
You mostly fight human enemies, and though there are a few wolf attacks early on, there aren't any T-Rexes or exotic animals that were found in older Tomb Raider games. The combat is simple but engaging third-person gameplay. Even your trusty shotgun and grenade launcher are often used to open doors. Flame arrows set barriers on fire or ignite explosive gas to create holes. Your climbing ax lets you ascend cliff faces. Your rope arrow, for example, lets you create Batman-style rope lines at designated locations. You start with jump and run and gradually unlock context-sensitive abilities that allow more freedom.

The platforming controls are simple and accessible. Every few minutes, Lara's bad luck kicks in, and she is trapped in yet another collapsing building or crumbling cave and has to get from Point A to Point B before she dies. The platforming is largely comprised of linear and semiautomated set pieces, although they're quite engrossing and exciting. Coyote cartoon, especially since the game is somewhat inconsistent about what does and doesn't stick.Īs with any good Tomb Raider game, you spend most of your time doing various acrobatics and platforming feats, although it can occasionally feel more like Uncharted than anything else. She is shot, beaten, stabbed, choked, dropped off more cliffs than one can count, and it starts to seem like a Wile E. Lara can't go five minutes without getting horribly injured or beaten up in some new way, and in the beginning of the game, she sets herself on fire and is stabbed through the side with a rusty piece of rebar. Getting beaten up is part of any good action hero's job, but Tomb Raider takes it to such excessive degrees that for a while, I began to wonder if I was secretly playing as Wolverine instead. With that said, there is one aspect of the game that is quite odd: the focus on poor Lara getting the ever-loving crap kicked out of her on a regular basis. She feels like the confident Lara Croft from older games, if perhaps a bit greener and more human.

She has brief moments of doubt, but they don't last, and she usually follows up by single-handedly wrecking an enemy stronghold. Once you get past the first two hours, it's a fun Tomb Raider game, and Lara is a confident, strong and talented protagonist. Some ado is made about her first kill, but about an hour later, enemies are cowering in terror as she screams at them.
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Lara's already climbed deadly mountains, and she's a master archeologist, crack shot and skilled hunter. Lara undergoes an almost instant change from "inexperienced girl in an awful situation" to "well-trained badass in her first real test." The latter personality is infinitely more enjoyable, but it makes the initial two hours feel out of place. Once you get over that, the story changes into something that's more Tomb Raider-esque. Everyone, including Lara, act like different characters with different motivations, and there are several glaring plot holes. The first two hours feel like they're from a completely different game.

Tomb Raider has a good story that suffers from a few narrative problems. Lara and her friends must escape the Solarii and the mysterious island forces before they become the latest sacrifice. As if that weren't bad enough, the island is also home to a cult, The Solarii, who worships Queen Himiko and dislikes outsiders. A freak storm crashes their ship and leaves them stranded on an island that is the epicenter of the storms that sink any vehicle that approaches the island - including Lara's boat. Already experienced and trained in "normal" archeology, Lara and a group of her friends set out to find the lost Sun Queen Himiko. The game follows Lara on her first real adventure. In the vein of many products these days, Tomb Raider is a reboot of the franchise, so don't expect to see direct references to previous titles. The new Tomb Raider is a welcome change because it's one of the best in the series' history. It's been a long time since there was an above-average Tomb Raider game. Unfortunately, the mediocrity of her games has left Lara languishing on the sidelines. Part Indiana Jones and part James Bond, she stood out in the crowds of space marines and anthropomorphic animals. Ever since her debut on the PSX, she's been the leading lady of games, even when her titles descended into mediocrity.

It's hard to think of a female video game character more iconic than Lara Croft.
