Fast-food of video games. A competent but ultimately very safe reboot of a beloved franchise that does everything ok, but never stands out.
For an action-adventure-collectathon game it never really does any of those things particularly well. As an action game it's fairly mediocre with very few enemy types and really easy enemies. Most of the game you will just fight Men (somethimes Men will have Shields), with a rare Boss who also acts just like A Man but has more health. The first level of Tomb Raider 1996 had better enemy variety with bats, wolves, and a bear, and while the game starts on a survival note with a few wolves stalking you, it ultimately goes to human enemies and never comes back.
The adventure part of the game is probably the best thing about it. The game is divided into one-time corridor action sequences and bigger "levels" you can return to which contain a multitude of secrets. The set-pieces are gorgeous and very cinematic, but I wonder what I'd feel replaying this game. Even on the first time the amount of times you just hold W and jump sometimes was overblown, and I can't imagine those scenes feel much better the second time around.
Collectathon parts are very underbaked. Not only do most items you collect fade into the background and are hard to notice unless you mash the "Lara vision", but in each location the game gives up on secrets whenever you find a "Secret Tomb". I use the game's wording here, but none of the optional tombs are secret. They are the most obvious things, contain a single Half-Life 2 tier puzzle, and give you out a full map of the area.
The game has a lot of moments like that where it gives you the option of being less frustrating. Throughout the game everything gives you exp which you spend on some of the most boring options imaginable. Do you want to get slightly more exp or make the game less dull is effectively your only choice at any point. Weapon upgrades are a little nicer, but the RPG system feels like a bandaid on a flawed game that's designed to give you good number up chemicals.
The story is fairly boring and only makes me wish the game had more weird enemies in it, because if you were to skip all the cutscenes nothing would stand out as strange up until the final area which has magic happening. No t-rexes here.
Lara as a protagonist is also extremely boring, which I assume is why the game tortures her on every opportunity. Sorry, doesn't really work on me, just because she's a sick puppy who gets eaten and pierced every 2 seconds doesn't make me like her more.
I still would say I've enjoyed my time with Tomb Raider. It's got some great set-pieces and wonderful-looking levels, and the shooting and climbing around can be fun. However just because it's not a bad game doesn't mean it's any good. I probably won't return to it and I've got no desire to check out the sequels.
For an action-adventure-collectathon game it never really does any of those things particularly well. As an action game it's fairly mediocre with very few enemy types and really easy enemies. Most of the game you will just fight Men (somethimes Men will have Shields), with a rare Boss who also acts just like A Man but has more health. The first level of Tomb Raider 1996 had better enemy variety with bats, wolves, and a bear, and while the game starts on a survival note with a few wolves stalking you, it ultimately goes to human enemies and never comes back.
The adventure part of the game is probably the best thing about it. The game is divided into one-time corridor action sequences and bigger "levels" you can return to which contain a multitude of secrets. The set-pieces are gorgeous and very cinematic, but I wonder what I'd feel replaying this game. Even on the first time the amount of times you just hold W and jump sometimes was overblown, and I can't imagine those scenes feel much better the second time around.
Collectathon parts are very underbaked. Not only do most items you collect fade into the background and are hard to notice unless you mash the "Lara vision", but in each location the game gives up on secrets whenever you find a "Secret Tomb". I use the game's wording here, but none of the optional tombs are secret. They are the most obvious things, contain a single Half-Life 2 tier puzzle, and give you out a full map of the area.
The game has a lot of moments like that where it gives you the option of being less frustrating. Throughout the game everything gives you exp which you spend on some of the most boring options imaginable. Do you want to get slightly more exp or make the game less dull is effectively your only choice at any point. Weapon upgrades are a little nicer, but the RPG system feels like a bandaid on a flawed game that's designed to give you good number up chemicals.
The story is fairly boring and only makes me wish the game had more weird enemies in it, because if you were to skip all the cutscenes nothing would stand out as strange up until the final area which has magic happening. No t-rexes here.
Lara as a protagonist is also extremely boring, which I assume is why the game tortures her on every opportunity. Sorry, doesn't really work on me, just because she's a sick puppy who gets eaten and pierced every 2 seconds doesn't make me like her more.
I still would say I've enjoyed my time with Tomb Raider. It's got some great set-pieces and wonderful-looking levels, and the shooting and climbing around can be fun. However just because it's not a bad game doesn't mean it's any good. I probably won't return to it and I've got no desire to check out the sequels.