200°

Why Tomb Raider is the most effective horror game of all time

Digitally Downloaded writes: "Jump scares are easy. True horror is hard.

The games industry has struggled to create true horror games. Part of the issue has been technical - genuine horror relies on players being able to relate to what’s going on, and blocky or pixelated representations of people are difficult to relate to. Another part of the issue has been the performances - genuine horror needs great performances to build the atmosphere and fear. And a third part of the issue is even simpler - jump scares are easier to pull off, but are hardly the kind of memorable fear that makes for a memorable horror experience. It takes the work of a true genius to create true horror, and the team behind the Tomb Raider game are true geniuses."

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DEATHxTHExKIDx4057d ago

I havent played this game yet. But the last game that actually scared me was Bioshock when it first came out.

classic2004057d ago

even though bioshock is my favorite game of all time, it was never scary to me. It felt more like that dream you would have with super powers and awkward world inhabited by creepy people lol.

I sort of wish more FPS games would be like bioshock, because it always feel like having a lucid dream.

joab7774057d ago

I agree and maybe it was scary in the same way that tomb raider is. Because u care about the character and u r completely drawn in. This is funny because just today (spoilers) i climbed the radio tower.As i looked up, all i could think about is how frightning it would be to actually have to climb that. Unfortunately, she automatically was down when cut scene ended because my biggest fear would be getting stuck up there. I still hav no idea how she got down on those tiny spiky things. Oh well

I will say that dead space 1 was scary too in the classic sense. I moved so damn slow. But they killed it and made it an action game. But, horror does depend, even in dead space on immersion, which means that u must care about the character. I just wish RE and DS realized that they would be much better served staying in and evolving the genre they helped define. That is why sales were bad.

ajax174057d ago

The only part that really freaked me out was in the beginning in the clinic when the lights go out and the nurse splicers attack.

Kurt Russell4057d ago

You must have jumped when you picked up that plasmid in the corner, turned around and were face to face with a splicer :D

ajax174056d ago

@ Kurt Russell, Yeah I forgot about that part. All of the med. clinic was pretty freaky.

OlgerO4057d ago

The Last Of Us is coming!!

MEsoJD4057d ago

There is nothing remotely scary about the new Tomb Raider (imo).

Feralkitsune4057d ago

Not scary, just very very real towards the beginning. The game does an excellent job of affecting the player similarly to how the events are effecting Lara.

My game of the year so far, with the very similar Far Cry 3 directly behind it.

lapiopoop4056d ago

@DEATHxTHExKIDx too bad the new bioshock isn't like a horror anymore, that's why I decided not to buy it

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4056d ago
Root4057d ago

This game is anything but a horror game, never did I feel alone, terrified or on the edge of my seat like what the first RE did to me or Dead Space

classic2004057d ago

Well in the set piece moments I must admit it had me on the edge of my seat, might not be scary but it was intense.

Root4057d ago

Not really because I knew she was going to survive them...either that or I got ready to press a button for the OTE. Just like I do in Uncharted....and thats not a horror game

Irishguy954057d ago

"Not really because I knew she was going to survive them...either that or I got ready to press a button for the OTE. Just like I do in Uncharted....and thats not a horror game"

Haha...so Dead Space is a horror game because you aren't sure if they enemies are going to kill you? But you are sure they won't in Uncharted?

Maybe i'm missing something here

Root4057d ago

No no no

I mean those moments where she is going through a dynamic event you know she's going to survive because you have no say in the outcome unless it's part QTE where you can refuse to press the button allowing her to die

In Dead Space where enemies come out of no where, some of them aren't fixed. Your controlling the character so where you go your also controlling the outcome....so if a character jumps at you on screen then thats because you've went down an optional corridor because you wanted to see if there was any spare ammo lying around or wanted to get a node.

MikeMyers4057d ago

Of course Lara isn't going to die. It's a videogame. How many horror games can you name where the main character dies and you can't continue with them? Isaac Clarke doesn't die in Dead Space either. You know why? It's because it's a videogame and if you die you continue from your last save/checkpoint like most videogames. There are tense moments in Tomb Raider but I do agree, it's not a horror game.

kreate4057d ago

Hale dies in resistance 2. By his subordinate. Than the game ended.

Need more epic deaths in video games like that.

Hopefully one day, Lara dies.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4057d ago
m3ds3344057d ago

Yeah, I kinda felt like this article didn't really take into account the interactivity of the video game medium. I do agree with a lot of his points, but your such an infallible killing machine in the game, that being afraid or even anxious of what's coming up never comes into effect.

And you're completely right about the cutscene stuff. You know that the developers aren't going to kill her in a cutscene and (where I'm at) the things that happen in the cutscenes don't even effect you in game. At the start she gets pierced through her abdomen, and though she puts her hand over the wound for a little while, it's basically forgotten about after a few minutes. Basically, in order to achieve a level of trepidation you need to make sure there is danger or something at stake, which is why this doesn't work as a horror game for me.

rocky0475864057d ago (Edited 4057d ago )

Infallible? Hardly? Killing machine? Yeah, she has to be otherwise what's the point? Lara Croft is a killing machine afterall, it's what she does best besides, of course, Tomb Raiding. But infallible in this game, she is not. She goes through so much and she is shown to have her moments of weakness; she gets battered and bruised in which "infallible" heroes hardly bleed or get scratched let alone all of the shit that happened to Lara in this game.

And why do people think that "horror" must mean "scary"? It certainly doesn't. Horror means being extremely dreadful or to be revolting, and even though I can agree that the game wasn't a "horror" game it had horror elements in it for sure. Lara goes through some extremely dreadful moments in the game and there are a few genuinely frightening moments for Lara as well that work well in making the player feel for Lara.

Not everyone is going to experience those emotions though since some people don't "feel" anything for game characters, but some people do and to them it may come off as a "horror" game so I can see how the author would say this. He certainly isn't the first person to say it about this game that's for sure, I've read it in both user and pro reviews on metacritic.

MysticStrummer4057d ago

Why Horror Is Dying: People Think Tomb Raider Is Horror *screams and wets pants*

Blacklash934057d ago

I'd attribute it more to the mainstream industry deliberately abandoning the horror genre, but that's just me.

SilentNegotiator4056d ago

Publishers think real horror games that they can't microtransaction will make them bankrupt and gamers have completely forgotten what a horror (or Stealth) game is.

wallis4057d ago

Completely agree. Play amnesia for a true horror game - until then you can't just piss away decades of genre and tradition building in games like silent hill 2 or resident evil just because Dead *KABOOOOOM* Space is the closest thing we have to a horror game today. Tomb Raider is NOT a horror game - it is scary in the same way it's scary when I'm running to a toilet and I'm not a 100% there's toilet roll waiting and even then I don't have a restart option for my underwear like I do with Lara. I appreciate that it's tense but scary? Seriously?

Was Dead Space 3 THAT shit that it genuinely just rewrote people's memories of games like Amnesia and Silent hill?

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4056d ago
smashcrashbash4057d ago

I don't think this is classified as horror. Suspense maybe but horror? No.

Canary4057d ago

Most people don't understand what horror is.
Americans in general, thanks to what laughably passes for "horror" in Hollywood.

gamernova4057d ago

This game is a thriller but definitely not horror. I love this game but definitely not horror.

Anomander4057d ago

Thriller is spot on way to describe it. Feels like a episode of Lost at times :)

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60°
8.5

Tomb Raider I, II, III Remastered Review – To The Freezer ⏐ Nerdy Bird Games

Tomb Raider I, II, III Remastered is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Lara Croft is back in a classic remaster of the original PlayStation 1 hit title. Is the remaster any good though?

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220°

The Best Tomb Raider Games Ranked

We've gone on many adventures with Lara Croft. With another reboot in the making, Wealth of Geeks felt it was a good time to go down the nostalgia rabbit hole and remember the best of those tomb-raiding thrills.

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Sonic188155d ago (Edited 55d ago )

I do agree that Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness was the worse one 😂 I remember playing some of it and I took it back. That game was just awful in every way. I bought it used at gamestop and glad they had that 7 day return policy for used games 😂

Pyrofire9555d ago

Would it be worth saying why?

ZeekQuattro54d ago

Simple. He's been hating on the Tomb Raider reboots for years. I can't imagine seeing them at the top of a best TR game list let alone being on the list in general sitting well with him because of it.

-Foxtrot54d ago

Zeek

“Hating”

No no, just pointing out how TR mutated into a generic action adventure game losing the appeal of what it once was when it was more about puzzles and platforming over going Rambo, slaughtering waves of enemies

But hey, continue being a dick and speaking about me like I’m not going to see the comment.

MeatyUrologist54d ago

Foxtrot, I'm curious if you have played the most recent games. Sure the 2013 reboot was hugely focused on combat, but each follow up became less and less about combat to the point where outside of a few large scale story missions I don't even remember combat being a part of shadow of the tomb raider. Shadow was so puzzle focused it actually was a bit much for me and I love the TR puzzles.

I still feel like Rise was the best of the series and I was a huge fan of the originals. To me it struck the perfect balance of exploration, platforming, puzzles, and combat. Not saying your opinion is wrong I'm just curious what you think they should have done different. Games do need to evolve somewhat to stay relevant. Would you prefer small linear jumping platform levels like the original?

RavenWolfx55d ago

I would agree Rise for 1 and the reboot as 2. Shadow is a bit high, though.

Sonic188155d ago (Edited 55d ago )

I think Shadow wasn't even develop by crystal dynamics. I thought it was the worse in the new trilogy

Pyrofire9555d ago

That's right. Shadow was developed by Eidos Montreal who who went and made Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy next. (Great game)
Meanwhile after Rise of the Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics made Marvels Avengers. (bad game)

MeatyUrologist54d ago

Agrees. First two are correct but Shadow should be around 5-6.

terstomp54d ago

For me, Legend should be alot higher (along with the other two ). Shadow, I enjoyed it, but has too much has fluff, as modern games tend to do. Playing the remastered series, and apart from the controls, is very good.

jznrpg54d ago

I really enjoyed the first 2 games, Legend and the first of the reboots and the rest I didn’t get into so I never finished.

robtion54d ago

Completely subjective list. I really liked Underworld, I preferred Lara's design. That said I loved the horror/uncharted feel of the reboot. I think all the TR games have strengths and weaknesses. None are objectively better in every way.

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80°

The Best Video Game Reboots of All Time

Like the film or television industry, the world of gaming has seen its fair share of reboots over the years. While some of these video game reboots have had

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