Let me begin with a warning: this game is brutally graphic. Sometime when you screw up you're subjected to a short, gruesome death scene. Even when you succeed you might find yourself stumbling through caverns strewn with corpses and pools of blood on the floor. Yet if you can stomach it, it ends up adding to the grisly, extraordinary struggle for survival that tries and tempers a young Lara over the course of this game.
This iteration of Lara is a compelling one. Since this is an origin story, at the beginning we see her unsure of herself at and terrified when things start going all kinds of wrong. At times her compatriots need to encourage her, other times she is driven to fight for their wellbeing and still other times they butt heads with her. Gradually, as she overcomes the challenges she faces, we see her grow in ability and confidence. The actress and writers did a great job of making her feel like a real person. She's more than just a standard action hero killing machine given a female facade.
Voice acting for video games in today's age of mo-cap has become much more of an involved process. Yet Tomb Raider proves that the talent in this industry is greater than ever and up to the challenge. Camilla Luddington as Croft is the obvious star and shows a broad range of believable emotions. Robin Atkin Downes' depiction of the character Conrad Roth exudes a fatherly, gentle confidence that steadies Lara early in her journey. Another highlight for me was the palpable desperation of the ship's mechanic, Reyes (portrayed by Tanya Alexander), to survive and get back home to her daughter.
The main acting I didn't care for was for the character Samantha (Sam), who oddly has two actresses credited to the character without distinction for who is responsible for what. She came off as a little flat to me. There's also a point where she voices a letter written by one of Sam's ancestors, yet she hardly alters her voice at all. To a lesser degree I also wasn't too enthused with the writing and acting of the character Doctor Whitman. Neither Sam nor Whitman are distractingly bad, they simply fall short of the excellence of the rest of the cast.
Crystal Dynamics has made a game that is visually stunning, living up to its AAA status. One memorable instance was looking out at a deep blue smoke signal rising in the distance that contrasted wonderfully with the tattered reddish-orange banners intermittently placed along my path. All this taking place on craggy, windswept rocks and ruins overlooking a hazy blue-gray sea and sky. Awe inspiring set pieces and soaring vistas abound amidst this chaotic journey.
The character design is on par with the environments, including Lara who is just a beautiful as ever and with more realistic proportions and clothing to boot. It's worth noting that the graphics option "TressFX" gives Lara's hair its own exaggerated physics processing, but it is very taxing on computers. The only time my frame rate stuttered was during close-ups of Lara's face during cutscenes, presumably because of TressFX. You may get better mileage by turning it off and increasing several other settings instead.
This game's third person shooter, cover based combat isn't particularly original but it's polished and largely satisfying. I appreciate that in most cases (but not all), the enemies seem like they plausibly could have been stationed where you encounter them, rather than being spawned in purely for the sake of throwing combatants at you. Melee attacks are limited to single strikes and dodge counters, indicating that you are expected to mostly rely on your weaponry.
You are able to upgrade those weapons by scavenging scrap, encouraging you to keep an eye out for collectables as you explore. Lara also gains skill points used to unlock new abilities, which combined with the gear upgrades lends a nice sense of progression to the game. Many of the hidden collectibles have a historical significance that makes this island feel truly inhabited. As you seek them out you'll uncover pieces of this island's wondrous past. There are also numerous, optional, puzzle centric tombs to delve into. On the exploration side of the game, I could have done without the "mash E" type quick time events that are used for turning cranks and prying open doors and chests. The QTEs tied to the action do a good job of keeping you engaged during the more scripted parts.
Speaking broadly about the story, I liked that it kept me guessing on what was real on this island and what was myth. While it is a little predictable in other ways, it was more than adequate to keep things moving and allow the other aspects of this game to shine. The pacing is excellent, never letting you get tired of one aspect of the game. You'll be driven from one fantastical event and locale to another, with time for cutscenes, character building, exploration and shootouts along the way. My first playthrough, which was about a year and a half ago, took 18 hours and included getting all collectibles and achievements. My recent replay lasted about 9 hours while getting roughly 75% of the collectibles. For this genre I would consider this a pleasantly lengthy game.