Home Gaming Tomb Raider gets its first review, PC specs revealed

Tomb Raider gets its first review, PC specs revealed

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tomb-raider-2013

After two months of moderately placed big game releases, March arrives to put a hurtin’ on your bank account. There’s a number of big games on the horizon, such as Bioshock Infinite, Sim City and Gears of War JudgEment. But it’s Tomb Raider that happens to be receiving the fair share of public adoration right now. It’s a reboot that has Lara Croft revealing how she became a tomb plunderering lady, and it’s doing this without the need for top-heavy visual eye-candy. So what’s the game like then? And more importantly, can your PC run it?

Games Master UK has the first review for the game, and they apparently love it. They love it 90/100, to be exact. The monthly magazine proclaims that the Tomb Raider reboot sets a new benchmark for not only the series, but for the genre as well. From the magazine via VG24/7:

Sitting back exhausted we were left with just one question dribbling forth from our gaping jaws. How on earth are they going to top this in the sequel? Because of one thing there can be no doubt. Lara is back.

Also confirmed, is a lengthy single-player that will take between 10-15 hours to clock. Tomb Raider has been shaping up nicely so far, and despite a delay which saw it pushed from 2012 to 2013, it might finally be worth the wait to Croft back in action. Gameplay looks tight, characters look interesting and the visuals look gorgeous. And on that flimsy thread, here’s the PC requirements for said Tomb Raiding title straight from the press release. I ain’t clever enough to rewrite this technical jargon. Plus Geoff would quite literally split his sides if I attempted to do so:

General

  • Full integration with Steamworks to offer cloud storage for saves, multiplayer matchmaking, achievements, as well as automatic updates and new content.
  • Support for Steam Big Picture Mode.
  • Configurable mouse and keyboard support.
  • Gamepad support.

High-end graphics

  • Very high resolution textures with up to 16x the amount of data
  • Detail Tessellation to enhance the detail on many surfaces in the game
  • Higher quality shadows
  • High quality bokeh depth of field with near-blur
  • Tessellation algorithms used to smooth out geometry
  • Improved cloth, SSAO, quality wetness effects, and post-filter effects.
  • LOD quality is adjustable for better quality on higher-end machines.

Low-end graphics

  • Crystal care about TR fans being able to run on older systems, unlike many other games they still support Windows XP.
  • A lot of scalability options to suit a range of machines.

Minimum system requirements for PC

  • Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista,7,8 (32bit/64bit)
  • DirectX 9 graphics card with 512Mb Video RAM:
    • AMD Radeon HD 2600 XT
  • nVidia 8600
  • Dual core CPU:
    • AMD Athlon64 X2 2.1 Ghz (4050+)
  • Intel Core2 Duo 1.86 Ghz (E6300)
  • 1GB Memory (2GB on Vista)

Recommended system requirements for PC

  • Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
  • DirectX 11 graphics card with 1GB Video RAM:
    • AMD Radeon HD 4870
  • nVidia GTX 480
  • Quad core CPU:
    • AMD Phenom II X2 565
  • Intel Core i5-750
  • 4GB Memory

Tomb Raider is out March 5, on PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Last Updated: February 25, 2013

26 Comments

  1. Looks like a winner! Might just pick this one up…

    Reply

  2. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    February 25, 2013 at 15:16

    Yes, beat the recommended specs!

    Reply

    • The Lying Dutchman

      February 25, 2013 at 15:39

      Me too!!! I’m getting it for the PS3!

      Reply

  3. Admiral Chief Erwin

    February 25, 2013 at 15:18

    Requirements are not that high, but very respectable. This game is on my radar

    Reply

  4. GTO

    February 25, 2013 at 15:24

    I really want this game to be good but I sure as hell am not trusting a first review.

    Reply

  5. Darth_Clericus_The_Ultimate

    February 25, 2013 at 15:26

    While I would like to play it at some point, there are only 2 games that matter to me in March:
    Bioshock Infinite
    Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm

    Reply

    • ElNicko

      February 25, 2013 at 16:51

      This right here ……no time for anything else

      Reply

  6. Matthew Figueira

    February 25, 2013 at 15:29

    I want this game but I severely lack the funds to get it :'(

    Reply

    • DBL_ZA

      February 25, 2013 at 15:31

      Join the club, we don’t ask for a joining fee 🙂

      Reply

  7. Purple_Dragon

    February 25, 2013 at 15:31

    I’ve been waiting for this game ever since I saw the first demo!

    Reply

  8. Sir Captain Rincethis

    February 25, 2013 at 15:44

    When did 10-15 hours become lengthy? Is it me or is this generation all suffering from a mild (and in some cases) strong form of ADD? One can spend R600 on a game, and finish it in the same day? I know there is the replay value, and achievements etc, but what happened to the more FarCry 3 length? Sigh.

    Reply

    • Decembermaloy

      February 25, 2013 at 16:01

      IF you play it on PC you’ll spend approximately R345 on pre-order.

      Reply

      • Sir Captain Rincethis

        February 25, 2013 at 16:18

        It really is sad. I feel like killing my xbox when I hear things like that!

        Reply

        • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

          February 26, 2013 at 07:12

          Dude, stop feeling bad about this. Pre-orders are BAD for you. Seriously. Why pre-order something you don’t know is going to be good?

          Heck, I don’t buy games day 1 anymore. I generally wait a month or so to make sure. I mean, imagine if you had pre-ordered Aliens:CM?

          Reply

      • HvR

        February 25, 2013 at 17:04

        Yeah, 50% discount on getting screwed. Same price ten times the play time 20 times the fun with SC2.

        Reply

        • Decembermaloy

          February 25, 2013 at 17:42

          I really don’t understand what you’re trying to say…. honest…

          Reply

          • Sir Captain Rincethis

            February 26, 2013 at 09:06

            I thought it was just my brain that feels like its been smacked with a 9 iron 🙂

  9. FoxOneZA

    February 25, 2013 at 16:41

    I want added XP if I game on Windows XP !!!!1111!!!1111!!!

    Reply

  10. OVG

    February 25, 2013 at 16:58

    But the real question is, has Lara reclaimed her platforming throne from Nathan Drake?

    Reply

    • Jean du Plessis

      February 26, 2013 at 07:42

      Jip, Drake raised the bar. I personally can’t wait. Story line from demo’s looks great, game play has changed and it’s gone darker than “Angel of Darkness” in every sense (lol). My fingers are itching for this one…

      Reply

      • OVG

        February 26, 2013 at 08:13

        Yip, the re-invention of Lara is long overdue. I dont think it will live up to Naughty Dogs standard of polish but its a start. I also have a thing for women power in games. Back in 1996 it was unheard of and many gamers thought it was a game for girls because there was no steroid space marine. Great franchise that was slowly strangled by Eidos.

        Lara for the win. I hope the shoe horned multi player did not detract from the single player production time.

        Reply

  11. HvR

    February 25, 2013 at 17:33

    Gamemaster UK gives everything a 90 score, looking at there track record it means Tomb Raider is as good as:
    Mass Effect
    MySims
    Sims: Pets
    Lego Star Wars (all of them)
    Angry Birds Star Wars
    All the GTA games
    and
    Lego Harry Potter (1 to 3)

    Reply

    • Travis Pike

      February 26, 2013 at 08:04

      Cause Mass Effect and GTA were terrible…….

      Reply

  12. OVG

    February 26, 2013 at 08:07

    You forgot Metal Gear Rising. Another must own game even if it can be completed in 4hours. I have watched the first 30minutes on Youtube and its a 20 hour game of cheese spread shoved into a 4hour block of Blue cheese. Its Boyonetta on Speed and makes Asuras Wrath seem like an intro.

    Its rare for me to justify a 4hour game but this shits the bomb man.

    Decisions decisions

    Reply

  13. OVG

    February 26, 2013 at 08:56

    lol one of the reviews that I have read says that your kids need to be out of the room because Lara is a SCREAMER and the first 2 hours is just her screaming her tits off.

    After watching the making of the game I can imagine that little actress of Lara getting very emotionally involved. She might give VAAS a run for his money.

    Reply

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