I’ve never played a Tomb Raider game before so ummm…if I play them, which ones or in what order? Story wise vs gameplay wise. I’ll consider both arguments although I lean towards story/chronological order for plot references and stuff. They all have fairly good and even review scores to my surprise so no easy process of elimination there.
Or should I just purge them from the backlog and plant them in the graveyard where games go to never be played ever again for all time?
Legend and Underworld are of a single story thread. Anniversary is a remake of the original. I’m a big fan of all of them, so I guess I’d say if you like this kind of game (and I’m assuming you’re pretty familiar with how Tomb Raider games work) then they’re all worth your time. I’d say Anniversary is probably the best starting point, and likely the best of the three games.
I don’t think the remake of the original (Anniversary I assume) shares a plot with the others. I would play the first of the ‘reboot’ then put them aside for a bit until you can handle more. They’re all pretty similar. Then I think the next ‘new’ one follows on.
Also, not that the story is much of a draw with these games, but if recall correctly there was a retcon at the end of Anniversary which tied all three games into a trilogy.
I still think the level design in the original/anniversary tomb raider was awesome.
The Crystal Dynamics games are all pretty good (for Tomb Raider games, anyway). I would recommend playing them in the order: Anniversary, Legend, Underworld.
I think what I liked most in Legend was trying to figure out that huge ridiculous gymnasium she had. There’s a final point to get to that I don’t think I ever figured out.
Legend was my favorite of the three, but that’s in large part because it moved away from platforming & puzzles to become more of a straight action-adventure - charting the way for Uncharted, if you’ll pardon the pun - which other people didn’t like. Its story ain’t deep, but it was entertainingly pulpy. Underworld continues the plot from Legend and shifted the emphasis back to platforming & puzzles (less combat etc.); that plus some aggravating design decisions means I liked it less. Anniversary is the nostalgic throwback, for better and for worse, IMHO; it’s my least favorite of the lot (I don’t think the original’s design has aged all that well), though if platforming & puzzles is all you care about, it may be more up your alley.
So from my perspective, L > U > A; but if you’re on the BobJustBob scale (i.e., plots suck, gameplay rulez), reverse that order.
Reviving this old thread, but I figured this was the best place to ask:
I just bought the Tomb Raider collection from the summer Steam sale, and I’m thinking about playing through them in order, except for the new one, which I’ll probably play soon. I only played most of the first one a long, long time ago. So is the first one still worth playing, or should I just play the Anniversary remake instead?
Much as I like the originals, I do think Anniversary totally supplants the first Tomb Raider. Plus, Anniversary, Legend and Underworld make a kind of trilogy storywise, so it makes sense to play those together.
Agreed. I’d start with Anniversary too. I played it for the first time back in April and had a blast. It’s much more puzzle oriented and quite relaxing as well.
Anniversay. It’s the only TR I’ve really finished, and it was fantastic. I’ve only played TR1 and Legend briefly, and something about them turned me off early. I plan to play Underworld one day on my 360, though.
How are all these linked to Lara Croft: Guardians of Light? It’s also by Crystal Dynamics and looked to be a 2010 game i.e. pretty new. Anyway, I am now playing the 2013 Reboot and I think that beats each of these hands down. I don’t think I can look back since 2013 is pretty awesome in both gameplay, story, gfx, etc.
They are not the same type of games at all. Tomb Raider (newest one) is a narrative driven game, where as the older ones where platforming, jumping puzzle exploration games with some minor combat added
Guardian of Light is an action RPG (ala Diablo/Torchlight) with the environmental puzzle solving of Tomb Raider. It’s a really cool game but – other than Lara Croft – I believe it’s entirely unrelated to the prior three games.
Guardian of Light, by the way, is also the gold standard for how a top down action RPG should be done with a controller. It’s amazing in that regard. The puzzles, the platforming, the action bits, they all mesh so well with a smooth control scheme. It’s the game that all other action RPGs should be judged against from now on if the controller is the main control method.
Guardian is an excellent co-op game. I have finished it with my brother and 2 different girlfriends. The 2 characters interact in interesting ways during puzzle bits. I would recommend the hard setting, as normal seemed way too easy and the game ends far too quickly.
