Been blitzing through the Tomb Raider prequel trilogy this past couple of weeks, WOW! These games are AMAZING! Usually I only play open world RPG games, this has convinced me to check out some more linear adventures… please suggest some good ones in the comments that are on Xbox/Game Pass!
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Prey – at least it used to be on game pass that’s how I played it. I was absolutely hooked and that’s rare for me.
Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection and Jedi Fallen Order comes to mind. A lot of backtracking in Jedi though.
Older ones aren’t that bad. When they rebooted the series with The Legend, it really just went up with every release.
If you like the cover shooting in Tomb Raider then you may enjoy the Gears of War series. If you’re into horror you might like the Deadspace games (either original or remake flavors.) If you like stealth then A Plague Tale: Requiem is decent but I would start with the earlier game in the series, which is not on Game Pass but often pretty cheap and is, IMO, significantly better.
I assume I don’t have to mention Resident Evil?
Darkhorse: Ryse: Son of Rome. It’s not the best game but as a linear hack and slash romp it is, IMO, pretty underrated. But you could just play Ninja Gaiden instead if you don’t mind the difficulty.
Dark Souls, hands down. Took a while to get into but definitely addictive. Bigtime backtracking though
Gears of War and Halo
I played the first 3 uncharted earlier this year. Once I finished I still had that itch for adventure so I picked this series up. Definitely blitzed through them as well. Pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed them
Control: Ultimate Edition is a great game. You might enjoy that one.
Lara’s journey is epic! Try Uncharted series on Game Pass.
I highly recommend the Gods of War if you have access to a capable PC or a Playstation 4/5.
On the one hand, I kind of miss the sheer enthusiastic badassery of the original Lara Croft who raided tombs *just because she wanted to* and didn’t *give a fuck* that there were literal genius-level archeologists eating their hats every time she stomped through inestimably priceless artifacts like the mass-murdering flighty moo she very obviously was
To the point that I wondered if she and Jason Voorhees had ever met 😐
Like, I mean, much like the 1989 Batman ( [not to mention the very early versions of Batman – who even the authors described as a wacko](https://tombrevoort.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/batman-gun-959×1024-1.png) ) who, yes, lacked the depth of most interpretations of Batman – and was just as bad (if not worse) than who they posed the character against – [OG Lara was just absolutely fun and psychotic](https://media1.tenor.com/m/Gx4pISQljlsAAAAC/batman-batman-smile.gif)
Not to mention that the modern games seem intent on hinging themselves around the concept of constantly torturing and mutilating Lara to give her ‘character development’ (that never seems to carry forwards to the latter games – they just keep finding new ways to hurt her and new things to hurt her with) which is no less fetishistic than her trotting around in a crop top and short shorts – it’s just from a different barrel of fetishes 😛
***That said, on the other hand***
#And here comes the second act twist, dear readers
The cinematic set pieces and the way modern Lara controls *is* ***also*** a lot of fun – managing to push through my filter of bitter cynicality by way of giving me a chance to leap about like a mad obscenely rich flying squirrel xD
So, I’ll let her carry on about her business – even if watching her pop her compound fractures back into place *yet again* leaves me less sympathetic and more annoyed as I have to wait for the running around and parkouring on top of shit 😛
To quote Yahtzee Croshaw
>The game devs need to realize they’re banking on a finite resource here. Yeah, maybe the first time the ickle girly-wirly got her shit ruined, it triggered a protective instinct – but by incident *umpteen*-***squillionth*** I wouldn’t lend her bus fare to the Hospital of Saint Gives-A-Shit.
Bioshock is amazing. Definitely check those games out
A plague tale
Vanquish is very short and very sweet. Takes half an afternoon to complete but is very intense and fun.
The Uncharted series in general. They’re very similar to Tomb Raider but better in many aspect. Or the Last of us is a lot more down to earth.
The Last of Us 1/2 are my favorite linear games ever.
The rebooted Lara Croft games are incredible. I can’t wait to see what they do with the IP next
I agree, great games. I never played Shadow but I adore Rise.
I’ve been really enjoying Dead Island 2 recently. It’s just dumb fun.
Hellblade was quick and amazing!
A plague tale requiem . Very impressed by the visuals , the whole presentation , the story and voice acting