I jumped into Tomb Raider because I know it was such a major event when it came out, and is in many ways a major part of gaming history, but after playing over 10 hours of the game, I have to apply the Starfield principle and abandon this. It is a real shame, because part of me does want to see it through to the end, but I just have way too many games which I could be playing and having a better time with than this. I have to mention right away as well that I played on the PC port of the game, which seems to be an inferior version fo the game from what I have read, but nevertheless I can only review what I played. I will mention that in an era of digital ownership and remasters replacing originals, I do think it is commendable that the original games are still available.
I don't believe the game isn't bad, but, in my opinion, it definitely isn't good either. For the most part, I just found it to be incredibly boring. The first cutscene, featuring Lara backflipping off of a cliff to open fire on a pack of wolves with her dual pistols, got me excited, promising a corny 90s action hero story which I was 100% down for. But this pretty much disappears right away; the mind-numbing levels made me pretty apathetic to whatever Lara's goal was, and to be honest, that was never entirely clear to me, as the story is pretty bare-bones. To be honest though, I was not going into this game expecting a story at all, so that is not something I hold against the game.
For a puzzle game, I don't think there was anything which actually constituted a puzzle that I solved. Most of the levels consist of you traversing rooms which usually branch off of a central room, until you pull a lever, which unlocks more rooms, or pick up a key to unlock a door, which unlocks even more rooms.
That does undersell the game somewhat, because to be fair, the level design is excellent. Each one feels unique, and it is easy to know where you are in relation to any part of a level at any given time. The platforming setups are intuitive and Lara has a vaste swathe of different moves she can use to traverse the world. The game cleverly gives you the tools to move around the level however you want, in levels that are designed to guide you in a certain direction.
There is also an element of exploration afforded to the player, but the major flaw in this is that there is actually no reason to do it. I really think it is exceptionally lame that finding secret or hidden rooms (marked by a chime the game plays when you find one) means you get an extra couple of shots in your shotgun, or an extra small health pack. Ammunition was rarely a problem given your pistols, the default weapon, have infinite ammo, so "rewarding" the player for putting extra effort into exploration with basic resources seems like a major oversight. For some people, it will be worth it just to have the 100% completion on the level, but to me this just made the secrets irrelevant.
The most damning mark against the game for me was actually not, as so often seems to be the case, the controls. I think the tank controls actually make a lot of sense for this kind of platformer, letting you line up your jumps carefully and giving the developers the ability to map Lara's moves in a way that makes sense. I also think the grid system makes a lot of sense. Having that basic unit of measurement made it easy to tell if you could make a jump, climb a wall, or (in theory) how far Lara will move. However, the way Lara herself controls is where the game lets itself down. I guess they call them tank controls for a reason, because Lara controls like you are driving a 100 tonne piece of war machinery. Lara often walks too far, doesn't walk far enough, jumps too early, doesn't jump at all, jumps in the wrong direction, doesn't grab a ledge but grabs it the next time when it seems like you did the exact same thing, won't pull a lever, won't move a block, tries to climb onto a block when you're trying to push it, it is actually painful. The way Lara turns around, rotating like a dish in the microwave, is so slow it feels like it takes 15 minutes to turn 90 degrees. At least she has a roll she can use as a quick turn, but you often can't use this when you're on a smalll pillar you dont want to risk her falling off to her death, or when you don't want to turn all the way around.
What I would say is that you do get used to the controls themselves, and I wouldn't give up right at the start just because of them. Maybe you won't be as bothered by the jankiness as I was, which would negate a large negative from the game when you experience it.
The way Lara controls also makes combat way more difficult than it had to be. Getting backed into a corner is often a death sentence, because the stun lock will prevent you from jumping over the enemy, but by the time you turn Lara around to run in a different direction, you're already dead. If this doesn't happen, combat can actually be pretty fun. When Lara decides to respond to your inputs, you can dodge and weave around enemies in a satisfying way that actually makes you feel pretty cool. There is nice enemy variety and you have to bear in mind what the different enemies can do in order to fight them properly. There are a few different weapons which you can use; mainly just to do more damage, but they are there. Like I mentioned earlier, ammuntion is rarely a problem given your pistols have infinite ammo, but I did have to make sure I saved my more powerful weapons for stronger enemies. However, combat also often takes place from a ledge above the arena, where you can wait for Lara to lock onto the enemies and shoot them with pistols until they die. This is often the easiest way to approach combat, and also the least fun.
Overall, this game was pretty disappointing to me. With only three levels left, it really does feel like I should just push through to the end and get the completion, but I just could not be bothered. When I play a game, I want to feel something. But the feeling I experienced when playing Tomb Raider was pretty much exactly the same feeling you get when doing chores. Maybe if I had put on a podcast in the background, I would have had a better time.
I don't believe the game isn't bad, but, in my opinion, it definitely isn't good either. For the most part, I just found it to be incredibly boring. The first cutscene, featuring Lara backflipping off of a cliff to open fire on a pack of wolves with her dual pistols, got me excited, promising a corny 90s action hero story which I was 100% down for. But this pretty much disappears right away; the mind-numbing levels made me pretty apathetic to whatever Lara's goal was, and to be honest, that was never entirely clear to me, as the story is pretty bare-bones. To be honest though, I was not going into this game expecting a story at all, so that is not something I hold against the game.
For a puzzle game, I don't think there was anything which actually constituted a puzzle that I solved. Most of the levels consist of you traversing rooms which usually branch off of a central room, until you pull a lever, which unlocks more rooms, or pick up a key to unlock a door, which unlocks even more rooms.
That does undersell the game somewhat, because to be fair, the level design is excellent. Each one feels unique, and it is easy to know where you are in relation to any part of a level at any given time. The platforming setups are intuitive and Lara has a vaste swathe of different moves she can use to traverse the world. The game cleverly gives you the tools to move around the level however you want, in levels that are designed to guide you in a certain direction.
There is also an element of exploration afforded to the player, but the major flaw in this is that there is actually no reason to do it. I really think it is exceptionally lame that finding secret or hidden rooms (marked by a chime the game plays when you find one) means you get an extra couple of shots in your shotgun, or an extra small health pack. Ammunition was rarely a problem given your pistols, the default weapon, have infinite ammo, so "rewarding" the player for putting extra effort into exploration with basic resources seems like a major oversight. For some people, it will be worth it just to have the 100% completion on the level, but to me this just made the secrets irrelevant.
The most damning mark against the game for me was actually not, as so often seems to be the case, the controls. I think the tank controls actually make a lot of sense for this kind of platformer, letting you line up your jumps carefully and giving the developers the ability to map Lara's moves in a way that makes sense. I also think the grid system makes a lot of sense. Having that basic unit of measurement made it easy to tell if you could make a jump, climb a wall, or (in theory) how far Lara will move. However, the way Lara herself controls is where the game lets itself down. I guess they call them tank controls for a reason, because Lara controls like you are driving a 100 tonne piece of war machinery. Lara often walks too far, doesn't walk far enough, jumps too early, doesn't jump at all, jumps in the wrong direction, doesn't grab a ledge but grabs it the next time when it seems like you did the exact same thing, won't pull a lever, won't move a block, tries to climb onto a block when you're trying to push it, it is actually painful. The way Lara turns around, rotating like a dish in the microwave, is so slow it feels like it takes 15 minutes to turn 90 degrees. At least she has a roll she can use as a quick turn, but you often can't use this when you're on a smalll pillar you dont want to risk her falling off to her death, or when you don't want to turn all the way around.
What I would say is that you do get used to the controls themselves, and I wouldn't give up right at the start just because of them. Maybe you won't be as bothered by the jankiness as I was, which would negate a large negative from the game when you experience it.
The way Lara controls also makes combat way more difficult than it had to be. Getting backed into a corner is often a death sentence, because the stun lock will prevent you from jumping over the enemy, but by the time you turn Lara around to run in a different direction, you're already dead. If this doesn't happen, combat can actually be pretty fun. When Lara decides to respond to your inputs, you can dodge and weave around enemies in a satisfying way that actually makes you feel pretty cool. There is nice enemy variety and you have to bear in mind what the different enemies can do in order to fight them properly. There are a few different weapons which you can use; mainly just to do more damage, but they are there. Like I mentioned earlier, ammuntion is rarely a problem given your pistols have infinite ammo, but I did have to make sure I saved my more powerful weapons for stronger enemies. However, combat also often takes place from a ledge above the arena, where you can wait for Lara to lock onto the enemies and shoot them with pistols until they die. This is often the easiest way to approach combat, and also the least fun.
Overall, this game was pretty disappointing to me. With only three levels left, it really does feel like I should just push through to the end and get the completion, but I just could not be bothered. When I play a game, I want to feel something. But the feeling I experienced when playing Tomb Raider was pretty much exactly the same feeling you get when doing chores. Maybe if I had put on a podcast in the background, I would have had a better time.