Rise of the Tomb Raider sure made its graceful entrance at PAX Prime by showing off a 15-minute hands-on demo. One critic had likened the experience to some Indiana Jones movies, while the other astounded on the cinematic effects and gave it a verdict of far from being insipid. Square Enix might really be focused more on some of its releases, which include this game, more than the others.
Rise of the Tomb Raider might be Lara Croft's best adventure yet and Square Enix's best take so far on a Tomb Raider installment. IGN compared the brief adventure in the demo to some Indy films. Of course, what's a near-death experience without spooky skeletons, scorpions, a wall-crumbling temple, and a well-designed tomb?
IGN described the Rise of the Tomb Raider demo as "one of the best-looking video game demos" thus far; with splendid lighting, lusty wind, and magnificent particle effects. Like Indy, Lara here in Rise of the Tomb Raider will find herself in impossible situations, always at the edge of a cliff or bewildered in a maze; but both would find their way eventually outside. Inevitably, there are twisting puzzles to solve and some goons to take down along.
Twinfinite, on the other hand, was fairly impressed when Lara was just making her way through the scenic temple. Coupled this with Lara's stunts, such as, hanging on from a ledge and when racing through that blinding light inside a half-flooded ancient ruins; "it's the retina-pleasing, pulse-raising experiences like these that gave the title a fighting spirit despite the simple movement and mechanics," as stated in the report.
This astonishment was cut short though when it was observed that the more complex levels were not included in the demo. For obvious reasons, to avoid "giving everything away," these were omitted in the video.
Square Enix's use of advanced rendering techniques, radical volumetric lights, and intricate details to everything else in Rise of the Tomb Raider were all rolled out in the 15-minute demo shown at PAX Prime. Audience reactions and positive (and not-so promising) reviews will all count come its official release on November 10, for Xbox One and Xbox 360. It is scheduled to be released for PC and PS4 in 2016.
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