No real spoilers, just a very light overall mention of some game elements. Nothing to get your panties in a knot over but if you don't want to know even the most minute detail, stop reading now.
Finished the story mode on Normal. Here's the good and bad:
Good
First thing's first: this game is gorgeous. Only MGS4 is in its league on the system IMO. They also do a very good job of showing it off using camera angles and cutscene staging and it ends up being a great showcase for the system. Couple that with a great storyline (with great humour) told using a ton of cutscenes (gotta be in the 2 hour neighbourhood total) and even mid-level conversations with the NPCs and you get a very fun Indiana Jones-like adventure to enjoy. It also helps a lot that the voice acting is top notch, as good as any game out there. The game really does feel like an interactive movie if you like that sort of thing.
Another neat thing they do is change up the camera angle for certain parts of the game to add dramatic effect and also change it up a little so you're not just going from area to area in standard third-person mode fighting wave after wave. There are times when you're being chased down and you're running towards the camera while shooting and/or jumping. There's also a nice train level where you're jumping across a moving train, inside and out and even hanging off the side. This is done quite well and is a nice break from the standard gameplay which plays very much like the original game. So if you liked it in that one, you'll like this one.
They also added in bosses and different types of standard guys in this game to make the fighting more interesting. So it's not just wave after wave from different angles, there are climactic fights as well. There's also more variety in the enemies that I won't mention as it'll give away too much of the story. But I liked the extra variety over the relatively low variety from the first one. And the fact they added in a lot more combat actions to Nate (run and gun, blind firing) and put in the hide-and-seek gameplay from Gears gave the mechanics a lot more variety to work with. The fighting areas are staged around these additions as well.
As mentioned previously, they've added in a lot of multiplayer modes so you actually have something to do in this game after you've beaten it other than going through it again on a harder difficulty or finding the rest of the treasures. That's a good addition for longevity and gives you a reason to look at it after you're done with the single player mode which the original did not. I particularly liked the co-op parts and hope they eventually release more of them (at least a few for free; 3 was kinda minimal).
Bad
I actually felt like they spent far more time focused on the combat in this game and less time on the exploration/puzzle solving. There was a lot more of the latter in the original and I liked that. This time, it's relatively straight forward and few and far between. To me, the type of game this is it's better suited for short bursts of fighting as opposed to a constant fight-fest which this game basically is. The whole idea of these games is that you're a treasure hunter looking for exotic macguffins (Francis Drake's Forture in the first, Marco Polo's lost treasure in the second) so basically it's a game version of Indiana Jones (which the game never tries to hide) or an updated Tomb Raider.
Hell, Nate's attitude, ridiculous knowledge of obscure, treasure-related history, his relationship with the women in the games, the locals, his comedic one-liners, his adventurous spirit, and the enemies he has in the game (rich guys who want the treasure for reasons other than money) screams Indiana Jones big time. So why am I CONSTANTLY fighting in this game? Without exaggeration, I musta killed over 500 guys throughout the course of this game (I don't have the game anymore or I'd check the stats). That rivals any other adventure game out there and I'm certain I killed more guys in this game than in RE5 or MGS4. And it's not like he's a warrior outfitted for or trained in battle. He's a treasure hunter looking for exotic treasure. Just odd that I'm spending 90% of my playing time fighting enemies instead of going through puzzles. Did more of that in the first and would expect the proportion to go up in this one not down. It also goes against what the game should be based on the premise of the story.
My biggest complaint in the first game was the fact that the guys just wouldn't go down. If you didn't get a headshot, expect to spend 6-10 bullets to take a guy down. That's a lot for any action game and even worse for a non-action game adding in action like the original was. I was hoping they'd fix it for this game but instead, they made it worse. The increase in variety of enemies brought a huge increase in their armor level. The new guys are MUCH harder to take down than the regular guys. Even if you headshot these guys (I won't describe them further, I don't want to ruin it) they just don't go down. If you have a sniper you can take some of them out with 2 or 3 headshots if you're lucky while some others take more than 6. Considering you usually get one with only 5 bullets, that's a problem. And I was playing on Normal not Hard or Crushing. Rather than fixing a major problem with the original game, they made it far worse.
On top of this issue, they didn't fix the sluggish controls either. Nate still feels like he's walking on ice or through molasses. You don't go into cover (a vital part of gameplay) as easily as you should and often end up rolling. There's also a lot of parts where you're hanging and it takes a lot more effort than it should to aim to the correct side to jump over to. Add in the shifting camera angle while you're hanging and need to time jumps and it gets a little frustrating at times. Basically, the controls are exactly the same as the first, rather than improved, with some extra moves added in. With the severly increased focus on fighting over the first, these issues become more pronounced. It won't be uncommon for you to screw up or die due to the controls.
Overall
This game basically takes the good and bad of the first and amplifies all of it. The great storyline is even better, the graphics are even nicer, there's more variety to the gameplay which is good, and they added in some relatively good multiplayer (if it's your cup of tea) and even some good co-op missions to give the game some replay value. But the controls are still sluggish and there's WAAY too much focus on fighting in what is really an adventure game. Seems like they were trying to appeal to the RE5 and Halo/Resistance crowd as opposed to the Tomb Raider crowd.
So just like the first, it's definitely worth a play through as it's a very fun romp but you have to deal with some shortcomings. With the multiplayer, it's worth a little more than the first due to increased replayability but is it a $60 game? Not in my books. But it's a fine $30 purchase (the original being a fine $20 purchase). Worth going through but not worth keeping. Probably best as a weekend or weekly rental unless you fall in love with the multiplayer, which I didn't.
Finished the story mode on Normal. Here's the good and bad:
Good
First thing's first: this game is gorgeous. Only MGS4 is in its league on the system IMO. They also do a very good job of showing it off using camera angles and cutscene staging and it ends up being a great showcase for the system. Couple that with a great storyline (with great humour) told using a ton of cutscenes (gotta be in the 2 hour neighbourhood total) and even mid-level conversations with the NPCs and you get a very fun Indiana Jones-like adventure to enjoy. It also helps a lot that the voice acting is top notch, as good as any game out there. The game really does feel like an interactive movie if you like that sort of thing.
Another neat thing they do is change up the camera angle for certain parts of the game to add dramatic effect and also change it up a little so you're not just going from area to area in standard third-person mode fighting wave after wave. There are times when you're being chased down and you're running towards the camera while shooting and/or jumping. There's also a nice train level where you're jumping across a moving train, inside and out and even hanging off the side. This is done quite well and is a nice break from the standard gameplay which plays very much like the original game. So if you liked it in that one, you'll like this one.
They also added in bosses and different types of standard guys in this game to make the fighting more interesting. So it's not just wave after wave from different angles, there are climactic fights as well. There's also more variety in the enemies that I won't mention as it'll give away too much of the story. But I liked the extra variety over the relatively low variety from the first one. And the fact they added in a lot more combat actions to Nate (run and gun, blind firing) and put in the hide-and-seek gameplay from Gears gave the mechanics a lot more variety to work with. The fighting areas are staged around these additions as well.
As mentioned previously, they've added in a lot of multiplayer modes so you actually have something to do in this game after you've beaten it other than going through it again on a harder difficulty or finding the rest of the treasures. That's a good addition for longevity and gives you a reason to look at it after you're done with the single player mode which the original did not. I particularly liked the co-op parts and hope they eventually release more of them (at least a few for free; 3 was kinda minimal).
Bad
I actually felt like they spent far more time focused on the combat in this game and less time on the exploration/puzzle solving. There was a lot more of the latter in the original and I liked that. This time, it's relatively straight forward and few and far between. To me, the type of game this is it's better suited for short bursts of fighting as opposed to a constant fight-fest which this game basically is. The whole idea of these games is that you're a treasure hunter looking for exotic macguffins (Francis Drake's Forture in the first, Marco Polo's lost treasure in the second) so basically it's a game version of Indiana Jones (which the game never tries to hide) or an updated Tomb Raider.
Hell, Nate's attitude, ridiculous knowledge of obscure, treasure-related history, his relationship with the women in the games, the locals, his comedic one-liners, his adventurous spirit, and the enemies he has in the game (rich guys who want the treasure for reasons other than money) screams Indiana Jones big time. So why am I CONSTANTLY fighting in this game? Without exaggeration, I musta killed over 500 guys throughout the course of this game (I don't have the game anymore or I'd check the stats). That rivals any other adventure game out there and I'm certain I killed more guys in this game than in RE5 or MGS4. And it's not like he's a warrior outfitted for or trained in battle. He's a treasure hunter looking for exotic treasure. Just odd that I'm spending 90% of my playing time fighting enemies instead of going through puzzles. Did more of that in the first and would expect the proportion to go up in this one not down. It also goes against what the game should be based on the premise of the story.
My biggest complaint in the first game was the fact that the guys just wouldn't go down. If you didn't get a headshot, expect to spend 6-10 bullets to take a guy down. That's a lot for any action game and even worse for a non-action game adding in action like the original was. I was hoping they'd fix it for this game but instead, they made it worse. The increase in variety of enemies brought a huge increase in their armor level. The new guys are MUCH harder to take down than the regular guys. Even if you headshot these guys (I won't describe them further, I don't want to ruin it) they just don't go down. If you have a sniper you can take some of them out with 2 or 3 headshots if you're lucky while some others take more than 6. Considering you usually get one with only 5 bullets, that's a problem. And I was playing on Normal not Hard or Crushing. Rather than fixing a major problem with the original game, they made it far worse.
On top of this issue, they didn't fix the sluggish controls either. Nate still feels like he's walking on ice or through molasses. You don't go into cover (a vital part of gameplay) as easily as you should and often end up rolling. There's also a lot of parts where you're hanging and it takes a lot more effort than it should to aim to the correct side to jump over to. Add in the shifting camera angle while you're hanging and need to time jumps and it gets a little frustrating at times. Basically, the controls are exactly the same as the first, rather than improved, with some extra moves added in. With the severly increased focus on fighting over the first, these issues become more pronounced. It won't be uncommon for you to screw up or die due to the controls.
Overall
This game basically takes the good and bad of the first and amplifies all of it. The great storyline is even better, the graphics are even nicer, there's more variety to the gameplay which is good, and they added in some relatively good multiplayer (if it's your cup of tea) and even some good co-op missions to give the game some replay value. But the controls are still sluggish and there's WAAY too much focus on fighting in what is really an adventure game. Seems like they were trying to appeal to the RE5 and Halo/Resistance crowd as opposed to the Tomb Raider crowd.
So just like the first, it's definitely worth a play through as it's a very fun romp but you have to deal with some shortcomings. With the multiplayer, it's worth a little more than the first due to increased replayability but is it a $60 game? Not in my books. But it's a fine $30 purchase (the original being a fine $20 purchase). Worth going through but not worth keeping. Probably best as a weekend or weekly rental unless you fall in love with the multiplayer, which I didn't.
I was there on that fateful day, were you?
