Rise of the Tomb Raider | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Thu, 30 Dec 2021 17:07:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Rise of the Tomb Raider | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Epic Games ends the year with 3 free games https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/mustafa-mahmoud/epic-games-ends-the-year-with-3-free-games/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/mustafa-mahmoud/epic-games-ends-the-year-with-3-free-games/#respond Thu, 30 Dec 2021 17:07:54 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=545191 Each day, the Epic Games Store has been offering a new title for free as part of the storefront’s 15 days of free games. To conclude 2021, Epic is giving away the complete Tomb Raider Trilogy for free. Available to purchase for free from now until the 6th of January 2022, those with an Epic …

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Each day, the Epic Games Store has been offering a new title for free as part of the storefront’s 15 days of free games. To conclude 2021, Epic is giving away the complete Tomb Raider Trilogy for free.

Available to purchase for free from now until the 6th of January 2022, those with an Epic Games account can get their hands on 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot; its 2015 sequel Rise of the Tomb raider; and the last entry in the trilogy, 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

The rebooted trilogy took the classic tomb raider formula and improved upon it by featuring a greater focus on combat, stealth, and story – while still keeping to the franchise’s roots of offering interesting platforming and puzzles.

Developed by Crystal Dynamics (with Eidos Montreal stepping in for Shadow of the Tomb Raider) all three games were received well by both fans and critics alike. If you have yet to play these games, they are certainly worth a try.

This is doubly so due to the fact that all three versions being given away are their respective definitive editions. 2013’s Tomb Raider comes with “the Tomb of the Lost Adventurer, 6 single player outfits for Lara and 4 characters”. Rise of the Tomb Raiders 20th Year Celebration Edition includes the game’s Season Pass and all DLC, alongside “an outfit and weapon inspired by Tomb Raider III, and 5 classic Lara skins.”

Finally, Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s Definitive Edition comes with “the base game, all seven DLC challenge tombs, as well as all downloadable weapons, outfits, and skills.”

All three of these titles are available to purchase and download for free from now until the 6th of January 2022, at which point they will be replaced by ‘Gods Will Fall’.

KitGuru says: What do you think of 2021’s final offering? Did you pick up each game offered this year? How many titles are in your EGS library? Let us know down below.

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Rise of the Tomb Raider’s PSVR content is now available on PC https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raiders-psvr-content-is-now-available-on-pc/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raiders-psvr-content-is-now-available-on-pc/#respond Tue, 05 Dec 2017 15:36:45 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=356744 Last year to help kick off Sony's launch of the PlayStation VR, Square Enix released some virtual reality exclusive content for Rise of the Tomb Raider known as the ‘Blood Ties' DLC. Now, just over a year later, this content has broken out of platform exclusivity, meaning it can now be played on PC with …

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Last year to help kick off Sony's launch of the PlayStation VR, Square Enix released some virtual reality exclusive content for Rise of the Tomb Raider known as the ‘Blood Ties' DLC. Now, just over a year later, this content has broken out of platform exclusivity, meaning it can now be played on PC with an Oculus Rift or HTC VIVE.

The Blood Ties DLC allows you to explore Croft Manor in first-person. While exploring, you will come across relics and gear items that will provide some extra story and insight into Lara's life and the mystery surrounding her family.

The Blood Ties VR DLC comes with the 20th Anniversary edition of Rise of the Tomb Raider. Alternatively, if you own the season pass, you will also get access to this content. The Blood Ties DLC can also be accessed in a non-VR mode, so you may have already experienced Croft Manor once on a traditional display.

KitGuru Says: This isn't necessarily going to make me jump to set my Rift up again, but it's nice to see more formerly PSVR exclusive content making its way over to PC.

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Tomb Raider PS4 VR expansion has chaperone-like boundaries https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/tomb-raider-ps4-vr-expansion-has-chaperone-like-boundaries/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/tomb-raider-ps4-vr-expansion-has-chaperone-like-boundaries/#respond Tue, 11 Oct 2016 07:53:19 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=308360 Although a number of experiences on the PlayStationVR platform will simply see your hands or head disappear into nothing if you step outside of the camera's tracking range, that's not how Rise of the Tomb Raider handles it. In its Blood Ties VR expansion, moving Lara to the edge of the trackable area will see …

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Although a number of experiences on the PlayStationVR platform will simply see your hands or head disappear into nothing if you step outside of the camera's tracking range, that's not how Rise of the Tomb Raider handles it. In its Blood Ties VR expansion, moving Lara to the edge of the trackable area will see a green grid appear, looking very similar to the HTC-Vive's Chaperone boundary warnings.

Although more like the Oculus Rift, in that it is is designed more for seated or standing experiences, the PSVR does allow for a little roomscale tracking. The playspace isn't huge, with the manual mapping it out to around three metres, but two metres, though height does seem to be particularly restrictive, much like the Rift.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4aBqC-m0nE']

In the demonstration videos recorded by Kotaku, we can see that stepping to the edge of the play area in Rise of the Tom Raider displays a really obvious green grid and a somewhat sloping ceiling, showing the unique boundaries the PSVR cameras has. Better yet, you can turn this option on and off in the settings menu.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8ogZ-QzcXw']

That's not how things work in Batman on PSVR. In that game if you move your hands (and move motion controllers) out of the boundaries of the tracking camera, your hands simply disappear. While it's immersion breaking to see your world overlayed with a grid, it's much better to have a quick reminder like that, than just having your body parts disappear on you.

The PSVR headset is set for release in two days time, on the 13th October, priced at £350.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I had a go on the PSVR at this year's EGX show and found it to be a really capable VR headset. It's a little dark compared to the Vive and tracking range isn't huge, but it offers a very comparable experience to the other headsets in a seated scenario. 

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Cracks appear in Denuvo’s armour for the first time https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/cracks-appear-in-denuvos-armour-for-the-first-time/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/security-software/jon-martindale/cracks-appear-in-denuvos-armour-for-the-first-time/#comments Tue, 09 Aug 2016 11:19:28 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=302108 The bane of game crackers the world over, Denuvo, may have finally begun to weaken in the face of an onslaught of hacking attempts, as several titles protected by the game have now appeared on popular sharing sites, fully playable. Rise of the Tomb Raider however, appears to have been fully cracked, not just bypassed. …

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The bane of game crackers the world over, Denuvo, may have finally begun to weaken in the face of an onslaught of hacking attempts, as several titles protected by the game have now appeared on popular sharing sites, fully playable. Rise of the Tomb Raider however, appears to have been fully cracked, not just bypassed.

Denuvo is an interesting piece of anti-crack technology, since it doesn't operate like traditional DRM. It actually works in tandem with other software like SECUROM and instead of stopping a game being cracked, it stops the DRM being cracked. It's proved very effective too, with games taking months or at this point, even years to be released in full on file sharing sites.

Over the past few days though a ‘torrent' of them have appeared. First a number of bypasses were developed in quick succession, which allowed for games from DOOM, to Just Cause 3, to Homefront: The Revolution and many more, to be released in quick succession, but Denuvo staff quickly put a stop to that.

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The second coming was much more impressive though. This time headed by leak group CONSPIR4CY, it seemed to have managed to crack Denuvo completely (thanks TorrentFreak).

Rise of the Tomb Raider was the first game to show up, bringing to an end almost a year of pirates being unable to play the game. It is expected to be the first of many, so while the cracking groups move to make more games available, Denuvo developers will no doubt be trying to figure out how the crack works and how to prevent it.

Although there will always be a debate about whether pirating content is above board or not, Denuvo has done its job. Even now it has eventually been cracked, it protected games for months and in some cases years, after release. That's long enough that most of the people who would have bought the game did so. The ones who waited to pirate would probably never have bought it any way, so there's little lost at this point.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The best part about Denuvo is that it doesn't interfere with the legitimate gamer who paid up front. Nothing is more aggravating than paying for something legitimately only for anti-tamper technology, or anti-pirate messages to impact your legal experience. 

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Russian hackers may have found a crack in Denuvo’s defences https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/russian-hackers-may-have-found-a-crack-in-denuvos-defences/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/russian-hackers-may-have-found-a-crack-in-denuvos-defences/#comments Thu, 30 Jun 2016 10:10:21 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=297775 Denuvo is a name that sends shudders down the spines of pirates the world over, as it has meant that some games, no matter how hard people tried, have remained uncracked and unplayable for those not willing to pay for them. But there are whispers that that mightiest of foes may soon be defeated, as …

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Denuvo is a name that sends shudders down the spines of pirates the world over, as it has meant that some games, no matter how hard people tried, have remained uncracked and unplayable for those not willing to pay for them. But there are whispers that that mightiest of foes may soon be defeated, as Russian hackers may have found a way around its defences for the first time.

Unlike most digital rights management (DRM) systems, Denuvo has stood up to the efforts of many of the world's best crackers for many months, mostly because it effectively adds a DRM layer to other DRM like SECUROM. It's anti-tamper DRM, rather than game-pirate-blocking DRM. It even lead to some cracking groups claiming that the era of pirating games could be at an end.

Not to be defeated so easily though, Russian hackers are now claiming partial victory in the case of Denuvo protected Rise of the Tomb Raider. Closing in on a year after the game's release, a video has appeared online which appears to show the game cracked and working, without being paid for (thanks TorrentFreak).

denuvocrack

The video is very low frame rate, which suggests the implementation – if real – is far from perfect, but it's a step in the right direction for those looking to crack some of the world's most troublesome DRM.

Of course we can't confirm that the crack exists until we see the game in the wild, but it seems like Denuvo may have fallen for the first time. It's taken months and months of effort, so it certainly did its job in protecting the game in the weeks and months after its release, where traditionally the highest piracy rates have been recorded.

The question now remains whether – if this crack is real – other Denuovo protected games can be opened up in a similar manner. If so, the developers of the anti-tamper system may need to go back to the drawing board.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: KitGuru doesn't endorse piracy in any form, but it is interesting to sit on the sidelines and watch the endless battle between hackers, crackers and developers. 

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Windows Store games come with some pretty big limitations https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/matthew-wilson/windows-store-games-come-with-some-pretty-big-limitations/ https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/matthew-wilson/windows-store-games-come-with-some-pretty-big-limitations/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2016 18:19:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=285478 Microsoft is attempting to crack into PC gaming once again this year with a big push for new games coming to the Windows 10 app store. However, there are some problems with that as it turns out that Windows Store games come with some pretty big limitations, with games like Rise of the Tomb Raider …

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Microsoft is attempting to crack into PC gaming once again this year with a big push for new games coming to the Windows 10 app store. However, there are some problems with that as it turns out that Windows Store games come with some pretty big limitations, with games like Rise of the Tomb Raider lacking even the basic option to switch off V-Sync.

When you download a game through the Windows 10 app store, it does not give you a traditional .exe file, instead the game will look something like this in your file directory: C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:AppsFolder\39C668CD.RiseoftheTombRaider_r7bfsmp40f67j!App. According to user reports, Microsoft's Windows 10 App format lacks support for SLI and CrossFire, Fullscreen/Windowed display modes and apparently switching off V-Sync just can't be done.

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One of the developers for Nixxes Software, the team behind Rise of the Tomb Raider on PC, confirmed that disabling VSync is not supported in the current UWP framework, which means those buying the game through the Windows Store are stuck with it forced on.

You could try and force multi-GPU support but since there is no traditional .exe file for your drivers to point to, this may not be possible either. This is worrying news as Microsoft is pushing gaming on its Windows 10 Store quite heavily, with games like Quantum Break and Gears of War set to be exclusive. If Microsoft is going to continue doing this, then it will need to update its framework to support PC properly.

KitGuru Says: Obviously we only have Rise of the Tomb Raider as a real example of this at the moment so the situation may have improved a bit by the time Gears of War or Quantum Break hit. Either way, there seems to be some issues with Microsoft's Universal App format that need to be fixed if it is to be used for gaming. 

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AMD launches Radeon Software Crimson 16.2 update https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/amd-launches-radeon-software-crimson-16-2-update/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/amd-launches-radeon-software-crimson-16-2-update/#respond Thu, 25 Feb 2016 20:38:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=285395 Ever since launching Radeon Software late last year, AMD has recommitted itself to driver support with big monthly updates. Today, AMD released Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.2, which brings some performance boosts to titles like Rise of the Tomb Raider and Ashes of Singularity, which is currently an excellent benchmarking tool for DirectX 12. The …

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Ever since launching Radeon Software late last year, AMD has recommitted itself to driver support with big monthly updates. Today, AMD released Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.2, which brings some performance boosts to titles like Rise of the Tomb Raider and Ashes of Singularity, which is currently an excellent benchmarking tool for DirectX 12.

The first major highlight for this driver is optimizations for the Ashes of Singularity 2.0 benchmark, which evaluates performance with  DirectX 12. This update is also optimized a bit better for virtual reality content, allowing the R9 390, R9 Nano and Fury graphics cards to score as high as they should on the SteamVR Performance Test tool that launched this week.

AMD-Crsytal-Sseries

Those of you still playing Rise of the Tomb Raider on the PC should now see some performance and stability improvements while those playing XCOM 2 or are planning on grabbing The Division now have CrossFire profiles for multi-GPU users.

Aside from that, the changelog lists a bunch of fixes for things like flickering and stutter in a range of games including Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider and World of Warcraft. However, there are still some known issues, those using an AMD Radeon 59xx or 79xx dual-GPU card may find themselves unable to activate CrossFire at all, Core clock speeds on some graphics cards may not be consistent while playing games and Rise of the Tomb Raider may randomly crash with Tesselation enabled.

You can find the full list of details, HERE. 

KitGuru Says: If you're running a Radeon graphics card right now, then let us know how you get on with the new driver. 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider PC patch brings fixes and improvements https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-pc-patch-brings-fixes-and-improvements/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-pc-patch-brings-fixes-and-improvements/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2016 21:00:21 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=283090 Last week, I had the chance to take a good detailed look at the PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider and while I came to the conclusion that it is an excellent game, some have had their issues. Fortunately, the team behind the PC version, Nixxes, has already issued a patch, aimed to improve …

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Last week, I had the chance to take a good detailed look at the PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider and while I came to the conclusion that it is an excellent game, some have had their issues. Fortunately, the team behind the PC version, Nixxes, has already issued a patch, aimed to improve performance and fix a few things up.

This patch will be applied automatically on both the Windows Store and Steam versions of the game. For starters, there was a big issue affecting some people where the game would instantly crash at the title screen- that should now be fixed. There are now independent mouse sensitivity controls for aim and normal navigation and there are options to disable mouse smoothing.

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Other fixes included in the patch include:

  • New graphics option ‘Specular Reflection Quality' to enhance resolution and reduce aliasing of specular reflections, at some performance cost.
  • New graphics option to disable film-grain independently from ‘Screen Effects'.
  • Improved HBAO+ quality, including better occlusion for distant objects.
  • Improved NVIDIA SLI performance. (Steam only)
  • Fixed SLI glitches during water/snow effects. (Steam only)
  • Performance optimization for situations where Razer Chroma features are enabled. (Steam Only)
  • Fixed major stuttering in Endurance mode.
  • Fixed an issue that could rarely lead to an error on machines with 16 hardware threads or more.

You can find the full patch notes on the Steam Community post, HERE. 

KitGuru Says: Rise of the Tomb Raider really is a fantastic game so it is well worth checking out, particularly if you enjoyed the 2013 reboot. Have any of you tried out Rise of the Tomb Raider yet? How is it running for you? 

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AMD launches driver update for Rise of the Tomb Raider https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/drivers/matthew-wilson/amd-launches-driver-update-for-rise-of-the-tomb-raider/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/drivers/matthew-wilson/amd-launches-driver-update-for-rise-of-the-tomb-raider/#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2016 23:02:11 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=282558 Following on from the game's initial release last Friday, AMD has launched a new Radeon Software driver update to bring some specific optimizations for the game as well as a CrossFire profile for mutli-GPU users. Rise of the Tomb Raider is a Nvidia-backed title, so the green team managed to get its own ‘Game Ready' …

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Following on from the game's initial release last Friday, AMD has launched a new Radeon Software driver update to bring some specific optimizations for the game as well as a CrossFire profile for mutli-GPU users. Rise of the Tomb Raider is a Nvidia-backed title, so the green team managed to get its own ‘Game Ready' driver update a bit faster in time for launch day though users did report issues with the SLI profile.

We already did our own game analysis of Rise of the Tomb Raider, featuring graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia and in general, the game performs quite well on modern hardware. However, AMD users may find that this driver helps them a bit.

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The driver is known as the Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.1.1 update and right now, there are two known issues listed in the driver notes for Rise of the Tomb Raider, in which users may face flickering in some game locations when the game is left idle with CrossFire switched on. The game may also crash when launched with very high settings, SMAA and the resolution set to 4K.

If you're running an AMD card, you can find the driver update, HERE. 

KitGuru Says: I found Rise of the Tomb Raider to be quite the performer, I also happen to think that it is the best looking game available on the PC right now so keep that in mind when trying to run it. Have any of you tried Rise of the Tomb Raider yet? How is it running for you? I know some have had issues with SLI, so I'd be interested to hear what the CrossFire experience is like. 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider PC Game analysis https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-pc-game-analysis/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-pc-game-analysis/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2016 15:20:50 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=282374 Back in 2013, the Tomb Raider reboot impressed us all on the PC side with its graphical features- the game even went on to become one of our ‘go to‘ benchmarks for GPU reviews. Now, after a brief stint as a Xbox exclusive, the sequel ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider' has landed on the PC …

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Back in 2013, the Tomb Raider reboot impressed us all on the PC side with its graphical features- the game even went on to become one of our ‘go to‘ benchmarks for GPU reviews. Now, after a brief stint as a Xbox exclusive, the sequel ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider' has landed on the PC but does the port live up to the same standard as the original? Let's find out! 

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Right off the bat, Rise of the Tomb Raider offers an impressive graphics options suite. In the display options menu, you can crank the refresh rate all the way up and switch between FXAA, SMAA, SMAA x2 and SMAA x4.

In the graphics options menu, you have preset options all of the way up to ‘Very High' with separate sliders for things like textures, shadows and ambient occlusion. Everything that you would expect is present but there are three options that are worth talking about in a bit more detail.

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First off, the ‘Level of Detail' slider controls how complex the geometry of the world is, making for more realistic environments and shapes for buildings, cliffs and rocks. ‘Dynamic Foliage' is another important setting as this controls how the objects in the world react to weather effects, so if you want all of the plant life in the world to react realistically to the weather, this is the setting to go to.

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Finally, we come up to ‘Pure Hair', which replaces TressFX from the original 2013 Tomb Raider. Back then, TressFX was the setting that would hurt your framerate the most so for these tests today, I will be running benchmarks with Pure Hair ON and OFF to show the difference in performance. You can see the graphical difference in the two screenshots above. Pure Hair is ON in the left and OFF in the right.

I tested Rise of the Tomb Raider on a system featuring an Intel Core i7 5820K, 16GB of Crucial Ballistix 2400MHz RAM, an Asus X99A motherboard and a Samsung 950 Evo 1TB SSD. I don't review graphics cards for KitGuru but for the purposes of these tests the hardware team have sent me an MSI GTX 970 4G, an XFX R9 390x Ghost Edition and a Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X to go along with my own Reference GTX 980Ti.

On the Nvidia side, I used driver version 361.75 and for the AMD cards, I used Radeon Software version 16.1. It is worth noting that Nvidia's driver contains specific optimizations for Rise of the Tomb Raider while AMD has yet to release their own driver update for this game at the time of writing. None of the graphics cards in this test were overclocked.

Rise of the Tomb Raider does not have its own inbuilt benchmark tool so for this test, I ran through the opening of the game featuring Lara scaling up a mountain until an avalanche hits. I chose this scene in particular as it does a great job of showing off the game's weather effects, lighting, shadows and textures while also being easy to repeat due to its cinematic nature. I have played quite a bit further than this and can confirm that it is one of the more graphically intense parts of the game.

As you can see in the options menu screenshots above, I am running a slightly modified version of the ‘Very High' preset for this benchmark, with SMAA on but Motion Blur switched off.

1080p results:

Tomb Raider 1080p Pure Hair ON

Tomb Raider 1080p Pure Hair OFF

1440p results:

Tomb Raider 1440p Pure Hair ON

Tomb Raider 1440p Pure Hair OFF

As you can see, Rise of the Tomb Raider is a demanding game both with Pure Hair switched on and off. On average, turning on Pure Hair will cost you around five frames per second but minimum frame rates don't tend to take much of a hit so even on the R9 290, you should be able to hold above 30 frames per second at 1440p.

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While Rise of the Tomb Raider is demanding, I would argue that it has every right to be as right now it is one of, if not the best-looking game on PC in terms of graphics even without being completely ‘maxed out'.

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Both indoor and outdoor scenes feature some of the best lighting and shadows I have seen in a game for a long time and you can tell that a lot of effort has also been put into the character animations and textures. However, do keep in mind that this is a third-person game, designed with the camera placed at a specific distance from textures. If you angle the camera to be right up against a rock or an object, then you will start to see some blur.

The game is pretty but I haven't just spent all of my time admiring Lara's hair or staring off into the horizon. I have spent around 14 hours in Rise of the Tomb Raider and I am happy to say that it is an improvement over the original in terms of exploration.

There are a lot more secrets and hidden tombs to be found in this game. However, you will find some early on that you can't access without having a specific tool so you may find yourself fast traveling around a bit to go back to tombs you had to miss along the way.

It is also worth noting that if the controls are what put you off of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, then you may not find much of an improvement here. Lara still handles pretty much exactly the same- which can be a bit ‘janky' at times. There is also still a large focus on cinematic sequences and quick-time events though not quite to the same extent.

Overall, if you enjoyed the 2013 Tomb Raider, then I am confident that you will enjoy this sequel. The story is longer, the tombs are better and there is an actual world to explore here this time around.

KitGuru Says: Rise of the Tomb Raider is an excellent showcase for just what PC hardware is capable of graphically. On top of that, Crystal Dynamics has done an excellent job designing a more explorable world this time around. Have any of you tried out Rise of the Tomb Raider yet? How is the game running for you? 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider trailer shows off PC graphical features https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-trailer-shows-off-pc-graphical-features/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-trailer-shows-off-pc-graphical-features/#respond Thu, 28 Jan 2016 14:57:54 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=282337 Rise of the Tomb Raider launches on the PC today and many are wondering if the sequel will be able to live up to the same standard as the 2013 Tomb Raider game in terms of the PC port. Fortunately, things are looking pretty good, as a new trailer for the game has launched today, …

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Rise of the Tomb Raider launches on the PC today and many are wondering if the sequel will be able to live up to the same standard as the 2013 Tomb Raider game in terms of the PC port. Fortunately, things are looking pretty good, as a new trailer for the game has launched today, showing off all of the PC-specific graphical features in all of their glory.

New technical features included in the game include HBAO+ ambient occlusion, up to 16x Anisotropic filtering, Tesselation, enhanced geometry and level of detail, Dynamic Foliage and finally, Pure Hair, which is essentially the same thing that TressFX did in Tomb Raider 2013.

Rise of the Tomb Raider PC

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Rise of the Tomb Raider's PC port was handled by Nixxes Software, the same team behind many other Square Enix ports including Tomb Raider 2013, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Hitman Absolution, all of which performed quite well on the PC. There have been some PC port reviews floating around from yesterday showing poor performance numbers but it is important to keep in mind that these were released prior to the launch day drivers, which came out late yesterday evening from Nvidia. AMD users may have to wait a bit longer for an optimized driver.

We will be posting our own PC port review of Rise of the Tomb Raider later this week, featuring a range of GPUs from both AMD and Nvidia, so keep an eye out for that.

KitGuru Says: I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Rise of the Tomb Raider. I played a few hours on Xbox One but once I heard that it would be coming to PC in January, I decided to hold off a bit longer. Are any of you planning on picking this game up?

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Nvidia launches GameReady driver for Tomb Raider and Division beta https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/drivers/matthew-wilson/nvidia-launches-gameready-driver-for-tomb-raider-and-division-beta/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/drivers/matthew-wilson/nvidia-launches-gameready-driver-for-tomb-raider-and-division-beta/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2016 18:30:03 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=282259 With Rise of the Tomb Raider set to launch on the PC in less than 24 hours time and Tom Clancy's The Division beta set to take place over the weekend, Nvidia has gone ahead and launched a Game Ready driver with some last minute optimizations for both titles. Aside from readying up GeForce powered …

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With Rise of the Tomb Raider set to launch on the PC in less than 24 hours time and Tom Clancy's The Division beta set to take place over the weekend, Nvidia has gone ahead and launched a Game Ready driver with some last minute optimizations for both titles.

Aside from readying up GeForce powered gaming rigs for these two upcoming games, the driver update also makes several changes to SLI profiles. SLI will be supported on Rise of the Tomb Raider, The Division beta and changes have been made to the Rainbow Six: Siege, Metal Gear Solid V and Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo profiles.

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No 3D Vision profiles were added or changed in this driver. While the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot made use of AMD's TressFX, this time around Rise of the Tomb Raider makes use of some of Nvidia's GameWorks settings, including HBAO+ ambient occlusion.

Nvidia is also offering up the game for free with purchases of any GPU from the GTX 970-range and up until next month.

KitGuru Says: We will be doing a PC port analysis of this game when it comes out tomorrow so look out for that if you're interested in picking this one up. Are any of you planning on playing Rise of the Tomb Raider this week? 

 

 

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Nvidia is bundling Rise of the Tomb Raider with its graphics cards https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/nvidia-is-bundling-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-with-its-graphics-cards/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/nvidia-is-bundling-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-with-its-graphics-cards/#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2016 14:01:33 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=279980 After its brief stint as a Xbox exclusive title, Rise of the Tomb Raider is officially making its way over to the PC in a couple of weeks time. In order to celebrate, Nvidia will be bundling a free copy of the game with purchases of its GTX 900-series graphics cards, along with gaming notebooks …

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After its brief stint as a Xbox exclusive title, Rise of the Tomb Raider is officially making its way over to the PC in a couple of weeks time. In order to celebrate, Nvidia will be bundling a free copy of the game with purchases of its GTX 900-series graphics cards, along with gaming notebooks that feature a 900-series mobile GPU.

From today up until the 16th of February, anyone who purchases a Nvidia GTX 970, GTX 980 or GTX 980Ti at participating retailers will be able to redeem a free copy of Rise of the Tomb Raider. The same goes for those who pick up a GTX 970m GTX 980m or GTX 980 powered gaming laptop.

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Right now we don't know much about the PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider but given how solid the 2013 port of Tomb Raider was, many gamers have high hopes. Right now there is no word on specific graphical features for the game or GameWorks optimizations.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is currently scheduled to launch on Steam on the 28th of January. Minimum system requirements include an Intel Core i3-2100 or AMD equivalent CPU, 6GB of RAM and a Nvidia GTX 650 or Radeon HD7770 graphics card. We currently don't have any recommended system requirements for those planning to push the settings up.

KitGuru Says: Rise of the Tomb Raider is heading to the PC a bit sooner than some had expected given the Xbox exclusivity deal. How many of you are planning on grabbing the game on PC? Are any of you planning on buying a new GPU soon? 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider has PC release date and minimum requirements https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-has-a-proper-pc-release-date-now/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-has-a-proper-pc-release-date-now/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2016 14:55:09 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=279789 A week or two ago, Square Enix went ahead and listed Rise of the Tomb Raider on Steam, though it didn't have an exact release date, nor were there many details surrounding the PC version. Now, things have been elaborated on a bit, revealing a 28th/29th of January release date for the game depending on your …

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A week or two ago, Square Enix went ahead and listed Rise of the Tomb Raider on Steam, though it didn't have an exact release date, nor were there many details surrounding the PC version. Now, things have been elaborated on a bit, revealing a 28th/29th of January release date for the game depending on your territory, along with new PC features.

Rise of the Tomb Raider for PC has been developed in collaboration between Crystal Dynamics and Nixxes Software. The press release specifically notes ‘Windows 10 support' for this game but we don't know exactly what that means as it isn't explained. Hopefully, that can be cleared up before launch.

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Aside from that, we can expect plenty of PC-specific graphical features, including the return of Tress FX and support for higher resolutions, like 4K. We also have a list of minimum system requirements, which include an Intel Core i3-2100 or AMD equivalent CPU, 6GB of RAM and a Nvidia GTX 650 or Radeon HD7770 graphics card. We don't have recommended specifications just yet but hopefully they arrive soon.

The standard version of the game will cost £34.99 on Steam though there will be a Deluxe Edition that includes the season pass for £59.99.

KitGuru Says: I began playing Rise of the Tomb Raider on Xbox One shortly after it launched but with the PC version coming so soon, it looks like I'll be holding off on it for a few weeks. Will any of you be picking up Rise of the Tomb Raider on PC when it comes out? 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider to hit Steam in January https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-to-hit-steam-in-january/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-to-hit-steam-in-january/#comments Mon, 28 Dec 2015 12:20:25 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=279023 When Rise of the Tomb Raider was announced at E3 2015, many were left wondering how long the Xbox exclusivity period would last. While PS4 gamers will be kept waiting almost a year, it looks like those of us on the PC will be able to play the game much, much sooner as a new …

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When Rise of the Tomb Raider was announced at E3 2015, many were left wondering how long the Xbox exclusivity period would last. While PS4 gamers will be kept waiting almost a year, it looks like those of us on the PC will be able to play the game much, much sooner as a new Steam page listing puts the game's release date as sometime next month.

Rise of the Tomb Raider initially launched on the same day as Fallout 4 on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. However, despite the limited platform and timing of the launch, Square Enix and Microsoft have maintained that sales have been good.

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We don't know a lot about the PC version of Rise of the Tomb Raider and so far, Crystal Dynamics or Square Enix have yet to comment on the Steam page so the information could be subject to change. However, for now, it looks like we can expect the Tomb Raider sequel to arrive within the next month.

The Tomb Raider 2013 reboot is widely considered to be one of the best games on PC- we even still use it in our benchmark suite for GPU and PC system reviews. Rise of the Tomb Raider is set to feature Tress FX once again and hopefully the PC version will live up to its predecessor.

KitGuru Says: I've played through half of Rise of the Tomb Raider on the Xbox One already but given how soon it is arriving on the PC, I think I'll hold off for a few weeks so I can finish it up. Are any of you looking forward to Rise of the Tomb Raider? Will any of you pick it up in January? 

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Microsoft and Square Enix happy with Tomb Raider sales https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/microsoft-and-square-enix-happy-with-tomb-raider-sales/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/microsoft-and-square-enix-happy-with-tomb-raider-sales/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2015 14:13:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=276916 Rise of the Tomb Raider didn't have the greatest set of circumstances for its launch. Not only did the game launch on the same day as Fallout 4, which was subjected to overly high levels of hype, but the game also launched as a timed exclusive on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Despite, that …

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Rise of the Tomb Raider didn't have the greatest set of circumstances for its launch. Not only did the game launch on the same day as Fallout 4, which was subjected to overly high levels of hype, but the game also launched as a timed exclusive on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Despite, that Square Enix and Microsoft both seem to be happy with how things are going so far.

Speaking on TombRaiderForums.com, the game's director, Brian Horton, tried to clear the air surrounding unofficial reports of low sales for the game: “I didn't mean to go off topic or patronise, but there was suggestion in the thread that the reported sales numbers reflect poorly on the dev team. Square/Microsoft are happy with Crystal and Eidos Montreal and the game itself.”

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“As to the topic of sales, I'm unqualified to discuss it so I won't have anything else to say on this thread. Microsoft and Square are very happy with Rise and the dev team”, he then went on to note that the development team are proud of their creation.

Rise of the Tomb Raider actually launched to very favourable reviews and will make the Xbox One look like a more attractive option for console buyers over the next few months. However, thanks to the poor timing, the game doesn't seem to have picked up much steam.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Rise of the Tomb Raider is actually a really good game, I've been playing it a bit at a time since it came out. However, the game's poor release timing and timed exclusivity won't be doing it any favours. Have any of you had a chance to try Rise of the Tomb Raider? Are you waiting for the PC or PS4 release? 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider will have microtransactions https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-will-have-microtransactions/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-will-have-microtransactions/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2015 21:30:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=271417 Microtransactions in full-priced $60 game releases is a trend that is catching on scarily fast at the moment. The latest title to incorporate them is Rise of the Tomb Raider, the sequel to the highly rated 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. In Rise of the Tomb Raider, you won't be buying skins or outfits for Lara, …

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Microtransactions in full-priced $60 game releases is a trend that is catching on scarily fast at the moment. The latest title to incorporate them is Rise of the Tomb Raider, the sequel to the highly rated 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. In Rise of the Tomb Raider, you won't be buying skins or outfits for Lara, instead players will be able to purchase Expedition Card packs, which will offer you power boosts in the game.

‘Expedition Card packs', which will offer different rarities. Foil cards have unlimited uses and offer the “strongest and strangest” effects, while common cards can only be used once. There will be 300 cards available at launch with more added over time, an Xbox Wire post explains.

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Now it's not all bad news, these cards can be bought with credits, which are earnable in-game for those who'd rather grind than spend any extra money. Additionally, these cards are there to add an extra layer to the game, perhaps for those replaying. They won't all be serious cards, some of them will have “humorous” effects, sort of like the skulls in the Halo games.

And like always, there will also be a season pass on offer, which will give you access to three DLC packs when they launch. Rise of the Tomb Raider releases on the Xbox One on the 10th of November, a PC release will follow in Q1 2016 while a PS4 release won't be coming until this time next year.

KitGuru Says: I'm not a fan of microtransactions in full-priced triple-A releases but at least these card packs are earnable in-game. On top of that, not everyone will even want to use them, I imagine most people will want to play Tomb Raider for the story and exploration, rather than card packs. How do you feel about microtransactions coming to the new Tomb Raider game? Does it bother you at all? 

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Square Enix talks Tomb Raider Xbox exclusivity https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/square-enix-talks-tomb-raider-xbox-exclusivity/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/square-enix-talks-tomb-raider-xbox-exclusivity/#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2015 12:21:59 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=261079 Square Enix made the somewhat controversial decision to give Microsoft a timed exclusive deal on Rise of the Tomb Raider, the sequel to the highly rated 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. The publisher has faced quite a bit of criticism from fans over this but it seems that it was all expected. As we now know, …

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Square Enix made the somewhat controversial decision to give Microsoft a timed exclusive deal on Rise of the Tomb Raider, the sequel to the highly rated 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. The publisher has faced quite a bit of criticism from fans over this but it seems that it was all expected.

As we now know, Xbox gamers will have Rise of the Tomb Raider at least a full year before PlayStation owners, while PC gamers will also have the game much earlier on in 2016. According to Square Enix's Phil Rogers, this deal was not made lightly.

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In an interview with Examiner, Rogers said: “I hope fans know it wasn't an easy decision, I think any sort of partnership at this level is a decision that took a long time for us to get to. The decision at a studio level, we took very, very seriously. We knew it would, in short-term, disappoint fans”.

We do know that Microsoft is co-publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider, so it has quite a bit of financial investment in the game. Obviously this played a big role in Square Enix's decision to take the deal: “We’re about growing our IP, this is a long-term decision. We’re going to take Tomb Raider up to the next level. With Microsoft’s belief, passion and sort of muscle to help us deliver, we really think this is going to be an awesome game that people will enjoy for years and years to come.”

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Rise of the Tomb Raider's Microsoft exclusivity is a pretty big blow to PlayStation gamers. That said, Sony has been very aggressive with its content exclusivity deals so far this generation as well. We still don't know when the game will land on the PC but fortunately, it will ‘early 2016', rather than ‘holiday 2016'. 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider gets release windows for PC and PS4 https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-gets-release-windows-for-pc-and-ps4/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-gets-release-windows-for-pc-and-ps4/#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2015 16:17:19 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=260445 Last year, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics announced the sequel to the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot live on Microsoft's own E3 stage. At the time, we learned that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be launching exclusively on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 at launch but now, we also know when the game will …

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Last year, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics announced the sequel to the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot live on Microsoft's own E3 stage. At the time, we learned that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be launching exclusively on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 at launch but now, we also know when the game will land on the PC and PlayStation 4.

The press release makes it clear that Sony gamers have the short end of the stick here as PS4 owners wanting to play the sequel will have to wait until ‘holiday 2016' almost an entire year after the game's launch on the Xbox One. PC players on the other hand don't have to wait as long as Rise of the Tomb Raider will land on Steam ‘early 2016'.

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Rise of the Tomb Raider first launches on Xbox on the 10th of November, which is unfortunately the same day as Fallout 4. Unfortunately for PC gamers, ‘early 2016' could mean anywhere between January and March of next year so we could be left waiting quite some time.

It is likely that the PS4 launch date will land somewhere in October/November, which is a shame for any PlayStation Tomb Raider fans, especially since the series was closely tied to Sony's brand for many years back in the day.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Given that Tomb Raider is a huge, well known franchise, it is a little odd to see its release split up like this. Given that I'm primarily a PC gamer, I'm hoping for a January release date for Rise of the Tomb Raider on the PC, though it may not end up being quite that soon. 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider will have improved TressFX https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-will-have-improved-tressfx/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-will-have-improved-tressfx/#respond Wed, 08 Jul 2015 17:51:01 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=258133 When the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot launched on the PC, AMD gave its new hair technology feature, TressFX, its début. Since then, the feature has been implemented on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 re-releases of Tomb Raider early last year and now, Crystal Dynamics has revealed that it will be using an improved version …

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When the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot launched on the PC, AMD gave its new hair technology feature, TressFX, its début. Since then, the feature has been implemented on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 re-releases of Tomb Raider early last year and now, Crystal Dynamics has revealed that it will be using an improved version of TressFX in Rise of the Tomb Raider.

TressFX is now in version 3.0 and will also be featured in the new Deus Ex game, which is in development by another Square Enix owned studio.In a post on the official Tomb Raider tumblr, the game's director, Brian Horton, talked a little bit about AMD's hair technology and its use in the future.

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“We definitely believe the hair technology we developed with AMD was a foundation for the way we believe hair will be rendered in the future video game graphics. And, as pioneers of this–there's not many people to look at for reference other than films–we have been pushing that technology to find ways to make it even better.”

“The hair is now in clusters, so the way hair naturally falls is that hair wants to be next to a adjacent hairs that create shapes. Now, the hair splines can follow these guide hairs and these formerly physics-grown hairs, so it feels a little bit more natural when it moves”.

One of the key improvements in the new version of TressFX is that hair will now float properly while under water, this will also cause it to act more naturally when you come out as the hair will be heavier and need to dry off. Snow will also have an impact.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is being co-published by Microsoft, so the game will be hitting the Xbox One before other systems over the Christmas period. The game will presumably land on the PC and PS4 later on in 2016 although nothing has been officially announced yet.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Tomb Raider was one of the best PC games to launch back in 2013 so many are looking forward to the sequel. It is good to see TressFX continue to be implemented and improved upon for future games. Unfortunately, we still don't know when to expect a PC release so it will be a while before we see the game at its full potential. 

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Rise of the Tomb Raider has a new teaser trailer https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-has-a-new-teaser-trailer/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-has-a-new-teaser-trailer/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2015 13:12:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=252104 A new teaser trailer has popped up for the upcoming sequel to the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. Rise of the Tomb Raider was first announced last year at E3 on the Microsoft stage and since then, details have been rather thin but since the game is launching this holiday season, we can expect to see …

The post Rise of the Tomb Raider has a new teaser trailer first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
A new teaser trailer has popped up for the upcoming sequel to the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. Rise of the Tomb Raider was first announced last year at E3 on the Microsoft stage and since then, details have been rather thin but since the game is launching this holiday season, we can expect to see more and more over the coming months.

The new teaser is a cinematic so don't expect any actual gameplay, although I would be surprised if Microsoft didn't show the game off a bit more at E3 in a few weeks, particularly considering that it is one of its big holiday 2015 exclusives.

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The teaser doesn't really show off much. We see Lara climbing up an icy mountain side before falling, rescuing herself and making it to the top. However, the monologue spoken does give us some character development, giving the impression that Lara is going to be much more adventurous this time around in her search for lost secrets of the past.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The trailer is classed as an E3 preview so it sounds like we will definitely be seeing more of Lara in two weeks time. Most of our readers are PC gamers so you will likely have to wait until next year to play this game. However, those of you with an Xbox One will be able to play it before Christmas. Are any of you looking forward to Rise of the Tomb Raider? Did you enjoy the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot? 

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Crystal Dynamics is not making the Xbox 360 version of Tomb Raider https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/crystal-dynamics-is-not-making-the-xbox-360-version-of-tomb-raider/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/crystal-dynamics-is-not-making-the-xbox-360-version-of-tomb-raider/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2015 17:53:06 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=233982 Rise of the Tomb Raider will be heading to the Xbox One and Xbox 360 at the end of this year, although the last generation version will not be made by Crystal Dynamics. Instead, Netherlands based developer, Nixxes Software, will be bringing the game to Microsoft's last generation console. This isn't uncommon, Titanfall for the …

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Rise of the Tomb Raider will be heading to the Xbox One and Xbox 360 at the end of this year, although the last generation version will not be made by Crystal Dynamics. Instead, Netherlands based developer, Nixxes Software, will be bringing the game to Microsoft's last generation console.

This isn't uncommon, Titanfall for the Xbox 360 was also taken on by a separate developer, rather than Respawn Entertainment, who purely focused on the Xbox One and PC versions of the game. During an interview in the latest issue of the Game Informer magazine, a Square Enix executive confirmed this information.

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Square Enix executive, Darrell Gallagher, said to Game Informer that the publisher is treating Rise of the Tomb Raider as an “Xbox One title without limitation, without even thinking of the Xbox 360 version”. However Nixxes Software came up with a demo of the game running on an Xbox 360, convincing Square Enix to also bring the game to the last generation console.

“The Xbox 360's ecosystem is still super strong,” Gallagher said. “There are millions of players out there who have an Xbox 360 and those console translations take time. So we did a test. Nixxes put together a tech demo of Rise of the Tomb Raider content running on Xbox 360 and we were totally blown away by what they achieved. But the existence of that game isn't limiting our work on the Xbox one version.”

The Xbox One version of Rise of the Tomb Raider won't see any cut backs due to the limitations of the 360. However, those hoping to play the game on an Xbox 360 may end up with a slightly crippled experience in comparison, although we have yet to find out for sure.

KitGuru Says: Rise of the Tomb Raider is due out at the end of the year, although it will be exclusive to Xbox for an unspecified amount of time so there is no telling when it will eventually hit other platforms, such as the PC or PS4. Do any of you guys still use a last generation console? Do you think its time for developers to stop supporting the outdated hardware?

Source: Game Informer (Magazine)
Via: Develop

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Microsoft will publish Rise of the Tomb Raider https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/microsoft-will-publish-rise-of-the-tomb-raider/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/microsoft-will-publish-rise-of-the-tomb-raider/#comments Tue, 09 Dec 2014 18:43:43 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=225523 Microsoft's Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusivity deal may run deeper than we initially thought as it has been confirmed that the company will be publishing the title- providing marketing, funds for the project and distribution support. Unfortunately, the messaging from both companies is still a little unclear, so it is no longer certain that …

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Microsoft's Rise of the Tomb Raider exclusivity deal may run deeper than we initially thought as it has been confirmed that the company will be publishing the title- providing marketing, funds for the project and distribution support.

Unfortunately, the messaging from both companies is still a little unclear, so it is no longer certain that we will see the game on Sony consoles. However, we will likely still see a PC release, much like we did with Dead Rising 3, which Microsoft also had a hand in.

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In an email sent to Game Informer, Square Enix confirmed that Microsoft would be publishing the Tomb Raider sequel: “Yes, Microsoft will be publishing ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’ on Xbox. Microsoft has always seen huge potential in ‘Tomb Raider’ and they will get behind this game with more support across development, marketing and retail than ever before, which we believe will be a step in continuing to build the ‘Tomb Raider’ franchise as one of the biggest in gaming.”

Phil Spencer previously confirmed that he hasn't outright bought the Tomb Raider IP for Microsoft but it is still unclear as to what platforms Rise of the Tomb Raider will appear on in 2016, following the exclusivity duration.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Rise of the Tomb Raider is still a year away from launch but it would be nice if Microsoft and Square Enix could be more upfront about their plans for the game. There has been some confusion surrounding the deal ever since its announcement.

Source: Game Informer

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Tomb Raider dev didn’t mean to confuse with Xbox announcement https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/tomb-raider-dev-didnt-mean-to-confuse-with-xbox-announcement/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/tomb-raider-dev-didnt-mean-to-confuse-with-xbox-announcement/#comments Mon, 25 Aug 2014 15:30:31 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=208846 Crystal Dynamics has released a new Rise of the Tomb Raider FAQ on its Tumblr account, aiming to clear up all of the confusion it caused by announcing that the sequel to 2013's Tomb Raider reboot would be coming “holiday 2015 exclusively to Xbox“. We already know that the title will be a timed exclusive, …

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Crystal Dynamics has released a new Rise of the Tomb Raider FAQ on its Tumblr account, aiming to clear up all of the confusion it caused by announcing that the sequel to 2013's Tomb Raider reboot would be coming “holiday 2015 exclusively to Xbox“.

We already know that the title will be a timed exclusive, as Xbox head, Phil Spencer admitted so just one day after the announcement. However, Crystal Dynamics has reaffirmed this, stating that it didn't mean to confuse fans with its blatantly indirect wording:

We certainly didn’t intend to cause any confusion with the announcement. The Microsoft Gamescom stage was a great place to make the initial announcement, but not necessarily to go into details.”

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We can expect the game to come to the Playstation 4 and PC eventually but for now, Crystal Dynamics is keepings its mouth shut, stating that the team is purely focused on bringing the game to the Xbox One and Xbox 360 next year:

“Yes,our deal with Microsoft has a duration. We aren’t discussing details of the deal, and are focused on delivering a great game on Xbox One and Xbox 360.”

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The whole announcement was handled badly by both Microsoft and Crystal Dynamics, hopefully the confusion can now be cleared up and we can wait for the game to come to other platforms. 

Source: Crystal Dynamics Tumblr

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Rise of the Tomb Raider will be exclusive to Xbox One https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-will-be-exclusive-to-xbox-one/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-will-be-exclusive-to-xbox-one/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2014 13:07:49 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=206972 Gamescom 2014 is well underway and Microsoft has kicked things off with its own presentation. At the event, Crystal Dynamics announced that its upcoming sequel to 2013's Tomb Raider reboot will be exclusive to the Xbox One console. Rise of the Tomb Raider was first revealed at E3 earlier this year but as it turns …

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Gamescom 2014 is well underway and Microsoft has kicked things off with its own presentation. At the event, Crystal Dynamics announced that its upcoming sequel to 2013's Tomb Raider reboot will be exclusive to the Xbox One console.

Rise of the Tomb Raider was first revealed at E3 earlier this year but as it turns out, since then the developer has struck a deal with Microsoft. The game will launch during the holiday season of 2015, here's a quick look at the E3 reveal trailer:

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvc4SDhiQmw']

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Since this announcement was only just made on stage a few minutes ago, there aren't many details available to talk about just yet. It's unclear as to whether the game is a timed exclusive or will remain exclusive to the Xbox One forever.

Those who played last year's Tomb Raider on the PC, Xbox 360, PS3 or the later released definitive edition on the PS4 will likely be disappointed by this news. The reboot sold seven million copies world wide and was released to high praise and critical acclaim.

Update: Microsoft executives are indicating that the game will remain exclusive to Xbox.

You can watch Microsoft's presentation live, HERE. 

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I played the Tomb Raider reboot on the PC and I loved it. I'm actually pretty disappointed that the highly anticipated sequel might not come to other platforms. However, this might help Microsoft shift some Xbox One consoles next Christmas. What do you guys think of this? Are you disappointed? 

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