Modern Games - Tomb Raider

[BadMouth]

I haven't really been into gaming for a long time.  The last console I owned was the original xbox and it was only used occasionally.
I like the arcade games because I can play them for 5 minutes and walk away.  TBH, I like building the stuff and getting the emulators to work more than I like playing them.

I recently started buying PC racing games when they pop up dirt cheap.  While shopping for those, the pc versions of modern console games have been catching my eye.  It was a little more than I would normally spend, but the new Tomb Raider popped up for $13 and had great reviews, so I got it.

After playing for about an hour, I have to ask.  Is this what all modern games are like?

I feel like I'm not actually controlling the character very much, but watching a movie and waiting to press the correct button at the right time....like the old laserdisc games from the early 80's.  Half the game seems to be cut scenes where I'm just sitting back and watching passively.
I remember looking at reviews for a different game and there were complaints that it wasn't cinematic enough.  Is this what modern gamers want?

It seems to be a good story and I do enjoy finding out what is going to happen next, but it feels like a fairly passive experience where my actions only determine whether the movie continues to play or not.

[JDFan]

Yep -- seems there's a lot of games that are that way now - I hate when you have a free hour to play a game and it seems your lucky if you actually get 10 minutes of gameplay with the rest of the time spent watching load screens and cut scenes or worse STEAM decides it needs to update the game files with the latest update that their slow servers take forever to download and update your game with new features you don't even want - yet there's no way to skip.

[Howard_Casto]

To be fair it's Tomb Raider... even the new Tomb Raider... well... let's just say this series was never known for it's gameplay. 

That being said... cut scenes and stories are a good thing.  I'm not sure why you wouldn't care for them.  The Assassin's Creed series follows each mission with cut-scenes and once the mission starts you are still generally carrying out a conversation with another character.  It's meant to immerse you.  Don't confuse quick time events with cut-scenes, they aren't the same thing.  To be honest though, people hate on QTE's but I like them so long as they are handled properly (RE4) and not embarrassingly sporadic  (RE5 and above).

[Vigo]

People complained about the amount of cutscenes in metal gear solid 4 as well. I personally didn't mind them because the story is so damn good, and the gameplay was amazing and plentiful.

On the other hand. FFXIII's cutscenes bugged the crap out of me, because the gameplay was not very compelling, and the storyline just confused me. Fal'cie make your characters La'cie and they have to do a focus or they will be a Cie'th.......I played 80 hours and beat the game and I still don't know wtf that means..... 

So I guess, IMO, the plot heavy modern games are fine by me as long as they don't short change me on gameplay, and they keep the story line good.

[BadMouth]

Watched a review on youtube that said the first hour is heavily laden.  Hopefully it turns into an actual game.
One reviewer on Amazon said the game "was on rails" which is the vibe I'm getting. 
You can't really explore much, just walk the path laid out for you and either pass or die and repeat the scene.
You are stuck in a small area until you do the one thing needed to move forward.
(and the game will point it out to you if you don't want to figure it out yourself  ) 


On a related note I missed playing Madden NFL Football, so I was checking into PC football games and there are hardly any options.
The last Madden to be released on PC was 2008. 
There is an EA Sports '08 collection that includes it and four other games, usually for the same price as Madden alone.
It may not be current, but it's good enough for me being that I'm too cheap to buy a console.

I have an xbox360 controller in my hands and the game is on the living room tv.  It feels like a console while I'm playing.   

[Vigo]

Yeah, EA bought exclusive rights to the NFL a few years back. Most other companys have gotten out of the football game mix because NFL is where the money is made.

[Howard_Casto]

On the other hand. FFXIII's cutscenes bugged the crap out of me, because the gameplay was not very compelling, and the storyline just confused me. Fal'cie make your characters La'cie and they have to do a focus or they will be a Cie'th.......I played 80 hours and beat the game and I still don't know wtf that means..... 

I know people are going to think this comes off as hate, but it isn't.  Let's be clear here... Final Fantasy ended with 7.  That was when fmv was introduced to the series and this is when they decided to make the "games" barely functional, generic rpg segments held together by 10 hours of cut-scenes that don't seem to have any bearing on gameplay. 

There's a reason when people start listing the "must have" games on the psx I try to change the subject when they mention final fantasy.   Apparently there are people out there who like it, but I sure can't figure out why. 

[Vigo]

Ffxiii introduced a thing called auto battle.  Means you don't even need to tell your character what to do anymore when fighting.. they also took out branched paths so no exploring . you ended up going down a straight path  most of  game. There was not much left for players to do but watch.

[shponglefan]

I know people are going to think this comes off as hate, but it isn't.  Let's be clear here... Final Fantasy ended with 7.  That was when fmv was introduced to the series and this is when they decided to make the "games" barely functional, generic rpg segments held together by 10 hours of cut-scenes that don't seem to have any bearing on gameplay. 

Er... they had cut-scenes prior to FF7.  FF6 was full of them.  They just weren't FMV.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah but they weren't 3/4ths of the game. 

[BadMouth]

Having spent a long time playing the game yesterday evening.  I'm enjoying it, but still annoyed when the Dragon's Lair 2 style gameplay pops up.
After the first hour, it did let me run around in the woods and have full control of the character for longer periods of time.

There is one part where you need to press X to open a parachute.  Fine, that's the main action button.  When that chute fails, it blinks a B button on the screen instructing you to press the B button, which opens the auxiliary chute.  The B button has been used for nothing but "back" up until this point and now it is suddenly required to perform an action?  Early in the game, I had to press LB and RB quickly to scramble up a hill.  That action has not been used since and the character will not attempt it in any other area.   There is another scene where you have to move the thumbsticks in circles to tune a radio dial. 
It just seems random controls are thrown in occasionally.  (variety by today's standards?)

I like controls that do specific things and be consistent throughout the game.  I'm not talking about having a couple different modes of play.  If I press a button to kick in one scene, why doesn't it work to kick in another scene?  The game has a set thing that it wants you to do and doesn't accept input for any other action.  Like I keep saying, it reminds me of laserdisc games from the early 80's.

I'm not saying it's a bad game.  The visuals and storyline are wonderful and it has spectacular reviews from current gamers.
I've come to the conclusion that I'm old and have been away from games too long, so I have different expectations of what gameplay should be.

EDIT: Was up until 2:00 AM playing.  I must like it.

[shponglefan]

Having spent a long time playing the game yesterday evening.  I'm enjoying it, but still annoyed when the Dragon's Lair 2 style gameplay pops up.

Ah, quick-time events.  A scourge of modern gaming.

[Howard_Casto]

Having spent a long time playing the game yesterday evening.  I'm enjoying it, but still annoyed when the Dragon's Lair 2 style gameplay pops up.
After the first hour, it did let me run around in the woods and have full control of the character for longer periods of time.

There is one part where you need to press X to open a parachute.  Fine, that's the main action button.  When that chute fails, it blinks a B button on the screen instructing you to press the B button, which opens the auxiliary chute.  The B button has been used for nothing but "back" up until this point and now it is suddenly required to perform an action?  Early in the game, I had to press LB and RB quickly to scramble up a hill.  That action has not been used since and the character will not attempt it in any other area.   There is another scene where you have to move the thumbsticks in circles to tune a radio dial. 
It just seems random controls are thrown in occasionally.  (variety by today's standards?)

I like controls that do specific things and be consistent throughout the game.  I'm not talking about having a couple different modes of play.  If I press a button to kick in one scene, why doesn't it work to kick in another scene?  The game has a set thing that it wants you to do and doesn't accept input for any other action.  Like I keep saying, it reminds me of laserdisc games from the early 80's.

I'm not saying it's a bad game.  The visuals and storyline are wonderful and it has spectacular reviews from current gamers.
I've come to the conclusion that I'm old and have been away from games too long, so I have different expectations of what gameplay should be.

EDIT: Was up until 2:00 AM playing.  I must like it.

What you described is "immersive" gameplay.  The thumbstick rotation and climbing up the hill ect... that's all thanks to the wii.  Games now try to mimic the actions you see on the tv in special scenes.  Capcom experimented with this in Zakk and Wikki and now they love to thow it in all their games.  It caught on with other developers as well.  Think of it like the bonus "test your might" in Mortal Kombat.  The dial thing was first used prominently in Arkham Asylum and the triggers to climb bit was first used in the RE games, I think.  For most people (myself included) this is considered a good implementation of quick time events.  The fact that they tell you to press B ahead of time, for example, is good. Most bad QTE events wait until the very last minute. 

Look at some of the Resident Evil games for bad implementations.  Examples I can think of include killing a boss via hitting a button at a certain time, multiple times only the button you hit is completely random each time.  And I mean that literally... the first time you try you die because you didn't hit B fast enough (they might flash the correct button 1/10th of a second before you are supposed to hit it).  So you play it again, get to that point in the scene only to die again because you've hit B but the game is now asking for LB.  Seriously!  They do that crap now!