Tomb Raider Review

Tomb Raider attempts to reinvent Lara Croft and tell an origin story that justifies how she became the badass archaeologist from the classic games. Unfortunately Crystal Dynamics gets sidetracked making an action thrill ride which apes from far more successful games and more often than not betrays its initial ambitions of telling a more grounded story. Lara and her journey is the most compelling aspect of the game and watching her go from apologetically killing an animal for food so she wont starve to in the final act of the game actively edging on her enemies is the most satisfying aspect of the entire game. Tomb Raider fails in some respect in appropriately charting Lara journey from naive skeptic to heroine through inconsistent writing and convenient storytelling but it maintains a break-neck pace that anyone will have trouble putting down.

Tomb Raider take place on the island of Yamatai which as legend explains was ruled by the shaman queen Himiko the "Sun Queen". Lara and her cohorts find themselves stranded on this island after a horrible storm, and they quickly realize that they are not alone on this island and the legends of the queen's undead feudal army may be true. The game opens up fairly large areas to explore regularly but is overall quite linear, there is never any other route other than the one the game specifically lays out for you. But some "Metroidvania" type elements of hidden secrets that you need to return to with better equipment makes scouring the island quite fun. The lack of actual tombs is unforgivable given the title of the game with what amounts to a total of 6 roughly 3 minute long tombs that test all the mental capability of a rodent in their simplicity. But what the game lacks in the traditional exploratory aspects it makes up for with one of the most well tuned combat experiences in recent memory.

The game doles out skills, weapon, and traversal upgrades in such a way that maintains a balance between a vulnerable and incapable Lara and one who is fed up with her predicament and is dishing out payback in brutal fashion. There is an odd discontent between the gruesome levels of violence and abuse that Lara is subjected to as well as dishes out that doesn't align with the story and character arch that is supposed to be unfolding. The game takes a much more action focused route which makes more a fun roughly 10 hour experience but never amounts to anything memorable. The games most impressive moments are long  enjoyably challenging segments of traversal that show off the impeccable graphics and its a shame the game never delves deeper into the puzzle solving adventure the series was known for. Tomb Raider is a supremely well made game and at times its pitch of a watching a survivor being born in the midst of this island comes to fruition but it too often indulges in action game cliches that flys in the face of its more intimate character developments.

  (4 out of 5)