Tomb Raider Review (PC)

excellent
key review info
  • Game: Tomb Raider
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
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A review of Tomb Raider on PC

Tomb Raider games have earned a loyal following among millions of people many years ago, but recent installments haven't exactly honored Lara Croft's legacy, despite the best efforts of developer Crystal Dynamics.

The studio decided to completely reboot the series some time ago and in the last few years, it's been hard at work on a new version of Lara Croft and a brand new set of adventures for her.

That game is finally here, in the form of a new title simply called Tomb Raider, which features a younger version of Lara Croft and a set of brutal adventures for her, which emphasizes survival.

Is this new game a bold new start for the series or should Lara permanently retire from raiding tombs? Let's find out.

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There's a new Lara Croft ...
... and she'll have one tough adventure

Story

Tomb Raider brings a new version of Lara Croft, now a young girl that's finally going out in the world after spending way too many years in libraries. Sadly, her first expedition alongside other researchers for the Sun Queen Himiko results in them being shipwrecked on an island in the Pacific.

Besides lots of natural dangers, the island has plenty of dark secrets, ranging from wild animals and even members of a gruesome cult called the Solarii. Lara must slowly uncover these mysteries while trying to contact the outside world and ensure the survival of the remaining crew.

What follows is an array of pretty impressive events and a classic coming of age story that centers around Lara. From a shy researcher with her head in the books to a skilled explorer that can easily withstand dangerous tombs and imposing enemies, the journey is a great and quite violent one.

Make no mistake, while you'll certainly cheer Lara on, you'll cringe at the wide array of gruesome ends she can meet as well as the different things she'll be forced to do to her enemies. Besides that, the general plot isn't that interesting and some betrayals can be spotted from a mile away.

Gameplay

Tomb Raider games pretty much defined the action adventure genre and set the template for titles like Uncharted, which combined shooting with exploration and puzzle solving.

After a lengthy hiatus, the franchise is back and, with this reboot, it once again honors its legacy, as the game manages to strike a great balance between exploration, shooting, and solving all sorts of tricky challenges.

First up, let's talk about the exploration. The gruesome island is split into different zones and Lara can freely explore them, even if she often has main goals that need her immediate attention. Some areas are off limits, at least at first, until you unlock all her gear and upgrades, but soon you'll be able to roam the island, which is filled with all sorts of remnants ranging from feudal Japan to the Second World War.

Besides exploring, you'll also do a lot of scavenging, as you can search for different resources that can then be used to upgrade your arsenal of weapons, ranging from guns to a special bow. As you complete actions, you also earn XP, which can be spent on improving Lara's abilities and skills.

Tomb Raider also features quite a fair bit of combat, mostly in the form of gunfights. Plenty of Solarii worshippers roam the island and Lara will be forced to take them on many times. Fortunately, after a few uneasy battles at the beginning, she quickly starts wielding weapons like a pro.

Enemies are smart, are quite fond of cover, and have different tactics in order to flush out Lara from her own hiding spots. As such, expect to always be on the move and to have some quick reflexes in order to take down enemies that can sometimes appear out of nowhere.

Last but not least, Tomb Raider also features quite a lot of puzzles, particularly when it comes to bonus tombs that can be explored by Lara for special rewards. Sadly, some are quite hard and will require a lot of trial and error before your figure out the solution. There is a special Survival Instinct mechanic, but it just points out obvious items that need to be interacted with in order to solve the puzzle.

Tomb Raider is quite fond of quick time events, but most of them work pretty well. Sadly, a major downside to playing the PC version with a mouse and keyboard is the fact that the actual keys you have to press aren't displayed in the QTE moments. Instead, their symbols are shown. This, when coupled with the split-second reactions required by the game, can lead to quite a few gruesome deaths before you figure out which buttons to press at what time.

This difficulty applies to the whole game, as even on easy players will have to prove their survival, exploration, and combat skills, as the title isn't afraid of throwing big challenges at them.

The game also manages to annoy through its wobbly camera, which constantly shakes even when Lara is standing still, probably to inflict the same feeling of uncertainty. While Lara moves pretty fast, there's no dedicated sprint button, despite the fact that one is found in the multiplayer mode.

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Explore the island ...
... and its tombs

Multiplayer

Besides the single-player campaign, the new Tomb Raider also has a multiplayer mode that's been specifically designed by Eidos Montreal, the same studio behind Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

The online modes range from traditional ones like Team Deathmatch, to Free for All, as well as two special ones called Cry for Help and Rescue. Sadly, you won't find that many people eager to engage in the special modes, so you'll have to stick with the regular ones.

All of the modes deliver decent experiences and the other aspects of the multiplayer, from the balancing to the map design, are quite good. Most environments have different levels and you'll definitely put your exploration skills to the test while trying to uncover their nooks and crannies. You can also set up traps for unsuspecting enemies, such as lures that suspend them in the air for a certain time.

Throw in the level up mechanic that slowly unlocks new weapons and perks, plus the fact that you can engage in ranked and casual (non-ranked) matches, and the online experience of Tomb Raider is a pretty good bonus, besides its impressive single-player.

Visuals and Sound

In terms of graphics, the new Tomb Raider is extremely impressive, especially on the PC platform, where the studio that handled the porting process, Nixxes, added plenty of specific features, from high-res textures to options like Tessellation and, for the first time ever, a special technology called TressFX that focuses only on Lara's hair.

Sadly, some of these mechanics, like tessellation, has caused some issues for certain owners of the PC version, while TressFX, while looking quite impressive, does impact the framerate even on powerful computers.

In terms of sound, Tomb Raider is also quite good, with actress Camilla Luddington offering a great voice for Lara Croft. The supporting cast is pretty decent, while the soundtrack manages to accentuate the eerie feeling of the island and the tense nature of Lara's adventures.

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Fight in the single-player ...
... and the multiplayer

Conclusion

Tomb Raider is a great game that marks the glorious return of everybody's favorite explorer – Lara Croft. While it's let down by some technical problems as well as the over-reliance on violence and quick time events, the new game is still quite impressive and will certainly thrill not just fans of the series but also those that like a great story-based action adventure experience.

While not standing out in any way, the multiplayer is pretty good, although the developers should certainly think about improving it in various ways.

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story 9
gameplay 9
concept 9
graphics 9
audio 8
multiplayer 8
final rating 9
Editor's review
excellent
 
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