Tomb Raider is a reboot of the series, which was released in 2013. It gives a fresh perspective on Lara Croft's origin story and we get to see how she transforms from an everyday archaeologist to a gun wielding, nimble adventurer. When it was released, there was a lot of comparisons with the Uncharted series. While the comparisons are justified and you can feel that they are similar in a lot of ways, Tomb Raider plays very differently too and personally, I like Tomb Raider over any of the Uncharted games. Tomb Raider is a third person action adventure game with a sizable portion being a third person shooter. In combat, Lara first starts off with a bow and arrows, before obtaining more weapons such as a rifle, shotgun and pistol. Using the bow and arrows is fantastic and they are your main weapon for most of the game. The reason for this is that the bow allows silent stealth kills, perfect for picking off enemies from afar.
What's more, in the early beginnings, there was a focus on survival aspects, such as using the bow to hunt animals. You would be slowly shuffling through the forest, you eye on a deer, you would aim for a headshot and once the kill was completed, you went to the body to obtain meat. However, the survival aspect dials way down afterwards as the story takes precedence. Combat mostly involves shooting, you will need to take cover (Lara automatically crouches when enemies are nearby). Lara isn't very good at melee combat, this is probably the most awkward part of the system so it's best if you don't let your enemies get close. The number of enemies that attack you at once never gets overwhelming. At the start, you'll be facing off against two or three enemies but near the end of the game, you'll be in these big firefights involving 10+ enemies shooting at you.
The best aspects of Tomb Raider would have to be the exploration. Each area is huge in size, with a lot of hidden nooks and crannies to find goodies. Tomb Raider has a lot of collectibles, just a bit over 170. You will need to scour the maps to find them all and it is heaps of fun. Each area is not only big horizontally but also vertically as well. You will leap, climb and shimmy up ledgers, cliffs and boxes in order to get to where you want. The climbing system is easy to pick up; Lara automatically grabs anything that can be grabbed once she is near it. While exploring, you'll also be able to find something called "salvage". These act as currency for you to upgrade your weapons. Instead of just giving you the weapons and be done with it, Tomb Raider constantly introduces new weapon upgrades such as increased damage, silencers and increased firing rate. This encourages you to keep searching the areas for more salvage and keep on upgrading.
There is also a leveling system, every time you do something whether it be reach a story point, break open some boxes or killing an enemy, you earn XP. Once you level up you get a skill point which allows you to learn a new skill. These skills range from melee counters, showing all collectibles on the map or get more items from enemies. Once again, this keeps you going, wanting to get to the next part, explore, attack enemies, for more XP to get more skills. The game takes place on an island but this still allows a wide range of environments. You'll go through forests, climb up cliffs, trek inside mountains and explore a sinking ship. Each area allows plenty of distractions in addition to the main path such that you never feel that Tomb Raider is a linear game. You're able to fast travel to previous areas to find the rest of the collectibles during the game, which is appreciated.
One element which I felt the game could do better was the Quick Time Events (QTE). For the first few times you needed to press a button for the QTE, you end up mistiming and die. The timing of these QTEs was weird but thankfully, the checkpoints are generous and you don't lose much time whenever you die. On the whole, the game is manageable and difficulty is just right in Normal mode. Of note is that there is no aim assist in Tomb Raider but you'll soon get used to it. There are your standard scripted events such as Lara running from collapsing buildings or sliding down a river in which you have to dodge obstacles. Some may feel contrives but some of them are fantastic in giving you a sense of urgency and adrenaline rush. In addition to the story there are "Secret Tombs" which are optional puzzles. These puzzles are fun and take a little thinking to solve. They never get too hard but isn't so simple as to be immediately clear on the solution. They provide a nice distraction and are satisfying once solved.
The story involves Lara on her way with a team to find the lost civilization of Yamatai. Her ship sinks and they are scattered across the island. In trying to escape, they discover the background of the island and it is one heck of an adventure. After the first two hours, you will be totally engrossed in the story and wanting to know what happens next. It does take on some supernatural elements near the end. The story also takes a good amount of time to finish, around ten hours or so, and every single second of those hours is enjoyable. The graphics are amazing and the game is very pretty. Each area looks fantastic and there is heaps of detailing which you can't help but appreciate. This is one of the best looking games for the PS3. Music is good but they're mostly regulated to the background, it's rare to find a track that stands out as super awesome to the point that you want to track it down. There are some minor flaws in Tomb Raider but all the good stuff outweighs them. Tomb Raider is one of the best games I have played with an engrossing story, fantastic game play and is pure fun.
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