This review contains spoilers
System: Steam Deck
Rating: 82/100
Playtime: ~8 1/2 Hours
A game that I wanted to play since it originally released, and have had it sitting in my Steam library for years I finally played after getting a Steam Deck.
The main positive here is just how fun the game was to play through. While the action sequences never reached the height of some of Uncharted's, there were plenty of sequences throughout and I had fun with all of them. I also don't believe the gunplay would've been revolutionary, but it wasn't frustrating, and I enjoyed that as well.
The graphics were shocking to me for the period this came out, but I'm sure playing on the smaller screen on the Deck helped with that. Speaking of the deck, the settings I played on usually stayed between 50-60 frames, but there was one town area that made it chug around 30, with frame drops.
The biggest thing holding the game back from being even better was the story. The story all along was fine, but nothing too interesting, mainly just a way to make the action make sense. There was a huge missed opportunity with the relationship between Croft and Roth. This could've been built for at least the full game, if not going into the sequels. Most of the crew that ended up on the island didn't end up being fleshed out, and that made the finale hit less than it should've. Overall the game was fun, but it could've and should've been more if the story and characters were fleshed out like it could've been.
Rating: 82/100
Playtime: ~8 1/2 Hours
A game that I wanted to play since it originally released, and have had it sitting in my Steam library for years I finally played after getting a Steam Deck.
The main positive here is just how fun the game was to play through. While the action sequences never reached the height of some of Uncharted's, there were plenty of sequences throughout and I had fun with all of them. I also don't believe the gunplay would've been revolutionary, but it wasn't frustrating, and I enjoyed that as well.
The graphics were shocking to me for the period this came out, but I'm sure playing on the smaller screen on the Deck helped with that. Speaking of the deck, the settings I played on usually stayed between 50-60 frames, but there was one town area that made it chug around 30, with frame drops.
The biggest thing holding the game back from being even better was the story. The story all along was fine, but nothing too interesting, mainly just a way to make the action make sense. There was a huge missed opportunity with the relationship between Croft and Roth. This could've been built for at least the full game, if not going into the sequels. Most of the crew that ended up on the island didn't end up being fleshed out, and that made the finale hit less than it should've. Overall the game was fun, but it could've and should've been more if the story and characters were fleshed out like it could've been.