Another fantastic Tomb Raider game that hits all the right notes.... Mostly.

Since 2013, the Tomb Raider franchise has been reinvented and this is the third game to hold the Tomb Raider name. From the graphics, to the story, to even the voice acting, this game for the most part is a single players dream. It is a gripping and emotional journey that anyone can enjoy.

Like always, this game has been streamed lived for all of you, and allows me to 'get to know' the game, find out if it is as good as the devs say it is and find any flaws you should be aware of, of which there are few.

Narrative

• With this being a story driven game, the narrative must be immersive to hold your attention, and it does.
  The story is a continuation of the previous title, Rise of the Tomb Raider, which ended in Siberia, but at the same time, can be completely separate so newcomers to the franchise can enjoy it and not know anything about the back story. It is a brilliant piece of story telling that tells us more about the protagonist and her motives, which includes playable flash backs of Lara Croft as a child. The cut scenes and fantastic cinematography only serve to enhance the narrative and carry it forward at a very good pace.

• The game takes place 2 months after the completion of the previous title, and follows Lara croft and her companion, Jonah as they do whatever is necessary to stop the antagonist group know as, Trinity.
  Their path takes them to the Amazon in south America where Lara finds a Dagger of Lx Chel, which when combined with a Silver Box during a total eclipse within a hidden, ancient city, can remake the world.
  A member of Trinity, known as Dominguez gives Lara a challenge at every step of the way. This is the gist of the story as I don't want to give away too much as it will spoil it for you. Trust me when I say, this is a very immersive narrative that can connect you emotionally to the characters.

• As good as the story in this game is, I do have to question how long it is. In the past two of the rebooted games, the story of the game can last upwards of 30 hours, but in this game, the story portion of the game only lasts about 15 hours. Well that is how long it took me to complete it. Sure there are side missions and there are DLC's that can extend that, but in general these missions are only loosely connected to the main story, but somehow feel very disconnected, only being placed there to increase the game time. The time spent creating these side missions could have been better spent increasing the length of the main story which would have served to enhance the game experience, the side missions only take away and feel more like padding.

• Overall, I really enjoyed being a part of the story, but I am more impressed with how the cut scenes and quick time events all meld together to keep the pace of the story at a steady and pleasing tempo. There are potions of the story that are reminiscent of Indiana Jones, but take it to an all new level of excitement.

Visuals.

• Visually, the game is stunning, the detail of the character models, the in game assets and the environment all look very lush and polished. You can easily tell that many of the assets have been reused a lot in this game, but it is done in such a way, and combined with the story and gameplay, it is soon forgettable and you just enjoy the overall experience.

• The UI has been dumbed down a little and is less complicated than previous title, but at the same time, the skills tree portion looks somewhat messy and difficult to navigate at first, it takes some time to get used to it, but it could have been done more cleanly.
  Weapons upgrading is much better and more simplistic, allowing you to not only see what you are upgrading, but also what impact it will have on the performance of said weapons.
  The clothing option is also something that has been addressed and again, just like the weapon upgrades, so too can the clothing, introducing a mechanic that intermixes the visual and how it impacts the gameplay.

• During gameplay, the screen is empty. No health meter, damage meter, time... nothing. When attacked, the overall image dulls and turns a very bland shade of grey/red, complete with blood splatters on the screen to let you know your health is low.
  Having the empty UI during gameplay enhances the story telling by not filling your screen with stuff that can easily put you off. It is a perfect combination of visuals that help the gameplay and story to move forward without interruption. The only time the screen is filled is when you are at a camp site, where you can craft, edit the skill tree and sort through your weapons and clothing, with the odd fast travel, should you wish to use it.
  It is a clean and tidy way of improving the game, and at first, it may seem strange that there is nothing on the screen during gameplay, but after a short time, you get use to it.

• I love the look of the game, the animations are brilliant, environments crisp, and, well, its awesome. The only downside for me was, at times some of the NPC's facial animations did not convey that much emotion and looked very flat. Only the main characters had the emotional look in there face in accordance to the story.
  It is only a little thing, but it shows how much less time was spent on the side portions of the game when compared to the main narrative.

Gameplay.

• With the previous titles, 2013's Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tome Raider played at a steady pace with NPC's seemingly round every corner, it is not a bad thing, but in this title, it is more realistic, with entire sections dedicated to either navigating a section, solving a puzzle or encountering a group of enemy NPC's, sometimes with a combination of two or all three gameplay types which creates its own challenge to overcome.

• Lara in this game has taken everything she learned in the previous game but now is more bad ass. A few new mechanics are being able to cover yourself in mud to blend into the environment better, allowing you to be very stealthy and kill from cover. The devs even took a page out of the Predator movies book, being covered in mud also helps hide you away from enemies that use thermal goggles. It is brilliant and all stealth games should adopt this mechanic, in fact, I am surprised more don't. You can also use your rope/arrow when firing from a high branch to impale the enemy, and then by dropping of the branch, you can pull them into the air and leave them hanging.
  One last mechanic I want to mention that you acquire later into the game is mixing herbs to create an hallucinogenic drug to coat your arrows with. When an enemy is shot, they will loose their shit, go nuts, fire on their own team, killing them in the process, and eventually dying themselves. Seeing it in action is fucking awesome.

• Another downside is how linear the game is at times, forcing you to go in only one direction. Yes you can go pretty much anywhere you have explored before, but the story gives you limited options in which to progress the game along. I would prefer it to be more open, but the rest of the game is strong enough that this little niggle can easily be overlooked.

• The puzzles are a good mix of difficultly to keep you occupied and on your toes, so to speak. The puzzles can be easy to the point, you can see what needs to be done and then get it done, other puzzles are much, much more elaborate and take a while to figure out. Some even make you feel a bit stupid as the answer to some of them is so simple, you wonder why you didn't think of that solution first.
  Some puzzles can slow the pace of the game down, and sometimes, bring it to a complete halt until you figure it out. But once you complete the puzzles, you have a sense of satisfaction for overcoming it. This encourages you to continue on with the rest of the game.

• The quick time events can be a little annoying at times, as there is very limited options for you to do and only one route you must take. Visually these quick time events are stunning and the gameplay side, if you are more concerned with the story, only serve to improve your immersion into said story. However, if you are more interested in the gameplay, the extremely linear section, will only serve to either bore you or infuriate you.
  Which ever way you look at quick time events in games, there is no arguing that when you complete them, it is an exciting portion of the game that you can feel satisfied at when you complete it.

• On a final note, The Boss battle is something that has been missing from many games recently, some are either overpowered or too easy to defeat. The end fight in this title is a very good balance. It incorporates having to defeat Dominguez, solving a puzzle and having to take out other enemy characters helping him out. It is difficult to defeat him, but the gameplay allows you to keep the pressure on until you do eventually kill him.
  It is a return to how a Boss fight should be in games, and something that was totally unexpected in this title. Yes the previous games had boss battles, but they never got the balance just right. Third time is, in this case, the charm.

Conclusion.

- Another brilliant game to come out of the Eidos / Square Enix studios, that gamers who prefer story driven games will absolutely love to play. It takes concepts and ideas that may seem crazy, but when you are playing the game, it all comes together nicely.

9/10

The game is not without its flaws, but the rest of the game and how polished it is makes you overlook them. With most triple A games being released broken or incomplete, it is refreshing to see a game that is as polished as this one is. With how this game concluded, I would like to know what is next for the franchise, will they continue the Trinity narrative? The problem is, with this game being borderline ''out there'' it would be hard to see this franchise go to a higher level than this.

Thank you for reading.

Stu @TechMojo

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