UK Games Charts: 11/03/13 – Lara Raids Top Spot

Tomb Raider has, unsurprisingly, taken the top spot on today’s charts. It’s the biggest launch of the year too, selling almost double the first week units of previous biggest launch, Aliens: Colonial Marines. Perhaps being a decent game can account for more than a lucrative movie licence?

Lara’s return is a fantastic character-driven take on the classic Tomb Raider formula that takes beats from Assassin’s Creed, Arkham City and Uncharted and combines them into one of the best games I’ve played in ages.

SimCity is in second, and that’s without including digital sales that aren’t counted in this chart. Surely a large chunk of sales for Maxis’ simulation mayor-em-up will have been through Origin, indicating that the game – beset with server issues as it is – has sold exceptionally well. While server problems remain – and there are serious questions to be answered by the developer and the publisher on that score – SimCity is incredibly enjoyable and becoming more reliable as days go on.

EA’s gibberish-speaking automatons lay claim to another spot in the top five, too. Sitting in fourth, just below Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, is The Sims 3: University Life. EA also takes fifth and sixth spot with FIFA and Crysis 3 respectively.

At the risk of labouring a point, the top 40 sees no Vita or Wii U exclusives and only one PlayStation 3 exclusive with Gran Turismo reappearing at number 40. The Xbox 360 fares a little better with Halo 4 and Forza Horizon both just inside the top 20.

Here’s the top twenty, for more visit UKIE.

  1. TOMB RAIDER – SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
  2. SIMCITY – ELECTRONIC ARTS
  3. NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: ULTIMATE NINJA STORM 3 – NAMCO BANDAI GAMES
  4. THE SIMS 3: UNIVERSITY LIFE – ELECTRONIC ARTS
  5. FIFA 13 – ELECTRONIC ARTS
  6. CRYSIS 3 – ELECTRONIC ARTS
  7. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
  8. FAR CRY 3 – UBISOFT
  9. METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE – KONAMI
  10. THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM – BETHESDA
  11. ASSASSIN’S CREED III – UBISOFT
  12. NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED – ELECTRONIC ARTS
  13. SKYLANDERS GIANTS – ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
  14. HITMAN ABSOLUTION – SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
  15. ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES – SEGA
  16. LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES – WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
  17. HALO 4 – MICROSOFT
  18. GRAND THEFT AUTO IV – TAKE 2
  19. DEAD SPACE 3 – ELECTRONIC ARTS
  20. FORZA HORIZON – MICROSOFT

21 Comments

  1. I love this game, a well deserved number 1 IMO

  2. Looking forward to getting it later down the line. Big drops for Aliens and Dead Space 3

  3. No sign off good of war accession? Oh dear.

    • GOW: Ascesnion isn’t out until next week mate.

      • Is not I stand corrected. This flu is playing with my mind.

    • Lol funny guy. I bet you GoW won’t debut at number one.

  4. It seems a lot of people have raided Lara’s tomb last week. ;) From what i’ve seen, TR seems to be an uncharted game in another skin. Not that it’s a bad thing but i had expected TR to be different then UC.

    I may pick up TR for my birthday next week if TSA has reviewed it by then.

    I suspect Sim City will plummet this week due to it’s bloody crap always online and feck you if we decided to pull the plug or if our servers go tits up DRM.

    Am a bit surprised Skyrim is still in the top 10.

    • Tomb Raider borrows from Uncharted, as Uncharted borrowed from Tomb Raider, but it’s not really all that similar and I’m enjoying it much more than UC3 so far.

      But then, I love bows and I hate running towards the camera so I think I was always destined to enjoy Tomb Raider more.

      • That’s the only review I need to read.

        But please write one anyway :-)

      • I’ve struggled to get in to tomb raider so far. I’m still going to persevere with it

      • Same here, Peter.
        I get the comparisons between UC and TR but honestly, TR is pretty different than Uncharted. TR doesn’t feel as linear as UC. I constantly get distracted by actually exploring areas instead of just running from one enemy wave to the next one.
        I really like the inclusion of the Bow. It’s easily my favorite weapon of the bunch.
        While I’ve heard the complaint that TR doesn’t feature any puzzles besides the optional tombs, I strongly disagree. There are clever puzzles throughout the story and they don’t feel forced. Thinking back to Uncharted 3 I can only recall that one frustrating puzzle where you have to walk across the floor in a certain pattern.
        The set pieces are great and the gameplay is very fluent. The cover system and shooting mechanics work great and the evade and counter system is a great way to dispose of enemies.
        In Uncharted I never really cared about the collectibles but in TR I actually listen to the diaries and what Lara has to say about the relics because the voice acting for these optional lore bits is really good.

        To everyone who thinks this is just an Uncharted clone:
        Please give this game a shot. Tomb Raider is so much more and easily outshines UC in many aspects.

        I really hope TR get’s many more sales because it deserves every single one of them. Hopefully this is just the start of a new series of great TR games. Can’t wait for the next installment on the PS4! :D

      • There are elements of Uncharted there, but it feels a hell of alot more like the Batman: Arkham games, particularly with the upgrade system and subquests.

        Loving TR a hell of a lot more than UC3, though UC2 is still one of my favourite games ever.

      • Fuuny… I’ve heard that comparison a few times now. Arkham Asylum is by far the worst game I have ever played in my entire life (obviously my opinion) and yet I love everything about the TR reboot. :D

      • played it once so far not that interested started playing ME3 prefer UC3 by a mile.

  5. Really enjoying Tomb Raider but its pretty disappointing to see that they’ve decided to make a gritty Uncharted rather than an actual Tomb Raider game (where are the bloody puzzles and tombs?!?!?). The multiplayer is awful too :-( Still, overall its one of the best games I’ve played over the past year or two, just not quite what I wanted it to be :-)

  6. I’m about a fourth into the game by now and I’m very disappointed so far, I really hope it improves as I have been a TR fan for fifteen years.

    I disagree to the modern assumption that UC borrowed from TR just because the latter was about adventuring too. There was hardly anything in the old TR games that could be compaired to UC’s gameplay, and the action adventure part is more inspired by Indiana Jones and other movies. In TR I have almost done nothing but pushing forward in a linear fashion and doing third person shooting and stealth.

  7. Skyrim still mauling. Got all the DLC on PS3 recently, absolutely love the game. So brilliant.

    I’ll have to pick up Tomb Raider soon, along with Borderlands 2, which I’m still surprised I haven’t got due to loving the first one so damn much. Those two will be at the top of the ‘to play’ list that’s for sure.

  8. I’ve seen so many make a note of things they were disappointed with and the went on to say how it was one of the best game in years? It seems like people have missed Lara, AND, I believe, they have missed a Lara that everybody talked about, just like in the good old days. That’s my theory anyway.

    As for the cover system: there shouldn’t be one unless it’s a shooter, so that’s what it is – a shooter. The many diaries and relics she finds around the island just not feels very interesting to me.

  9. Naruto! Got my copy today!
    I am actually quite impressed to see Naruto rise to the third position just 1 week after Tomb Raider. I know most people here have no idea about the game or the tv show; i’ll just be happy alone ^^

    • Your not alone friend, the will of fire lives on in all of us…

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