Shadow of the Tomb Raider
PlayStation 4
Nostalgia Factor:
The last few months I've been slowly playing through the new generation of Tomb Raider games, in order. I absolutely loved the first game in the series, and I thought the second one was pretty dang good too. How would I feel about the third? Let's find out.
Story:
I am going to be honest with you. I don't know what my problem is, but I paid absolutely no attention to this game's storyline. What was I doing while the game's cutscenes were playing? I don't freaking know, I was off in la la land or something.
I can't even say that the game's storyline is bad, but for whatever reason I just absolutely could not focus on it. All the long conversations with the natives where they babble on about ancient lore and people with names like Koo Koo Khan bored me out of my mind. I was there for the combat, the action, the rope swinging, the wall climbing, the item collecting, and the puzzle solving.
All I know is that the plot revolves around Lara traveling to the Amazon. Something something you help out a native tribe. Something something evil spirits. Something something ancient dagger. Something something a ritual taking place during a solar eclipse. Blah blah blah. Nothing we haven't seen a million times already.
Gameplay:
One of the reasons I didn't care much about the game's story is because I was too busy focusing on its gameplay. If you've played the past couple entries in the Tomb Raider series, you should feel right at home with this game's control scheme. Lara handles just as smoothly as ever. Running, jumping, rolling, climbing ledges, and grappling from walls all feel very natural. If you are new to the series, things are very user friendly and easy to understand.
At its heart, this is a pretty similar game to its predecessors. That is not to say that there aren't a lot of key differences. I felt that the first game in the new series was very similar to an Uncharted title, but with some Metroidvania elements to it. The second game, Rise of the Tomb Raider, had an open-world collectathon feel to it, like an Arkham or Assassin's Creed game. This game definitely has a more contained and linear feel to it. The plot moves you along very quickly from point A to point B. Sure, there is a lot of stuff to explore and things to check out along the way, but I found myself working more to advance the plot than to collect things. Perhaps I am simply burned out on these types of games where you are always collecting things every few seconds? I don't know, but I just wasn't "feeling it" with this game like I did its predecessors.
Just because I didn't like this game as much as the others in the series doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it at all. It is still a lot of fun to play. I liked all the added stealth elements this time around. Sure there is still a lot of shooting and action, but you have the option of picking off enemies one by one rather than having every encounter turn into a giant guns-blazing free for all. It adds a little variety to the way you choose to play the game.
Although I said that this was a pretty linear game, there is still a lot to do in it. There are a few town areas you enter as you play through the game. In these towns, you can take on jobs and side quests from locals. There are merchants that will sell you items and equipment. Hidden throughout the game are treasures and documents. You learn how to read foreign languages as you advance through the game, and you can use this skill to translate glyphs that lead you to hidden treasure caches. Although this game isn't quite as loaded with stuff to do as Rise of the Tomb Raider, it will definitely keep you busy for a long time.
Graphics:
There's not much I can say about this game's graphics that I haven't already said in my reviews for the last few Tomb Raiders. It looks really good! I like Lara's design. Really, I like all the character design in this game. The landscapes are beautiful. All the effects, like water, fire, explosions, heck even just walking through the mud are all realistic and well-detailed.
This is a very well built and atmospheric game. Whether you are walking through the jungles, swimming through an underwater passage, or wandering through a crowded South American village, everything feels very authentic and bursting with life. A lot of effort was put into all the small details that were necessary to bring the world of this game to life. And it was a rousing success!
My only complaint? It was a little too dark and hard to see in a few of the game's underground areas. Outside of that, though, this is a wonderful looking game.
Sound:
Atmosphere! That is the name of the game in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The game's graphics obviously play a big part in bringing this title to life, but its sound does as well. Just walking through the jungle you hear the wind blowing, the leaves on the trees rustling, animals scurrying by in the brush, birds calling to one another, Lara's footsteps squishing through the mud. The game's audio designers did a perfect job getting all the small details right.
On a larger scale, everything sounds the way it should in battle. The guns blaring, the explosions, the soldiers calling out to one another in combat. Combine the audio quality with the game's sharp visuals and you have a very polished and cinematic end result.
Voice acting is pretty good as well, which is par for the course with this series. Lara is very believable, and the guy who plays her sidekick Jonah has started to grow on me over the course of three games.
Overall:
Shadow of the Tomb Raider gets so much right with its graphics, sound, and presentation that I almost feel bad criticizing it.
I think my main problem with this game is its pace. It feels a lot slower than the previous entries in the series. I know that they wanted to take the series back to its roots this time around: raiding tombs and solving puzzles. Admirable, but in my opinion this decision actually hurts the game. There are too many drab, dark caves to explore. Most of these caves are enemy free - just you and the puzzles. This is fine, but when you are spending hours and hours in these dark locations, it gets tiresome after a while. If you combine the fact that I didn't care about the game's storyline with the fact that I found the tombs and the puzzles to be too dark and boring, we're eliminating a lot of what the game makers probably consider to be this title's appeal.
And can we talk about all the action sequences that end with Lara dramatically falling into a large body of water? This happens so much it almost becomes like a drinking game. Take a shot every time Lara is flung into the water! I kid, I kid. But seriously, this does happen a lot.
Anyway, I liked the combat and the side missions and all the things there are to collect. I liked exploring and hunting rare animals and discovering new sections of the game on my map. The basic gameplay of this game is fine and dandy and at times it can be a lot of fun... but it is nothing I haven't seen already in this series, and dozens of times before in other series like this. That's why, despite all the kind words I have for the game's presentation, I find it hard to get too excited for Shadow of the Tomb Raider. This whole game has a very "been there, done that" feel to it.
Not to say this isn't a fun and well-made game, its just very unoriginal. Especially if we're looking at it for just its gameplay, since I didn't really care for its story. It is fun and I had a good time with this game. But like I said, I've played games like this dozens of times already. It doesn't do a whole lot to stand out from the crowd and make me say "now THAT is a great game!!" It's just a good game.
That's all.
Overall I found this to be the weakest title in the new Tomb Raider series, which is a shame because I really like this series. Even at its weakest, this is still a decent game though. It seems like all I've done is rag on it, but it's not like I hated the time I spent playing this game, or at any point thought to myself "this sucks!" That is not even close to the case. I thought that this game was pretty good. But after the excellence of the last two titles in the series, I think I just expected a bit more.
Overall:
B-
Hey you! If you liked my review for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, check out some of my other video game reviews:
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