Lara Croft has been an undeniable icon in the video game world since her original debut seventeen years ago, and her evolution – while consistent – has been nothing shy of rocky. In the beginning, we were introduced to this hardened, ruthless grave robber without much of a back-story as she raids tombs for artefacts and kills anyone and anything that stands between her and her desire. Along came Legend, where we were introduced to a different side of Lara – family oriented, compassionate and sometimes emotional – that did not do justice to her original personality. Now, as Crystal Dynamics takes steps to reboot the franchise, we are introduced to what could arguably be Lara’s best form: vulnerable.
Tomb Raider explores the gritty and visceral origin story of a young Lara on her first expedition, shipwrecked and stranded on an island filled with beautiful environments, an interesting history and of course, a malevolent entity. Lara is pushed to her limits and beyond and she has to be willing to do what it takes to survive and save her friends. Within, we experience Lara’s inevitable and breathtaking evolution from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor. Over the course of the game, we see Lara become something closer to the original form we’d all fallen in love with – but three times improved – and it shines hope on the possibility that the Tomb Raider franchise has been redirected to the path of glory.
The game begins with footage from the original Turning Point trailer, showing the shipwreck of the research vessel – ironically named Endurance – and Lara is eventually washed ashore and the adventure begins. From the beginning, players are thrown into a survive-or-die situation which foreshadows what the rest of the adventure will bring to the proverbial table and it is done in such a beautiful manner, the player cannot help but appreciate the sense of originality, imagination and creativity of these moments. While the beginning of the game is quite cinematic and chock full of quick-time events, it’s done properly and serves a solid purpose of character development. I’d never once thought I’d speak in favour of quick-time events, but they work well and it’s hard to imagine the same scene without it. Quick-time events in the game serve as plot devices, where most of the injury or pain to Lara is expressed, aside from cutscenes. We see what Lara has to go through and through quick-time events, we’re involved in her struggles and hardships and through this involvement, players will feel for Lara whether it be her pain or anxiety and it gives a wonderful sense of immersion.
Once the introduction has completed, the game truly opens up its playground and gives the player a wonderful balance of linearity and open-world elements. While Tomb Raider is not completely open-world as Grand Theft Auto or The Elder Scrolls, it’s just enough to keep the player satisfied with being able to explore every inch of the island without much restriction. Conversely, the game has just enough linearity to keep progression constant, but not enough to hold the player’s hand and forcibly run them through the game. However, while Lara is still collecting her bearings and learning what she has to do and what she is capable of, the player is understandably restricted in terms of what you can and cannot do at that point in time. On the other hand, once Lara garners the necessary skills and equipment, players may return to previously visited areas at any time and continue exploration in the event that something was missed due to the lack of a skill or item.
The narrative is brilliantly presented and very well written – kudos to you, Rhianna Pratchett – and the story is instrumental in setting the scene. It just works, it’s believable and it makes sense. While the main story is the highlight, naturally, there’s an equally deserving-of-the-limelight back and side story that is uncovered through exploration – Lara will find relics predating the Common Era and historical documents that highlight the island’s history. These documents also include journal entries by crew members of the Endurance – which sheds light on the history and stories of Lara’s friends – as well as journals from the island’s inhabitants, which leads to explaining how they arrived, why they’re there and who they are. It offers a deeper understanding into what’s going on and these little details were clearly given proper attention as they all add up and every possible question is answered and more. The only concerning weak point in the narrative is the transition of Lara’s behaviour. Her evolution from a timid adventurer to a ruthless woman seems to happen too fast – after her first human kill, her trauma and anxiety subside too quickly in the moment and in mere seconds, she’s popping off headshots like it’s a hobby. However, Lara’s behaviour afterwards remedies this completely and you’ll soon forgive the pacing. Shortly after, Lara will make comments in the beginning of battle such as, “You don’t need to do this, please,” “Why are you doing this,” and “Keep away, I’m warning you!” It illustrates that Lara is not at all okay with what she’s doing and attempts to avoid conflict, but she realises that she has no choice. Furthermore, once she realises that she has no other option, she tells another ally that “It’s scary how easy it is.” Lara shows understanding and depth, something often overlooked when developing a character.
Combat and general gameplay is quite different than the previous Tomb Raider games, but it is also slightly reminiscent. You will still find yourself traversing the environment, exploring and getting into high-octane shootouts, but it’s done in such a different and beautiful manner that puts the previous games to shame and offers a fresh take on visceral combat. Combat itself is fairly easy to get the hang of and it’s wonderfully entertaining – while it’s some time before Lara gets her hands on a firearm, she acquires a makeshift bow early on and it becomes her trademark weapon for the game. Crystal Dynamics introduced something new, by way of an automatic cover system, which is instrumental in Tomb Raider’s combat. Lara will automatically crouch behind objects when in battle and she’ll keep low when moving. Lara will not magnetise to cover, which allows for easy control of her as well as the situation. Her defensive and offensive manoeuvres are brilliant and realistic, as well as that of the enemy AI. The enemies will react to Lara’s behaviour accordingly – if she hangs around cover for too long, they’ll attempt to flank her or flush her out with Molotov cocktails, grenades and dynamite. Lara’s movements and abilities are by default honed and smooth, but grow increasingly better and more deadly through upgrading.
For the first time in Tomb Raider, some roleplaying elements are introduced where players are able to collect experience points for virtually anything they do – salvaging, collecting artefacts, taking down enemies and simply progressing – and these points can be used to purchase, or ‘master,’ skills for Lara. These skills are not limited to just combat, however – there are three different categories that have a set of skills accordingly, which vary from offensive and defensive combat, exploration and traversal. In addition, Lara is also able to upgrade her arsenal with salvage collected on the island with extended magazines, compensators, attachments and much more. In spite of this, though, it is not taken to an extreme – don’t expect Lara to trudge about with a light machine gun with a laser sight, grenade launcher under-barrel and a hybrid optic sight. It’s all well-constructed to fit the narrative and setting and while Lara’s arsenal will eventually mirror that of a guerrilla warrior, it does not go overboard.
Compared to Tomb Raider Underworld, the graphics of the character models in this game are not up to par, but on its own – as it should be – the visuals are proper brilliant. The environments are undeniably beautifully rendered, realistic and lush, and it is truly a sight for sore eyes. Character models could have used some more polishing, but as it stands, I am not disappointed at all. Players will truly feel immersed within the island with Lara, as the visuals are easily the best I’ve seen in this genre for a long time. Lara’s hair physics are a much needed improvement since the past games and while it’s certainly not as good as the PC’s TressFX physics, it’s indisputably wonderful.
Tomb Raider’s natural heritage shows itself dramatically in the game’s secret tombs which are placed around the island for the player to discover. These are usually self-contained puzzles that lead the way to treasure and they are frequently challenging enough to make you feel properly clever for discovering the solution. While this traditional aspect of Tomb Raider takes an understandable back seat, it’s still a welcomed inclusion as we see Lara’s eyes light up when finding artefacts and her love for all things archaeological shines through, even during the hardships she’s enduring.
Online multiplayer is an aspect that I sometimes truly do not wish to acknowledge. It's the only disappointing feature of the game and while for me personally, I do enjoy it most of the time, I can understand why other people don't. I go back and forth on the subject because while it's fun, it does not meet general expectations in certain aspects. On one hand, if I could have voted, I would have voted to have Tomb Raider released last year as planned without multiplayer. On the other hand, it is an interesting addition to a Tomb Raider game and for Eidos Montreal's first attempt at multiplayer, it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. It can be entertaining at times, but it’s also headache inducing when the player realises that while this type of combat works perfectly within the story, it does not transfer well into online play. Game modes are generic and it seems like every multiplayer component is following the Call of Duty trend, including loadouts and boosts. I feel like a little more innovation on the developer's part and a little less 'screen-peeking' to see what other franchises did with multiplayer, and this component might have been received a bit better by the gaming community.
Ignoring the minor hiccup within this otherwise fabulous experience, Tomb Raider offers nothing shy of originality and innovation for the newly rebooted franchise. While the game clearly takes inspiration from other action-adventure titles, it incorporates them in ways suitable for Lara and it works completely. Tomb Raider was definitely a game worth waiting for and it was a long time coming.
Lara Croft is back and damn it, she is better than ever.
Lara Croft is among the most recognizable characters in gaming, so here's a list of the absolute best Tomb Raider games.
Given that Naughty Dog is giving up on one of its staple franchises, now is the best time for Tomb Raider games to capitalize on that.
This nonsense article also neatly sidesteps the fact that just because Naughty Dog are moving on from the franchise, that doesn't mean the franchise stops. ALL of the Uncharted games were amazing and the last one was a moving finale for Drake, but you can bet your bottom dollar the franchise will return after a well-earned hiatus with a BANG, even if it's handed to one of Sony's other studios to develop.
I love Uncharted (2 and 1 are my favourites). But there is such a thing as franchise fatigue especially with story or character driven games. So it makes sense to let a series rest, it’s good for the audience and it’s good for the developers who get to express their creativity on new projects. Like he⬆ said, it will return and if the gap is long enough that will be exciting for everyone.
Yea I don't see how naughty dog possibly giving us a new ip is a loss at all, it's exactly what I and most others want.
All the uncharted were awesome bit that series had its time now it's onto bigger and better things.
In 10 yrs time then sure I'd be up for another one but not now.
To some live service nonsense most likely.
I’ll be screencapping this reply for the time they do announce their new game.
It’ll be an open world Souls ripoff with microtransactions and events
Sony Bend did great work on Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Since it is unlikely we are getting a Days Gone 2 I would like Bend to continue the franchise (and finally port over Golden Abyss to any other platform then Vita 😞)
It's silly to think that one of Playstations most successful franchise sony will stop making even after making a blockbuster film about it.
Since when is not milking a franchise until it's diluted down to garbage like Call of Duty a bad thing? They have a golden franchise full of amazing games, no need to keep trying to squeeze more money out of it at expense of the quality of the game.
I agree. I’m actually glad that they’re not just making more Uncharted titles just to keep the franchise going. It ended. It was great. Let it rest.
"Loss"? "Giving up"? Bowing out after 6 extremely successful entries is not a loss, nor is it giving up. It's a well earned retirement. And honestly i dont have much hope in TR anymore, especially after being bought by Amazon.
Yeah, especially from a team like naughty dog who are well known to change it up from generation to generation
Naughty dog have amazing talent and I traditionally bought all of their games day 1. That is until TLOU2 (which I bought and enjoyed until 1/2 way through). Woke garbage.
They've been making the same two IPs since the PS3.
What exactly have then been switching up.
And I actually love their games; just trying to see what they've been actually switching up.
Are people just going to ignore the last PlayStation games medley commercial? There is a new Uncharted game coming; it’s just not created by Naughty Dog.
https://youtu.be/TXwhpK4y-5...
"They've been making the same two IPs since"
Same guy who never criticizes Xbox for Halo, Forza, Forza Horizon, Gears studios for only ever having worked a single IP EVER. Hypocrite much?
Naughty Dog at least is working on a new IP and will average 1 new IP each generation. Which Xbox studios even make 1 new IP each gen?
Literally always gives credit to Sony where I feel it's due.
Said I really enjoyed Halo Infinite's campaign, but acknowledge that they dropped the ball with the online.
Loves Forza Horizon, yet don't have any interest in the original series.
Yes I do love Gears of War.
I also love Uncharted and the Last of Us (mainly the first one).
What does that have to do with me asking someone who claims Naughty Dog switches up their stuff every generation, when all they have made over three generations have been two IPs?
Please tell me how I'm wrong. I'll wait.
I agree with you first and foremost! This year is different though, because Microsoft bought Bethesda.
Hi-Fi, Redfall, and Starfield are all new IP'S. Without Bethesda, Microsoft would have nothing new as far as IP'S this year. Hi-Fi is fantastic. Redfall I am not getting a good vibe from, and doubt it will be nearly as good as Deathloop. That leaves Starfield. I am taking a wait and see attitude. If it's a buggy mess that will suck. With 1000 planets, are they going to be empty?
All that said. Uncharted is probably my favorite Playstation IP. Fantastic story telling with top notch graphics!
@MadLad
Uncharted and TLOU were on ps3 and ps4 so that's two generations not three. They're making a new ip for ps 5 right?
"What does that have to do with me asking someone who claims Naughty Dog switches up their stuff every generation, when all they have made over three generations have been two IPs?
Please tell me how I'm wrong. I'll wait. "
I was quite frankly happy to hear they're not going to milk this franchise. I absolutely love it, and would hate to see it fall into Assassin's Creed territory. Another series I loved so much back in the day, I got a tattoo for it. At this point, I haven't even played half the AC games and never will. They hit it out of the park time and time again with Uncharted. Let it rest with dignity and on a really high note.
Uncharted 4 finished Drake's story perfectly, and after the medoicre 3rd entry in the TR reboot series I don't see how ND lost anything personally.
Pretty sure there will be another Uncharted game. It's Tomb Raider that has to actually prove itself as the last game in the series IMO, was not very good.
Tomb Raider has cemented itself as one of the best-selling video game franchises in history. The total sales of all titles in the series about Lara Croft’s adventures are now approaching the 100 million mark.
I'm curious where Embracer will take this beloved IP. Are any of the previous team members still involved in the next game?
I'm more curious to know whether they will put in the money required to make the big AAA ips they acquired recently.
Most of there games have been AA decent but nothing special, I hope they give tomb raider and dues ex the budgets they deserve.
You must mean Amazon - they're the ones publishing Tomb Raider now.
Embracer seems to do basically nothing themselves outside of just being a holding company for all of these other studios/groups. They even own the rights to Lord of the Rings.
I think the publisher does the marketing and consulting but not the actual development. From what I read, Embracer has all the companies/developers so they still need to do the work
That total would be so disappointing to Square Enix even though it’s more successful than Dragon Quest
Still makes me livid that we'll never get a Sleeping Dogs sequel because 2mil units sold for their first year wasnt enough.
These were bad numbers for Square.
Good numbers for Square are the amount of crap games they launched this year.
I haven't had much interest in this game but from your review it seems to be pretty good. My brother will be happy though as he's had his eyes on this game lately.
I just finished the campaign today and had a blast with it. Pretty much the only bad thing I can say about the single player experience is the subtitles... I usually play my games with subs on, but this games' subtitles were just terrible. That's hardly a thing to gripe about though considering how fun of a journey this game was. Hopefully some sequels hit in the coming years that expand this new Lara!
Nice review! Was thinking about writing one myself, but you beat me to it!
Extremely well written review. Thank you very much Valenka. I had chosen to skip this game because I wanted to wait for God of War: Ascension instead. I wanted to see reviews first to see if the game was going to be any good, since I was a little disappointed when I saw gameplay a few months back.
When I saw that the game was getting 9 and 10 from many review sites, I started reading some of them, but ultimately, your review is the best of them. You wrote everything I wanted to know about the game, and cleared a lot of doubts I had. I will definitely get this game along with GOW, instead of just getting one. The only issue will be having time to play both.
I hope you continue writing reviews, because I will be looking forward to them.
I found the Game Trailers review picked up on a good point in that Lara very quickly overcomes her dismay at killing her first human/deer to then become the queen of headshot island as she slays hundreds of people without any further signs of remorse.
I definately like how this game looks and with the crisis identity she has brushed to one side i'll be picking this game up shortly. :D