Tomb Raider has never been a series I've been very interested in. The old games never really did appeal to me. The new one however seemed to catch my eye for whatever reason (probably the fact I actually find this Lara attractive and saw videos of her stabbing peoples throats with arrows), and boarded the hype train. When I got it home Tuesday morning and started playing I was not dissappointed. Far from it, very far from it.
From start to finish the game is one amazing ride. It does a lot of things and does them all well. From simply exploring the world, solving puzzles, to platforming, to combat and stealth. There's more variety in gameplay here than whole series have. The game starts Lara off inside a linear cavern with a few puzzles, then sends her into a large forested area to hunt for food. Areas throughout the game range everywhere from linear corridors to expansive open world areas full of secrets for the player to find, and never once do they feel out of place. The way it mixes everything up is great and helps keep things fresh well into the later parts of the game, and even through multiple playthroughs.
It's sense of progression is almost second to none. The further into the game you get the more challenging and complex the game becomes, along with all the gear and skills you get. You start out with little more than a bow to defend yourself and hunt, eventually you get a pistol, rifle, and shotgun. All of which can be upgraded to be completly different (and more effective than when you first got them) The pistol for instance becomes a tool of silent death when you upgrade it to get a silencer. Also probably my favorite weapon in the game.
Everything in the game moves seamlessly into one another. From the cutscenes to the cinematic action sequences, and even its combat and stealth. Lara automatically moves in and out of cover, and will walk quieter when not spotted. It probably has some of the (if not the) best 3rd person shooting mechanics to date. Other games need to learn from Tomb Raider I'd love to have a game that focuses more on shooting with these mechanics.
The game does have a few issues though. It's story seems pretty cliche (the cast is stranded on island full of people trying to kill them) though the characters are all pretty memorable themselves, the dialogue kind of seems to throw random cussing in just for the sake of being edgy, the quicktime events are kind of obnoxious, and you're likely to run into a glltch or two. Other than that however Tomb Raider stands as one of the best games this gen. If any game this gen deserves a perfect score it's Tomb Raider
Score: 10/10
Authors note: I still haven't tried the multiplayer I actually refuse to after hearing how bad it is. I wouldn't have factored it in anyways because the amazing single player alone is all thats even needed.
Very cool; and my jealousy that I can't play it increases. lol
Well you should play it when you get a chance as it is amazing.
Wow, I'm really impressed with what everyone has had to say about this game. I was never very interested by the previews, it looked like a good game but was missing something to really excite me. I plan on playing this eventually though, there must be something special about it!
Yes there is, honestly I don't think the previews and stuff do it justice one of those games you have to play to really know what its like, and if you get we can play its awful MP together :P
damn, this game must be really good. I just might have to pick this up over Bioshock.
I think you should :P Though to be fair I'm not very interested in Bioshock myself.
i agree with everything you said. You're right on the money about this one. It amazes me every time I sit down to play it. Lara has returned to her rightful place as gaming's lead heroine.
Lot of reboots can be a mixed bag, but damn this one got just about everything right.
I got it a few days before its release, and I haven't been able to stop playing it since. I wake up, go to school, then come home and play Tomb Raider. Its a very polished experience. The controls are entirely fluid, gameplay and story transitions are seamless, and it doesn't suffer from a cluttered HUD like so many other recent games. Never been a Tomb Raider fan myself, but this game defied all of my expectations. Definitely a great buy.
The controls are flawless, I was amazed at how easy it is to like drop 5 guys quickly with headshots. It makes you feel like you're really good at it haha.
Hmm...my birthday is in a couple of weeks...Maybe someone will send some gaming-related giftcards my way. A girl can hope.
If you do get giftcards I highly reccommend this. Though the review probably already says that lol
I wanted it anyway, now I want it now!
I'm sorry. XD I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope you get the giftcards for it :)
Tomb Raider may have broken 1 million sales within its first two days on the market, according to an Eidos rep.
Glad it's selling well it deserves it. Hope to see more games like it.
Glad to hear all the good news about this game, it sounds like the worthy reboot that the franchise needed.
You mentioned you liked the 3rd person action and shooting a lot. Did you have a favorite weapon?
Another thing that looks really fun in the game is the rope arrows, and how you can shoot applicable surfaces and connect ropes so that you can climb up them or use the rope to get across a gap. The first two Thief games had a similar mechanic where you could shoot a rope arrow at a surface, a rope would pop out, and you could climb up it. I like seeing stuff that like, a rope arrow in Tomb Raider is a cool idea and probably a fun way to traverse areas.
For stealth I liked the pistol with a silencer (its really good at taking people down with headshots fast), and straight up gun fights the assault rifle. Though the fire arrows are pretty sweet too. All four main weapons are fun to use. The other one is a shot gun which you can upgrade to set things on fire too.
The rope arrows are pretty sweet they can do what you said as well as pull open doors pry far away objects loose and even in some instances pull out floors from beneath enemies feet.
Wait did you just say you can upgrade the shotgun to set things on fire? A fiery shotgun of death!? 
I like such things.
I'd like to play the game with a lot of stealth, so it's awesome to know that you can get a silencer for the pistol. I'd probably use the silenced pistol and the bow a lot. Those fire arrows sound like a lot fun too.
In general the combat in this game looks and sounds like it's fantastic.
Haha yes the weapon upgrades themselves are all pretty neat, and theres lots to choose from. The combat is great my only gripe with it is it needs more difficulty levels easy, normal, and hard isn't enough. Maybe DLC or a patch will add a very hard.
Whole heartedly agree. Have yet to beat it myself but as it stands now, its an early GOTY contender for me. Probably the best reboot in gaming as well.
Unless something completely mind blowing comes out later it IS my GOTY.
It's probably not my cup of tea, but maybe you can convince me to try it, knowing the kinds of games I like.
Well i think you'd like Lara, and there's a lot of creative puzzles and platfoming in it i think you'd like that, but i can't say you'd like the combat much (the games pretty balanced between combat and platforming/exploration so there isn't TOO much combat) so if you do get it I'd reccomend playing on easy
The more I hear about this game the more interested I am in trying it out. My experience with the original games is limited, too, so I might not take issue with this game's change in direction. That said, I happen to like open, yet structured, games that have a healthy bit of non-linearity to them. I also like combat that makes me think - cover, positioning, resources, and all that - which the new Tomb Raider seems to emphasize. All I need to do now is watch some videos of the game in action.
It switches from open to linear areas a lot, which i liked myself too kept things fresh, and I still think it's combat is some of the best shooting ever. I'd highly recommend it based on your comment here.
Nice write-up. This will probably be the first TR game I'll ever play (the earlier games look like they don't hold up as well) so its good news to hear that the story mode at least is worth it.
How are the puzzles? Are they consistent in quality as far as challenge or presentation?
The puzzles are great, but they aren't really big puzzles. They're really well made but they don't take too long to solve
Definitely one of my favorite games this gen, but at the same time everything is too easy in it. They seemed kind of afraid to challenge the player. Still a blast and a very well-rounded action/adventure game though.
I do think part of that comes from how well the game controls. Even still though it needs higher difficulties. Really hoping they patch more in sometime.
I'll just leave this right here...
Want a chance to win a Lara themed Xbox? @squareenixusa Check our Facebook page at 2:30 CST today for the details.on.fb.me/Ta6B7n
Thanks though i doubt I'll win it lol. Also the being able to post tweets is neat too didn't even know you could do that.
I'm getting excited. Your review is the second I've seen today that says TR is good. I may have to pick up the game sooner than I thought.
Good is an understatement :P
The bow is my favorite weapon to use. Can't wait to upgrade it. Hunting is a lot more fun than I thought,too. I don't hunt in real life, don't consider it a sport as some do. Not until deer have high powered rifles,anyway. If I had to do it to survive I could,though. Just not killing animals for the sake of killling. I agree with you about the cussing thing. Thought Lara was a proper English lady. That seems out of place for her to do.
I was never a Tomb Raider fan myself for the first few games but this game I knew I had to play it once I saw it at E3.