Tomb Raider

I remember playing the original Tomb Raider on my computer waaay back in college.  It drew me into the world of Lara Croft (while mostly staring at her backside) and after I finished the game I was clamoring for more.  When Tomb Raider 2 came out, I was looking forward to playing it, but something was... different.  I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  But I never ended up finishing that game or playing any of the subsequent games.  I'm not entirely sure why I decided to jump back into the Tomb Raider world, but I'm glad I did. 

Playing the game, you can immediately tell that it has been influnced by a lot of other media.  It's got the cinematic aesthetic of Uncharted without the wisecracking wit of Nathan Drake.  It takes a Batman Begins approach to Lara's origin, stripping down everything that's been built up by the past eight games and getting to the core of Lara Croft's origins.  And it is every bit as frightening and brutal as the Descent.  It borrows elements from those sources and more, but calling Tomb Raider a mish mash of those things is a disservice to the game.

The game takes place very much at the beginning of Lara's Tomb Raiding career.  She's naive and untested.  After being shipwrecked on a mysterious island and separated from her friends, she learns to fight and survive not only the natural dangers of the island, but the unnatural ones too.  What stands out about the story is just how brutal everything is.  Where other games glorify violence, Tomb Raider doesn't.  You really feel like you are a part of Lara's struggle.  It's an amazing accomplishment ing video games, which usually take the easier path of being a power fantasy.

As you progress throughout the game, you earn experience and upgrade your skills and weapons.  By the end of the game, what was originally a dinky bow, which was little more than a twig held together by a string, becomes a badass compound bow, which can pierce through armor.  It's a shame then that after you finish the single player campaign finding places to use those upgraded weapons and skills is few and far between.  There are plenty of little secret tombs or challenges to complete after you finish the campaign, but the island feels empty, much like Arkham Asylum did after finishing that campaign.  (There are multiplayer modes, but as of this writing, I haven't gotten around to them.)  The game does have the MetroidVania feel, where you unlock abilities that allow you access to areas that you didn't before. 

But I guess it's good that a game leaves you wanting more.  It's a sign that you've got something good.  I think it's inevitable that we'll get another Tomb Raider game.  The franchise is just too successful to not have another one.  But hopefully, the sequel to this much more refined Tomb Raider will hold my interest more than the original Tomb Raider 2. 

Rating

Even though the game feels a little empty after the campaign is over, the campaign itself is good enough to make Tomb Raider a "buy".  There's a lot to like about this reboot. 

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