Rise of the Tomb Raider Review (PC)

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

The Tomb Raider saga spans decades and has influenced both games and gamers across the generations. Unfortunately for fans, recent installments haven’t managed to recreate the same feeling as the original ones.

However, with 2012’s simply titled Tomb Raider, developer Crystal Dynamics managed to reboot the series with a new incarnation of its leading lady, Lara Croft, not to mention a vastly improved set of basic mechanics.

Now, after several years, the studio is back with Rise of the Tomb Raider, which already made its debut on the Xbox One back in November of last year and is now reaching the PC with mostly the same critically praised content, albeit with improvements that take advantage of powerful configurations.

This isn’t a bad thing, as plenty of praise has already been shared by Xbox One users for the title, lauding its story, mechanics, or the varied puzzles and tombs that need to be solved by intrepid explorers alongside the iconic archeologist.

Does Rise of the Tomb Raider manage to make a successful debut on PC or should fans of Lara Croft skip this incarnation? Let’s find out.

Story

The previous title served to explain Lara Croft's origins, who quickly went from young archeology student to grizzled veteran that survived a harsh island and some supernatural adventures. The new one, as the title suggests, marks her evolution into the confident and powerful Lara Croft we saw in earlier installments of the series.

While she’s still not 100% comfortable with her destiny, the protagonist embraces her adventures, no matter how violent or how challenging they might be. More precisely, she ventures to Siberia in order to find a mysterious artifact that was once hunted by her father.

This, of course, is easier said than done, as quite a lot of challenges appear along the way, from the actual environment, which is even harsher than the Pacific island in the previous title, to the wildlife, which is a bit more varied this time around, and, as always, mercenaries, who are now employed by the mysterious Trinity group.

The plot isn’t exactly the most coherent, although it does a good job of explaining the reasoning behind the actions of the villains while painting a picture of Lara’s mindset, who still struggles with the loss of her father. Lots of flashbacks are present, offering more context, so don’t worry if you’re not invested in the plot right from the get-go.

Fortunately, the story doesn’t intrude that much on the actual gameplay, and there are fewer secondary characters than in the previous game, as everything mostly centers on Lara.

Attack foes in Rise of the Tomb Raider
Attack foes in Rise of the Tomb Raider

Gameplay

The actual gameplay in Rise of the Tomb Raider should feel quite similar to those who went through the previous title. Crystal Dynamics doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, keeping most of the third-person shooter mechanics seen in Tomb Raider while refining certain aspects and adding a few new things.

Weapons are a bit more varied, although the classic bow still feels best. You can upgrade your arsenal by scavenging resources from every nook, cranny, and crate scattered in the wilderness. There’s a much bigger emphasis on crafting things and foraging for elements needed to improve Lara’s gear while completing main and secondary portions of the map in order to improve her actual skills.

The leveling system allows players to build Lara towards different play styles and routes, from stealth, to action, or guns-blazing. As in the previous game, players are gently nudged towards sneaking and striking from the shadows against foes. In order to further help this, Rise of the Tomb Raider features a new system called Survival Instinct, which is similar to Detective Vision or Eagle Vision, seen in the Batman Arkham or Assassin’s Creed titles, respectively.

Those who favor going into the thick of things and creating as much chaos as possible can still survive, although things are pretty challenging at first, until you really start to level up Lara, her guns, and her damage resistance. Towards the last stages of your adventure, you’ll be able to take on plenty of foes, although you should bear in mind that the very last portions are pretty challenging and require some practice to complete.

The actual world retains the semi-open strategy seen in Tomb Raider. There are several hub zones, and access into new portions is mostly governed by unlocking certain skills and items. This isn’t a bad thing, and you can easily go back to explore hidden areas or to access things that were restricted the first time you went through it.

Exploration has also been made a bit easier thanks to upgraded or all-new tools, like the wire spool that takes over for the grappling hook. Actual platforming can be a bit stiff, and there are sequences in which you don’t really notice the ledges you can interact with to climb or just move around.

Despite what was initially shared, Rise of the Tomb Raider’s Siberia isn’t just one huge snowy environment. While there is certainly plenty of white stuff to go around, there are also plenty of forests, not to mention ruins that hide quite a lot of secrets.

Speaking of secrets, this time around, Crystal Dynamics has added quite a lot of actual tombs to raid for Lara and players. These start off rather simple but quickly evolve into mind-bending affairs that can take plenty of trial and error to unlock. They hold various rewards but also serve as a reminder of what the series offered with its initial installments.

Enemies are quite varied, and as mentioned above, range from actual wild animals to humans and other such things. While there are certainly plenty of gunfights, the game doesn’t pile them on at the beginning of the story, letting things evolve in a pretty natural way, instead of immediately insisting on eye-catching set-piece assaults.

Instead of the decent yet not-so-memorable competitive multiplayer mode in Tomb Raider, the new game features a different type of challenge mode called Expeditions, made by Eidos Montreal under the guidance of Crystal Dynamics. Players are tasked with completing various conflicts and reaching certain goals as fast as possible, in order to get a spot on the leaderboards.

The mode also features packs of “cards” that unlock modifiers and effects that help combat, like better attack stats, but also make going through the challenges more fun, such as Big Head mode. Many also make things tougher by boosting the armor of enemies or restricting the lives available for Lara. While you can unlock packs of cards when playing the game as standard, they’re also available as microtransactions. You can also replay previous chapters, as standard but also with your upgraded skills and gear.

Use Survival Instinct
Use Survival Instinct

Graphics and sound

The previous Tomb Raider didn’t only impress in terms of gameplay but also when it came to visuals. With Rise of the Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics has kicked things up a notch, with even better graphics, especially on powerful configurations. Special props go to the enhanced PureHair technology, which makes Lara’s hair look even more impressive.

There are some frame drops, unfortunately, during specific moments, but a patch has already been released to alleviate some of those sequences, and it seems that more are coming to ensure that Rise of the Tomb Raider works as well as possible on many different gaming rigs.

The soundtrack makes quite an impact, managing to augment the set-piece moments or firefights while toning things down when exploring the Siberian wilderness. The voice acting is quite good, as Camilla Luddington once again delivers a solid performance as the British explorer. The rest of the cast are decent but don’t appear all that much.


The Good

  • Varied gameplay and lots of upgrade choices
  • Complex environments
  • Fair amount of tombs to raid
  • Sharp visuals and effects

The Bad

  • A few framedrops
  • Platforming isn't always intuitive
  • Some quick-time events don't make sense

Conclusion

Rise of the Tomb Raider successfully reiterates the success of its predecessor by updating and upgrading quite a few different things, like combat, crafting, or RPG mechanics, while improving the environmental design and the general flow of the campaign. There are very few downsides, and no matter if you were a longtime fan or not, you can have plenty of intense fun with Lara’s latest adventures.  
story 8
gameplay 9
concept 9
graphics 9
audio 9
multiplayer 0
final rating 9
Editor's review
excellent
 
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Rise of the Tomb Raider PC screenshots (16 Images)

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