as more info comes.

SilentNegotiator4158d ago

I was rolling my eyes when everyone got excited for more Lara Croft and thought it was going to be revolutionary because they gave her smaller breasts.

SephirothX214158d ago

Hasn't Uncharted and Gears regen health? I don't like regen health but I also don't like inconsistency.

4158d ago
knowyourstuff4158d ago (Edited 4158d ago )

It isn't that she can't swim, dishonest headline, it's that there is no water level or need for Lara to swim. It isn't like there's going to be water in places, and just like in GTA Vice City you'll die whenever you're up to your waste in water lol

People typically hate water levels anyway, so I don't blame them for not putting one in.

Cam9774158d ago

They've copied Uncharted... And failed.
Health regen is downright laughable in a SURVIVAL GAME!
No swimming? How old is Lara? And this is set in modern times? Get lost, lazy devs exposed!
I'm sure more disappointments will come - be ready people.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 4158d ago
ATi_Elite4159d ago

What do you mean Lara can't swim?

No swimming means Tomb Raider will be more like Pitfall!

vallencer4158d ago

But I like pitfall......

Mounce4159d ago

What's with all this bloody irrational trash-talking of this game?

You guys getting a hardon for bashing a game that you've never fucking even played yet? Where the hell is this hate-train coming from? Unreasonable.... whether I get downvoted for speaking the truth or not, no ones from the future, yet everyones getting 'Agrees' for posting flamebait on shit they don't know and whining about regen health? Right....

Not being able to swim is silly, that much I can say....

All the rest of these comments are fucking pathetic though. Little whiny babies.

rjdofu4158d ago

Lol easy there champ, why u mad tho?

The game is advertised as survival, now they put the freaking regen health, how is that survival huh? Don't talk trash if you know nothing.

krazykombatant4158d ago

"What's with all this bloody irrational trash-talking"

Funny you should say that, I got this little feeling to check your past comments and guess what you fall into the same category as most people here who bash things irrationally, that is to say the WiiU. So deal with the bitching, this is n4g. Where we bash anything that might be considered news worthy on this website.

Which judging by the recent amount of approved material would mean very low standards.

Mounce4158d ago

Oh shit man, watch out, krazykombatant is a super detective! Surely that makes your ability to judge others much more concrete!~

If I'm to trash talk, it's with logic and evidence....There's no evidence or rational thought, reasoning, put into this beyond what I already said of the silliness of no swimming.

and to @rjdofu, someone who uses the childish and old-time taunt of asking if someone is mad or not. I'm clearly not the one mad when everyone above me are tossing salads about a game that's not even out yet, Bro. I'm mad at ignorance, if you think I'm not allowed to be annoying by common human ignorance, then I'd simply laugh at you.

So the definition of Survival is especially defined Health-choice? Resident Evil styled maybe? Do you simply not have faith that they've found a way to integrate regen to a degree that is reasonable? Maybe it's VERY slow regeneration? Is the point not to analyze these things but to jump on their dick and ride it hard while bitching and moaning about the developers doing everything wrong before you've even played the game yourself?

No, just no. Wait for the final release, play it, then say what you feel. It'd be your own opinion and a valid one, but how people are handling it now? It's obnoxious. Same as ME3 fanboys and Sega fanboys lashing out.

TheXgamerLive4159d ago

No. Probably more like 20 to 30 hrs. if gamers would stop cheating and by that i mean aka walkthrough guides, wiki, youtube vids etc...play the game and actually search it through and enjoy, but nope they have to always take short cuts so they can say " I beat it in 8 hrs.". bah hardly.

MuhammadJA4158d ago

Finally, some sense in N4G.

Xenomorph4158d ago

Implying I need guides to beat a game. I beat Assassins creed in like 3 days doing all the side missions and no guides. Games are just easier now and puzzles are almost non-existent.

Kran4158d ago

in my eyes, 12-15 hours is normally 19-25 at the pace I like to play my games. :)

Anyone else with me?

cervantes994158d ago

Games are meant to be savored - not rushed through. Adventure games like these beg for the player to take time and search out everything.

So yes, I am with you :)

Yukicore4158d ago

My gaming experience is being ruined as I check every corner for something, and I always do, so that I don't miss anything, making games like Skyrim become more like work, not fun, managing all the weight and items that I have stored all over the house, placed them in different group order, to make it easier.

That is why I prefer sand-box style games, I can go there, do that, and then later come back, if I have a need to.

I'd have to agree with you, this game, from what I have seen looks gorgeous and will take a quite a lot of nice spent time looking at the views.

I should really learn to play games slowly and enjoy searching all the corners, but I am usually rushing, and trying to do everything perfectly, old habits die hard...

Knight_Crawler4158d ago

Uncharted was the same length and it turned out great.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4158d ago
DarkBlood4159d ago

never mind the hours, cant swim? o.o

StrongMan4159d ago

Exactly. What is this? 1998?

FarCryLover1824159d ago

I know Red Dead 2 didn't let you swim nor did Assassins Creed 1.

vortis4158d ago

@FarCryLover182

neither of those games were about SURVIVING on a harsh island surrounded by WATER where you play as a young woman whose sole goal is to SURVIVE a harsh environment where she has to learn to adapt and use what she has around her to SURVIVE and a vital part of that is going into WATER.

But since there's health regen, it doesn't matter anyway. This is NOT a survival game by any stretch of the imagination. DayZ is survival, this is just a cheap ploy to cash in on casuals with brand recognition.

FarCryLover1824157d ago

Oh yeah, I never said they were about surviving. I just stated that you can go into the water and instantly die.

Bathyj4159d ago

#14) Can’t Swim – “Don’t you know that you never learn to swim until the sequel?”

bubblebeam4159d ago

I hate games where you can't swim. God like the old Zelda games on the GameBoy.

For this gen it is inexcusable. Games like Red Dead and AC1 were so freaking annoying because you couldn't swim.

If you can't swim, then stop having magical water that pulls you into it. Have an invisible barrier if you are going to be that lazy with game design.

Baba19064159d ago

am i the only one happy about not swimming? i most timess hate swimm scenes in a game. they annoy the hell out of me so yay, that she hasnt learned to swimm lol =D

bubblebeam4159d ago

@Baba

It's a complicated issue. For one, the ability to swim gives you more freedom, although it is harder to get the controls right for it.

If it is done right, that is excellent. If you are selling a game about 'survival' though, taking the ability to swim away isn't very flattering, especially coupled with the regenerative heath thingy.

In some of the trailers she was getting thrown around in rapids, so I think water will play a part of the game. I'm pretty sure Bear Grylls would be pretty pissed off if he couldn't swim lol.

andibandit4158d ago (Edited 4158d ago )

@bubblebeam

I have found the game for you!:

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-GbYm...

On a more personal note, i couldnt care less.

soniqstylz4158d ago

It's easily explainable. Isn't she on an island? Where the hell is she going to swim to?

Also, can be hard to swim in salt water with a gaping wound in your side.

wishingW3L4158d ago

in a river or lagoon? I've seen some waterfalls in the gameplay previews....

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4157d ago
Jinkies4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

Woah Woah and Woah

What...the...fudge

Can't Swim - A tense feature in the old Tomb Raider games with your blue/greenish bar and the piranhas to look out for.

http://www.tombraiderchroni...

No health packs - Something you would obviously use to SURVIVE which is one of the main elements about this game. It would of been great if she had to wrap her self up with bandages if she got hurt. Another old school Tomb Raider feature they removed

http://i84.photobucket.com/...

I can't believe they got rid of the two things which made Tomb Raider...Tomb Raider, let me guess they wanted to make the game more accessible, damn why are developers this gen always have to dumb down good franchises.

vortis4159d ago

You think it's bad this gen...just wait until next-gen.

Jinkies4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

I don't even want to think about it

Imagine whats going to happen to the Elder Scrolls 6 <sigh>

Skyrim was good don't get me wrong but it just felt so straight forward and accessible. Most things which made the game challenging were thrown out, and yet that crappy soul charge thing for Staffs/Echanted weapons which put people off being a mage remained.

EDIT:

Have to say I love that I'm basicaly saying the same as everyone else yet I'm the only one to get disagrees...stay classy NG4

Conzul4159d ago

Just go play it on the hardest difficulty already >:(

Jinkies4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

Is that like the new counter argument people have come up with recently to defend a game when it's been dumbed down..."Oh yeah just put it on a high difficulty", yeah thats not going to bring the features back is it

Seriously people have been saying the same about the new dmc, first they said to wait for the demo, now that people are still speaking out about it, it's like "Oh well change the difficulty"

I mean they've basicaly made it more Uncharted like, in Uncharted I can understand there being regenerating health but not in Tomb Raider

<sigh>

EDIT @Below

"So you'd rather retain archaic features that endeared you to a game while keeping casuals and *near-gamers* away"

...urm...yeah

Keep them away, as far as way as they can. If your a gamer you don't need things to be changed to suit your needs your either a gamer or your not. You don't need marketing and casual gimmicks shoved down your throat to like something. The difference is us "actual" gamers like gaming for what it is, the casual audience only like what they are told to like or whats changed to suit there needs.

It's either them or us and since we were here first and gaming is something we all enjoy for what it is and has always been then yeah I wish they would f*** off.

My type is what is keeping core gaming alive still, your type are the ones who would bend over and take it if a developer screws you over, like what Capcom have done to Resident Evil and dmc, what Square Enix have done to Final Fantasy or the horrible problems Bethesda have run into with the PS3 despite claiming that both versions were the same

Conzul4159d ago

@Jinkies
The problem with an Old Crowd is that it perpetually gets smaller. Accessibility is not an evil. It is something that is taking gaming out of the Dark Ages and at worst making it a more acceptable pastime.

So you'd rather retain archaic features that endeared you to a game while keeping casuals and *near-gamers* away. Oh yeah, you're hardcore. Big Man, you. Your type does wonders for the gaming world.

e-p-ayeaH4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

Well im gonna wait and see how the game will be like.

No one never complaint about Soul Reaver games have regenerative health and no game overs they were simply great games nonetheless but since were talking about Tomb Raider and not Soul Reaver i think it should have a "purist mode" (like Hitman Absolution) were featurres medkits.

Taking out the swimming might be a good thing for a change.

oakshin4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

i walked through skyrim on master with a mace shield benton(the race with 25% resist) i died 5times in 130+ hours lol

for the love of gameing legacy of kain please come back

torchic4158d ago

why the hell did @Conzul get so many disagrees? he brings up a really good point about making games more accessible for the benefit of attracting a larger audience to video games.

I don't like it at all, absolutely loathe hand holding but he brings up a very good point and you're all disagreeing because he's speaking the truth. absolutely ludicrous.

N4G at times seems to have the most hard headed majority out of all websites. conspiracy theorising, stagnant, close-minded majority, at times.

soniqstylz4158d ago

Soul Reaver didn't have regenerative health -- you had to eat souls.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4158d ago
rezzah4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

Your comment 3.2.1, well said +.

rainslacker4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

Guess that what happens when you want to make a game like Uncharted. /s Although I recall they did have swimming in them

BTW...not knocking Uncharted, just think TR should try harder to retain it's identity.

rdgneoz34159d ago

There's a difference between a nice series having certain features, and an old series changing / gutting certain features that were a part of it / its identity.

rainslacker4159d ago

@rd

That's pretty much what I said. TR had it's own identity. When people said UC was a TR ripoff I agreed, but saw enough differences to not really care. When I saw TR try to be more like UC I cared because TR was a strong franchise on it's own. The changes were unnecessary. If they had taken the original TR mechanics and made them better then it would have been much better to me.

Still, this whole practice seems to be business as usual for gaming today, which is really sad.

humbleopinion4159d ago

"I can't believe they got rid of the two things which made Tomb Raider..."

Newsflash: the two things which made Tomb Raider are left boob and right boob.

Lvl_up_gamer4158d ago

LMFAO I was just about to say the same thing.

It's so true as well.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4158d ago
THC CELL4159d ago

I was looking towards getting her wet lol

FarCryLover1824159d ago

I'm sure shes gonna be wet enough.

pandaboy4159d ago

she will be if im playing with her :P

GTRrocker6664159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

Boobs and vagina

smashcrashbash4159d ago

Hold the phone. So you guys are trying to make this game about realistic survival and she can't swim and regenerates health? Is that some sort of joke or something? So while Last of Us has you realistically healing yourself with medicine and bandages from your backpack with no regenerating health you guys took the lazy way and did the magic regen health? *picks up chart, ticks of square* that is one more strike for new Tomb Raider. That is three so far.

Conzul4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

Indeed, if it has to compete with the Last of Us it will lose due to the superior survival experience of TLoU.

Quite fittingly, Tomb Raider will be the equivalent of a girl-pushup.
I'm still gonna play both anyway. One for the maturity of its experience and the other.....[guilty pause]...

VsAssassin4159d ago

Yeah, The Last of Us wowed me when they released that trailer in which Joel wrapped his arm with bandage to heal himself. I wonder why health regen is in this game when CD gave the impression that this TR reboot is all about survival and all that.

I thought this was the Dark Knight of video games which will give us something dark and serious. Health regen and no swimming sections (A TR staple) don't really make up for a TDKR experience, if you ask me.

Norrison4159d ago (Edited 4159d ago )

You can't compare a square enix game with a naughty dog game, Tlou will be one of the few non-rpg games without health regen most games adapted that ugly insta health regen from COD, thanks to those casual gamers mechanics I barely see good FPS or TPS games these days.

The only thing that can save this game is adding swimming and making the health take a lot of time to regen or just add medkits, if not it will be more of the generic trash that gets spit out every year.

Even though I think it's gamers fault, since most generic games are the ones that sell the most, that makes most devs scared of changing the formula

Show all comments (132)
30°

Tomb Raider’s Risky 2013 Reboot Revived a '90s Gaming Icon

Crystal Dynamics' daring reboot of Tomb Raider brought Lara Croft back into the spotlight.

Godmars290394d ago

An attempt at a reboot with no momentum for continuance. Just a torture-porn trilogy about a poor rich girl with daddy issues reluctantly being pulling into a world of violence, versus say the adventures of a quipping Brit treasure hunter who solves ancient puzzles while gunning down rare and extinct animals that it originally was?

Honestly, don't have all that killing. If the devs had been truly clever, not focused on mangling a message about the senselessness of killing which was seemingly and quickly forgotten, they could have worked, if not bloodlessly then not directly by Laura's hand, dealing with enemies as part of the puzzle solving - they didn't have in the game in the first place...

badz149394d ago

"Revived a '90s Gaming Icon"

LOL

the only thing similar between the 2 is the name of the protagonist. if they would have given the game a different name, NONE would even think that it was somehow a resurrected Tomb Raider IP. the last game with the real Tomb Raider DNA was TR Underworld.

250°

The Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy's Take on Lara Croft Deserved More Recognition

The Survivor Trilogy was a drastic reimagining of Lara Croft and Tomb Raider, and it provokes changes for the character that are truly fantastic.

Read Full Story >>
gamerant.com
isarai458d ago (Edited 458d ago )

Deserves less IMO, i think the 1st in the new trilogy was a perfect 1st step for the new direction. The next 2 games were half steps at best. Not only that, every character in the series including Lara is just annoying and doesn't make sense in terms of motive, like yes they have a motive, but none of it seems proportional to the lengths they are willing to go through for it. The most annoying thing is every one of the games say "become the Tomb Raider" yet 3 games later and we're still not there? No thanks. Then there's the mess of the 3rd game, massive skill tree that serves almost no purpose as there's literally only like 3-4 short encounters in the whole game, and they took till the 3rd game to finally manage some decent puzzles even remotely close to previous games in the series. Nah, the trilogy infuriated me to no end as a long time fan of the series, i hope we get better going forward cause that crap sucked.

Army_of_Darkness456d ago

The first in the trilogy was my favorite. I thought they were going into the right direction with that one until the second one came out and seemed like a graphical downgrade but the gameplay was okay. As for the Third, Graphics were really nice but it was kinda boring me to death with its non-stop platforming and exploring with not enough action! Well, for me anyway...

DeathTouch456d ago

Graphics on the 3rd one were abysmal. It’s more colorful and has more variety, but everything else was a noticeable downgrade.

The more open world with NPC quests was also handled very poorly, to the point I missed Angel of Darkness.

thesoftware730456d ago

I know it is your opinion, but she did progress as a character in each game, she even got more muscular and seasoned.

That is the thing, people first complained that there was not enough platforming and actual tomb raiding in the first and second games. Shadow remedied that and kept the combat elements.

3-4 encounters? huh? did we play the same game? there was plenty of combat and, the skill tree did matter, like being able to hang enemies from trees, set explosives traps on bodies, being able to counter, and that are just a few of the combat skills. The skill tree also had things like being able to hold your breath underwater longer, crafting upgrades, zipline upgrade, and climbing upgrades that all changed how you can approach situations.

Not knocking your opinion, but we definitely had different experiences. I had 98% completion on the shadow.

SoulWarrior456d ago (Edited 456d ago )

Sorry but i'm with him about the low number of encounters, the game throws loads of weapons and skills you're way with a comparatively low amount of places to actually use them, so they felt under utilised.

-Foxtrot458d ago

Yeah...no

It was awful, for THREE GAMES it was "become the Tomb Raider" where she went back to square one after each game. Not to mention after a huge reaction of killing someone for the first time she then becomes Rambo straight after and goes on a slaughter spree without a single other reaction. Her development was all over the place.

She was whiney, weak and in later game a little arrogant and selfish

Oh and the voice actress compared to the previous ones was not as good

Lara Croft deserved better and while they are decent games as they are, we deserved actual Tomb Raider games, we could have had better survival games if they just stuck with the original Lara Crofts origin about her plane going down. Surviving 2 weeks in the Himalayas...I'd have liked to seen that, who knows what mystical threat she could have faced in the mountains or underground some secret concealed cave.

Tacoboto456d ago

I thought Shadow of the Tomb Raider had better gameplay than Rise, but it annoyed me the most of the trilogy when I stopped to think about the story.

It's like they deliberately decided to make her unlikeable and did nothing to make the character you're playing as likeable or have even one sign of humility.

SoulWarrior458d ago

2013 I thought was a fine entry, but Rise and especially Shadow were painfully mediocre follow ups imo, I really didn't like how selfish and angry her character was in those two.

Terry_B456d ago

No. Please forget the crap completely.

northpaws456d ago

First one was decent, played through it twice.
Second one was okay, played through it once.
Third one was really bad, tried twice a year apart, still can't get through the first two hours, it is just really bad.

thesoftware730456d ago

Honest question, what did you find bad about it? the opening 2 hrs of Shadow were fantastic imo.

The opening was very similar to the first 2, what did you find really bad?

Not looking for an argument, just an honest question.

Starman69456d ago

3rd one just didn't feel like a tomb raider game. Possibly because the development was passed to another development team. Big mistake! Microsoft killed tomb raider making the first game a timed exclusive. Never recovered after that.

Show all comments (45)
70°

The Gamification of Games

Adam Hurd of GameGrin writes: "Gaming is an interactive medium. For decades now we’ve had people criticise the structure of narrative heavy games, for relying on cutscenes to tell the story. In films there’s a phrase: show, don’t tell, the idea that it’s better for the scene to show you what’s going on rather than the characters or text to tell you. In gaming I feel like there should be another rule: do, don't show, the idea that the story should be told through mechanics if possible, instead of in cutscenes."

Read Full Story >>
gamegrin.com
1387d ago