Oh dear, So It did. There have been so many Sonic games it's hard to keep up. I'm sure EDGE gave Secret Ring a higher score than Shadow Of Tomb Raider, mind you so it did for Vampire Rain (one of the worst games ever made) All in context of course :)
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EDGE Magazine 325 - RDR2
- Thread starter Boy Wander
- Start date
Have you played it, what do you think? Average, Good or Terrible?
Gorgeous graphics, good exploration and tombs
Average gameplay and level design
Terrible, terribly disappointing story. Terrible progression and pacing. Terribly anticlimatic finale
It's worse than Rise and 2013 because of how much wasted potential its story is, how disappointing its pacing and structure is, how terribly designed the skill progression is and poorly spaced out the stealth/combat encounters is. This is a game that lets you unlock a skill early on that's absolutely useless for the majority of its duration because you don't unlock the necessary ability till the final hours and only get to use those skills like three times afterwards
2013 and Rise has weak poor stories. But Shadow is worse because it had so much potential and then actively wastes all of it, ending in one of the most anticlimatic finales I've played in a while, in one of the most disappointing stories I've played in years
A below average impression for Shadow makes perfect sense and that's coming from someone who loved the tombs, the new stealth mechanics, the focus on stealth and exploration over near constant combat, and likes reboot Lara as a character
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I've not played it and have no opinion on the series as a whole. I'm questioning your logic of calling the game average at worst, meaning a 5/10, but getting upset at it receiving a 4.
Yup, that's some wise thoughts right there. I hope more think like you. The score is awfully strange, simple as that. People can swear, laugh and shout all they want about how wrong it is when I say that. But just trust me, I'm a huge TR fan, if you liked 2013 you'll like Rise, and Rise is one of few games I've bothered to 100-percent this gen and if you like Rise I can guarantee that you'll like Shadow too. They're different in the details but still very similar, they've constantly been improving on the things people liked - more stealth, more bows, more tombs, more platforming, more wild life, more open, more to do.
I didn't like the water areas in Shadow though, and there are many of those, and many side quests are clearly just fillers to add play time and very uninteresting, the skill system doesn't work as it should either.
But I'd still give it a 8/10. The gameplay and controls are solid and it feels more like the original Tomb Raider games than ever before. Less linear, more puzzles, platforming and exploration.
Just a reminder though, CD has already stepped away. Shadow is made by Eidos. And they did a great job, TR is in good hands imo. :)
Respect for being so honest :) but play the game and tell me if you think its a poor game. I don't get upset or angry over forum chats, I just like to debate and put my views and case across, that's all. I really don't mean to wind up anyone up here or look to send hate towards EDGE mag or its staff ( I still buy the mag and have done since the start)
I just feel the score is rather low and almost done to spark a debate, in typcial EDGE style. People having issues with EDGE score's is hardly a new thing or limited to Restera
It doesn't automatically deserve a high score. There are plenty of AAA games that got good reviews that I would give under a 5. Most Assassin's Creed and Dragon Age games would get a 4 from me. I'd give Skyrim a 3, and Shadow of Mordor a 2. That's how those games make me feel.
So I guess that's an average, which should be a score of 5. And if we are going to mark games on the story then that's the Mario games doomed for 4 out of 10 for starters; Dear Mario, I baked a cake and got kidnapped again, by a walking talking Turtle!
Why wouldn't you "mark" a story-driven game on the story, especially when the story is as disappointing wasted potential and impactful on pacing and progression as Shadow's?
Or you could dismiss criticizing story in games with a comment about Mario
I would just mark/score a game on how good it was to play myself.
So story doesn't matter and shouldn't factor into a review even if it's a story-driven game? If it impacts how enjoyable the game was to play?
If you're going by EDGE standards not really. I've played many games with no story, but play great and many games with a good story but where the gameplay falls short
I played through Shadow of the Tomb Raider and, while genuinely enjoying some parts, feel that a 4 from Edge is absolutely on point for this game.
Just like they did for Breath of the Wild lower scores.
How is that trying hard? What score do you believe a game should get if the reviewer played the game and did not enjoy it?
Okay? Games aren't either-or, it isn't a black or white thing
A game doesn't need a story to be good, but if it's a story-driven game and the story is not just there as a framework - which is fine, look at a game like Vanquish or a movie like The Raid - but is actively disappointing and impacts the pacing and structure of the gameplay, is attempting themes and then utterly failing at them, then that can easily factor into how enjoyable a game is, if it feels disjointed and jarring and not cohesive
Shadow is one of those kind of games.
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What are you even talking about now? Story was one element mentioned by both the review and the poster you're responding to. The game didn't just score poorly because of story. Also this thing you keep going on about with EDGE deliberately scoring games low to keep them relevant yet you still buy the magazine. You're basically accusing them of making up their scores / reviews which is a pretty vile accusation to be throwing at professional journalists. You're calling their integrity into question.
I agree. I loved Rise but this just didn't click. I love Tomb Raider but damn I really had to push myself to finish the game.
Not true actually. I didn't enjoy this one, but enjoyed the other two. TR2013 is one of my faves, Rise was decent, but I think this one's below average maybe even below that.
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User Warned - Vilifying Journalism
Nope, I'm not the one going on about the story, I'm simply saying now again EDGE loves to give a low mark, to spark some debate and controversy
I really enjoyed the last two, I hated this one by the end.
Same. I quite liked 2013 and even kind of enjoyed Rise besides its weak story but Shadow really disappointed me. It should be a game I love. Everything about it is something that would usually click with me: the focus on stealth, the brutality of that stealth, less combat and much more exploration, the seemingly darker story, the set-pieces, the sense of climbing into forgotten unknown places when you stumble onto the tombs.
But man, the story. Yes, the pacing is flawed, giving you all these skills and abilities but barely any moments to use them, unlocking skills that are most useful in New Game Plus due to how late you get them. Yes, the finale is massively anticlimatic both in terms of narrative and gameplay
But the story. It sucks because the opening is amazing. The opening of the game perfectly established the tone and stakes. The "apocalypse set in motion". The dichotomy between Lara and the villain where her reckless actions cause these disasters to start and he's trying to stop them. The tsunami setting the tone for the harsh situations Lara's going to face here and with the other disasters to come. A real pressing sense of urgency, complete with a ticking clock laid out in mural form. We understand the stakes, the threats to come, the themes, the villain's motivations, Lara's motivations and the flaws she'll be struggling with.
I was hooked. And then the game and story wastes all of it.
That great sense of urgency and looming doom, a coming apocalypse? Set aside for hidden city tribal politics and another rebellion plot
The clear motivations of the villain setting up a race against time to stop the apocalypse? The villain now with the duty to "save us all" from the coming doom? The whole plot becomes about familial relationships and an ancient prophecy between characters we don't care about, and the villain's clear motivations become a jumbled mess
It was really jarring how much of a left turn and deflated the story was after how great the opening was. It's like completely different writers worked on the opening versus the rest of the game.
It's like they had this great outline and plan for a story but then realized they needed to also have a semi-open world design and side missions and stuff. Can't have race-against-time pacing or a globe-threatening apocalypse or destroy the towns and places you need to revisit for missions with a plot like that.
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Obviously you are only saying this to spark some debate or controversy.
And you have yet to demonstrate why you think Edge intentionally gives low reviews to "spark controversey" as opposed to just reflecting their reviewers thoughts on a game. Your "feelings" don't count. If you are going to accuse a publication of that (or bias, or being paid off, or whatever other bullshit people spew in search of validation) you should something to back it up.
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I doubt I'll get a response addressing my question. The poster has already conveniently ignored my previous similar question.
Yeah! And I actually thought Rise was magnificent. It was a highlight of 2015 for me, that's for sure.
Rise was great indeed. So Shadow left me pretty confused. I thought the series would end with the best game in the trilogy ;_;
Same. Rise is probably my favorite out of the newer games, I really enjoyed my time with it.
Does it still do pop up notifications when you're close to a hidden tomb?