I think your memory is clouded
No, no, you are right. I remember Larson well and I know he was already in level 4. But i think by the end of the game, there were like 5 human enemies in total and in the end, they weren't even the most feared ones. But it definitely made those 5 stick out like a big deal, a memorable experience, like a boss fight. BTW: one of the best ever moments in Tomb Raider - the first "mummy" / half horse breed in one of the underground ruins at the end of the level. You knew it was going to come, or you thought (because the camera shifts to it when you first see it, and nothing happens) it might, but when it does, it's a really really scary moment. Unforgettable.
About the buildup. You are right - the T-Rex is right at the beginning, but on the whole; I still think the game was done masterfully. In the Himalayas, ignoring the Lost Valley bit, they were rather easy targets. I think the apes and lions were definitely more dangerous, especially the apes because they could get to you, unlike the lions and other animals that were avoidable when jumping onto higher points where you could dispose them easily. As the game progresses, the foes got generally more difficult or started to appear in higher quantities/packs. And they made more frightening noises too.
BTW; A side note; Press triangle to aim? Maybe my memory is clouded, but I seem to remember that the original game had auto-aiming by default. When an enemy was in sight, she would always lock on to it automatically? Doesn't matter anyway - I loved the emphasis on just firing away while jumping, doing back flips etc.
DSoup said:
I think they'll be plenty of quiet exploration moments in the final game but they're just not showing them because they want people to experience them for themselves.
Perhaps. Although from what I've seen so far, it seems a bit like the last Tomb Raider - which isn't bad, but as much as I liked the last one, I think it would have been a much better game without all the shooting. And I thought the exploration was far too dumbed down - or confined to just some caves. Weren't they all practically optional anyway - e.g. not part of the main story plot and only to find some trophy like artefact? Great. *rollseyes*
The best thing about the old Tomb Raiders was that the whole game was some giant exploration adventure. You never quite knew where you'd land, what you might see, what might be around the corner. And the best thing was - you actually progressed deeper and deeper into some underground cave-maze without knowing what might come up next, only to then suddenly find some underground palace, Colosseum or Tomb. I mean, that's what Tomb Raider is about right? For all the greatness of this last Tomb Raider, there wasn't really any Tomb you discovered, just some magical island. I just don't find that anywhere near as exciting as what we got to discover in the earlier games. And exploring one single island? I prefer to go underground, A to B traversing, not one big open world where you discover everything. (Same criticism of MGS:TPP when I'm honest btw - I'm still a skeptic. Wrong thread for this though!)
The last Tomb Raider - I recommended it to many people on the premise that if you liked Uncharted, you can't go wrong with it. Maybe that's its problem. It's a very good "Uncharted", but not really a Tomb Raider game anymore. I mean, even the "platforming" in that last Tomb Raider was soooo Uncharted. Completely dumbed down, very forgiving (unless for some frustrating press the button in the right moment parts that have nothing to do with skill) etc. I am one of those Tomb Raider fans that actually liked the old "awkward" controls. But maybe they were only not awkward for me because I was one of the few that grasped the simple concept of "progress to the edge by walking slow, do a "back-jump" then run and jump for the perfect timed jump. It really wasn't that hard to do...
Sure, these things don't work in modern games anymore, so the Uncharted forgiving controls are necessary. But why all the shooting? Bring back the wildlife and the atmosphere, and cave exploration.
PS: BTW; I had Tomb Raider on the PC first. Then I realized the PSOne version was better (also because my PC was crap) and wanted a PlayStation ever since. I finally got it when TR2 launched. Best gaming times ever (together with Resident Evil). Although I was young then, but yeah. Good times.