Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

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VideoGameCritic
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Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 4th, 2016, 10:36 pm

I'm enjoying this game. Some of the snowy scenery is beautiful and when you get into a groove the controls feel nearly effortless.

One complaint I have however is the strong profanity and gruesome violence. Is this really necessary? I suppose the developers are trying to be edgy by pushing the limits, but to me it's a real turn-off.

SigSauerLover
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Re: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby SigSauerLover » January 5th, 2016, 1:11 am

Nothing wrong with a bit of gore, Dave.

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ptdebate
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Re: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby ptdebate » January 5th, 2016, 12:40 pm

Tomb Raider (2013) was pretty violent too though. Remember napalm arrows? I don't remember there being much profanity though.

I'll probably pick up this sequel on PC when it releases later this month.

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Re: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby Sonicx9 » January 5th, 2016, 3:34 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:One complaint I have however is the strong profanity and gruesome violence. Is this really necessary? I suppose the developers are trying to be edgy by pushing the limits, but to me it's a real turn-off.


I 100% agree with you on that statement, as it just got me thinking about something that I have noticed over the past 5+ Years in Video Gaming, is that it is becoming a lot more common in Video Games to have more gruesome violence/Cluster F-Bomb Language and even more graphic Sexual content/nudity in video games, especially in M rated games in particular.

I think part of the problem of why it is becoming like this more then ever, has to do with two things related with this problem, one is the fact that video games these days are much more of an Adult Oriented medium, compared to what it used to be as back in the 70's, 80's, 90's, and even most of the early to mid 2000s to a lesser degree, it was much more of a Kid/Family Friendly medium compared to the later half of the 2000s/early 2010's to the present moment with far more M rated titles coming out these days compared to the years of the past. The average age that plays video games today is far higher then it used to be as well.: http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/29/gamin ... a-console/

The second reason it is like this is because of the success of one of the most popular Mature rated game series that is the
Call of Duty series starting with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, where the success of dark/edgy M rated games like that have pressured many developers from their artistic vision of being themselves and then making their games darker/more vulgar and shocking on series that were not like this such as the Tomb Raider series starting with the 2013 game to compete with the big M rated games such as the Call of Duty series, witch ironically you did not mind as much, but you will explain more info on that via the review when it comes out/the forums later on. And this did not just affected Tomb Raider, it also affected other series such as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series with Dual Destinies:http://www.p4rgaming.com/capcom-explains-m-rating-for-phoenix-wright-5-we-want-the-call-of-duty-audience/ and Batman Arkham series with Arkham Knight:http://www.newsarama.com/23613-batman-arkham-knight-game-gets-mature-rating.html, even though both games are far tamer then the two recent Tomb Raider games, and even series that are M rated such as
Devil May Cry with the 2013 DMC reboot, along with the two recent Mortal Kombat games are far more vulgar then their older siblings from the past games.

They also did this with Namco's Splatterhouse series with its reboot with Shock Value of F-Bombs and Nudity to make the game more edgy then the older games in the series.

Their is even an article saying that T rated games are an Endangered Species.: http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/ ... d-species/

It also explains why many modern games are cookie cuter and do not want to be their own selves.

I think it would be a good idea for you Critic to do a rant related to what I just wrote to you in regards to this situation on the forums.

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Re: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 5th, 2016, 6:40 pm

When the bad guy puts his thumbs through some guys eyes and leaves him writhing in agony on the floor, I think that's a little gross. I normally have no problem with violence in games, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

And the dialogue is so peppered with F-bombs you'd think it was written by a 14 year old boy.

It's a shame because it's a pretty compelling storyline.

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Re: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby Steve » January 6th, 2016, 4:00 pm

I recently completed this game and touched on the Expedition mode and I must be numb to violence and profanity since I don't even remember any language that was out of place. And isn't that the point? Your post implies that the language and violence are out of place. Are you referring to "real life" or the fact that it is a video game? To be honest, I don't remember any harsh language and I don't remember an eye-gouging scene.

I did notice when sampling the expedition mode that if I got killed during an increased difficulty level, the violence seemed to be notched up a bit (repeated stabs to my abdomen as opposed to just falling over dead).

So, I'm curious about the following:
1 - What difficulty are you playing on? I played on the easiest level except the single expedition mode on a higher difficulty and noticed the increased violence.
2 - I hate using the phrase 'real-life' but when you imply the level of violence and language might be unnecessary, are you actually just referring to the fact that it is videogame or the fact that this kind of behavior might not be "real" if someone were actually in these situations.
3 - Where is the eye-gouging scene? Just curious.

Thanks.

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Re: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 6th, 2016, 6:03 pm

The scene happens in the Siberian camp pretty early in the game. I'm playing on the Xbox One in normal difficulty.
As a fan of Tomb Raider from the beginning, I just don't think there's any justification for F-bombs and torture.

Why does this need to be a mature game? This is Tomb Raider, not Saw.

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsis.as ... omb+Raider

Sadly, like with some movies, I think the developers went out of their way to make give it a mature rating because they were trying to aim for a particular market. It's a shame.

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Re: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby Sonicx9 » January 6th, 2016, 8:19 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:The scene happens in the Siberian camp pretty early in the game. I'm playing on the Xbox One in normal difficulty.
As a fan of Tomb Raider from the beginning, I just don't think there's any justification for F-bombs and torture.

Why does this need to be a mature game? This is Tomb Raider, not Saw.

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/Synopsis.as ... omb+Raider

Sadly, like with some movies, I think the developers went out of their way to make give it a mature rating because they were trying to aim for a particular market. It's a shame.

One thing I forgot to mentioned is it also explains why the recent Tomb Raider games are not selling well here are two links that prove it:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013- ... pectations

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/201 ... der-sales/

I like to here your thoughts critic?
Last edited by Sonicx9 on January 15th, 2016, 7:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

matmico399
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Re: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby matmico399 » January 6th, 2016, 8:26 pm

I agree Dave. The vulgarity and violence has gone off the charts. And you are right about the dialogue being written by a 14 y/o boy. I am in my mid 40's and sure we cursed like crazy as teens. But as people become older and you live in an adult world you grow out of that and realize in the professional world you can't talk like that. I have heard so much profanity and seen extreme violence in films it just turns me off. Plus I am a father (which I'm guessing you are as well). I'm just sick of it. Now I pretty much only buy used games at Gamestop so I can return them if the game just bugs me with that. Although I do buy older games on Ebay.

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Re: Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)

Postby Shapur » January 10th, 2016, 4:36 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:When the bad guy puts his thumbs through some guys eyes and leaves him writhing in agony on the floor, I think that's a little gross. I normally have no problem with violence in games, but you have to draw the line somewhere.


That is a little........off putting.


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