In short
The latest Tomb Raider is more ‘Lara meets Indiana Jones’ than I remember with previous games. Add that to a huge helping of ‘Rambo’ and you have the action-packed new Tomb Raider. This is a narrative-rich experience that is less ‘problem solving’ and more action and platforming. Production quality is of the highest quality which makes for a rewarding and immersive experience with a Lara Croft as you have never seen.
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Square Enix
Distributor: Megarom Interactive
For fans of: Tomb Raider, epic singleplayer adventures, platforming, action games
Reviewed on: Xbox 360
Also available on: Playstation 3, PC
If we had to give it a numerical score: 9.0/10
What I loved
- Bow and Arrow
- Great QTE’s
- Progressive system
- Audio Visual quality
- Lara’s accent… grrrr
Not so much
- Multiplayer should get old quickly
- The amount of QTE’s in the beginning of the campaign
- Cann0t switch over-the-shoulder view from left to right
Gameplay and Features
My brother is seven years older than me. As a very young boy, I didn’t ask many questions as not to look “young and stupid” in my brothers eyes. Because I didn’t ask too much, I worked a lot out for myself, or tried at least. One of the theories I came up with as a very young boy was that cats were girls and dogs were boys. You can see how I came to this – cats were mysterious, graceful and unpredictable whilst dogs were obvious and wore their emotions all over their faces.
Tomb Raider’s narrative takes us to where it all started for Lara. The narrative unfolds the transition from intelligent archaeologist who embodies “all things woman” to the valiant heroine she becomes, still “all things woman.” Wispy, seemingly vulnerable and graceful in one moment; and then a warrior the next, capable of overcoming anything she needs to. Anyone that has seen a cat infuriated or panicking will make the connection, and understand my juvenile theory. I loved that Lara was vulnerable in one moment and then tough-as-nail in the next. The narrative is rich with emotion which makes for a memorable adventure that pulls you in. This is not the confident cocky Lara that we knew before, but a Lara that you will connect with more, which again just makes the adventure all the more worthy.
The rich and rewarding narrative is not all that makes this new Tomb Raider so special – it is only half of what makes Tomb Raider great. The game mechanics are also of the highest standard, boasting what this generation of “game making” is capable of. There’s the brilliantly designed interactive mechanics, flawless platforming and combat mechanics. There might not be much we haven’t seen before, but the design and execution faces up to the best of them. It is understandable that this late in a generation a game will not show us something new, but Crystal Dynamics took some proven gameplay mechanics and executed them in an intuitive and stylish manner.
What I loved about the gameplay is that while it was designed and crafted using very modern elements, mechanics and features; the game still felt like a ‘Tomb Raider’ game at times. From the exploring or searching for items to the puzzle solving – there’s many of the characteristics that charmed us to the series, but these characteristics are swathed in modern technology and elements in a full-on action game. Lara’s ‘Survival Instinct’ for example – long gone are the frustrating days where I didn’t have a clue where to go next or what I was looking for in a Tomb Raider game. With the touch of a button; useful objects, clues and objectives are revealed. If anything, the game might flow a little too easily on the normal mode at least. Not even the puzzles could slow the pace of the game down, as none really challenged me to the point where I would get stuck.
The progressive system has you spend skill points to evolve Lara’s skills – from secondary skills like ‘animal instincts’ to help you hunt, to ‘physical skills’ to improve your abilities. The progressive system is modern and was well designed, ultimately rewarding through the adventure. There are some other light RPG elements too such as looting and upgrading weapons. You can improve weapons with parts you find from looting. It’s not the deepest weapon upgrade system, but satisfying nonetheless.
Crystal Dynamics have included many elements that have been proved to work – elements or features that make for a richer singleplayer experience. The game is fleshed out with may, brilliant QTE’s as well as gameplay features that we have come to love in a worthy modern action game. Fortunately though, nothing feels forced or out of place. Everything compliments everything else, making for all the more richer experience. Once you complete the campaign, you can fast travel to areas to collect all the collectables throughout the game that you missed, and there is plenty to collect. If you like your ‘achievements’ then you will need to as many of the achievements are based on collectables.
The multiplayer offerings, in all honesty, feel a little obligatory. They do work, matchmaking is a breeze and the lobbies are small [8 players] so lag is not too bad for the most part. There’s even the features we expect or want with multiplayer; from load-outs to upgrade trees, unlocking items and characters from the campaign to unlock and use. But I would have rather opted for another ten hours in the polished campaign. The multiplayer even has a little bit of Gears flavour – the pace, the sprinting and forward-rolling, but it is nowhere near as polished at Gears of War’s multiplayer
There are four modes which are either versus modes or objective based. ‘Team Deathmatch’ is where most public lobbies pitted me, but the ‘Cry for Help’ mode is probably where I found most joy. You have to activate radio transmitters while preventing the batteries from falling into the enemies hands – fun and a little different to the norm. I will give the multiplayer offerings a go for a laugh every now and then, but it is hardly the reason I would recommend the game for. It’s for the the polished singleplayer experience that I would highly recommend Tomb Raider.
Sound and Visuals
As an audio visual experience, this is a far cry from previous instalments, and this department really benefits from the grandness that has become game development in this day and age. Every last aspect is of the highest quality. Being a very narrative-driven adventure; the script, dialogue and scoring had to be masterfully put together, and that it was. The scoring compliments the desperate mood and the opulence of the adventure, peaking where it needs to and complimenting the emotional aspect throughout the game.
The voice-acting in generally by all involved is of a high quality with a mixture of British voice-actors. Camilla Luddington deserves a special mention in her debut as the posh-sounding English Lara. She managed to capture the essence of the vulnerable and emotional sides Lara perfectly. This is where it started for Lara, so we are taken through the journey and the emotions that comes with Lara’s personality growing stronger, from a vulnerable young lady to the strong woman she becomes. This journey was perfectly portrayed by Luddington’s acting.
Brilliant use of lighting, realistic textures and intense detailing make for an extremely vivid and “living” gaming word – as immersive as you will find. The facial animations are of an extremely high calibre. Games don’t always depict the emotion when it comes to facial expressions, but Crystal Dynamics obviously used state-of-the-art tech to capture this important aspect of the game. Everything right down to Lara’s creased eye-browns sell the dramatic desperate mood.
If you thought movement animations was brilliantly done in Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series, wait till you see this one. Simply put, Lara’s movements are amongst the most realistic-looking I have seen, and this is further complimented by the brilliant camera work. The way her posture and movements transition from creeping around slowly to a more briskly movement. The climbing, the shuffling around – everything is so natural looking.
Closing comments
I’m not always the biggest fan of these almost completely ‘story-based’ games which flow from one cinematic cut-scene to the next. Sometimes these games tend to guise the actual gameplay which strong audio-visual experiences. Fortunately while Tomb Raider is hugely driven by the narrative, the gameplay does not get lost. The gameplay is also rewarding and has enough depth to engage with players.
Tomb Raider is easily my favourite by a country mile in the series, not only because of the brilliant gripping and a stand-out performance by Lara, but because of the compelling gameplay. The weapon mechanics are as great as any shooter, the platforming is clever and crisp, and this is all complimented by a good progressive system. It is also an audio-visual experience of the greatest quality, making for a worthy all-round package.
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