Lara Croft refreshed in new ‘Tomb Raider’

Latest adventure sometimes feel sloppy

been four years — almost a generation in video game years — since Lara Croft embarked on a “Tomb Raider” expedition. The unenviable task of rebooting the well-known and wellworn series seemed impossible, but with a gritty and focused approach, it’s one developer Crystal Dynamics got almost completely right with Croft’s latest adventure.

“Tomb Raider” (for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, $59.99) finds an inexperienced young Croft shipwrecked and separated from her crew on a mysterious island in Japan’s brutal Devil’s Triangle. This isn’t the savvy, sexy and sassy Croft that hunted down relics in the previous eight games and two films starring Angelina Jolie.

This is a vulnerable Croft, one who’s never had to resort to killing another person. Over the course of the lengthy single-player experience, this Croft must survive the elements, amass an arsenal, rescue her friends and battle a cult of castaways. It’s the tale of her transformation from thrill-seeker to superheroine. It’s “Batman Begins” for Lara Croft.

Survival

“Tomb Raider” is mostly a story about survival, so Croft begins with almost nothing, eventually accumulating some firearms, as well as climbing tools like an ax and rope. It’s the first weapon Croft finds, a silent but deadly bow and arrow, that’s the most satisfying to employ. This “Tomb Raider” does for the bow what “GoldenEye” did for the sniper rifle.

The game’s winding trails, claustrophobic caves and perilous cliffside formations created by lead level designer