![]() ![]() They are crucial to building the world and the narrative for you, and they are very often a balance of spelunking / climbing and combat. Rather than give you quests within the world that spit you back out into an open world, you engage in sort of linear main quests that connect different sections of the game. The game is also not so open that you feel entirely rudderless. I tooled around with some of the side content, but I basically main-lined the story for the sake of the review, and I felt completely satisfied with both the amount of content and story within the core game, so people looking for plenty more to do can find whatever they want. The map gives enough detail to drive players to seek out ancillary content without making it seem like it’s necessary. Unlike Uncharted, each section of the game doesn’t get locked off once you complete the narrative for it.Īt the campsites, you can fast travel back to any location and complete any number of quests, tombs, or collectible hunting. What separates Rise of the Tomb Raider from its contemporaries is that it is neither a linear experience, nor is it an open world game. The different areas are distinct enough, even if they all feel somewhat like “exotic locale” to me. The way the environments are set-up and marked gives the player a rhythm for how to traverse the world, and it becomes less about the puzzle of “Where do I go?” Some might see this as hand-holding, but I prefer it to wandering around the landscape without an inkling for where to go. If you still can’t find your way, the waypoint indicator also reveals points of interest in directing your journey. The game naturally guides you in the right direction.įor example, walls that can be scaled are marked with white blazes, and the climbable ice has a different color tint than its surroundings. It is built in such a way that you don’t necessarily have to constantly click the right stick to reveal your waypoint. To build on that idea, the visual language of Rise of the Tomb Raider is similarly wonderful. The game handles exceptionally well, to the extent that some non-scripted climbing sequences feel as though they are cut scenes designed for the player’s benefit help the cause. I’ve never been a huge fan of third person platforming in these games - Uncharted included - but the combination of the puzzles and the feel of the running and jumping in Rise make for some interesting mechanics. ![]() The game’s real villain and real sidekick is the environment, and that’s where the tension excels. The game has no sense of self-deprecation or humor at all, and a story that is more or less the retelling of Last Crusade without Sean Connery in a brimmed hat is kind of lacking, to be honest. The writing, the banter, the characters, they are all so grim and mordant. It’s one of the few knocks I have against this game. Why would he spend all of his time trying to taunt Lara Croft like a Bond villain? On the other hand, his absence is certainly felt toward the end of the game, when we are supposed to care about this standoff between the adventurer and the secret society wackadoo? The villain, Konstantin, is barely visible throughout the game, which is both a benefit and a curse. ![]() There are eternal prophets, soulless soldiers, and secretive organizations involved, and that sort of plot is befitting of a Tomb Raider game.Īs far as actual writing goes, however, it’s kind of flat. The MacGuffin in this game is more or less the Matrix from the original Transformers animated movie, and it totally works as a means for drawing Lara into this adventure. This incarnation of Tomb Raider is very often compared to the wildly popular Uncharted series, but I’ve got a bold claim to make here: save for the writing, I think Rise of the Tomb Raider exceeds the heights of the Uncharted games. The new hero of this franchise snatches dudes into watery depths and slices their throats, a la Jason Voorhees, or sneaks up behind them and executes them like James Earl Cash, from Manhunt. No, she is also a grim survivalist, hell-bent on punishing those who ruined her life and sent her on this journey. This Lara Croft is not simply a gun-wielding adventurer, intent on seeking out and unlocking the world’s secrets. Though not a traditional horror game, Rise of the Tomb Raider plays, in many instances, like an uber-violent exploitation flick from the 70s. This time around, Lara is on her own Last Crusade, searching out an artifact her father only dreamed of being able to find. It is a follow-up to the 2013 reboot, Tomb Raider, and the PC version is a port of the XBox One version, exclusive to that console through Christmas. Rise of the Tomb Raider is the newest entry in this more gritty, dark version of the 90s action/adventure series, starring the titular Tomb Raider, Lara Croft. ![]()
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