User Review : Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

jamenees · 2016-03-23T22:43:33Z

I'm reminded of The Beatles song, "I wanna hold your hand" when I play this game. Because, for most of the experience, let's say 90% - it does exactly that. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it does get a little old. I purchased this game when a sale came around as I had missed it entirely when the game launched way back in 2014. I'm almost sure I had forgot entirely about it because of the launch of Rise Of The Tomb Raider but as the old saying goes: better late than never. ---The Review--- Here is my experience. I own the game digitally and it kicks off with a bang. You are thrown into a gorgeous world that feels real and textured. I probably took 30 screenshots throughout the game when Lara was climbing around a tower or coming across the crest of a mountain. Sun peeking through the grass and sheets of debris float around like ghosts in just the right amount, making you feel as if this world was polished one pixel at a time. I can't understate the beauty of this game and so I won't. As you would expect this game is bow heavy. And while most would shy away from that aspect I found myself using it quite a bit. Even when I felt like my assault rifle would do more damage. Weapon upgrading and crafting is available in the game and done through finding (parts) for the upgrades. You can also use (gear) you earned while running around the world to upgrade specific weapon parts...think silencer and explosive attachments. Your main weapons are hot-keyed to the D-Pad. The four cardinal directions are for the Bow, Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun. And like I said earlier, the other weapons are bad-ass in their own right, and come with their own respective parts and upgrades; I found myself using my bow in almost all of my firefights. And you will be in some firefights. The game play centers around a fairly finely tuned cover system that automatically crouches you behind cover when enemies come out and here you have the basic A.I. The bad guys hide behind towers and cinderblocks leaving a corner of their leg exposed just long enough for you to send an arrow flying through it. The enemies also do a great job of getting progressively harder as the game goes on. I found myself dying quite often late in the game and remembering I had a shotgun in my arsenal, once that came out. I found the game to be rather easy. And ammo is PLENTIFUL. I rarely even found myself needing anything and in my 20 hour playthrough, I was out of arrows one time. ONE TIME!!!! The story might be the weakest aspect of this title as I found myself constantly saying, "what the hell?" Save for spoilers all I'll say is this, the island you are trapped on is keeping you there because of a cursed soul that is trapped and is bringing major storms and crashing ships and planes. That's all I'll say, because just typing it has my head hurting. If I'm wrong then let me know in the comments but that's what I took from it. Part 2 of this is the side characters in the game. You are either stuck with cliche ridden characters and voice acting or chasing down a rat in your party who is so obviously the bad guy I wanted to punch him from the moment I met him. That being said, you are rarely around these characters and most of the game is spent solving puzzles and running and jumping from one set piece to the next. If you ever do get stuck, a quick tap of the left bumper and the area you need to traverse or the place you need to be is glowing a bright yellow, leaving nothing to the imagination. Another aspect of that hand holding I was talking about earlier. This game is a conundrum. For it's beauty and action you pay a price. And the game is just good enough to force you to keep scratching away at it. Like a scab you just can't keep your hands off of.