Shadow of the Tomb Raider Review

Shadow of the Tomb Raider was free on Playstation a few months back and as I had loved the first two, I thought I would give it a go. I would have bought it at some point but there was no real hurry and as sometimes happens (like Days Gone, Final Fantasy VII, or Star Wars Squadrons), if you wait long enough, a game you really want may appear on PS Plus.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is part of the Survivor Trilogy and they have all been superb games. I played the first three Tomb Raider games back on PS1 and PS2 and they were a lot of fun but by then, Lara Croft was just a bad-ass (but with a famously nice ass). Then they got a bit annoying and/or boring. The reboots are what I like about these sorts of games – they are like a movie, with great characters and stories. Like Uncharted. Fun, Indiana Jones-type adventure.

Lara Croft is now the Tomb Raider we all know and love – with a difference

When we first met Lara back on PS1 she was already a dual gun-wielding expert at raiding tombs. The Survivor Trilogy has been showing how she became the character we all know and love. The trilogy began with Tomb Raider with Lara getting stranded on a mysterious island and learning how to be an exploration killing machine. It was very similar to the plot of Arrow. Over that game and the next, she rapidly got more skills.

By the time we get to Shadow of the Tomb Raider, she is the tough, happy-to-kill, athletic character we all know and love. She is different though. This time around, Lara is more human. She has doubts and friends and is generally more believable as a character.

The story this time is set in South America. So, cue human sacrifices with beating-heart removal and lots of pyramid shaped tombs. This time round, when it comes to fighting, there is a lot less shooting and considerably more sneaking around. Being run-charging-at-the-enemy-firing-a-gun type of player, I learned this the hard way.

There is also a lot more exploration and puzzling. Which is done really, really well. I sometimes get a bit annoyed at puzzles in games but these were just the right level of complexity to be satisfying.

Exploration can take place up cliff edges, deep in caves, or, frequently, underwater. Fortunately, unlike a lot of games, the underwater bits don’t suck. Lara can hold her breath long enough to get a lot done. I have never understood why incredibly lethal characters in games can’t hold their breath for more than fifteen seconds when I can hold mine for almost two minutes, yet am only slightly lethal.

Being South America, there are piranhas everywhere too, which adds a bit of tension.

When you aren’t killing, sneaking, leaping around, swimming and exploring, you will be enjoying the story. The cutscenes and tightly scripted action sequences are insanely good. And mildly stressful.

The skill-set and levelling and so on is good. You learn more skills and do cooler stuff as is fairly standard. I never felt the need to grind or anything, Lara just learns enough stuff as she goes along to make you generally better at everything you need to do.

Conclusion

I loved Shadow of the Tomb Raider. It is the best of the reboot series and they have been the best since Tomb Raider 2. That’s obviously my opinion and you are entitled to yours – I just think you are wrong if you differ. Now the Survivor Trilogy is done, it will be interesting to see what they do next. I hope they either start a new trilogy or – and I think this would be genius – redo Tomb Raider 2 as they’ve done with Final Fantasy VII and Mass Effect.

If you are a Tomb Raider or Uncharted fan, you’ll love Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Hopefully, the success of the reboot means Lara has just begun her new and improved adventures.

Here is a trailer:

And is you want a review with video. Here you go: