Gameplay: One of the reasons that I don’t get down with big sandbox games typically is because there seems to be too much to do. I like to start a game, have a central focus and know what I’m working on. So Grand Theft Auto has never been a fun game to me however, Arkham City is an all-time favorite. The difference to me is that even with the side missions on Arkham City, the main goal is pretty succinct and direct. The same applies for this game and because of such, you can ignore any side challenges and detours and not lose out on the essential functions of the game. There is incentive to collect items that are pretty readily seen as they upgrade weapons and skills, but you don’t have to go breaking every vase you see just to get some key to open one door that reveals one secret that you need to finish that board…and if you don’t find it, you’ll never finish. I hate that. Also the weapons, while pretty limited, level up and are much improved with each upgrade.
The brawling is a definite area for improvement on this game. If they got close, your rolling evade was sketchy and often resulted in you getting clocked, cut, or shot. If you were successful, the mini-game brutality was cool but repetitive and after a while and not extremely rewarding. If you timed it wrong and just managed to evade the attack, you were rewarded with a terrible camera angle that likely left you open to another attack if not completely disoriented. Also, while I understand Laura is an archeologist, she can’t fight for shit and they didn’t give her many options for doing so at all. That gets aggravating because they enemy is intent on running up on you. The good thing about the combat is that the gun and arrow shot reactions are pretty rewarding. Targeting is good for all weapons but the rifle…that weapon sucks. No matter the weapon or upgrade, I often find myself looking for ammo. It’s really lame to be in the middle of fire and exploding shit to have to scavenge a dead body for ammo and health.
The mechanics of climbing, grappling, jumping, walking/running, hunting, and virtually every other aspect of the way she moves is pretty sweet. You quickly learn what environmental triggers require what (i.e. what texture means climb, what objects require ropes, etc) without things coming off cheesy or poorly done. To that same respect, the puzzle/challenges are intriguing and fun without being ridiculously impossible to complete even for me.