GAME ON!

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider adventure

Crystal Dynamics – the developer behind Shadow Of The Tomb

Raider – issued a mission statement when the reboot trilogy began back in 2013.

The idea was to create a trilogy that would see the development of Lara Croft – arguably one of the most recognisable characters in gaming – from a plucky explorer to the battle-hardened, confident adventurer who became so beloved in the earliest games.

The third instalment has arrived, but falls a little short of its goal.

That’s not to say that Shadow Of The Tomb Raider is a bad game – far from it. It’s darker than its predecessors and rather than putting players on the side of its heroine, it makes her the reason everything in the world gets flushed down the toilet.

Lara has become obsessed with putting a stop to the evil machinations of the shadowy organisation known as Trinity, which first appeared in Rise Of The Tomb Raider.

Against the warnings of companion Jonah, she breaks into a tomb and helps herself to a black dagger, in spite of the fact that murals in the place show this is a very bad idea.

Once she plucks the dagger from its stand, she triggers the apocalypse and, not only that, loses it to Trinity.

So, not only is Lara responsible for the end of the world, she’s handed her enemies the key to making that end far worse than imagined.

The frenetic action of the game’s opening gives way to a pattern that’ll be familiar to anyone who played the last two Tomb Raider entries. The lion’s share of activities are made up of solving puzzles, foraging for items to earn XP and building Lara’s arsenal, killing enemies in a variety of gruesome ways, scaling rock faces and hills and raiding the odd tomb – which are well designed, indeed.

The game opens up a little more as it progresses – at one stage players will find Lara bartering with locals, unlocking the mysteries of her surroundings and even solving the odd detective mystery.

The crafting and combat from earlier games has been improved, although if you’re not a fan of stealth, you might find some sections arduous.

The best way to sum up Shadow Of The Tomb Raider is to call it “solid”. It’s a fantastic-looking game with genuine moments of wonder.

But it doesn’t really feel as though it’s pushing the boundaries.

Still, even in something of a holding pattern, it’s always worth adventuring with Lara – although she could stand to be a little less morose.