After really enjoying the first, and liking the second of the Tomb Raider reboots, I've had the third one on my list for quite some time. I finally had the opportunity to pick it up on sale, and I must say that I'm glad I didn't get it at launch. I didn't play this one for very long so these are pretty early-game comments. But that's the game's fault for not being interesting.
Gameplay
The Tomb Raider games have followed basically the same formula that the Uncharted games do: Climb, puzzle, combat, story, climb puzzle combat, story. Usually in that order ad nauseam. The things that keep this cycle from becoming boring are the characters, the variations in the action, and the story being, ya know, interesting. Unfortunately, Shadow of the Tomb Raider does not have any of these things. The puzzles are boring and require a lot of waiting, the climbing sections are contrived at this point (not sure if it's this game's fault or just that after 4 Uncharteds and 2 other Tomb Raiders, I kinda get it. You push the control stick forward), and the combat is way too few and far between. And I'm so entirely over "oh no the hand-hold you grabbed broke!" It's no longer interesting, it's just a scripted sequence now. To the point where you can often tell it's about to happen before it does. The hazards of making/playing games in a particular genre for too long, I suppose.
Story
The game begins so slowly and gives me no reason to care about what the villain is doing, or why he's doing it. All we know is "Trinity Bad". I know that this would of course expand through the remainder of the game but I didn't care to stick around for the payoff so who cares?
Characters
Lara's character is rather flat in this one, even though that was a huge positive for me in the other two. In the first she was a naive adventurer in over her head, in the second she was a deeply traumatized young adult grappling with her past and future burdens. Now she's just a whiny, overly intense sad sack.
Art/Level Design
Everything looks like generic jungle ruins. There isn't really much more to say. None of it is terribly interesting. The puzzle sections are monotonous.
Music
I seriously have no idea what the music even sounded like. I'm sure it wasn't bad but I have absolutely no memory of it.
Gameplay
The Tomb Raider games have followed basically the same formula that the Uncharted games do: Climb, puzzle, combat, story, climb puzzle combat, story. Usually in that order ad nauseam. The things that keep this cycle from becoming boring are the characters, the variations in the action, and the story being, ya know, interesting. Unfortunately, Shadow of the Tomb Raider does not have any of these things. The puzzles are boring and require a lot of waiting, the climbing sections are contrived at this point (not sure if it's this game's fault or just that after 4 Uncharteds and 2 other Tomb Raiders, I kinda get it. You push the control stick forward), and the combat is way too few and far between. And I'm so entirely over "oh no the hand-hold you grabbed broke!" It's no longer interesting, it's just a scripted sequence now. To the point where you can often tell it's about to happen before it does. The hazards of making/playing games in a particular genre for too long, I suppose.
Story
The game begins so slowly and gives me no reason to care about what the villain is doing, or why he's doing it. All we know is "Trinity Bad". I know that this would of course expand through the remainder of the game but I didn't care to stick around for the payoff so who cares?
Characters
Lara's character is rather flat in this one, even though that was a huge positive for me in the other two. In the first she was a naive adventurer in over her head, in the second she was a deeply traumatized young adult grappling with her past and future burdens. Now she's just a whiny, overly intense sad sack.
Art/Level Design
Everything looks like generic jungle ruins. There isn't really much more to say. None of it is terribly interesting. The puzzle sections are monotonous.
Music
I seriously have no idea what the music even sounded like. I'm sure it wasn't bad but I have absolutely no memory of it.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an alright game, in that it does some things phenomenally well while falling flat on others. It was a fairly good wrap-up to the Eidos Montreal trilogy and a fitting end to the most modern we've seen Lara Croft.
If I start off with the good, this game is jaw droppingly beautiful at just about every point. The rich and luscious forests that exist within the Central/Southern American jungles pop and burst with color. There were moments in traversal where I had to simply stop and stare at all that was gorgeous around me. Everything from the environments to the ruins (including the underwater segments, to the characters was absolutely astonishing. I found myself in awe of Lara's character quite a bit because of how human she looked and was presented, many a moment spent in reflection of how far games have come. There were drawbacks to this amount of visual fidelity (of which I will touch on below) but they added an intense amount of taste to the already exciting series.
Another great piece of Shadow of the Tomb Raider was again how sound the series is mechanically in platforming and in movement, especially when contrasted to its Naughty Dog counterpart in Uncharted. The amount of travesal tools the game gives you (and requires of you) makes the extensive running, jumping, and climbing never feel like a chore. There are moments where you must complete only a wall run, and others where the player is tasked with adding a vertical rock climb and descending rope climb to that run. Mix and match the various combinations are you have a lot of ways that Lara gets from point A to point B. For a game that asks that of the player quite a lot, Eidos makes it feel rewarding and appropriate for the adventurer that Lara is.
Negatively there are a number of things I have to say with Shadow of the Tomb Raider that, while they do detract from the general experience, didn't make for a bad playthrough.
The first is the aforementioned performance issues. I have a capable computer with reasonably new specs, and pre-loading of the game identified it was good to run the game with all settings on "high." After a few hours in I found my computer crashing and in need of a hard reboot, this would go from every ten minutes to every thirty seconds of running the game. Eventually I ticked everything down to "medium" and it still looked good, but I wanted my vistas to look better dangit!
Otherwise the story was largely forgettable and the inclusion of the ancient civlization/natives was cool, and you definitely have a degree of suspension of disbelief, but their heightened prescence was a bit odd in comparison to the mythical elements of the other two games in the series. In Uncharted and in Tomb Raider 2013/Rise the mythological pieces and parties play a very large role as the games conclude but stay mythical until then. In Shadow they are included extremely early and were all over the story. Like I said cool, but was an odd tonal shift and inclusion that in the grand scheme of things didn't make too much sense.
Shooting and combat in Shadow was also largely forgotten for much of the game, you have a lot of time without real combat that made some parts of the game feel a bit one note. Again the shooting (and I don't expect it to be great) is nothing to give praise as the odd spray pattern and armored enemies penalizes the player for trying to complete fights in a semi-quick manner.
I had some fun playing through Lara Croft's latest journey, but I'm not sure it was the best use of time.
If I start off with the good, this game is jaw droppingly beautiful at just about every point. The rich and luscious forests that exist within the Central/Southern American jungles pop and burst with color. There were moments in traversal where I had to simply stop and stare at all that was gorgeous around me. Everything from the environments to the ruins (including the underwater segments, to the characters was absolutely astonishing. I found myself in awe of Lara's character quite a bit because of how human she looked and was presented, many a moment spent in reflection of how far games have come. There were drawbacks to this amount of visual fidelity (of which I will touch on below) but they added an intense amount of taste to the already exciting series.
Another great piece of Shadow of the Tomb Raider was again how sound the series is mechanically in platforming and in movement, especially when contrasted to its Naughty Dog counterpart in Uncharted. The amount of travesal tools the game gives you (and requires of you) makes the extensive running, jumping, and climbing never feel like a chore. There are moments where you must complete only a wall run, and others where the player is tasked with adding a vertical rock climb and descending rope climb to that run. Mix and match the various combinations are you have a lot of ways that Lara gets from point A to point B. For a game that asks that of the player quite a lot, Eidos makes it feel rewarding and appropriate for the adventurer that Lara is.
Negatively there are a number of things I have to say with Shadow of the Tomb Raider that, while they do detract from the general experience, didn't make for a bad playthrough.
The first is the aforementioned performance issues. I have a capable computer with reasonably new specs, and pre-loading of the game identified it was good to run the game with all settings on "high." After a few hours in I found my computer crashing and in need of a hard reboot, this would go from every ten minutes to every thirty seconds of running the game. Eventually I ticked everything down to "medium" and it still looked good, but I wanted my vistas to look better dangit!
Otherwise the story was largely forgettable and the inclusion of the ancient civlization/natives was cool, and you definitely have a degree of suspension of disbelief, but their heightened prescence was a bit odd in comparison to the mythical elements of the other two games in the series. In Uncharted and in Tomb Raider 2013/Rise the mythological pieces and parties play a very large role as the games conclude but stay mythical until then. In Shadow they are included extremely early and were all over the story. Like I said cool, but was an odd tonal shift and inclusion that in the grand scheme of things didn't make too much sense.
Shooting and combat in Shadow was also largely forgotten for much of the game, you have a lot of time without real combat that made some parts of the game feel a bit one note. Again the shooting (and I don't expect it to be great) is nothing to give praise as the odd spray pattern and armored enemies penalizes the player for trying to complete fights in a semi-quick manner.
I had some fun playing through Lara Croft's latest journey, but I'm not sure it was the best use of time.
eu queria gostar mais desse aqui...
o contexto histórico é bom, afinal, teve historiadores trabalhando nesse aspecto e mesmo assim, o enredo do jogo é chato, parece que tudo foi contado por uma criança
aqui, a Lara como personagem está cada vez mais próxima da era clássica, O QUE É BOM, mas o fato de a história mais uma vez girar em torno dos pais dela é algo meio meh
me irrita como o jogo tem inúmeras skins com diferentes bonificações e não poder usar elas quando quiser por causa da história (a não ser que use mod).
pra mim, o que salva ele é a exploração INCRÍVEL e o combate, ambos melhoraram muito desde o seu antecessor. é muito satisfatório explorar cada pedacinho do mapa em busca dos secrets e os puzzles serem igualmente bem pensados
quem não se importa com as roupinhas que dá pra usar ou com a história, pode se divertir, mesmo que a campanha seja curta.
o contexto histórico é bom, afinal, teve historiadores trabalhando nesse aspecto e mesmo assim, o enredo do jogo é chato, parece que tudo foi contado por uma criança
aqui, a Lara como personagem está cada vez mais próxima da era clássica, O QUE É BOM, mas o fato de a história mais uma vez girar em torno dos pais dela é algo meio meh
me irrita como o jogo tem inúmeras skins com diferentes bonificações e não poder usar elas quando quiser por causa da história (a não ser que use mod).
pra mim, o que salva ele é a exploração INCRÍVEL e o combate, ambos melhoraram muito desde o seu antecessor. é muito satisfatório explorar cada pedacinho do mapa em busca dos secrets e os puzzles serem igualmente bem pensados
quem não se importa com as roupinhas que dá pra usar ou com a história, pode se divertir, mesmo que a campanha seja curta.
Shadow of the tomb raider really felt like they wanted to milk the franchise to its fullest. It wasn't a bad game, but compared to its predecessors in the reboot series, it wasn't something new either. It's still worth playing though, it's a Tomb Raider game after all.
fine
Tenta reviver algumas coisas do Tomb Raider (2009) e pensa mais no lado de exploração, até chegar na parte final, onde a dificuldade já vai pra nível absurdo do nada. A história é ok, nada tão interessante e agora você tem algumas novas opções para escalar e stealth.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is probably still my favorite of the reboot games, but Shadow is a close second.
I remember streaming this one, almost non stop - I got the platinum in less than a month.
What I remember most is the massive scale of some climbing set-pieces. They capture that sense of fear and awe, how small you are, how death is just a slip away.
Maybe I should revisit, I never played the DLC puzzle tombs.
I remember streaming this one, almost non stop - I got the platinum in less than a month.
What I remember most is the massive scale of some climbing set-pieces. They capture that sense of fear and awe, how small you are, how death is just a slip away.
Maybe I should revisit, I never played the DLC puzzle tombs.
mto chato esse
Nossa, como o fim da trilogia consegue ser pior-tirando gráfico e gameplay, dos seus antecessores?
Esse jogo tinha uma mega responsabilidade nas costas, basicamente, como que ele iria fechar a trilogia desse reboot de Tomb Raider?
"Tomb Raider" é uma das poucas franquias de jogos "das antigas" que conseguiu um espaço na modernidade.
Bom, Shadow faz nossa Larinha embarcar em mais uma aventura mortal focada dessa vez na Amazônia peruana, na qual testa suas habilidades, laços, ideais e, não menos importante, seu passado.
Logo no começo estamos no México na cola da Trindade para evitar que eles destruam mais templos e criptas preciosas. E após uma exploração por um templo, Lara impaciente e obcecada pelo seu objetivo de impedir a Trindade a todo custo, leva ela a cometer um erro tremendo, dando início assim a um apocalipse maia.
Ironicamente esse acontecimento trágico no estória do jogo se passa no Día de los muertos. Tem que ter aquele tempero que faz o estômago revirar.
É notável que o jogo quer passar aquela atmosfera de "esse é o lado obscuro da arqueóloga Lara Croft" com um roteiro mais amadurecido, mas isso não acaba sendo reaproveitado no restante do jogo.
EXPLORAÇÃO/PROGRESSO, DIFICULDADE, ESTÓRIA, BUGS E PONTOS NEGATIVOS
- Um mundo semi-aberto maiorzinho e incrívelmente detalhado. A exploração está bem melhor que os dois jogos anteriores (isso na minha visão), fazendo você ter que adentrar ainda mais na selva para entender por onde ir e se localizar.
Algo que eu gosto bastante em jogos que incentivem a exploração é o fato de, após uma missão principal de apresentação, que eu possa ir pra qualquer canto que eu bem entender:
"Hmmmm, eu tenho que impedir o vilão de conseguir o objeto que irá reescrever o mundo?... vou ali rapidão explorar alguns mapas, entrar em 9 tumbas, 11 criptas e resolver seus enigmas."
- É bem tranquila, e o que possivelmente leva alguém a terminar o jogo. O stealth está bem mais polido nesse título e será uma mecânica essencial em sua jornada, tanto que agora Lara se cobrirá de lama para se camuflar mais pelo cenário.
Caso você queira ir atrás do 100%, já adianto que a dificuldade "Obsessão Mortal" é uma desgraça em forma digital, tem de tudo e mais um pouco do que você imaginar para dificultar a sua hospedagem no jogo, então eu recomendo jogar mais normalmente primeiro antes de enfrentar a última.
Mas tem um detalhe nessa dificuldade que, put@ que pariu, eu adorei que tiraram:
"Lara tagarela".
Acabei de inventar, gostaram?
De verdade, é sufocante você estar explorando algo novo e a Lara vir com seus 20 diálogos de dicas e observações diárias. Deixa eu ficar imersivo no jogo!! Não venha dar uma de Scooby-Doo pra cima de mim no momento em que entrarmos na cripta para resolver seus mistérios. Mistérios. A própria palavra já indica o que devemos fazer no local.
Desculpa, me exaltei.
Olha, possívelmente isso também existe no Rise, mas como não havia nenhum troféu que envolvesse a dificuldade mais alta, então eu só ignorei.
- A estória não fede e nem cheira.
Ela vai nos apresentando ao momento em que Lara e Jonah (nesse jogo ele tem mais destaque e dá um choque de realidade em Lara... mas seu rosto está diferente) se encontram após estarem na cola da Trindade por um tempo e vai caminhando até que normal, só que em determinado momento a narrativa se engrandece tanto que chega a ser surreal. Tipo assim, vamos colocar as cartas na mesa:
1º jogo = Deusa da tempestade de uma ilha japonesa;
2º jogo = Fonte da imortalidade;
3º jogo = Objetos que resetam o mundo a mando de seu portador(a).
Isso escalonou bem rápido, não sei vocês.
E ainda tem a desvantagem do jogo ter uma campanha curta. Não sei como que de uma cena nós estamos "tranquilos" para uma guerra contra o tempo em uma lenda maia.
- Os únicos bugs que pude presenciar nas minhas jogadas se resumem a algumas situações ocasionais, ou seja, não foram frequentes, no máximo uma ou duas vezes:
Lara não agarrar em paredes por não sei quais motivos;
O cabelo de Lara ficar muito claro do nada e voltar depois de alguns segundos;
NPC's sumindo durante interação, mas sua função ainda estar ativa;
- Vamos lá para a listinha:
Por mais que os mapas sejam visualmente incríveis e bem detalhados, eu me senti cansado quando fui atrás dos colecionáveis. Exageraram um pouco nesse título;
Eu até que comentei sobre o fato da dificuldade "Obsessão Mortal" conter o máximo para dificultar a sua experiência em game, mas o que leva a isso é pelo fator principal de os inimigos darem mais dano. Tipo assim, tire isso e você só tem NPC's que acabam caindo em todas as estratégias de uma dificuldade mais baixa;
O boss final eu particularmente não esperava muito dele, e ainda bem que não criei expectativas. Ele acaba sendo estupidamente fácil e muito rushado mesmo invocando seus "minions", mas consegue ser mais legal que o helicóptero do jogo anterior.
CONCLUSÃO
Bem, existem muitas outros tópicos que eu poderia ter adicionado nessa review, mas sendo sincero com vocês eu estou com preguiça e isso pode não acabar saindo do jeito que eu quero.
Para ser bem franco eu esperava que a conclusão desse terceiro jogo do reboot encerrasse com pelo menos uma chave de prata, mas o que acabei presenciando foi uma chave de bronze tingida de prata. Não foi o horror encorporado, ele apenas foi o ruinzinho.
Ainda assim eu recomendaria para alguém que esteja interessado em Tomb Raider ou algum jogo de exploração, e espero que caso haja uma continuação direta que seja bem digna da importância que Lara Croft tem no mundo dos jogos.
"Tomb Raider" é uma das poucas franquias de jogos "das antigas" que conseguiu um espaço na modernidade.
Bom, Shadow faz nossa Larinha embarcar em mais uma aventura mortal focada dessa vez na Amazônia peruana, na qual testa suas habilidades, laços, ideais e, não menos importante, seu passado.
Logo no começo estamos no México na cola da Trindade para evitar que eles destruam mais templos e criptas preciosas. E após uma exploração por um templo, Lara impaciente e obcecada pelo seu objetivo de impedir a Trindade a todo custo, leva ela a cometer um erro tremendo, dando início assim a um apocalipse maia.
Ironicamente esse acontecimento trágico no estória do jogo se passa no Día de los muertos. Tem que ter aquele tempero que faz o estômago revirar.
É notável que o jogo quer passar aquela atmosfera de "esse é o lado obscuro da arqueóloga Lara Croft" com um roteiro mais amadurecido, mas isso não acaba sendo reaproveitado no restante do jogo.
EXPLORAÇÃO/PROGRESSO, DIFICULDADE, ESTÓRIA, BUGS E PONTOS NEGATIVOS
- Um mundo semi-aberto maiorzinho e incrívelmente detalhado. A exploração está bem melhor que os dois jogos anteriores (isso na minha visão), fazendo você ter que adentrar ainda mais na selva para entender por onde ir e se localizar.
Algo que eu gosto bastante em jogos que incentivem a exploração é o fato de, após uma missão principal de apresentação, que eu possa ir pra qualquer canto que eu bem entender:
"Hmmmm, eu tenho que impedir o vilão de conseguir o objeto que irá reescrever o mundo?... vou ali rapidão explorar alguns mapas, entrar em 9 tumbas, 11 criptas e resolver seus enigmas."
- É bem tranquila, e o que possivelmente leva alguém a terminar o jogo. O stealth está bem mais polido nesse título e será uma mecânica essencial em sua jornada, tanto que agora Lara se cobrirá de lama para se camuflar mais pelo cenário.
Caso você queira ir atrás do 100%, já adianto que a dificuldade "Obsessão Mortal" é uma desgraça em forma digital, tem de tudo e mais um pouco do que você imaginar para dificultar a sua hospedagem no jogo, então eu recomendo jogar mais normalmente primeiro antes de enfrentar a última.
Mas tem um detalhe nessa dificuldade que, put@ que pariu, eu adorei que tiraram:
"Lara tagarela".
Acabei de inventar, gostaram?
De verdade, é sufocante você estar explorando algo novo e a Lara vir com seus 20 diálogos de dicas e observações diárias. Deixa eu ficar imersivo no jogo!! Não venha dar uma de Scooby-Doo pra cima de mim no momento em que entrarmos na cripta para resolver seus mistérios. Mistérios. A própria palavra já indica o que devemos fazer no local.
Desculpa, me exaltei.
Olha, possívelmente isso também existe no Rise, mas como não havia nenhum troféu que envolvesse a dificuldade mais alta, então eu só ignorei.
- A estória não fede e nem cheira.
Ela vai nos apresentando ao momento em que Lara e Jonah (nesse jogo ele tem mais destaque e dá um choque de realidade em Lara... mas seu rosto está diferente) se encontram após estarem na cola da Trindade por um tempo e vai caminhando até que normal, só que em determinado momento a narrativa se engrandece tanto que chega a ser surreal. Tipo assim, vamos colocar as cartas na mesa:
1º jogo = Deusa da tempestade de uma ilha japonesa;
2º jogo = Fonte da imortalidade;
3º jogo = Objetos que resetam o mundo a mando de seu portador(a).
Isso escalonou bem rápido, não sei vocês.
E ainda tem a desvantagem do jogo ter uma campanha curta. Não sei como que de uma cena nós estamos "tranquilos" para uma guerra contra o tempo em uma lenda maia.
- Os únicos bugs que pude presenciar nas minhas jogadas se resumem a algumas situações ocasionais, ou seja, não foram frequentes, no máximo uma ou duas vezes:
Lara não agarrar em paredes por não sei quais motivos;
O cabelo de Lara ficar muito claro do nada e voltar depois de alguns segundos;
NPC's sumindo durante interação, mas sua função ainda estar ativa;
- Vamos lá para a listinha:
Por mais que os mapas sejam visualmente incríveis e bem detalhados, eu me senti cansado quando fui atrás dos colecionáveis. Exageraram um pouco nesse título;
Eu até que comentei sobre o fato da dificuldade "Obsessão Mortal" conter o máximo para dificultar a sua experiência em game, mas o que leva a isso é pelo fator principal de os inimigos darem mais dano. Tipo assim, tire isso e você só tem NPC's que acabam caindo em todas as estratégias de uma dificuldade mais baixa;
O boss final eu particularmente não esperava muito dele, e ainda bem que não criei expectativas. Ele acaba sendo estupidamente fácil e muito rushado mesmo invocando seus "minions", mas consegue ser mais legal que o helicóptero do jogo anterior.
CONCLUSÃO
Bem, existem muitas outros tópicos que eu poderia ter adicionado nessa review, mas sendo sincero com vocês eu estou com preguiça e isso pode não acabar saindo do jeito que eu quero.
Para ser bem franco eu esperava que a conclusão desse terceiro jogo do reboot encerrasse com pelo menos uma chave de prata, mas o que acabei presenciando foi uma chave de bronze tingida de prata. Não foi o horror encorporado, ele apenas foi o ruinzinho.
Ainda assim eu recomendaria para alguém que esteja interessado em Tomb Raider ou algum jogo de exploração, e espero que caso haja uma continuação direta que seja bem digna da importância que Lara Croft tem no mundo dos jogos.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is what happens when you take the best part of the last game, the Tombs, and make almost the entire game about it. To most people, this makes this the black sheep of the Trilogy. To me, it is the best of the 3 and also just one of my favourite Tomb Raider games ever.
As someone who grew up with the classic saga on the PS1, I can definitely say this game certainly captures the essence of the classic Tomb Raider games where the last two didn't. In fact, the last 2 games felt like they were building up to this moment. Finally, I'm playing a confident Lara Croft who is all about exploring tombs and solving historical mysteries.
As mentioned, there is barley any combat save for towards the end of the game, which is totally fine by me as the shooting was the weakest part of these games. The challenge here is in the platforming and puzzle solving. I also implore you to play this on the hard difficulty where they turn off any hints for puzzles; It gives you the feeling of solving really challenging puzzles from the classic games that the previous 2 games couldn't capture.
I highly recommend playing this with the definitive edition where you get all the DLC. The DLC missions are easily the best parts of the game and are also geniusly interwoven into the story as side missions along the main story. With that factor, it's DLC that just feel like an expansion to the main game's story rather than something just tacked on the side.
If you're a Tomb Raider fan who was disappointed by the first 2 games in the reboot trilogy, I implore you keep playing till Shadow. It is the most rewarding pay-off as a classic Tomb Raider fan and a great end to a trilogy setting up all of Lara's future adventures as we used to know her.
As someone who grew up with the classic saga on the PS1, I can definitely say this game certainly captures the essence of the classic Tomb Raider games where the last two didn't. In fact, the last 2 games felt like they were building up to this moment. Finally, I'm playing a confident Lara Croft who is all about exploring tombs and solving historical mysteries.
As mentioned, there is barley any combat save for towards the end of the game, which is totally fine by me as the shooting was the weakest part of these games. The challenge here is in the platforming and puzzle solving. I also implore you to play this on the hard difficulty where they turn off any hints for puzzles; It gives you the feeling of solving really challenging puzzles from the classic games that the previous 2 games couldn't capture.
I highly recommend playing this with the definitive edition where you get all the DLC. The DLC missions are easily the best parts of the game and are also geniusly interwoven into the story as side missions along the main story. With that factor, it's DLC that just feel like an expansion to the main game's story rather than something just tacked on the side.
If you're a Tomb Raider fan who was disappointed by the first 2 games in the reboot trilogy, I implore you keep playing till Shadow. It is the most rewarding pay-off as a classic Tomb Raider fan and a great end to a trilogy setting up all of Lara's future adventures as we used to know her.
I totally understand who considers this game worse than the other two, i particularly like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but the game does not learn with the past games.
First of all, it looks pretty as the others, in other words, graphics still good and i really appreciate this.
Now, the biggest problem to me: progression. In other two games of this trilogy, you can feel Lara becoming better and in SOTR you feel the same in all campaign.
Unfortunately, the story become worse than Rise of the Tomb Raider. It's very sad, a good story about legacy and discoveries becomes a cliche evil secret organization(It is a problem inherited from Rise of the Tomb Raider).
For me, it's the same level of Rise of the Tomb Raider, have a lot of problems and i didn't expected more. So i'm satisfied, but it's a okay game.
First of all, it looks pretty as the others, in other words, graphics still good and i really appreciate this.
Now, the biggest problem to me: progression. In other two games of this trilogy, you can feel Lara becoming better and in SOTR you feel the same in all campaign.
Unfortunately, the story become worse than Rise of the Tomb Raider. It's very sad, a good story about legacy and discoveries becomes a cliche evil secret organization(It is a problem inherited from Rise of the Tomb Raider).
For me, it's the same level of Rise of the Tomb Raider, have a lot of problems and i didn't expected more. So i'm satisfied, but it's a okay game.
Being a fan of both classic TR and the reboot series, this game left me very conflicted. I think Eidos did a better job at giving us a "true" Tomb Raider experience than CD, focusing less in combat and more in exploration, platforming and puzzles. that's great. however, i found the story to be weak and considerably worse that the first two in the trilogy. the game starts really strong but there are lots of problems along the way and some design choices really hurt the narrative. I'm so tired of these RPG elements and AAA tropes being in almost every story-driven singleplayer game nowadays, for no reason other than having more "content". it does not make things better and harms the dynamic and pacing of the story SO MUCH, it's a real shame. upgrades, skill trees, hub worlds and side quests don't belong in a tomb raider game. i'm totally okay with TR not being that mainstream anymore tbh, we don't need all that stuff.
Back to the story, apart from some stale moments the plot is still interesting and engaging, until it becomes really disappointing and predictable after they killed off an important character middle of the game, it makes no sense and the ending is weaker because of it. and don't get me started about the white savior stuff because yeah, that happens. the villain was ok with a cool final fight, but the end could have been so much more satisfying. i still don't know what Jonah is doing in these games, his solely reason to exist is that Lara can have a friend. he has zero character. I recognise the effort to make him a bit more of a character this time but it ended up being too superficial. remember Sam from the first game? yeah, she was nice.
Now that this trilogy is over I hope we can have a bolder tomb raider game in the near future that isn't so concerned about telling the origin story of Lara Croft because, really, we never needed that.
Back to the story, apart from some stale moments the plot is still interesting and engaging, until it becomes really disappointing and predictable after they killed off an important character middle of the game, it makes no sense and the ending is weaker because of it. and don't get me started about the white savior stuff because yeah, that happens. the villain was ok with a cool final fight, but the end could have been so much more satisfying. i still don't know what Jonah is doing in these games, his solely reason to exist is that Lara can have a friend. he has zero character. I recognise the effort to make him a bit more of a character this time but it ended up being too superficial. remember Sam from the first game? yeah, she was nice.
Now that this trilogy is over I hope we can have a bolder tomb raider game in the near future that isn't so concerned about telling the origin story of Lara Croft because, really, we never needed that.
Third time is (kinda?) the charm.
Looks like this one followed the consistently improving pattern of the previous two reboot series games. We're finally left with a game that I can fully get behind. It's still heavily flawed and nowhere near the peaks of the series from before but I'll take what I can get at this point.
The general feeling was finally nailed (this has the most Tomb Raider feeling any of the games have had since Underworld) but the gameplay feels a bit uncharacteristically off. You have these huge ass skill trees, one of the branches giving you combat abilities but there's barely any opportunities to use them. Don't get me wrong, the decrease in combat focus is greatly appreciated on my end but why did they even bother? Beyond this, the platforming also takes a hit this go around. I already dislike the sticky ledge/gliding through the air platforming style of this iteration of the series and the Uncharted games but there's the extra layer of inconsistent mechanics this time. The grapple axe was an absolute shit show in terms of execution and it felt like it only worked half of the time. Not much more of an annoyance on the regular difficulties with constant checkpoints but when a difficulty like Deadly Obsession exists (saves at campfires only, sometimes campfires are 40+ minutes apart) it needs to be better.
Can't help but wish this had more time or budget (both?). There's a very solid framework to be found but it doesn't fully deliver on anything. Having said that, it's a better effort than the previous two games regardless. If the series isn't dead, I hope Eidos Montreal gets another go at it. Perhaps next time as the sole developer. Crystal Dynamics hasn't been slaying things exactly...
Looks like this one followed the consistently improving pattern of the previous two reboot series games. We're finally left with a game that I can fully get behind. It's still heavily flawed and nowhere near the peaks of the series from before but I'll take what I can get at this point.
The general feeling was finally nailed (this has the most Tomb Raider feeling any of the games have had since Underworld) but the gameplay feels a bit uncharacteristically off. You have these huge ass skill trees, one of the branches giving you combat abilities but there's barely any opportunities to use them. Don't get me wrong, the decrease in combat focus is greatly appreciated on my end but why did they even bother? Beyond this, the platforming also takes a hit this go around. I already dislike the sticky ledge/gliding through the air platforming style of this iteration of the series and the Uncharted games but there's the extra layer of inconsistent mechanics this time. The grapple axe was an absolute shit show in terms of execution and it felt like it only worked half of the time. Not much more of an annoyance on the regular difficulties with constant checkpoints but when a difficulty like Deadly Obsession exists (saves at campfires only, sometimes campfires are 40+ minutes apart) it needs to be better.
Can't help but wish this had more time or budget (both?). There's a very solid framework to be found but it doesn't fully deliver on anything. Having said that, it's a better effort than the previous two games regardless. If the series isn't dead, I hope Eidos Montreal gets another go at it. Perhaps next time as the sole developer. Crystal Dynamics hasn't been slaying things exactly...
this game has a really nice graphics options menu and a technically impressive rendition of Mexico.
My favorite Tomb Raider from the reboot trilogy.
Seeing Lara's growth throughout these three games and slowly becoming the badass we're used to (though she never quite gets to Legend levels of iconic, but there will be a sequel soon so who knows) was a great journey.
I stopped playing this halfway through and only picked it up again now a year later so I don't really know what's going on with the Mayan apocalypse story, but story has never been something I really cared about in these games. The main point for me is the exploration, and it hits all the marks there. They finally put the shooting in the backseat and the stealth can be fun sometimes with lots of different options. It's the most platforming and tomb-focused of all the reboot games and that's soooo much fun. The stunning visuals and super detailed world also help. I still think Tomb Raider works best in linear levels as opposed to the hub worlds they keep trying to push, but this one is linear for most of the time so I was very pleased. I also played the definite version with all the dlc tombs and they are all super fun and challenging. Should've been included in the base game, to be fair.
The action sequences are so over the top and fun it's hard to even pick one. But the whole oil refinery sequence culminating in Lara emerging from the water with flames behind her and picking up a rifle will always be one of my favorite sequences in all the Tomb Raider games.
Very excited to see where this goes next
Seeing Lara's growth throughout these three games and slowly becoming the badass we're used to (though she never quite gets to Legend levels of iconic, but there will be a sequel soon so who knows) was a great journey.
I stopped playing this halfway through and only picked it up again now a year later so I don't really know what's going on with the Mayan apocalypse story, but story has never been something I really cared about in these games. The main point for me is the exploration, and it hits all the marks there. They finally put the shooting in the backseat and the stealth can be fun sometimes with lots of different options. It's the most platforming and tomb-focused of all the reboot games and that's soooo much fun. The stunning visuals and super detailed world also help. I still think Tomb Raider works best in linear levels as opposed to the hub worlds they keep trying to push, but this one is linear for most of the time so I was very pleased. I also played the definite version with all the dlc tombs and they are all super fun and challenging. Should've been included in the base game, to be fair.
The action sequences are so over the top and fun it's hard to even pick one. But the whole oil refinery sequence culminating in Lara emerging from the water with flames behind her and picking up a rifle will always be one of my favorite sequences in all the Tomb Raider games.
Very excited to see where this goes next
Para começar bem, o jogo é chato! Não há muito o que ser dito, o jogo pesa a mão na exploração e nos puzzles em tumbas, e abdica da ação - o que é uma pena, considerando que as mecânicas de stealth são realmente boas. Narrativamente, o jogo não ajuda muito, desperdiçando a presença da Trindade, criando elementos que ao primeiro olhar parecem pesados e transformadores, mas que são largados narrativamente, com direito a fazer missões secundárias de procurar arco e flexa enquanto um apocalipse se aproxima. A árvore de habilidades praticamente não tem nada realmente útil ou que altere significativamente a dinâmica do jogo. É um final triste para trilogia reboot, considerando a qualidade dos dois jogos anteriores. A nota só não é menor, pois é um jogo tecnicamente muito bem feito, bonito e vistoso, e malemá tem seus momentos de glória.
I have so many mixed feelings about this, the gameplay for me it's the best of the trilogy, I really really like the scenarios, but the story and it's characters are so bad oh god
I'm not sure what it was about this one that made me enjoy it, just slightly, less than the others. Maybe it was just fatigue from the same formula? Maybe it was a de-emphasis on combat in favour of exploration, and therefore hundreds more pace-breaking collectibles to read.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a very fun game, and if you enjoyed the other 2, you'll no doubt enjoy this. It honestly feels like a twin with Rise, with only small additions gameplay-wise.
The scenery and locations are still beautiful. I still enjoy playing as Lara for reasons I just cannot possibly figure out why.
Sidequests feel less tacked on in this one than in Rise, mostly because the HUB areas are more prominent.
Also that shot of Lara rising from the water with the fire behind her is raw as fuck.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a very fun game, and if you enjoyed the other 2, you'll no doubt enjoy this. It honestly feels like a twin with Rise, with only small additions gameplay-wise.
The scenery and locations are still beautiful. I still enjoy playing as Lara for reasons I just cannot possibly figure out why.
Sidequests feel less tacked on in this one than in Rise, mostly because the HUB areas are more prominent.
Also that shot of Lara rising from the water with the fire behind her is raw as fuck.
Still a great game and a worthy addition to the modern trilogy. For whatever reason I enjoyed the other two a little more, and I found this one a little cut and paste and the story a bit forgettable.
It's a good game but the best thing this trilogy did was give us Lara sfm porn
Virgen santa, qué mal escritos están estos juegos.
This review contains spoilers
Decent game but honestly a waste of potential
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the 3rd game in the modern reboot Trilogy, and I guess origin Trilogy for Lara as all 3 of these games are set to set up a young Lara. This game has been met with a lot of mixed reviews and I feel a lot more negative ones than positive and while I don’t hate this game, I do feel it was a huge letdown in a lot of ways.
Gameplay: much like the previous game this is an open world, semi-RPG, semi platformer action-adventure game with environmental puzzles and 3rd person shooting. The gameplay is almost too much like the previous ones but even more refined with new ways to stealth though combat with a camouflage wall system and more weapons to fight with. The upgrade system is a bit more of the same with an even bigger skill tree. The problem is this game focuses more on puzzle solving and platforming rather than combat unlike the last 2 and most of these changes aren't huge in the grand scheme of things. This game feels like the developers just wanted to playthings safe and not take any risks. Each game is a more refined version of the same thing with not many major changes or overhauls and whether you take this as a good or bad thing I think by the time the 3rd game comes around it starts to feel a little redundant. One aspect that they also heavily leaned into with this game are the side quest elements that feel very rpg. At a point in the game, you have villagers you can help with things like fetish quests or personal drama between them and I don't usually mind this aspect in rpg games but for a Tomb raider game this felt like too much and at the same time too little and what I mean is there was a lot of side content and a lot of it felt very superficial and boring. Some of them had cool moments but at the end of it I hardly remember most of it because I really just wanted to move past most of it.
Graphics, music & voice acting: this game once again visually looks fantastic and takes big steps forward in this aspect with each installment. The environments of jungles, tombs, caves and forgotten places all come to us with crisp sound and sound visual design. Speaking of sound, the music and sound FXs all work great in this game and fit the atmospheres of each setting. Though I will say there aren't any major changes or developments in the sound design that really stuck with me it's still designed smoothly. The voice acting and dialogue work well and all the voice actors do great with the scripts they are given. Really this aspect of the game lacks when it comes to narrative.
Story/ SPOILERS: once again it's hard to talk about the goods and bads of any heavy narrative driven game without getting into the details so spoiler warning. Man, this story is honestly hard to unpack because it's pretty convoluted and at the same time it feels like a rinse and repeat of rise of the tomb raider. Both games Lara gets stranded, both games have a hidden cult or tribe of people she discovers, both games have Trinity as the main villain, both games have Jonah as a male damsel in distress. You could argue the first game did a lot of these things too but the 2013 game executed this stuff differently and still had some unique aspects while this game and rise feel too similar. Another aspect of this game that feels all over the place is Laras’ character and her overall character arch. Most of her arch happens in the first game and doesn't progress much past rise. This game tries hard to express Lara made huge mistakes in this game with the extremely convoluted plot of the silver box and dagger thing. Halfway through this game I remember thinking to myself wait why does Lara need this again? Why does Lara seem to hate herself in this game? I know she causes a flood in this game and gets people killed but Trinity was definitely going to take the dagger anyway. She also goes on a murderous rampage later in this game and I do think this part was cool but doesn't really pay off. Lara goes right back to where she started at the end of the game, and it feels lame as hell. I thought maybe this game we'd see Lara become a reimagined bad ass version of the old Tomb raider with the dual pistols but oh well I guess not? Maybe in the next Trilogy? Who knows. This game also is filled with plot holes involving Laras father Richard where we find out he was looking for the silver box in this game and was killed for trying to uncover it while in the last game they made it clear he died over trying to find immortality and that games artifact. There was just a lot of moments and plot beats like this where I was like "wtf since when?" And that's not something sequels usually do, maybe prequels or long running franchises out of steam and this was only this Lara's 3rd game. Other honorable mentions are the generic evil villain guy, return of a 3rd undead army of warriors (at least they were a bit different this time around), moments in the story where characters disappear so Lara can temple run away and reappear when she’s done running, the side collectibles that don't really expand much of the side story or lore, and the bait and switch of this game making us think Jonah was going to die but then turns out he’s all fine and dandy... AGAIN.
Overall, this game didn't take any risks and kept the idea of rise going rather than switching things up and trying new things. With all that being said I don't think this is a terrible game nor do I think the plot is terrible either, it’s just not great and doesn't feel like a solid ending to the Trilogy. This game does have a lot of cool nods and Easter eggs to the original games, and I think if you love Tomb Raider, uncharted, Indiana Jones or the previous 2 games you'll probably really enjoy this one or at least a onetime playthrough. I Definitely don't hate this game and would love to see this Lara return and not get rebooted again but at the same time I want her to expand into some middle ground between old Lara and New one, so we get the best of both worlds.
Anyways 7.5/10 from me
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the 3rd game in the modern reboot Trilogy, and I guess origin Trilogy for Lara as all 3 of these games are set to set up a young Lara. This game has been met with a lot of mixed reviews and I feel a lot more negative ones than positive and while I don’t hate this game, I do feel it was a huge letdown in a lot of ways.
Gameplay: much like the previous game this is an open world, semi-RPG, semi platformer action-adventure game with environmental puzzles and 3rd person shooting. The gameplay is almost too much like the previous ones but even more refined with new ways to stealth though combat with a camouflage wall system and more weapons to fight with. The upgrade system is a bit more of the same with an even bigger skill tree. The problem is this game focuses more on puzzle solving and platforming rather than combat unlike the last 2 and most of these changes aren't huge in the grand scheme of things. This game feels like the developers just wanted to playthings safe and not take any risks. Each game is a more refined version of the same thing with not many major changes or overhauls and whether you take this as a good or bad thing I think by the time the 3rd game comes around it starts to feel a little redundant. One aspect that they also heavily leaned into with this game are the side quest elements that feel very rpg. At a point in the game, you have villagers you can help with things like fetish quests or personal drama between them and I don't usually mind this aspect in rpg games but for a Tomb raider game this felt like too much and at the same time too little and what I mean is there was a lot of side content and a lot of it felt very superficial and boring. Some of them had cool moments but at the end of it I hardly remember most of it because I really just wanted to move past most of it.
Graphics, music & voice acting: this game once again visually looks fantastic and takes big steps forward in this aspect with each installment. The environments of jungles, tombs, caves and forgotten places all come to us with crisp sound and sound visual design. Speaking of sound, the music and sound FXs all work great in this game and fit the atmospheres of each setting. Though I will say there aren't any major changes or developments in the sound design that really stuck with me it's still designed smoothly. The voice acting and dialogue work well and all the voice actors do great with the scripts they are given. Really this aspect of the game lacks when it comes to narrative.
Story/ SPOILERS: once again it's hard to talk about the goods and bads of any heavy narrative driven game without getting into the details so spoiler warning. Man, this story is honestly hard to unpack because it's pretty convoluted and at the same time it feels like a rinse and repeat of rise of the tomb raider. Both games Lara gets stranded, both games have a hidden cult or tribe of people she discovers, both games have Trinity as the main villain, both games have Jonah as a male damsel in distress. You could argue the first game did a lot of these things too but the 2013 game executed this stuff differently and still had some unique aspects while this game and rise feel too similar. Another aspect of this game that feels all over the place is Laras’ character and her overall character arch. Most of her arch happens in the first game and doesn't progress much past rise. This game tries hard to express Lara made huge mistakes in this game with the extremely convoluted plot of the silver box and dagger thing. Halfway through this game I remember thinking to myself wait why does Lara need this again? Why does Lara seem to hate herself in this game? I know she causes a flood in this game and gets people killed but Trinity was definitely going to take the dagger anyway. She also goes on a murderous rampage later in this game and I do think this part was cool but doesn't really pay off. Lara goes right back to where she started at the end of the game, and it feels lame as hell. I thought maybe this game we'd see Lara become a reimagined bad ass version of the old Tomb raider with the dual pistols but oh well I guess not? Maybe in the next Trilogy? Who knows. This game also is filled with plot holes involving Laras father Richard where we find out he was looking for the silver box in this game and was killed for trying to uncover it while in the last game they made it clear he died over trying to find immortality and that games artifact. There was just a lot of moments and plot beats like this where I was like "wtf since when?" And that's not something sequels usually do, maybe prequels or long running franchises out of steam and this was only this Lara's 3rd game. Other honorable mentions are the generic evil villain guy, return of a 3rd undead army of warriors (at least they were a bit different this time around), moments in the story where characters disappear so Lara can temple run away and reappear when she’s done running, the side collectibles that don't really expand much of the side story or lore, and the bait and switch of this game making us think Jonah was going to die but then turns out he’s all fine and dandy... AGAIN.
Overall, this game didn't take any risks and kept the idea of rise going rather than switching things up and trying new things. With all that being said I don't think this is a terrible game nor do I think the plot is terrible either, it’s just not great and doesn't feel like a solid ending to the Trilogy. This game does have a lot of cool nods and Easter eggs to the original games, and I think if you love Tomb Raider, uncharted, Indiana Jones or the previous 2 games you'll probably really enjoy this one or at least a onetime playthrough. I Definitely don't hate this game and would love to see this Lara return and not get rebooted again but at the same time I want her to expand into some middle ground between old Lara and New one, so we get the best of both worlds.
Anyways 7.5/10 from me
I'm a really big fan of the tomb raider franchise, and frankly this game got me confused on whether I love or hate it. Weakest in the trilogy for me, not to say it's a bad game in any way tho. I had a good time playing it but compared to previous games this one is a bit lackluster. I did like the fact that they focused more on the puzzles but honestly some of them were just bullshit and were there just for the sake of being a confusing puzzle. This game had lesser action than the previous ones which is fine but when the action sequences did happen, they weren't anything amazing. The stealth most of the time just felt boring and tedious too. Loved the graphics in this game a lot. The game is very vibrant and good looking almost all the time, which looks really good but imo the grunge and gritty atmosphere from the first reboot game suits tomb raider a lot more. That bloody, disgusting and dark setting goes well for me. But that's just personal preference I guess. I think this game is pretty good but I doubt I'm ever gonna replay it.
De l'action comme avant mais finit les nichons carré
The Black Sheep of Tomb Raider.
Unfortunately it's indeed the weakest game in the trilogy but it's still a pretty fun game, just lacks the charm and the things that made the previous games iconic.
The game repeats itself many times, you'll climb and swim a lot in this game... A LOT, to the point where I got exhausted. There are barely any gunfights, most of the game is either exploring or killing enemies from the shadows, and the pacing felt weird, it takes way too long for the game to pick up which is a shame because the core gameplay is great.
The story is nonsensical, but I enjoyed the dark atmosphere. The issue is, for the last game of a trilogy, it doesn't feel like a proper closure, it's just another adventure similarly to the previous games.
The best part of this game is definitely the exploration, the puzzles are even better than before, and the game mostly focuses on raiding tombs instead of fighting hordes of enemies. There are also actual side quests you can do, which are kind of boring but I don't mind them.
I've got to admit though, even with the weak narrative, this game contains the single best moment in the entire trilogy in my opinion, Lara Croft's development really shows here, and yet again, she is the star of the show.
Overall, I like this game but it could've been better.
It has some strong moments, but sadly the lack of innovation is disappointing.
Final Rating: "Almost Good" ~ 6.5/10.
Unfortunately it's indeed the weakest game in the trilogy but it's still a pretty fun game, just lacks the charm and the things that made the previous games iconic.
The game repeats itself many times, you'll climb and swim a lot in this game... A LOT, to the point where I got exhausted. There are barely any gunfights, most of the game is either exploring or killing enemies from the shadows, and the pacing felt weird, it takes way too long for the game to pick up which is a shame because the core gameplay is great.
The story is nonsensical, but I enjoyed the dark atmosphere. The issue is, for the last game of a trilogy, it doesn't feel like a proper closure, it's just another adventure similarly to the previous games.
The best part of this game is definitely the exploration, the puzzles are even better than before, and the game mostly focuses on raiding tombs instead of fighting hordes of enemies. There are also actual side quests you can do, which are kind of boring but I don't mind them.
I've got to admit though, even with the weak narrative, this game contains the single best moment in the entire trilogy in my opinion, Lara Croft's development really shows here, and yet again, she is the star of the show.
Overall, I like this game but it could've been better.
It has some strong moments, but sadly the lack of innovation is disappointing.
Final Rating: "Almost Good" ~ 6.5/10.
Of the 3 of the new trilogy. This one felt the most boring, sadly.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (SOTTR) is an action-adventure game released in 2018. and the Definitive Edition of the game was released in 2019 and includes all previously released content (weapons, outfits, skills and challenge tombs). The game is the last entry of the Survival Trilogy which started back in 2013. with Tomb Raider.
We follow Lara Croft three years after the story of Rise of the Tomb Raider (ROTTR) where she is trying to stop Trinity from taking the Dagger of Chak Chel before her. She managed to get it first, but she didn't know taking the Dagger would trigger the Cleansing, a Mayan apocalypse that ends in a permanent solar eclipse. To stop the apocalypse, she has to find the Silver Box of Ix Chel, but neither Lara nor Trinity (who soon takes over the Dagger from Lara) has it at that moment. So the larger part of the game will be her trying to find the Silver Box before Trinity and the culmination of the Cleansing.
When first starting the game, you will be prompted to choose the difficulty and unlike previous games, here according to your preferences, you can choose an overall difficulty option or separately choose Puzzle, Exploration and Combat difficulty. For those who want for example harder puzzles and easier enemies, you can choose that without any problem.
What you will also soon notice is that SOTTR survival elements aren't as important as stealth, which in ROTTR was the contrary. The resources aren't limited and at the end of the game, you will surely have at least one weapon in every category fully upgraded.
Also, as in previous games, you have additional optional and challenge tombs that most of the time have a gear requirement, but most of the tombs are now located in locations that you're going to revisit due to the main story and side missions that are given by mission givers. This in ROTTR was a small problem since I wanted to finish the tombs while I was exploring, but to be able to finish them, I needed a specific gear that I ended up getting after I had already left that location.
The core gameplay is similar to previous titles but also improved in every aspect. The story is also better than any other Tomb Raider game in my opinion. Both ROTTR and SOTTR has a great story, but I liked SOTTR's story a bit more.
You can buy weapons, resources, and both weapon and inventory upgrades with money found by looting enemies or exploring. The Peruvian landscape is beautiful and full of wonders to see, making this the best looking Tomb Raider game so far.
The additional seven challenge tombs which are included in the Definitive Edition of the game can be found in the Challenge Tombs section of the Main menu and in the game itself are found as side quests given by mission givers with a yellow circle in the lower right corner of the marker. These tombs and missions last longer and they are a little bit more difficult and unlike normal optional tombs, a loading screen is shown when entering the tomb. Also, when you finish the tomb there isn't a way out, but you'll be immediately taken back to the spot you were before entering the tomb. The tombs overall are great and offer additional hours while going through the main story.
All in all the best game in the Tomb Raider's Survival trilogy, offering a great story, great gameplay, great setting and graphics. Stealth is greatly improved, and it is probably the most important aspect of the game while tuning down the survival elements which aren't the main aspect as it was in ROTTR, which makes sense when taking in mind the locations where the story unfolds.
We follow Lara Croft three years after the story of Rise of the Tomb Raider (ROTTR) where she is trying to stop Trinity from taking the Dagger of Chak Chel before her. She managed to get it first, but she didn't know taking the Dagger would trigger the Cleansing, a Mayan apocalypse that ends in a permanent solar eclipse. To stop the apocalypse, she has to find the Silver Box of Ix Chel, but neither Lara nor Trinity (who soon takes over the Dagger from Lara) has it at that moment. So the larger part of the game will be her trying to find the Silver Box before Trinity and the culmination of the Cleansing.
When first starting the game, you will be prompted to choose the difficulty and unlike previous games, here according to your preferences, you can choose an overall difficulty option or separately choose Puzzle, Exploration and Combat difficulty. For those who want for example harder puzzles and easier enemies, you can choose that without any problem.
What you will also soon notice is that SOTTR survival elements aren't as important as stealth, which in ROTTR was the contrary. The resources aren't limited and at the end of the game, you will surely have at least one weapon in every category fully upgraded.
Also, as in previous games, you have additional optional and challenge tombs that most of the time have a gear requirement, but most of the tombs are now located in locations that you're going to revisit due to the main story and side missions that are given by mission givers. This in ROTTR was a small problem since I wanted to finish the tombs while I was exploring, but to be able to finish them, I needed a specific gear that I ended up getting after I had already left that location.
The core gameplay is similar to previous titles but also improved in every aspect. The story is also better than any other Tomb Raider game in my opinion. Both ROTTR and SOTTR has a great story, but I liked SOTTR's story a bit more.
You can buy weapons, resources, and both weapon and inventory upgrades with money found by looting enemies or exploring. The Peruvian landscape is beautiful and full of wonders to see, making this the best looking Tomb Raider game so far.
The additional seven challenge tombs which are included in the Definitive Edition of the game can be found in the Challenge Tombs section of the Main menu and in the game itself are found as side quests given by mission givers with a yellow circle in the lower right corner of the marker. These tombs and missions last longer and they are a little bit more difficult and unlike normal optional tombs, a loading screen is shown when entering the tomb. Also, when you finish the tomb there isn't a way out, but you'll be immediately taken back to the spot you were before entering the tomb. The tombs overall are great and offer additional hours while going through the main story.
All in all the best game in the Tomb Raider's Survival trilogy, offering a great story, great gameplay, great setting and graphics. Stealth is greatly improved, and it is probably the most important aspect of the game while tuning down the survival elements which aren't the main aspect as it was in ROTTR, which makes sense when taking in mind the locations where the story unfolds.
At the beginning when you cause a tsunami to wipe out a quaint Mexican town I saw a young boy fall to his watery grave and I really felt sorry for Lara who just wanted a new piece for Croft manor
i enjoyed the stealth and the puzzles in this game, but otherwise it feels weaker than the other modern TR entries. the story is a total mess, they removed much of the metroidvania-esque sense of progression, they added NPC quest givers with poor animations and boring quests... i'd recommend it to fans of the franchise, but wouldn't call it a must play for anyone else.