Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
PlayStation 4
Nostalgia Factor:
The Tomb Raider series has been a part of my life since the mid 1990s. Over the years I have seen the series grow and change in many ways. None of the changes have been as drastic as the complete overhaul Tomb Raider received in 2013. Rather than having stages, the whole game was set on one island, with the ability to backtrack and recover things you may have missed due to not having proper equipment the first time around. A Metroid-vania style Uncharted title is not a completely inaccurate way to describe the game.
I had a lot of fun playing Tomb Raider back when it came out. Unfortunately, this was RIGHT before I started writing game reviews, so it never got the proper recognition from me that it deserved. Since 2013, two more titles in the series have come out: Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I have heard nothing but good things about those games, so I made it a personal goal to return to the series and see what the fuss was all about. No better time to start than now, and no better place to start than right from the beginning.
Story:
Throw out the version of Lara Croft that you’ve seen in previous iterations of the Tomb Raider series. This game introduces a brand new Lara Croft, the likes of which we have never seen before. In past Tomb Raider games, even the very first one back in 1996, Lara already had this established mythos around her character. Strong, heroic, a bit emotionally detached, and not afraid to come in with guns blazing. In this game, she is still tough as nails, but very green and inexperienced. She’s young. She’s intelligent. She doesn’t like killing, nor does she even want to do it to begin with. But when push comes to shove, she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. As the game goes on, you see her turn more and more into the Lara that we all know and love.
The game begins with Lara and her friends on a ship seeking the lost island of Yamatai. Right off the bat we get hit with some character development, which was severely lacking in previous Tomb Raider titles. You get to know the crew of this ship, watching them as they interact with one another. They all have their own distinct quirks and personalities. A severe storm ends up sinking the ship, sending the survivors scurrying for safety on a nearby island.
Lara is separated from her friends, and in a very intense escape scene she ends up getting away from this deranged looking cannibal guy and his cave of wonders. It doesn’t take long for Lara to figure out that the island is inhabited, and that she and her friends are in extreme danger. As you play, you explore the island, looking for clues as to your whereabouts. You occasionally will come across members of your crew, but you don’t ever stick around them for too long. Someone is always getting hurt, killed, kidnapped, or gone missing. Plus Lara shows she is the only one capable of kicking ass and getting the job done, so she is often sent off by herself on dangerous missions.
Spoiler alert: you are on the very island you originally set out to look for: Yamatai. There is a clan of cultists living on the island, and they have seemingly found a way to control the weather to protect the island. That’s why the storm that sunk your ship at the beginning of the game popped up seemingly out of nowhere. It’s also the reason that all calls for help prove to be futile. Any time an airplane or helicopter approaches the island, it is quickly knocked out of the sky by lightning and bad weather.
Lara sets out to destroy the cult so she and her friends can escape. Before that can happen, her friend Sam is kidnapped by the cultists, who want to perform a ritual on her that will put the soul of ancient Japanese goddess Yumiko into Sam’s body. The storms have been bringing people to the island and keeping them there, in the hopes that someday a proper host body for Yumiko can be discovered. It becomes your goal to put an end to all this nonsense once and for all.
One thing I can say about this Tomb Raider game’s story is that it does a very good job at forging an emotional connection between you and its characters. Lara’s friends and expedition members aren’t just useless fodder that are used as a prop. You really feel a connection with them as the game rolls on. You want them to survive. I even shed a tear or two at a few points during the game. That’s something I have never done in any Tomb Raider game, EVER, and I have played nearly all of them in my lifetime. Kudos.
Gameplay:
I earlier described this game as Metroid-vania meets Uncharted, and I am standing by that description. Things seem pretty open at the beginning of the game, but the more you play, the more you will notice ledges you can’t reach, boxes you can’t open, walls you can’t climb, torches you can’t light – that kind of thing. It falls on you to remember where these things are and come back once you have the proper equipment to do them.
Things take place from a behind-the-back 3D perspective. Controlling Lara, you can run, jump, climb ledges, draw your weapons, fire those weapons, light torches, push movable items around, and more. This is a very user friendly game. The controls are super simple and this game is easy to pick up and play, especially if you have played Uncharted before. Swap Lara’s character model for Nathan Drake, and this game is nearly indistinguishable from Uncharted at times.
Combat is a departure from previous Tomb Raider games. Rather than just locking on to your enemies and firing away, in this game you use the left trigger button to draw your weapon, the right analog stick to aim it, and the right trigger to fire. Where you hit your enemy determines the severity of the damage you give them. Hit someone in the head, and they go down right away. Hit them in the body or the arms and legs, and you simply slow them down or hamper their mobility. There are also melee attacks at your disposal, but I only used those when absolutely necessary.
Lara gains access to new weapons as the game goes on. You progress from a bow and arrow to a handgun to a shotgun to a machine gun to a grenade launcher, so on and so forth. Despite all the weapon advancements in the game, the bow and arrow was my go-to weapon. There is just something really satisfying about drawing back, taking proper aim, and letting that arrow fly. It’s silent too, so it comes in handy when you want to pick individual enemies off without alerting the others.
Exploration in this game is fun and satisfying. The island is huge, and there is lots to see and do. This is one of those games where there are collectibles scattered about EVERYWHERE. It was very hard to stop playing this game every night, because I am one of those people that likes to completely clear out entire areas before I turn the game off. In this game there was always something nearby on the map for me to collect. This lead to a couple of very late nights on my end.
Graphics:
This is a very good looking game. The island is lush and gorgeous. Wildlife is everywhere. The weather effects are realistic, as are the explosions and the fires. All the ruins and tombs on the island have a very distinct “old” feel to them. Everything is so very detailed, especially the indoor locations, such as inside the tanker and inside the installations built on the island. Even six years after this game’s release, I can’t deny that it looks freaking fantastic. It’s not quite Horizon Zero Dawn, but it still looks damn good.
Character models are on point. All the characters look fairly realistic. They all look different too, which is important. It would be jarring to see a bunch of cloned enemies running around on this island. I think they got around this by having a ton of enemies wear face coverings, which is smart. Speaking of character models, I especially like Lara’s new, more realistic character model. In fact, I actually prefer this to her older… bustier designs. She is still hot, but in a way that’s more natural and not so horribly over the top. There is a lot more to this Lara than just her looks.
Sound:
The game sounds as good as it looks. The voice acting is terrific. No complaints from me in that area. I don’t really remember a whole lot of the game’s music, but I am okay with that. This game is more focused on creating a tense jungle atmosphere than worrying about sweeping musical scores. And it definitely succeeds at creating a tense atmosphere.
I have been saying this in a lot of my reviews lately, but you should really play Tomb Raider in the dark with headphones on. All the little sounds like the wind blowing, the rain falling, water dripping in a dark cavern, faint voices as you near an enemy hideout, they all add up to a very impressive and immersive experience. You’re not really missing anything if you don’t play with headphones on, but with them on they definitely enhance what was already a very good audio experience.
Overall:
I don’t think Tomb Raider gets the credit it deserves. This game is flat out FUN and there is just no way around it.
Tomb Raider grabs a hold of you right off the bat with its interesting storyline and characters and cinematic action sequences. I cared about Lara, I cared about her crew, and I cared about what was happening on the island, all before I had even taken control of my character. Then when I did take control of her, the gameplay more than held up its end of the bargain.
From beginning to end, this game never ceased being fun for me. I liked exploring, I liked collecting things, I liked the jumping and the climbing, I liked completing all the little hidden tasks the game has for you, I liked the combat. I could not put the controller down. My life was Tomb Raider for the two or three days it took me to beat this.
I really have to think hard to come up with things I didn’t like about this game. I didn’t like that you couldn’t hold down the survival mode button and walk around in survival mode. I really hope they fixed that for future games. Having to come to a dead stop in order to look around in survival mode dragged down the flow of the game a bit too much for my tastes. Other flaws? Umm... the game isn’t very long, nor is it very challenging. I beat it in just a couple days without the help of any kind of online assistance whatsoever. I wanted just a little bit more! I guess the good news for me is that there are still two full Tomb Raider games out there that I haven’t played yet. I’ve heard that the series only gets better with each game, so this makes me VERY excited to play them.
I came into this review, as I do with every review, not knowing what letter grade I was going to give Tomb Raider. I usually just write the review, get it all down in text, go back and re-read it, and then weigh the pros and cons of the game when determining its final score. I never would have thought that this would end up being an A+ game, but I think that's exactly what is going to happen here.
I don't hand out that score too often, as I consider an A+ to be reserved only for games that I consider a masterpiece. Is Tomb Raider a masterpiece? I don’t know, but it is a damn fine game that has almost no flaws in my eyes. That’s good enough for me. I had a blast playing this, and I will give it an A+ with no regrets whatsoever. Now, to see if this game’s follow-ups live up to the almost impossibly high standard that it has set.
Final Score:
A+
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