Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Genre: Action adventure third person shooter hybrid.
Platforms: PC (tested using my modified original games rig from 2007, GOG version tested.), 360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One
Time to finish: Roughly seven to fifteen hours depending on the amount of exploration done
Without a doubt the Tomb Raider reboot is my favourite games of the 2010s. Though I didn’t play until sometime later which in retrospect I regret.
Firstly off the bat to existing Tomb Raider fans, this game immediately takes more of the action based gameplay of Tomb Raider 2 than the original game, however it does have a lot of secrets and collectables to discover throughout. The game is taking ideas from Uncharted in many respects but it never feels derivative of that series, its very much its own thing.
A cutscene from early on in Tomb Raider 2013, showing Lara with Roth, these cutscenes are technically well done but aren't well characterised or written as I will discuss later
Stranded on an island in the coast of Japan after her expedition and the ship carrying her crash in mysterious circumstances. Lara finds herself captured in a cave, hung up and left to die which is where the gameplay then begins with Lara escaping from. The game then follows Lara as she attempts to discover the mysteries of the island while finding a way off it and discovering the mysterious cult that inhabits it.
Its always a bold statement to say what your favourite game of a certain era is, this one might particularly raise eyebrows too, its important to remember however that favourite in this case doesn’t imply best.
First of all this game is perfectly paced, there is never a dull moment in the game. There is always interesting stuff to see and do. The island is packed with a large amount of either interesting or downright useful collectables such as salvage. You can even occasionally go off and find the odd tomb to plunder should you wish to do so and I recommend doing so since its so fun to solve the little challenges inside each of them. Even a few quick time events (Which seem to have gone vastly out of fashion in the last decade) are at the very least tolerable and at best a blast for such a “dated” mechanic.
Second of all is the combat, starting off with a crude bow, you find yourself moving onto pistols and other weaponry during the course of the game. The combat feels crunchy and extremely satisfying and still holds up extremely well after thirteen years. One of the reasons its so satisfying is the upgrade system that rewards you for savagizing the area around you for the mentioned extras, this will allow you to upgrade the weapons in question or improve skills that will make Lara a better warrior in the field. The weapons upgrade system is so good in fact I wish other games could adopt it as it adds a satisfying depth to mechanics without being a whole complex system in itself, even from the beginning however using the bow to stealth kill enemies and use it as a crude weapon in close quarters is only a taste of what is coming.
Third of all is the design, the areas are lush with environmental detail that feel like the game designers have painstaking created to bring this fictional island to life, the PC version with its graphical upgrades compared to the original PS3 and Xbox 360 releases can still impress all these years on. The environmental interaction itself can spring a few surprises too, one moment you will be going in one direction then suddenly redirected to another direction.
Lara Croft’s redesign is also on the whole excellent, for all the influence Tomb Raider has had on the action adventure genre and for a female protagonist to be part of it from the start is a lovely thing but her design was problematic for many years I feel. I know the series has many female fans and that is lovely to see in a world where games fanbases are often male dominated but I still feel Lara Croft’s design and outfit choices for too long have had a “male gaze” to her design and while I don’t feel they’ve got rid of it entirely (There is a feeling she could still be a model to me) it is nonetheless massively improved over previous depictions of the character and I really feel it marked a turning point for the character as a whole.
The scenery design is wonderful and well thought out, as is Lara's new design
For all I love about this game and its fantastic gameplay and pacing, there are a few things in this game that always stick out.
My main issues is with the storytelling and characterisation. The game starts with a feeble Lara seemingly in constant distress about her situation but an hour or two into the game she suddenly shrugs it off like its nothing and becomes this all powerful killing machine who cannot be stopped by anyone. The game even freely suggests she enjoys killing foes in the course of trying to escape off the island which is a jarring character choice given how disgusted seemingly she seemingly was in even trying to kill an animal to survive just a short while before.
This game has action by the absolute spades, very thrilling, very fun
The removal of a romantic subplot between Lara and one of the crew mates who she then spends a lot of time trying to save throughout the game has a hollowing out effect on the emotional impact too. It could’ve been an amazing moment for LGBTQ+ representation in video games but is now a hollowed husk of what it could’ve been as a result. I wish they fought harder to keep in the game in retrospect.
Rarely do we ever also see Lara’s motivations for getting off the island, she can feel like a well developed character but you never really feel an emotional core to help get her off this island and sadly she’s the best written character in the entire game. For all I love about the Tomb Raider series, it has never been particularly well written and it shows here despite the fresh start.
On a smaller note the death animations also feel out of place and more akin from a horror film than an action adventure game. I still find them quite horrific and stomach churning even after all these years. The writing also for the monologues you find written down in the game feel tiresome to read and even more tiresome to listen to, and this is coming from someone who loves such things in System Shock 2 and Bioshock.
Yes, despite everything I’ve just mentioned, this game has been replayed quite a few times since the initial playthrough, including once when I gotten so bored of Fallout 4 so soon after release I loaded this game up instead as a pallet cleanser. Its a game that got me understand how much I love smaller games that don’t take up absolute hours of your time and allows you experience other games you might otherwise enjoy.
My recent playthrough was purely just a test to see how an old system can handle it and I’ve now played considerably into it. This game is so well executed I feel it could be used to explain why I love these sorts of action based games so much. I have many other games to play and catch up with but I still nonetheless went with this game again.
Reviewed 17th March 2025