The demo was nice, though I wasn't totally impressed with the graphics on the X360 (as compared to other 360 games like GRAW and Burnout), but the demo may not have showcased them as well as other parts of the game. Since there seems to be no online content for this game I think I'll rent it and save the $60. I do hugely agree that the controls on console are far better for this game than kb/mouse. I'm sort of eager to play this one and get into the story since I haven't played any of the previous TR games.
Originally Posted by Springs didnt really have the next gen option on... just tried it.. did slow the game down quite a bit..
Yeah i think i'll end up having to abort using next gen soon... starting to annoy me with the low fps. Its a good game though, looking forward to getting more stuck into it.
Nice review. As a big Tomb Raider fan myself, the more I read about this game, the more I become desperate to just go out and by the game (on every platform as of always). But I can't; no time with exams and all :(.
the pool water looks TERRIBLE on high. it looks like shes swimming in mercury. go to any indoor pool with underwater lighting like that and it looks just like the 2nd picture except her body would have been shifted due to the index of refraction of water.
and on the next set when shes in the rapids. again its rediculous. the non-high def looks better but not by much. both are bad. her legs make to turbulace in the water? and since when do you see clear reflections on water with rapids at night?!
Have to say I'm a bit dissapointed by the driver problems, just bought it today...don't know if I'd rather wait for a driver fix. The dissapointment is even bigger because it's been quite a while I've been as interested in playing a new game since trying out the demo. Reminded me so much of the first Tomb Raider but just with a few nice little additions...well, guess I'll just have to wait.
NVIDIA have told us they are working on this. However, as we said, being a TWIMTBP title, they really should've had this sorted out of the box. I'm sure they'll get there in the end, but that's hardly the point, is it?
the difference in NGC and non NGC are amazing, that game looks stunning win NGC enabled
still cant believe a WIMTBP game wont work well on a nvidia card - classic
Edit
Oh yeh, i dont really like the whole tombraider series anyway, i played the first one, didnt think its that great, people only seem to play it for her looks, and lets face it, just go on the internet for a while and watch some real women
Or go play some japanese/chinese games .... their as good
Ive just never found tombraider to be a fun game, and considering youll basically be using pistols the whole time - snore
final fantasy has more interesting puzzles then most games, so .... still not appealing
The review would have been handier, I feel, if you had tested the game running at 1280x1024 on the more powerful cards, just for the benefit of the majority of tft owners using either 17" or 19" screens. The 20"+ are a little out of reach still on most people's budget, particularly if they've just bought a £200+ gfx card.
Kenco - if you have an X1900XTX and the game is playable at 1920x1200 with everything on, then suffice to say if you run at 1280x1024, it's smoother. The idea is that these are the Best Playable Settings. If the native res of your display is below those numbers, then you're more than covered.
I have specific FPS numbers if you *really* want but they're at the office, and I'm in Sweden tomorrow and Friday so I can't get them. Bottom line: the average FPS is higher.
I would tend to agree with Kenco that 1280*1024 native is so common as to probably deserve some extra mention now and then, Perhaps particularly for such as the 7800GT (It strikes me that people spending £400 or a bit more for a graphics card like 7900GTX or XT1900XTX are probably more likely to have a more expensive monitor than us grunts on the half-price (But seemingly pretty common) cards.
Originally Posted by kenco_uk The review would have been handier, I feel, if you had tested the game running at 1280x1024 on the more powerful cards, just for the benefit of the majority of tft owners using either 17" or 19" screens. The 20"+ are a little out of reach still on most people's budget, particularly if they've just bought a £200+ gfx card.
well I finished it.. :( shame I always steam through games too quick think I will try getting 100% as its at 85% atm maybe will last a little longer or I could just return it .Non the less I enjoyed the whole 6 hours or so and the last boss was challenging Im sure I woke my mum in the next room from cursing :)
Yeah it's a shame it's so short (as I said in the other tomb raider help thread), but still a great achievement from CD. Major kudos to them from me.
With regards to NGC, I managed to get through the game with it on. Although, during the heavier firefights it did struggle a bit (I jump wayyy to much lol), I was quite impressed.
I have to join the 'OMFG!-NGC-is-so-goddamn-beautiful'-crowd but there are some things I don't like about it.
Look at the non-ngc and the ngc-enabled pic. The eyelashes look blurred with ngc turned on which I do think is worse than the 'low-budged' graphics. And I don't like the blocky look of the ground with ngc turned on. It looks awesome with parallex mapping but somehow it looks like Lego. :|
Great review by the way. Have to agree with Pope as it's obvious in my opinion that having a lower native resolution than 'max playable resolution' leads to smoother game play. I also agree with Fr4nk. Keep on enhancing your testing methods and reviews (and get back the 'apples to apples' page :p).
Originally Posted by sadffffff the pool water looks TERRIBLE on high.
I agree, the 2nd and 3rd shots are a lot better.
Maybe I'm in a minority, but why not test a low spec too, based on previous generation CPU and GPUs? I know many people who regularly play PC games, and due to most being students - they're still stuck on AMD Socket A, like myself.
Very good review though, whilst reading through it I quickly opened up Amazon and almost purchased the game, as I got the Tomb Raider bug again from seeing all those screenshots. Pity AOD was so bad, as the previous ones were classics.
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Yeah i think i'll end up having to abort using next gen soon... starting to annoy me with the low fps. Its a good game though, looking forward to getting more stuck into it.
Did You try it W/ Next Gen content at 1024X786 or 800X600?
EDIT: Just tried it and its much better now, most of the time.
and on the next set when shes in the rapids. again its rediculous. the non-high def looks better but not by much. both are bad. her legs make to turbulace in the water? and since when do you see clear reflections on water with rapids at night?!
Oh yeah, nice article too =]
the nvidia card's dont do anywhere near as well
omfg classic
the difference in NGC and non NGC are amazing, that game looks stunning win NGC enabled
still cant believe a WIMTBP game wont work well on a nvidia card - classic
Edit
Oh yeh, i dont really like the whole tombraider series anyway, i played the first one, didnt think its that great, people only seem to play it for her looks, and lets face it, just go on the internet for a while and watch some real women
Or go play some japanese/chinese games .... their as good
Ive just never found tombraider to be a fun game, and considering youll basically be using pistols the whole time - snore
final fantasy has more interesting puzzles then most games, so .... still not appealing
I have specific FPS numbers if you *really* want but they're at the office, and I'm in Sweden tomorrow and Friday so I can't get them. Bottom line: the average FPS is higher.
I strongly agree. Very similar position to Kenco.
as said if it can run at a high reso, it can run at a lower one better
however, i think only testing a x1900, 7800, 7900 - on a FX60
and testing x1600, 6800, 6600, x800 on a 3700+
thats a pretty big difference, does next gen content make a difference on the GFX cards substantially ? or on the CPU ? or both
With regards to NGC, I managed to get through the game with it on. Although, during the heavier firefights it did struggle a bit (I jump wayyy to much lol), I was quite impressed.
Roll on Tomb Raider 8 :)
Look at the non-ngc and the ngc-enabled pic. The eyelashes look blurred with ngc turned on which I do think is worse than the 'low-budged' graphics. And I don't like the blocky look of the ground with ngc turned on. It looks awesome with parallex mapping but somehow it looks like Lego. :|
Great review by the way. Have to agree with Pope as it's obvious in my opinion that having a lower native resolution than 'max playable resolution' leads to smoother game play. I also agree with Fr4nk. Keep on enhancing your testing methods and reviews (and get back the 'apples to apples' page :p).
I agree, the 2nd and 3rd shots are a lot better.
Maybe I'm in a minority, but why not test a low spec too, based on previous generation CPU and GPUs? I know many people who regularly play PC games, and due to most being students - they're still stuck on AMD Socket A, like myself.
Very good review though, whilst reading through it I quickly opened up Amazon and almost purchased the game, as I got the Tomb Raider bug again from seeing all those screenshots. Pity AOD was so bad, as the previous ones were classics.