Tomb Raider Review

Title: Tomb Raider
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
System: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Genre: Action Adventure, 3^rd person thriller
Rating: M

 

Like any worthy hidden treasure you’d have to be under a very big rock not to know about the new reboot of one of gamings' most iconic characters. Between the controversy involving a probable rape scenario that was later debunked to the countless ads and showcasings, “Tomb Raider” is a triple-A title has had gamers of all sorts eagerly awaiting its release.  Promising a fresh new look, an engrossing origin story, and a much darker tone, did Crystal Dynamics create a glorious interactive gem or will this be another artifact cursed by the same problems that historically stuck with the franchise.

As promised the story is focused on the origin of the great Lara Croft before she became the famous tomb raider. Humbly starting as nothing more than a book smart college student, Lara is determined to make a name for herself in the archaeology circle by discovering the lost location of the Japanese nation Yamatai. Boarding on a ship named the Endurance, she is accompanied by a rag tag group of explorers that seek the same goal but fall into trouble when their vessel falls victim to a severe storm that leaves them stranded on a mysterious island. Before they can catch their bearing, the violent inhabitants, capture Lara and soon her and the others are are caught up in a desperate fight for survival as they struggle to escape the island.

Our famous heroine undergoes a major and dare I say stunning makeover.

Right from the start TR tells a gripping tale on how Croft transforms from a scared girl who never fired a weapon to the rough force to be reckoned with we know today. The game starts off as a survival horror title where any move could be your last followed by a gradual progression into the action adventure elements that players normally associate with the series. While not incredibly deep, the story does contain a decent cast of characters but their arcs aren’t anything players haven’t seen before. Very early on players will call out the fates of the supporting cast way before story plans to reveal them. It does seem to leave out a lot of details as to how the opposing inhabitants got on the island and what their initial goals were getting there leaving players the most basic knowledge: the locals are nasty and that they want Croft and her crew dead in order to serve their own purpose. The story though overall is enticing and should leave the player satisfied.

Your crew members struggle alongside you in the story but add nothing to the gameplay.

 

The world in TR is absolutely beautiful overflowing with breathtaking visuals. Painstaking details went in to bringing the mystic island to life and it shows from the local wildlife all the way to the lush forests and vast mountain ranges. Fires look convincing to the point that you’d swear you could reach out to feel the heat and ancient structures appear properly decayed. The lighting, water, and weather effects never cease to amaze and really bring the illusion and awe of nature’s power to life. If there was one thing I’d have to complain about – and it’s a nitpick- I feel that the developers went overboard with the thousands upon thousands of rotting corpses that are strewn throughout the island. It’s done to such an over the top level that instead of feeling horrified I just found myself wondering where are they getting their endless supplies of fresh victims to slaughter?

The character animations in TR are some of the best I’ve seen this year with Croft never once failing to move in a life like manner and where “Uncharted 3” introduced character-to-environment interactions, TR perfected it. Lastly all these impressive visuals are viewed without any HUD obstruction unless Croft finds herself in a gunfight, allowing the player to fully take notice of this gorgeous game in a way that constantly feels cinematic.

Lara must go through extreme lengths to arm herself in order to gain the upper hand.

The new reboot is without a doubt the best controlling “Tomb Raider”, I’ve ever played. Gone are the notorious clunky controls with Croft being much easier to navigate through the hostile environments that surround her. The game features a new automatic covering system that works really well when things go sour and if the player gets stuck or lost they can go into a state of awareness similar to “Batman Arkham City’s” detective vision that illuminates points of interests, hidden artifacts, and various interactive environments throughout the island. Tons of upgrades can be unlocked for weapons and skills alike, and memoirs can be discovered that tell the history of the island along with Croft’s crewmates from beyond what the main story felt necessary. TR couldn’t escape the dreaded quicktime events that plague modern titles and they play a huge part in the gameplay. Most are unapologetically unforgiving and are going to cause Croft to suffer so horrific cringeworthy deaths over and over again thanks to their bizarre timing system.
Though the Island is technically open-world, the story forces players along a path that feels linear thanks to full exploration requiring certain skills that can’t be acquired until certain points in the story are reached. Once the story is complete however, the world truly opens up letting players freely to hunt and collect lost items. Enemy AI is pretty tight proving countless times that they are deadly opponents and they never let up once they spot you. Their hit detection is spot on and they successfully never feel too overpowered.  It should also be noted that despite all this deep detail, the game never feels to lose the 60 fps and load times are practically nonexistent outside of fast travel which is quite the feat.

Lara couldn’t believe where she was after participating in the islands' new Febreze Challenge.

The voice acting in TR is top notch for all characters but kudos goes out to Camilla Luddington who voiced Croft bringing her to life with her terror filled dialog. Sound effects are crystal clear and the weapons sound properly loud and powerful. The soundtrack is simply epic supplying a range of horn engulfed adventure themes to gloomy atmospheric tunes for whenever Croft is in dire situations.

Traps in the hostile environments constantly keep you on high alert.

While what’s in the game works well it still manages to feel incomplete however and by that I mean the game feels it should have had a first aid and hunting mechanic that did make it into final production. Right from the start Croft suffers a wound that would be fatal and never addresses till a time that feels far too late in a cutscene followed by her never once breaking any bones on countless death defying falls that would prove stressful to even Wolverine’s skeletal structure.  Hunting for food occurs only once and afterwards never has to be repeated again for any reason other than to gain salvage points. The game along with its promotional artwork feels like it wanted to have elements similar to “MGS: Snake Eater”, but for whatever reason didn’t carry through with it.

The game does have multiplayer to extend the replay value but the modes overall are very basic and some have odd gaming mechanics.  Multiplayer at its core consists of for basic modes; free-for-all, Team death match, CTF, and territories but it feels rather unbalanced since opposing sides don’t share the same goals. While the survivor team has to only capture five items or territories to win, the other team has to be doubly sufficient by reaching a kill total first. Furthermore the Survivor team gets extra perks like a last stand mechanic that practically makes them immortal for fifteen seconds unless finished off with a melee attack when the opposing team doesn’t get that at all. The level designs are impressive using a lot of elements found in the story mode including the unlocks, but in the end it likely won’t hold people’s attention for long.



Players will encounter repeat feelings of vertigo in various locations.

 In the end Crystal Dynamics’ reboot successfully breathes new life into a series that has for a long time gone stale. They finally made Lara Croft more than a weird sex icon and turned into a character players can symphonize with. The overall story mode took about nine hours to finish but the extra hidden items and multiplayer do an okay job of adding more bang for your buck. I honestly haven’t purchased a “Tomb Raider” game since the third release but after this reboot I’ve officially became a fan again and I hope to see more adventures involving Croft in the future.

Ryan Pierce

Rating 8.5 out of 10

PROS: Completely revamped control scheme.

            Breath taking visuals.

            Engrossing storyline.

            Huge open world exploration.

            Superb voice over work.

            Smart Enemy AI.

CONS: Story makes open world exploration linear.

             Bland unbalanced multiplayer modes.

             Annoying quicktime mechanics.