Rise of The Tomb Raider Coming to PC in January

[Steven Bogos]

Rise of The Tomb Raider Coming to PC in January

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A Steam store listing has confirmed that Rise of The Tomb Raider will launch on PC this January.

One of the best games no-one played of 2015 was easily Steam has now confirmed [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/rise%20of%20the%20tomb%20raider?os=%20rise%20of%20the%20tomb%20raider] that the PC edition of Rise of The Tomb Raider will release some time in January.

You can't pre-purchase the game as of yet, so we're probably looking at a later, rather than earlier, January release. Also keep in mind that this has come from Steam, and isn't an official announcement from Square Enix, so that date may change.

PS4 owners are unfortunately in for a bit longer wait. Due to the exclusivity deal, the game won't release on Sony's platform until "Holiday 2016" at the very earliest. Ouch!

Source: Steam [http://store.steampowered.com/app/391220/]

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[Zenja]

Eh, PS4 has enough titles to last for a year. This was a foolish move on Square's part. The first game under-performed, selling about 6 million copies total across 5 consoles with 2 remastered editions. That isn't very impressive. Considering Tomb Raider's previous exclusivity with Sony, most Tomb Raider fans are probably lean more towards Sony than Xbox. (Sales of Tomb Raider 2013 reflect this.) Then add in Xbox One's stumble out of the gate this generation and it makes you wonder exactly how much money they got paid for this deal.

Was it enough to forsake an entire console audience that favors your title for a year? It really is no skin off our noses to wait a year. But that really hits those sales numbers as this game is much less relevant next year on its 2nd release. I will probably buy it for PS4 as I didn't mind the first one. But this kind of stuff is why Square is crying poor now days. They should think long term, not quick buck. They just kinda gave the finger to their Sony fans, the console that always sells higher for the franchise. This deal made no sense. Fallout 4 isnt the only reason many didn't play this game. Tomb Raider just doesn't have a following or sell well on Xbox. Clearly a good reason to make it an exclusive it seems.

 

[Zhukov]

Amazing! I bet nobody called this!

Oh wait. Fucking everybody called this.

How's that exclusivity deal working out for you Square? I hope Microsoft payed you a fucking bucketload of cash because you're clearly not capable of making money on your own decisions. Launching opposite goddamn Fallout 4 was the icing on the stupidity cake.

Somehow I doubt those few months of exclusivity did much for Xbox sales either. But if Microsoft want to waste money I couldn't give a damn.

 

[MazokuRanma]

I skipped Fallout 4 to play this, actually, and had a blast. I've come to avoid Bethesda games on launch, since I know they'll be incredibly buggy. On top of that, I tend to play them on PC, so giving Fallout 4 some time means the intrepid PC modding community will have a slew of great stuff available.

That said, I do think this was a rather foolish exclusivity deal. Tomb Raider isn't really a console selling franchise, especially since they only just rebooted the series. Unless Microsoft made an incredibly high offer, it seems they'd have done better to launch across all platforms. On the other hand, it's not like the game will have particularly aged come holiday season 2016, so if they promote it right, they could still sell a good amount for PS4.

 

[Rastrelly]

I won't get tired of saying: TR2103 killed off the franchise for me, and I do hope this franchise will sink taking with itself as much people involved in its creation as possible. This is a pure offense to the idea and concept of original games, and what they've done to Lara herself is just.... Urgh!

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Seemed like a ridiculous deal from the off, and it seems even more so given how soon it's appearing on another platform.

This is a pure offense to the idea and concept of original games, and what they've done to Lara herself is just.... Urgh!

Heaven forbid a game series - or character - evolve or change.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

While I'm very happy to have, even a tentative, early 2016 release date it is still a bit shit that PS4 owning fans have to wait longer.

 

[Rastrelly]

This is a pure offense to the idea and concept of original games, and what they've done to Lara herself is just.... Urgh!

Heaven forbid a game series - or character - evolve or change.

To worse - yes. From strong and smart female lead to whiny yet invulnerable imbecile? Much evolution. So enjoyment. Many character.

 

[The Purple Grape]

This is a pure offense to the idea and concept of original games, and what they've done to Lara herself is just.... Urgh!

Heaven forbid a game series - or character - evolve or change.

To worse - yes. From strong and smart female lead to whiny yet invulnerable imbecile? Much evolution. So enjoyment. Many character.

Of course that's how that works, after all Samus Aran's character got much 'evolution' and daddy issues in the magnum opus that was Other M. If they made it a bland uninspired 3rd Person shooter than they would truly have gold.

/sarcasm

 

[fix-the-spade]

Heaven forbid a game series - or character - evolve or change.

Hyper competent Alpha ***** to whiney faux-damsel in distress wasn't much of an evolution.

In fact I'd say it was the only real problem I had with Tomb Raider 2013. Lara Croft has always been an extremely sexualised character, but the change from look at my amazing thighs while I kick arse with them to Oh I'm so vulnerable don't let them hurt me hasn't sat well. If nothing else it's creepy.

 

[Rastrelly]

Heaven forbid a game series - or character - evolve or change.

Hyper competent Alpha ***** to whiney faux-damsel in distress wasn't much of an evolution.

In fact I'd say it was the only real problem I had with Tomb Raider 2013. Lara Croft has always been an extremely sexualised character, but the change from look at my amazing thighs while I kick arse with them to Oh I'm so vulnerable don't let them hurt me hasn't sat well. If nothing else it's creepy.

Even moreso - if original LC was cartoonishly awesome superheroine (basically), new Lara is supposed to be 'realistic' and 'psychological'... But what they show does not work that way. More or less - the game should have ended right where it started, after falling on that spike. Pain+shock wold more or less immobilize her, plus damage from the fall itself (broken bones are quite possible). Later - beartrap? Ascend to a friggin' high metal radiotower when temperature is below zero without warm clothes or even hand protection. I climbed a short metal ladder when it was -10 degrees without gloves. I could barely move my hands afterwards, and there were no wind involved. I doubt I'd be able to slide back down on a cable afterwards, especially if I'd spend about half an hour running around, shooting on the same temperature. And I won't even start on such a sweet thing as pneumonia. So this episode in TR is sooo realistic I basically given up on this game. It is a pure, concentrated shit, that does not even understand what it is trying to do.

 

[ZeroAxis]

This is a pure offense to the idea and concept of original games, and what they've done to Lara herself is just.... Urgh!

Heaven forbid a game series - or character - evolve or change.

To worse - yes. From strong and smart female lead to whiny yet invulnerable imbecile? Much evolution. So enjoyment. Many character.

Of course that's how that works, after all Samus Aran's character got much 'evolution' and daddy issues in the magnum opus that was Other M. If they made it a bland uninspired 3rd Person shooter than they would truly have gold.


/sarcasm

Heaven forbid a game series - or character - evolve or change.

Hyper competent Alpha ***** to whiney faux-damsel in distress wasn't much of an evolution.

In fact I'd say it was the only real problem I had with Tomb Raider 2013. Lara Croft has always been an extremely sexualised character, but the change from look at my amazing thighs while I kick arse with them to Oh I'm so vulnerable don't let them hurt me hasn't sat well. If nothing else it's creepy.

I'm starting to think there's some confusion as to what "evolution" means to Square or even Eidos. Reboots, as in "starting over" is not evolution. It's more like being a born-again Christian or something as in you decide to be "born again" as opposed to "growing up". That change for sure, but it isn't evolution.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Seemed like a ridiculous deal from the off, and it seems even more so given how soon it's appearing on another platform.

This is a pure offense to the idea and concept of original games, and what they've done to Lara herself is just.... Urgh!

Heaven forbid a game series - or character - evolve or change.

Even if the change is for much, much worse?

 

[Janichsan]

To worse - yes. From strong and smart female lead to whiny yet invulnerable imbecile? Much evolution. So enjoyment. Many character.

I had bigger problems with Lara's alleged "development" as it was depicted in the game: in one moment, she has to kill some dude in self-defence, and she's shaken and disturbed afterwards. The next moment, she's remorselessly killing all kind of opponents by brutally hacking them to death with her pick-axe. Yeah, that makes total sense.

Even "better" was the scene about half-way in the story, when that Harry Potter look-a-like bit the dust: there Lara stands, swearing solemnly that "no-one else will die on this island" (pretty much a verbatim quote) - and 10 seconds later you have to mow down the next dozen of opponents. Thumbs up for good writing.

(I won't even go into detail why the gameplay made the game utter shit.)

 

[chocolate pickles]

Screw you Square. You ain't getting a single penny from me. Hope you crash and burn.

 

[Tony2077]

i think i will choose the stance i hope it does well

 

[Ishigami]

Nice, looking forward to it. The reboot was very good already.
The series had to change as the gameplay of the old games was simply outdated.
The reboot outsold every other previous TR and therefore ensured the series survival.
Let?s hope some whiny people from yesterday and Square-Enix super stupid exclusive move have no lasting effects on the sales thereby throwing the series undeserved into another crisis.

 

[lacktheknack]

As usual, no matter WHAT the news is, the salt must flow.

I, for one, am pretty happy about the news. Too bad it came after I start getting really busy for the rest of the foreseeable future...

 

[GraveDigger27]

Tomb Raider 2013 - the biggest selling game in the HISTORY of the franchise...

I've been a fan since the original game came out on the Sega Saturn. The graphics have improved over the years and I've been happy with what Crystal Dynamics has done to change to series. I'll get it for my PC when it comes out next month and am not upset that Microsoft paid Square-Enix/Crystal Dynamics for a exclusive deal - both Microsoft and Sony have done this for a long time and it's just part of the business these days.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Even if the change is for much, much worse?

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Art'n'subjectiviy and all that. I'll elaborate in the reply to the below post, but the reboot's my favourite TR since the original two.

Hyper competent Alpha ***** to whiney faux-damsel in distress wasn't much of an evolution.

In fact I'd say it was the only real problem I had with Tomb Raider 2013. Lara Croft has always been an extremely sexualised character, but the change from look at my amazing thighs while I kick arse with them to Oh I'm so vulnerable don't let them hurt me hasn't sat well. If nothing else it's creepy.

Classic Lara had more in common with '60's Bond than Indy; a privileged, white, post-imperial English sociopath. She was as blandly 2D, 'ballsy', and inhuman as her male fantasist counterpart.

I played the TR's ever since the first came out on PS1, and loved the first two and some of the third before bailing on an increasingly aimless and gimmicky series. I came back to the character/franchise with the Legend trilogy, and mostly enjoyed that wacky three game identity crisis (cartoony Legend, a reconning remake, and a weirdly dark, lonely, and slightly glitchy finale in Underworld).

I loathe 'classic' Bond for all he represents, and frankly classic Lara was little better. She may not have quite shared his sexism, but her design was rather sexist.

Nu-Lara? As a game the reboot did need more puzzles and, y'know, tombs (also: ideally even less combat). But I thought it was a superbly crafted game, and at the centre of it was a Lara who was suddenly human, and relatable (certainly to me at least). Your 'I'm so vulnerable, don't let them hurt me' cuss seems utterly bizarre given how she ends up shouting down goons whilst firing an AK with a grenade launcher, rescuing everyone else on the boat (barring a few dopes), and ends up getting a [possibly unhinged?] taste for more.

What's a "faux damsel"? I didn't see much of the damsel in Lara at all. Vulnerability mingled with heroic/dramatic will (and possibly superpowers of regeneration and ability to absorb impacts, given those numerous should-be-fatal falls... ), sure, but Samantha was ostensibly Lara's damsel.

I can only judge on the first game so far, btw - I'll be starting Rise in a few days, and I'll see how that pans out (given how much I loved TR, I've always been skeptical they can build on what they created).