Despite all of the trailers and marketing that surrounded Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it honestly surprised me when it was released last week. It kind of come out of nowhere for me. Having played the previous two entries, I was pretty excited to jump into Lara Croft’s newest adventure. Unfortunately, I was almost immediately put-off by the game in it’s opening hours.
The biggest thing that’s stuck with me from my few hours with Shadow of the Tomb Raider is just how unlikable Lara is this time around. The entirety of my play session was filled with moments of her being incredibly selfish and self-centered, putting her goals over the safety of her and those around her. Despite whether it’s true or not, she considers everything that happens a result of her actions and considers herself the only one who can stop the cataclysmic events taking place in the game.
In addition to her entire persona being weirdly off-putting, Shadow of the Tomb Raider just feels a little less polished all around. Some of the animations felt jagged and sometimes didn’t blend together well, leaving the action feeling a little stilted at times. There was also a surprising amount of audio desynchronization in almost every in-game cutscene. I even was hit with a pause while traversing between two parts of a level that said “WAIT FOR STREAMING,” which served as a stark reminder that I was playing on my launch PS4, and not a Pro.
None of these things on their own would be enough to deter me from playing more of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but when combined, I just didn’t feel anywhere near the same level of motivation to continue that I had with other games this year. Shadow of the Tomb Raider isn’t a bad game by any stretch, but it just isn’t a game that I feel compelled to keep playing at the moment.
September is finally here, and with it comes the annual dump of video games that we all know and love. This isn’t a comprehensive list of releases by any means, rather it’s a list of the bigger games that I’m personally keeping an eye on.
Marvel’s Spider-Man [09/07/18]
Like a lot of people, my memory of Spider-Man games gets real blurry right after the 2004 release of Spider-Man 2 for the PS2 and Xbox. There are a lot of reasons people consider that one to be the most memorable, but all I really remember is that the web-swinging felt really good. All I know is that there’s a new Spider-Man game that looks like it’s combining the feeling of moving around as Spider-Man with Arkham Asylum-style combat, which seems like a match made in heaven for me.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider [09/14/18]
I’ve been really impressed with the rebooted Tomb Raider games we’ve gotten thus far, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider seems to be building upon the already solid foundation its predecessors have laid down. I may not know anything about what’s actually going on in the story of Lara Croft over the course of these games, but playing them has been an absolute blast, and I look forward to eventually getting to shoot arrows at dudes who wander too far into the woods.
Life is Strange 2 [09/28/18]
Set in the same universe as the first Life is Strange, the upcoming sequel is also angling to pinpoint my heart and viciously attack it until I feel like an angsty and confused teen once again. I haven’t been looking at any pre-release materials because I’d just like to experience it at my own pace, but from what I gather it revolves around two brothers and a murder. But even without knowing anything about the plot, I was so taken with the first game that I’m onboard for whatever they would do with a sequel.
Red Dead Redemption 2 [10/26/18]
Do I really need to write anything about why I’m excited for Red Dead Redemption 2? At the bare minimum I’ll say that I really enjoyed the tone of the original Red Dead Redemption and think the overall game was a triumph in game design. It’s refreshing to see Rockstar make a game that isn’t all about being satirical and lampooning some aspect of our society. Red Dead Redemption 2 looks like an incredibly ambitious game and I can’t wait to get to spend time with it.
Hitman 2 [11/13/18]
It seems surreal that a sequel to Hitman 2016 is right around the corner. That game was so damn good and I really don’t know how you’d make that experience better, but the folks over at IO apparently have found a way. My only reservation with Hitman 2 is the fact that they’re ditching the episodic model in favor of a traditional release. That’s totally valid, but I feel like some of the appeal to the 2016 release was the fact that because there were limited levels, you’d replay them over and over and try to exhaust every option available to you. But hey, I’ll take Hitman 2 any way it’s offered to me.
Fallout 76 [11/14/18]
I don’t like Bethesda RPGs, and I strongly doubt this game is going to convert me, but boy howdy am I curious to see what the reception to Fallout 76 is. From everything I’ve heard about the way it works, it seems iffy, but I’d love to be proven wrong on this.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [12/07/18]
I mean, I really don’t care about Ultimate, but I’m a really big fan of how Nintendo went ahead and got every character from past entries as well as added some heavily requested ones, while making sure not to let Waluigi be a full character. Waluigi sucks.
The Final Fantasy VII remake is totally real. Please believe us.
Shadow of The Tomb Raider
The show opened with a short sequence of a plane crashing which probably isn’t a great time for Lara Croft. After that we cut to gameplay of Lara hiding in a tree and shooting a poisonous arrow at a guy that made him lose his mind before he ultimately died. We then see her perform some takedowns on unsuspecting dudes before slathering herself in mud to blend into the environment. All of what we’re seeing here is stealth gameplay until Lara leaps out from the bushes to stab a dude in the face. Somehow she escapes that situation unnoticed, only for her to throw an ignited gas canister on top of three dudes so she can watch them burn alive.
It looked pretty cool, but aside from some mud-rubbin’ I didn’t really see much that differentiates it from its predecessors. Still, I like this series well enough to check it out when it releases later this year.
The Awesome Adventures Of Captain Spirit
We saw some of this at Microsoft’s briefing, but we got a different look at it here. We are quickly reminded that this isn’t Life is Strange 2, but an introduction to the world of Life is Strange. It seems to build upon the idea that based on whatever adventure this kid imagines in his mind, you’ll get a new gameplay experience. Whereas Life is Strange was built around rewinding time, this looks like it will allow for the player play with different kinds of mechanics based on the adventure. But that’s just my best guess.
We’ll find out on June 26th when it releases for free.
Baylon’s Fall
It’s a Platinum game about slashing through some sort of medieval styled world. Not much stood out to me here outside of the fact it looked like a Bayonetta game with an illusion to 4 player coop right at the end. So it could be cool, but there’s not much to go on right now.
Just Cause 4
Taking place in South America, once again Rico Rodriguez is sent in to fight an oppressive regime and tornadoes. There are claims that weather is going to be the big defining characteristic in this entry, blizzards and tornadoes being the highlights. Also in addition to the rocket boosters and grappling hooks, you’ll get these cool balloons you can attach to things so you can make your enemies just slowly float away. Looks pretty awesome, but we’ll see if it pans out.
What appeared to be an actual video of a man walking into an alley and getting heckled by stereotypical gang members, made a weird transition into gameplay of him brawling with them and kicking their asses. Also he’s deaf. Could this be The Bouncer sequel we’ve all been waiting for? Perhaps. We’ll learn more in August.
Then the conference just ended. No mention of their Avengers project, no mention of the Final Fantasy VII remake, and the same incomprehensible Kingdom Hearts III trailer from the Microsoft briefing yesterday.
Grab your game passes and get your asses in line, cause it’s Microsoft time.
Halo Infinite
No real info given outside of a trailer. Seems as if they’re launching a platform for Halo as well as a campaign. It’s unclear as to what makes this different enough to not call it Halo 6, but I’m definitely intrigued.
Ori & The Will of the Wisps
Following up the tremendous Ori & The Blind Forest is something that very much appears like its predecessor with enhanced combat and more mobility options. Not much info was given here aside from a general tone piece and some gameplay.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Initially I thought this was a Dark Souls-esque re-imagining of the Tenchu series. While I wasn’t too far off, it has a different name and seem to have more exploration and mobility options. Here we have something that invokes Bloodborne and God of War. Time will tell if it’s as gross as those games, but it definitely is trying.
Fallout 76
It appears all the rumors were true and this is prequel to all other games. It’s said to be 4 times the size of Fallout 4 and is a base building focused multiplayer game. No surprises here. More to come when we see it at the Bethesda Briefing.
The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
This is billed as a story in the same universe of Life is Strange, but not featuring the same characters. With a focus on a young boy and his imagination, it looks like you’ll be seeing a bunch of fantastical stories with different settings, featuring him. It’s releasing for free on June 26th.
Crackdown 3
Terry Crews is yelling a lot, while a virtual Terry Crews is blowing shit up, and driving up walls. Nothing else really revealed. Allegedly releasing early next year.
We Happy Few
We Happy Few seems to have pivoted from its survival roots and has become more story focused. It shares a weird vibe with the Bioshock series which isn’t a bad thing. I personally prefer this approach to their original pitch, but I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground with that one. It’s out on August 10th.
The Division 2
They’re going for it with the setting and story. Shit went real bad in Washington DC apparently. It looks really good graphically but didn’t do much to differentiate itself from the original. From what I gather the end of the trailer sets up the idea that you and your friends can storm other player run bases.
ID@Xbox
This was just one of those classic “indie game montages.” I went ahead and picked out the games that looked interesting.
Afterparty
Outerwilds
Below
Conquerors Blade
Raji
Planet Alpha
Islands of Nine
Harold Halibut
The Wind Road
Ashen
Sable
Shadow of The Tomb Raider
What else can I say about this game? If you liked the previous games or the Uncharted series, this is probably a safe bet as far as games you’ll enjoy. If it builds upon the already rock solid formula of its predecessors, we’ll be in for another fantastic entry in the series.
Session.
Totally got my hopes up for Skate 4. But where EA refuses to deliver, smaller studios will step in. That’s what’s happening with Session. I’ve played the very early demo they put out a while ago and I wasn’t terribly impressed. Hopefully there have been big improvements since I’ve played it and it will fill that skateboard shaped hole in my heart.
Tunic
This game still looks out of this fucking world. It’s a Zelda-esque, isometric action-adventure game that looks charming as all hell. I humbly request that Tunic is released this moment.
Dying Light 2
More parkour, more zombies. Actually they really didn’t show any zombies, there was way more human drama. I prefer the focus on the people rather than the zombies, honestly. There’s a big focus on player choice, for example they showed dialogue options that effect your standing with various factions, which in turn, effect the world and missions you do.
Battletoads
No footage to show, but it has 3 player co-op. So yeah.
Just Cause 4
It’s Just Cause. You know what this game is. It might as well be called “Grappling Hooks and Explosions” at this point. It looked pretty neat, although then again, so did JC3. They showed a tornado, so that could be fun.
Gears Pop!
What if Gears of war, but Funko Pop and on phones? Huh? I guess that’s what this is. God help us all.
Gears Tactics
Looks like a tower defense, X-Com looking game. They really breezed through this announcement.
Gears 5
No “of War” on these games. It’s perplexing. They’re really leaning into the story with this trailer, and as someone who has not finished Gears of War 4, I have no idea what’s going on. But it looks like a personal journey featuring the lady from Gears of War 4. It looks nice and has cover shooting.
Cyberpunk 2077
I wasn’t a huge fan of The Witcher 3 mostly because of its setting. Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be everything I wanted out of the Witcher, but with more guns and neon. Sign me the hell up.
The Bonus World 