Tomb Raider Impressions

Tomb Raider 2013 introduced me to the strongest and most heroic character I've ever played as so far. The best part is that Lara isn't just some war-born hero. She's basically scared out of her mind throughout the entire campaign. But that's how her strength in character shines. As scared as she is, she doesn't give up hope and she doesn't stop fighting for her own life and the lives of her friends. She is incredibly strong-willed and never loses courage.

Lara is out on her first expedition when a storm leaves her and her team shipwrecked on an island. Lara almost drowns twice during the storm before making it to the island itself. Then she's kidnapped by an islander and dragged into a bloody cave filled with bodies and skeletons and is hung upside down to wait for death. She escapes by swinging from side to side until she breaks free, falls down and lands on a metal spike that stabs her all the way through the left side of her stomach from front to back. She rips the spike out of herself. That is just the beginning and it isn't the worst of it. Lara is practically tortured throughout her survival on the island. She is brutally beaten an astronomical amount of times by both the environment and its inhabitants. Of course during all this I was the one in control and Tomb Raider was an incredible experience from the opening cinematic until the end of the game.

I enjoyed the story very much. The island is haunted by the spirit of the "Sun Queen" that has been trapped on it for hundreds of years. She has cursed the island so that anybody who comes near it ends up getting stuck on it just like Lara and her team did. While playing the game I came across lots of tomes, scrolls, and evidence of what had happened on the island and how it all began. But the most interesting thing to me was Lara herself. Outside of the combat itself there was never a time that I didn't feel a personal connection with her. I wasn't scared for my own life, but I always felt an impending danger for hers. Every new turn or discovery on the island was always another step into a near-death encounter. Accidental falls inside of run-down mines, or old caves, and deadly trips down rivers with strong currents. Then of course the island is full of men who have lost their minds while stranded and have become murderers.

I also got to know a little more about Lara's training as a hunter. Her mentor, Roth, is with her on her first expedition. Her sister is also on the trip and even becomes the focus of attention for quite a bit, although not so much on a personal level as a, "Save me" one. (I'm leaving out extra information due to spoilers.) So it seems kind of like both a vacation and an expedition. One of those first "We'll go on an easy adventure" things to get you started but turns out to be a horrifying disaster kind of a trip.

I got to see why and how Lara became not only a lone adventurer, but the truest survivor I have ever known. By the end of the story I got the impression that she would never want to put her friends in danger and that is why she seeks the truth of all things on her own. She wants to know more about the world, about the past, about mysticism. A thirst for knowledge is all she has. It's strong and she doesn't allow the possible horrors of the world to stop her.

With a beautiful and mood setting soundtrack, great voice acting, stunning visuals, and some of the bloodiest combat I've seen, Tomb Raider is a truly exceptional experience. Please enjoy tons of screenshots from my first (High settings) and second (Ultra settings, new PC) playthrough.

Ya i love this game also. I've played through it twice, I can't say that for many other games. I can't even think of anything bad about this game either, it plays so perfectly. Its great how nothing in this game wastes your time doing boring stuff like picking up ammo or having to find things to heal with, you just get to doing fun stuff and it doesn't bore you at all.

I disagree with the soundtrack though, I thought it felt like really generic background noise. I've listened to it many times and just don't like it. It fits in good with the game though, but listening to it separately is really boring.

I'm not sure if I'll get this games enhanced edition on the next gen consoles since I played the PC version already and it looked probably better then the enhanced one would on the less powerful consoles.

Tomb Raider is a mediocre, generic game and pulverizing a character for 8 hours isn't character development.

You used control and cinematic in the same sentence. And Lara's sister was on the Island ? Who are you talking about ?

I found the game to be absolutely fantastic. I'm really looking forward to picking up the Definitive Edition for the Xbox One and playing through it all over again.

I have absolutely no idea why people consider a game that does nothing particularly interesting or well "fantastic".

@ Pffrbt

Becacuse of the story and "teh feels" and shes a woman. and she gets beaten up. The Stealth Elements were messed up, the non-story related upgrades were reduntant, the Storm Guard were Bullet Sponges (Armour should have weak spots, not layers) its almost as bad as Uncharted...... Awww Snap ! No He Didn't !

It basically is Uncharted, just with slightly more open environments, slightly worse graphics, blander art direction, and if Nathan Drake were replaced with a crying crash dummy.

@ Pffrbt

Amen ! I'l drink to that !

This game is my 2nd fav game of all time.

Didn't really liked it that much.It feels too much like uncharted.

It is one of my favourite games of recent times. It's amazing! Can't wait to play it again on XB1 in a couple of weeks.

I would have appreciated a slower intro where Lara, through the player, is gradually picking up these survival skills that will make her into the character we've known for years. Just her vs the jungle for awhile. Also, combat should have started out cat and mouse for awhile with Lara really unable to take down hordes of enemies instead of going from 0 to commando in the space of a couple cutscenes. Could even have made her climbing animations and such more clumsy.

The game's narrative wants us to believe we're watching a child grow into a heroine but the gameplay is same old Lara. I enjoyed the game, but it could have been great.

i loved the hell out of the game

The 2013 version is not worth 60 $.

it was good for a play through

I love everything Tomb Raider. This game only reinforced my love. I bought it upon release and just played it a 2nd time. Something I very rarely do with a game. Once I see end credits, I'll ebay it. Looking forward to what comes next after this fantastic reboot.

It wasn't a good Tomb Raider game. All the exploration and puzzles were just gone, and it was extremely linear. It was still kinda fun to play though.

I liked it. But It didn't leave a lasting impression on me.

I saw this thread, so my thoughts shall spill:

This game is one of my favorites of "last" gen. Fluid controls, constant upgrades, progressing story-line...amazing landscapes+

The mix of genres: are hyperbole...and the quicktime-events are predictable to a joy.

The action is tight, I love the bow; yet appreciate the grenade....and there are just enough "puzzles" to seek out the actual tombs.

I would have bought this game twice...I haven't played the original Tomb games enough to complain, but IMHO: it all starts here.

@nicecall: Yeah I haven't played through a game twice in awhile. The last one I did was Sleeping Dogs which I've played completely through four times. =p

You may be right about the soundtrack. It really does fit the mood of the game.

Ish_basic I understand what you're saying but for me I would have been bored if I was forced to play a stealth game for awhile. The difference is I could choose to stealth through it if I wanted to. So it's not like you had to run and gun.

Lulu_Lulu The Uncharted games are awesome so I don't see how that's an argument. As far as the cinematic and control in the same sentence, maybe reading comprehension is your problem? I suppose I could have spelled it out a little more.

Thanks for the comments everybody!

I disagree.

Tomb Raider is to PC what Uncharted is to PS, its a decent action-adventure game and for a reboot of a series Tomb Raider does a pretty good job.

Its coming out next week.

So in other words it's mediocrity, like I just said, And no, unnecessarily rebooting a series with mediocre trend-riding generic, dull game design isn't doing a "good job".

@ Germaximus

They are not awesome they are ambitious. Naturally you don't see that either, so lets just say you're quality blind and call it a day

Cinematic is just under statement, that games have little no value beyond cutscenes, atleast when it comes to story. Which as you know takes control away from the player, I don't know about you but I'l never give a game points for being less of a game. Still haven't explained the whole Lara having a sister on the island.

Tomb Raider was pretty cool. I got exactly what I was hoping for when I read the cover article in GI so many years ago- a solid shooter and an interesting(and appropriate) introduction to Lara Croft: Madame Badass.

Yeah, I was disappointed when I found out that the only tombs in evidence were one-shot puzzle chambers, but what the hell? I hate puzzles anyway.

The only problem I had with the game was that so many of Lara's deaths were so needlessly gruesome. I don't have much of a stomache for gore as graphics continue to advance, and the twin psychological impacts of these gruesome ends coming to a woman and their being my fault caused me to shut off the game more than once.

10 days left.