Tomb Raider (Review)

It would be easy, and indeed very lazy, to write off this game as a mere Uncharted rip-off. After all, one thing many of the gamers who call the similarities seem to forget  is the fact that Naughty Dog's Uncharted series was obviously greatly inspired by the Tomb Raider series itself. Why is that? Well back when Core Design released the original game in 1996, it impressed and excited many of those who got their hands on it - and in turn, inspired many of the great action-adventure games we play today. But when the Tomb Raider games began losing their way over the years, and Uncharted's Nathan Drake rode onto the scene, boasting a smoother, higher quality series, Lara Croft found herself giving up her throne as queen of action-adventure gaming. A new hero had taken the crown...

But that may no longer be the case. Crystal Dynamics' reinvention of the series, and indeed the character of Lara Croft, is one that easily redeems the last few instalment's lack lustre efforts, and puts her way back up on that throne. If she can't take it back from Nathan Drake, she is at least worthy of sharing it.

This reboot follows a much younger Lara through her origin story, showing us exactly how she becomes the legendary Raider many of us gamers know and love. One of the immediate differences from past titles you'll find is that it's all set in a single environment; a mysterious island that Lara and the many of her fellow crew members on board the Endurance find themselves ship-wrecked on. It's a far cry from the globe-hopping levels fans of the series are used to, and in turn forces the entire game to adapt around it. This is, in fact, essentially an open-world game.

Lara's new look is fresh and realistic.

Each section of the story leads seamlessly into the next, and back-tracking is possible at any time. There's even fast-travel to and from the game's camp fires (checkpoints). These are a stroke of genius - not only do they serve as breathers between the many high-octane moments, but they also allow you to spend the skill points you earn for doing various tasks in the game. The XP you gain for doing things like killing enemies, collecting items, skinning animals and completing challenges can be used to hone and master the many skills Lara will need to survive the terrors of the island. As a system that isn't usually seen in this genre, it's a clever idea which gives you something to work towards. I genuinely wanted to unlock everything and evolve Lara as much as possible, which is just as much fun as watching her as a character develop throughout the course of her adventure.

Whilst there is still a great amount of time spent exploring and scaling the gorgeous environments, this is perhaps the most combat-centred Tomb Raider game has ever been. For every moment spent climbing or solving a puzzle, there's sure to be one right after where you're pumping someone full of lead, arrows, or whatever else it is you can get your hands on. It's a good job, then, that combat is genuinely an absolute thrill in this game. The weapons and gear you acquire, ranging from bows and arrows, to shotguns, pickaxes and World War Two rifles, are a joy to play with. The sound and feel of each weapon is extremely satisfying. Your inventory, just like Lara's skills, can be modified and upgraded too.

Obtaining the weapons and items in your inventory also strangely reminded me of The Legend of Zelda, in the fact that whatever you gain allows you to progress and access locations you couldn't have before for the next few sections in the game. For example, at one stage you acquire rope-arrows, which can be used to create zip-wires around the environment. They can also be used to pull doors open, and so any areas that you previously had no access to could now be returned to and explored. It's a great little mechanic, and having new tools to play with not long after you've just had one keeps things spiced up throughout.

The lush environment's of the island are varied and heaving with
attention to detail.

Exploring and raiding tombs is now more open than ever before. Strangely, the majority of the tombs up for raiding are actually optional, and whilst this does seem slightly at war with what the series is supposed to be, it does allow players to decide how they want to experience the game. If you want to stay in one location and explore every tomb, solve every puzzle, complete every challenge or collect everything there is to collect, then you can do that. If you want to just follow the story Tomb Raider has to offer, then you can do that to.

The story is in fact probably the only place where the game falls slightly short of being a well-rounded experience; the supporting cast are simply too dull and lacking in spark to really hook you into the plot, with the exception of a couple. When you compare this to how likable our struggling, young Lara is, you can only feel as though Crystal Dynamics missed the trick here slightly. Even a more memorable main villain would have helped to make the story truly exceptionable.

Despite that though, this is a game about Lara, and when you think about it like that, the developers have done a great job. She truly is a one-of-a-kind character, and it's great to have her back living up to the potential that she has. The way the events of the game affect her emotionally and physically is delivered expertly, perfectly demonstrated when she makes her first kill. The effect of this moment clearly weighs heavy on her conscience, and could have been one of the most moving parts in any recent game, had it not been for the fact that straight after, you're right into killing a horde of enemies, Lara seemingly unphased. You can't blame Crystal Dynamics, mind - Ubisoft had difficulty dealing with a similar event in last year's Farcry 3. How exactly can you make these moments narrative-appropriate, without substituting enjoyable gameplay? At the end of the day, players like shooting enemies sometimes. So that's what you do.

The Tomb Raider reboot is gritty and brutal, which really makes
you feel for Lara.

The explosive set-pieces, merged with the odd quick-time-event, are balanced into the regular gameplay perfectly. Crumbling bridges, flaming Japanese palaces, dodging a cascading plane - Tomb Raider knows what it's doing. Perhaps one of my highlights, though, was a slightly slower moment, in which Lara is tasked with climbing a huge radio tower in order to make an attempt at contacting the outside world. The ascent is built up to brilliantly, and finally reaching the top of the tower, making contact, and experiencing the incredible view was a joy.

Tomb Raider's other game mode is a needlessly tacked-on mutliplayer. This is probably one of the few parts of this title I actually could properly connect to Uncharted. The multiplayer has much the same essence, but lacks anything truly explosive to make it worth playing regularly. The lack of more than four game modes doesn't help.

Summary

The reinvention of Tomb Raider is probably one of the finest reboots in gaming. This is certainly no Uncharted clone; it's a well-crafted, original game, hooking in the finest ideas of the genre and merging it with others that you might not have seen in action-adventure game before - to great success. The shaping of a gaming icon isn't something we get to enjoy often, and is no easy task to go about from a designing point of view, either. Look over the slightly shallow supporting cast, occasionally lacking plot and pointless multiplayer and you've got an excellent adventure that will sadly be over-looked when it comes to gaming awards at the end of the year.

8.5/10