Tomb Raider
A new Lara for a new generation, or just a relic?
Tomb Raider
A new Lara Croft adventure
This reboot of the Tomb Raider series stars a younger Lara Croft, at the beginning of her adventures. Her archeological expedition is shipwrecked on an island full of cults and ruins; she has to learn to fight for survival. Escaping to safety means a combination of exploration, puzzle-solving and combat, with Lara tossed around, dropped from great heights and generally battered to a degree that makes her lack of compound fractures look improbable at best.
The game wants this idea of Lara becoming a ‘survivor’ to be a thread throughout. Early on, she must hunt for food; before too long, she’s captured by the enemy and must take a life for the first time. Sadly, though, this feels like dressing on the game, rather than something that’s truly at its core. You can hunt animals for food throughout the game, but there’s no need, other than for XP points, to level up Lara’s skills – there’s no actual survival mechanic. But this disconnection of intent is strongest in combat.
Lara’s first kill is forced on her, and is shown as traumatic and repulsive – the game wants us to understand that these actions affect her. But then you kill a couple more people. And then a whole roomful, all while a little counter celebrates your headshots with extra XP. By the end, it’s hundreds of deaths at Lara’s hands, with little acknolwdgement of the effect on her. The combat is actually very well-realised and fun in itself, and the fact that this bugs us is a sign that Lara’s character took hold of us – we wanted more from her – but as it stands, it’s an awkward fit.
The game’s strongest points are its exploration, puzzling and adrenalinefuelled set pieces, which are used to great effect. The more open areas of the game are full of secrets, and very well-designed (and often beautiful). If the game had been weighted further in this direction, it could have been a modern classic. Still, for us, it’s the exploration that lifts it beyond
Lara must learn to fight for survival. Escaping to safety means a combination of exploration, puzzling and combat
the average shooter. It’s so slickly done, with a great range of tools that opens up over the game.
One thing to be aware of is that this game is grim. Graphic death scenes are coupled with sections where Lara crawls through piles of dismembered corpses. It’s 17+ for a reason, and that’s a shame, because Lara was the first chance for young females to play as a strong woman in her early days. This time, they miss out in favour of gore.
The Mac App Store version of the game doesn’t include multiplayer (the Steam version does), but it gives you extra content. We wouldn’t worry about lacking the multiplayer, though – it’s tacked-on. Lara’s journey is the core of the game, and it’s well worth playing. Matt Bolton