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Tomb Raider 2013 - Review
Tomb Raider 2013 is a completely new beginning for the Tomb Raider series. Almost every aspect of what we've come to know, love and hate about Tomb Riader has been changed, some for the better and some for the worse.
After Square Enix brought out Eidos, they wanted a triple A Tomb Raider experience and pumped money into the development of Tomb Raider. Crystal Dynamics set out the reinvent Lara and her games after the disappointing sales of the last two Tomb Raider games.
Tomb Raider joins Lara on her first ever expedition to find the mystical ancient Japanese island of Yamatai. Not much is known about this island other than many people have disappeared while searching fort it. It is believed a "sun queen" once lived there, who had the power to control the weather. While searching for this island Lara and her band of friends become shipwrecked on Yamatai and must fight to survive this hostile new enviroment. The story is good and keeps the pace of the game flowing nicely, you learn lots about Lara's reasons for wanting to join the expedition which I wont spoil and her new back story is fleshed out nicely. The game certainly takes ques from the Uncharted series with how it tells its story, with scripted action sequences throughout and much bigger focus on Lara and her friends. Sadly however Lara's supporting cast are one of the weakest new additions to the game, they are all terribly chliched and have a kids TV feel to them, none are memorable at all and all poorly written.
Lara herself is very different to the Lara we have seen over the years, the developers do a fantastic initial job of depicting Lara as a green eyed, inexperienced adventurer who is desperately trying to survive. It's quite shocking to see Lara like this at first, when she kills her first human it's a very touch moment, as Lara grapples with the weight of what taking a life means. However all of this is undone within ten minutes, as Lara goes on to dispatch enemies as if it's nothing for the rest of the game. Lara goes from green eyed novice, to a killing machine in seemingly moments in Tomb Raider and it's very jarring. This speaks to the greater problem of Lara being somewhat unlikeable in Tomb Raider, mainly due to the inconsistencies with her character, leaving a disjointed feeling to the story and character of Lara.
On the gameplay front you'll be doing allot of running and gunning in Tomb Raider, more so that any other game in the series. Clearly once again cues from Uncharted have been taken and Tomb Raider is a far more action focused game. Forced action sequences litter the game and you'll have gunned down hundreds of humans and animals by the end of the Game. Gun play is good here, and both straight combat and stealth work well. There is a myriad of weapons to choose from and all are upgradable with componants scattered throughout the world. Lara now sports a bow as her main weapon and sadly her iconic duel pistols are only avaliable towards the end of the game if you upgrade the pistol. Tomb Raider also introduces a leveling system into the game. Lara will gain experience as she completes challenges, tombs, or kills enemies. She can use this experince in the new skill tree that has skills that improve her aim, help to scavenge more items, hold the bow aim for longer ect. Its a basic system but works well for a firs time introduction to the series.
In terms of traversal, Tomb Raider is described as an "open world Tomb Raider" and this is not 100% accurate. The best way to describe it is linier corridors linking small open areas. Here Lara can hunt animals for crafting items, find hidden items, take part in optional challenge tombs hidden in the enviroment. Some tombs will require Lara to back track once she has a certain item, allowing her to over come an obsticle, ala Zelda. She can do this by fast traveling from different camp sites she finds throughout the world. Some areas are only re-accessable via fast traveling, meaning the "open world" aspect of the game is some what mute. The tombs I mentioned are also a dissapointment. Often being just a small puzzle in a room, Lara has access to an ability that allows her to see areas that can be manipulated, almost making the puzzles too easy. The lack of big open Tombs is noticeable throughout Tomb Raider and something series veterans will no doubt miss.
If there is one area Tomb Raider is not lacking then that is the graphics department, for a 2013 game it looks fantastic. The PC, PS4, and Xbox One versions of the game look great with fantastic enviromental detail and some great cinematography.
To Summarise, Tomb Raider 2013 is a good but not fantastic game, it's clearly taking allot of cues from the uncharted series but never tops that game in any area. The times when you are doing what a Tomb Raider game has always done best, exploring the enviroments and platforming to creepy tombs, is when Tomb Raider is at its best, but sadly these moments are far too rare. I have no doubt the increased action focus will bring a younger new market to the series but as a long time fan I cant help but be disapointed.
PC/Xbox One/PS4 - 7.9/10 PS3/Xbox 360 - 7.5/10
Tomb Raider 2013 is a completely new beginning for the Tomb Raider series. Almost every aspect of what we've come to know, love and hate about Tomb Riader has been changed, some for the better and some for the worse.
After Square Enix brought out Eidos, they wanted a triple A Tomb Raider experience and pumped money into the development of Tomb Raider. Crystal Dynamics set out the reinvent Lara and her games after the disappointing sales of the last two Tomb Raider games.
Tomb Raider joins Lara on her first ever expedition to find the mystical ancient Japanese island of Yamatai. Not much is known about this island other than many people have disappeared while searching fort it. It is believed a "sun queen" once lived there, who had the power to control the weather. While searching for this island Lara and her band of friends become shipwrecked on Yamatai and must fight to survive this hostile new enviroment. The story is good and keeps the pace of the game flowing nicely, you learn lots about Lara's reasons for wanting to join the expedition which I wont spoil and her new back story is fleshed out nicely. The game certainly takes ques from the Uncharted series with how it tells its story, with scripted action sequences throughout and much bigger focus on Lara and her friends. Sadly however Lara's supporting cast are one of the weakest new additions to the game, they are all terribly chliched and have a kids TV feel to them, none are memorable at all and all poorly written.
Lara herself is very different to the Lara we have seen over the years, the developers do a fantastic initial job of depicting Lara as a green eyed, inexperienced adventurer who is desperately trying to survive. It's quite shocking to see Lara like this at first, when she kills her first human it's a very touch moment, as Lara grapples with the weight of what taking a life means. However all of this is undone within ten minutes, as Lara goes on to dispatch enemies as if it's nothing for the rest of the game. Lara goes from green eyed novice, to a killing machine in seemingly moments in Tomb Raider and it's very jarring. This speaks to the greater problem of Lara being somewhat unlikeable in Tomb Raider, mainly due to the inconsistencies with her character, leaving a disjointed feeling to the story and character of Lara.
On the gameplay front you'll be doing allot of running and gunning in Tomb Raider, more so that any other game in the series. Clearly once again cues from Uncharted have been taken and Tomb Raider is a far more action focused game. Forced action sequences litter the game and you'll have gunned down hundreds of humans and animals by the end of the Game. Gun play is good here, and both straight combat and stealth work well. There is a myriad of weapons to choose from and all are upgradable with componants scattered throughout the world. Lara now sports a bow as her main weapon and sadly her iconic duel pistols are only avaliable towards the end of the game if you upgrade the pistol. Tomb Raider also introduces a leveling system into the game. Lara will gain experience as she completes challenges, tombs, or kills enemies. She can use this experince in the new skill tree that has skills that improve her aim, help to scavenge more items, hold the bow aim for longer ect. Its a basic system but works well for a firs time introduction to the series.
In terms of traversal, Tomb Raider is described as an "open world Tomb Raider" and this is not 100% accurate. The best way to describe it is linier corridors linking small open areas. Here Lara can hunt animals for crafting items, find hidden items, take part in optional challenge tombs hidden in the enviroment. Some tombs will require Lara to back track once she has a certain item, allowing her to over come an obsticle, ala Zelda. She can do this by fast traveling from different camp sites she finds throughout the world. Some areas are only re-accessable via fast traveling, meaning the "open world" aspect of the game is some what mute. The tombs I mentioned are also a dissapointment. Often being just a small puzzle in a room, Lara has access to an ability that allows her to see areas that can be manipulated, almost making the puzzles too easy. The lack of big open Tombs is noticeable throughout Tomb Raider and something series veterans will no doubt miss.
If there is one area Tomb Raider is not lacking then that is the graphics department, for a 2013 game it looks fantastic. The PC, PS4, and Xbox One versions of the game look great with fantastic enviromental detail and some great cinematography.
To Summarise, Tomb Raider 2013 is a good but not fantastic game, it's clearly taking allot of cues from the uncharted series but never tops that game in any area. The times when you are doing what a Tomb Raider game has always done best, exploring the enviroments and platforming to creepy tombs, is when Tomb Raider is at its best, but sadly these moments are far too rare. I have no doubt the increased action focus will bring a younger new market to the series but as a long time fan I cant help but be disapointed.
PC/Xbox One/PS4 - 7.9/10 PS3/Xbox 360 - 7.5/10
Tomb Raider: Underworld Review
Tomb Raider: Underworld is one of the only games in the series that does not seem to be loved by someone in the Tomb Raider fan community. Even Angel of Darkness has a rather avid community online however Underworld seems to underwhelm with so many people.
Released in 2008, Tomb Raider: Underworld was deemed as a truly “next Gen” (or rather current gen) experience. Released with a brand new graphics engine, improved character models and physics, this was the Tomb Raider game designed to bring Lara back to the top of gaming. It follows on after the events of Legend with Lara continuing the quest to find her mother, this adventure will as before take Lara all over the word and delve further into Norse mythology. Returning characters Zip and Alistair are back with Miranda playing the protagonist once again. However to bring Tomb Raider: Anniversary into the fold we see the return of Natla, who is appearing in her first mainline Tomb Raider game since 1996’s original. The story jumps around with Croft manor exploding and then the game tracking back a few days to play out the events leading to this. At first it appears Lara is behind it but all is not as it seems as the game digs deeper into Lara’s fathers past and his deadly secret he’s been keeping from his previous adventures.
I think in many ways the story is what lets Underworld down, it’s ok but as it follows on from Legend that leaves allot of people needing to play that game before they even pick this one up. Legend did sell well but not the number of Tomb Raider when it was on the PS1 and everyone knew everything about Lara and her adventures. The story is also a little muddled, the flipping back and forward in time and new and old characters coming into it left and right leads to a slightly complex mess that can be hard or at least uninteresting to follow.
But it’s not all bad news however, graphically Underworld looks incredible. In 2008 and now in 2019 it is a very good looking game indeed. Dynamic lighting, beautiful water effects, with lush looking environments. Tomb Raider has never looked this good before. Lara’s character model has also been updated, Crystal Dynamics have given Lara a more “sexy” look this time around. Lara looks fiercer than before with deadly eyes and pouting lips. All in all it looks good but in many ways I feel Lara looses a bit of her character in this redesign. The new engine is a big step up from Legend and Anniversary, it’s great to look at. Unlockables return also meaning there is plenty of replay value here for returning players, but the lack of new outfits for Lara is a blow as they are exclusive to the 360.
For me however where Underworld really shines is in its gameplay. Crystal Dynamics brought in specialist motion capture artists this time and all of Lara’s moves have been motion captured. This gives Lara a far more realistic look to her running, jumping, climbing and back flipping that we’ve all come to know and love. She moves around the environment with easy and going from running to a jump to a back flip all happens without any awkward stutters or pauses and looks natural in motion. Lara has never been this much fun to control. The levels too have been designed in a way to allow Lara the freedom to use these new found abilities. Levels are far more open than before, allowing for multiple pathways, puzzles that can be completed in different orders. Underworld is clearly a Tomb Raider game through and through, it has been designed with Tombs and adventuring in mind. Which is a good thing as this is the games strength, that’s not to say combat takes a back seat however. Lara will fight human and animal enemies alike but they are far less common here than in Legend. Enemy AI has been improved and the fire fights are better for it. One strange new addition to combat is that Lara has every weapon in the game (bar one) available to her at any time in the level. She has her dual pistols with unlimited ammo and then can choose before a level and during to switch between any of the five other weapons. So Lara can switch weapons mid fight, it’s a strange dynamic that makes the game a little too easy on the combat front.
But let’s not get carried away just yet, as Underworld is no perfect game on the game play front, the camera here is atrocious at times, getting caught on the environment, randomly jutting about and has been the cause of my death on many occasions. Also due to the improved graphics ledges that Lara can climb onto are less obvious this time around, so it is often difficult to know what to do next in a level when you can’t clearly see a ledge right next to you that Lara can climb onto. Fall damage is also all over with place with Lara surviving huge falls and then dropping down dead when she steps off a slightly high ledge.
Playing through Tomb Raider: Underworld again I could not shake this strange feeling, despite its flaws I should love this. On the surface its pure Tomb Raider, big on puzzles, tombs, exploration with just a sprinkling of fun combat to pad it out and some vehicular sections too. However I just felt the overall experience felt a little flat compare to Legend and a lesser extent Anniversary. The story is a big factor in this, I enjoyed Legend’s story but can’t say the continuation here is very good at all, I just found myself not really following it and the game suffers as a result. The levels despite being fun never quite grabbed me like Legends Tombs and more modern environments did. I feel like it’s a case of one step forward and two back.
PC – 7.0/10 Xbox 360 – 7.2/10 PS3 7.0/10
Tomb Raider: Underworld is one of the only games in the series that does not seem to be loved by someone in the Tomb Raider fan community. Even Angel of Darkness has a rather avid community online however Underworld seems to underwhelm with so many people.
Released in 2008, Tomb Raider: Underworld was deemed as a truly “next Gen” (or rather current gen) experience. Released with a brand new graphics engine, improved character models and physics, this was the Tomb Raider game designed to bring Lara back to the top of gaming. It follows on after the events of Legend with Lara continuing the quest to find her mother, this adventure will as before take Lara all over the word and delve further into Norse mythology. Returning characters Zip and Alistair are back with Miranda playing the protagonist once again. However to bring Tomb Raider: Anniversary into the fold we see the return of Natla, who is appearing in her first mainline Tomb Raider game since 1996’s original. The story jumps around with Croft manor exploding and then the game tracking back a few days to play out the events leading to this. At first it appears Lara is behind it but all is not as it seems as the game digs deeper into Lara’s fathers past and his deadly secret he’s been keeping from his previous adventures.
I think in many ways the story is what lets Underworld down, it’s ok but as it follows on from Legend that leaves allot of people needing to play that game before they even pick this one up. Legend did sell well but not the number of Tomb Raider when it was on the PS1 and everyone knew everything about Lara and her adventures. The story is also a little muddled, the flipping back and forward in time and new and old characters coming into it left and right leads to a slightly complex mess that can be hard or at least uninteresting to follow.
But it’s not all bad news however, graphically Underworld looks incredible. In 2008 and now in 2019 it is a very good looking game indeed. Dynamic lighting, beautiful water effects, with lush looking environments. Tomb Raider has never looked this good before. Lara’s character model has also been updated, Crystal Dynamics have given Lara a more “sexy” look this time around. Lara looks fiercer than before with deadly eyes and pouting lips. All in all it looks good but in many ways I feel Lara looses a bit of her character in this redesign. The new engine is a big step up from Legend and Anniversary, it’s great to look at. Unlockables return also meaning there is plenty of replay value here for returning players, but the lack of new outfits for Lara is a blow as they are exclusive to the 360.
For me however where Underworld really shines is in its gameplay. Crystal Dynamics brought in specialist motion capture artists this time and all of Lara’s moves have been motion captured. This gives Lara a far more realistic look to her running, jumping, climbing and back flipping that we’ve all come to know and love. She moves around the environment with easy and going from running to a jump to a back flip all happens without any awkward stutters or pauses and looks natural in motion. Lara has never been this much fun to control. The levels too have been designed in a way to allow Lara the freedom to use these new found abilities. Levels are far more open than before, allowing for multiple pathways, puzzles that can be completed in different orders. Underworld is clearly a Tomb Raider game through and through, it has been designed with Tombs and adventuring in mind. Which is a good thing as this is the games strength, that’s not to say combat takes a back seat however. Lara will fight human and animal enemies alike but they are far less common here than in Legend. Enemy AI has been improved and the fire fights are better for it. One strange new addition to combat is that Lara has every weapon in the game (bar one) available to her at any time in the level. She has her dual pistols with unlimited ammo and then can choose before a level and during to switch between any of the five other weapons. So Lara can switch weapons mid fight, it’s a strange dynamic that makes the game a little too easy on the combat front.
But let’s not get carried away just yet, as Underworld is no perfect game on the game play front, the camera here is atrocious at times, getting caught on the environment, randomly jutting about and has been the cause of my death on many occasions. Also due to the improved graphics ledges that Lara can climb onto are less obvious this time around, so it is often difficult to know what to do next in a level when you can’t clearly see a ledge right next to you that Lara can climb onto. Fall damage is also all over with place with Lara surviving huge falls and then dropping down dead when she steps off a slightly high ledge.
Playing through Tomb Raider: Underworld again I could not shake this strange feeling, despite its flaws I should love this. On the surface its pure Tomb Raider, big on puzzles, tombs, exploration with just a sprinkling of fun combat to pad it out and some vehicular sections too. However I just felt the overall experience felt a little flat compare to Legend and a lesser extent Anniversary. The story is a big factor in this, I enjoyed Legend’s story but can’t say the continuation here is very good at all, I just found myself not really following it and the game suffers as a result. The levels despite being fun never quite grabbed me like Legends Tombs and more modern environments did. I feel like it’s a case of one step forward and two back.
PC – 7.0/10 Xbox 360 – 7.2/10 PS3 7.0/10
Tomb Raider: Anniversary Review
Released in 2007, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a complete top to bottom redesign of the original Tomb Raider game. To celebrate the 11th (Strange) anniversary of that games release Crystal Dynamics put the Legend story on hold and have brought us a well designed, thoughtful take on the original game. This is a great way for modern gamers to experience what the original Tomb Raider games where all about.
Anniversary dose nothing new with the story, its still about famed adventure and archaeologist Lara Croft being hired by Jacqueline Natla to find the scion of Atlantis. However new cut senses have been added and new voice acting recorded in order to bring it up to modern standards. This all does a great job is making the story far easier to follow than it was in 1996 and it serves its purpose well in moving the game forward. New elements to the story have been added in an attempt to link it slightly to the events of Legend but not in a major way. The story will take Lara from Peru to Egypt, Greece and then Atlantis. All the levels have been redesigned in the Legend engine and look fantastic. There is still plenty here for returning players to remember, however new puzzles and traversal methods make the levels so much fan to play now the platforming elements from Legend have been introduced.
On the game play front not much has changed from legend, but that’s not a bad thing. Lara moves the same around the environment, she has her grappling hook and can jump off enemies for bullet time kills. What has been added this time is the ability to time Lara’s dives to enable a bullet time headshot if you line up two ridicules on the enemy. Lara can also jump between multiple flat surfaces to climb up the environment which means you have to think more outside the box when traversing in Anniversary. Anniversary is filled with options also, you can change the control style so that it plays more like the original game, for example Lara wont just automatically grab onto a ledge when jumping, you the player will have to hold a button to get her to grab on.
Level design is top notch here, the game focuses primarily on adventuring and platforming, all of which is great fun, levels feel new and fresh while also adding new challenges for players. Some of the tombs here are pure classic Tomb Raider. Combat is still a bit messy however, enemy AI is still poor, that may have been left in to call back to the original also but it’s very noticeable. Another thing that has carried over from Tomb Raider Legend is unlockables, completing the game on different difficulties, collecting hidden items in levels will unlock new outfits of Lara, developer commentary, artwork and more. Croft manor is back, it’s the same as it was in Legend but in the nod to the original its filled with boxes as it was then and also serves are a mini Tomb, with items to find unlock like it did in Legend.
Graphically the game looks good, On PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 the game looks sharper than Legend did, better lighting and textures is also noticeable here. The game can run at 480p on PS2 and looks good considering at this point it was 7 year old hardware. The game dose suffer from some strange graphical bugs at times however, Lara’s shadow dynamics really fail regularly and will go through items on the ground or just render really strangely. This has been patched out of the more modern systems but on the PS2 and Wii it is still very much a problem.
Tomb Raider Anniversary is a good addition to the series, it’s a great way for gamers to experience what the classic Tomb Raiders where all about, exploration. Combat makes up a tiny amount of this game and for that It was really refreshing to play, especially considering how the original games are so combat focused. If you have only ever played the current Tomb Raider games, Anniversary is a great place to go to experience what Tomb Raider is really all about.
PC – 8.6/10 Xbox 360 - 8.6/10 PS2 – 8.0/10 Wii - 7.5/10
Released in 2007, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a complete top to bottom redesign of the original Tomb Raider game. To celebrate the 11th (Strange) anniversary of that games release Crystal Dynamics put the Legend story on hold and have brought us a well designed, thoughtful take on the original game. This is a great way for modern gamers to experience what the original Tomb Raider games where all about.
Anniversary dose nothing new with the story, its still about famed adventure and archaeologist Lara Croft being hired by Jacqueline Natla to find the scion of Atlantis. However new cut senses have been added and new voice acting recorded in order to bring it up to modern standards. This all does a great job is making the story far easier to follow than it was in 1996 and it serves its purpose well in moving the game forward. New elements to the story have been added in an attempt to link it slightly to the events of Legend but not in a major way. The story will take Lara from Peru to Egypt, Greece and then Atlantis. All the levels have been redesigned in the Legend engine and look fantastic. There is still plenty here for returning players to remember, however new puzzles and traversal methods make the levels so much fan to play now the platforming elements from Legend have been introduced.
On the game play front not much has changed from legend, but that’s not a bad thing. Lara moves the same around the environment, she has her grappling hook and can jump off enemies for bullet time kills. What has been added this time is the ability to time Lara’s dives to enable a bullet time headshot if you line up two ridicules on the enemy. Lara can also jump between multiple flat surfaces to climb up the environment which means you have to think more outside the box when traversing in Anniversary. Anniversary is filled with options also, you can change the control style so that it plays more like the original game, for example Lara wont just automatically grab onto a ledge when jumping, you the player will have to hold a button to get her to grab on.
Level design is top notch here, the game focuses primarily on adventuring and platforming, all of which is great fun, levels feel new and fresh while also adding new challenges for players. Some of the tombs here are pure classic Tomb Raider. Combat is still a bit messy however, enemy AI is still poor, that may have been left in to call back to the original also but it’s very noticeable. Another thing that has carried over from Tomb Raider Legend is unlockables, completing the game on different difficulties, collecting hidden items in levels will unlock new outfits of Lara, developer commentary, artwork and more. Croft manor is back, it’s the same as it was in Legend but in the nod to the original its filled with boxes as it was then and also serves are a mini Tomb, with items to find unlock like it did in Legend.
Graphically the game looks good, On PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 the game looks sharper than Legend did, better lighting and textures is also noticeable here. The game can run at 480p on PS2 and looks good considering at this point it was 7 year old hardware. The game dose suffer from some strange graphical bugs at times however, Lara’s shadow dynamics really fail regularly and will go through items on the ground or just render really strangely. This has been patched out of the more modern systems but on the PS2 and Wii it is still very much a problem.
Tomb Raider Anniversary is a good addition to the series, it’s a great way for gamers to experience what the classic Tomb Raiders where all about, exploration. Combat makes up a tiny amount of this game and for that It was really refreshing to play, especially considering how the original games are so combat focused. If you have only ever played the current Tomb Raider games, Anniversary is a great place to go to experience what Tomb Raider is really all about.
PC – 8.6/10 Xbox 360 - 8.6/10 PS2 – 8.0/10 Wii - 7.5/10