Square Enix’s Rise Of The Tomb Raider has been out for a few months now, and the consensus opinion is that it’s not only a worthy addition to the franchise, but one of the better games that was released in 2015. A sequel to the 2013 reboot, it brought the excitement and intrigue of Tomb Raider to the Xbox One in glorious detail (with a PS4 release scheduled later this year). Here’s why the game really, undeniably works.
Croft Herself Is Terrific
“Minute-to-minute, Lara shines.” That’s one of the most powerful lines in IGN’s review of Rise Of The Tomb Raider, both because it’s an unusual comment to make about a video game and because it’s so incredibly true in this one. There’s an added depth to a character driven by a personal quest (in this case, almost a weird brand of vengeance on fate itself), and it seems to simultaneously strengthen and weaken Croft. On the one hand she’s more brutal and uncompromising; on the other, her ethical outlook no longer seems flawless. In short, Croft was simply more human this time around, which made for a surprise for a lot of gamers. She’s one of the biggest names in gaming, after all, and the unconscious assumption might have been that she didn’t really need tweaking. But if you want a bland, heartless version of this character who only exists as a vessel for puzzle solving and action sequences, opt for the mobile version (which, to be fair, is pretty great for an app game). The Lara Croft of Rise Of The Tomb Raider is a wonder.
The Environment Is Astonishing
In large part, we’ve always enjoyed Tomb Raider games because the idea of exploring secret mountains, hidden tombs, and mysterious forests is just exciting. Nowadays people may compare these settings to big, open world games like those found in Far Cry 4 or the Uncharted series, but the truth is that mysterious, edge-of-civilization settings have always captivated gamers. Prince Of Persia games have taken us through jungle palaces and various shooters have led us through spooky forests and towering mountains around the world. We even see exotic and mysterious settings like these utilised in games that hardly need settings to begin with. The “Amazon” option at Gala’s bingo site emphasises this point, offering a brand of “exotic bingo” to those who play. At its heart it’s a typical bingo game, but is ultimately elevated to something greater by tapping into that same love of wild settings that’s always been in gamers’ hearts. And that’s just
what happens in Rise Of The Tomb Raider on a far grander scale. It’s almost impossible to describe just how packed with beauty and detail this game is. Suffice it to say just exploring the environment will make you feel like you’re a world away living out your own adventure fantasies.
Action Wins Out
Tomb Raider games have traditionally been about exploration and puzzle solving, and to be sure there’s plenty of both to go around in Rise Of The Tomb Raider. But a lot of fans, particularly of modern adventure games like the aforementioned Far Cry and Uncharted, among others, are enjoying the fact that this version has a little bit more conventional action to enjoy as well. Some traditionalists may frown upon this as a crowd-pleasing effort (indeed one review at Metacritic accuses the game of just that), but it’s not as if action was injected into the game at the expense of ordinary Tomb Raider elements. The impression, once you’ve spent a dozen or so hours on this game, is that it’s every bit the classic Tomb Raider experience with additional action built on top. And frankly, that has a lot to do with what makes it so spectacular to play.
This is a rare game for which it’s hard to find any negatives to complain about. Not too many major releases fully live up to expectations, but that’s just what Rise Of The Tomb Raider did, and then some.
1 Comment
probably one of the most awesome games i`ve ever played. I am not sure if i just play non stop or it`s just too fast for me vs the last tomb raider. If it could`ve last at least half as much as the Witcher 3 this game would`ve probably won game of the year for 2016 on PC