Linear gameplay ruined this game for me.

User Rating: 3 | Shadow of the Tomb Raider PC

First of all I have played ALL the Tomb Raider games since the 90s. Completed them ALL (without cheat sheets), most of them 100% |(except 3-4 of them where some bugs prevented me for a perfect score).

I also really liked the 2013 reboot and Rise, but I'm REALLY disappointed from Shadow.

There are many things that are wrong with SOTTR but what bothered me the most is how much LINEAR this game is. Honestly, you can play it, without even thinking. There is only one way to follow so you can't go the "wrong" way. One ledge to jump to, one branch, one opening etc. Also Lara can't climb where she should be able too, but only in the right direction and that makes the game annoying, not to mention unrealistic, considering what she can do in other cases.

That goes for most of the puzzles too. I solved most of them without realizing what the puzzle is all about. You can only jump there and throw a rope there etc. You just do these (obvious) things and after a while the puzzle is solved.

Other things that annoyed me was the animal instinct comments and the "full" (I can't carry anymore) messages that when you run seem not only repetitive (i.e. annoying) but also out of sync. Same goes for the people you could talk, despite the "immersive" option.

The graphics are OK (I played it in one of the most powerful PCs you can have in 2019) but many things could be better, including the model of Lara and the rest of the people.

For the music I can't say much because I have the habit to close it completely in the games, leaving only the sound fx on and the dialogs.

Overall: While in the Hidden City I was considering to stop playing it, but as I wrote I have played all the TR since the first one. For me (a veteran player) this game is sub-par, and ruined my appetite for more games for a while, (the opposite Resident Evil 7 did which I played last week and I really enjoyed).

As a fan of Lara's I really hope the next game to be a complete reboot, and not to have the 4th game of the same series.