Review - Tomb Raider
Jon Evans
Tomb Raider, the much loved franchise and secret first love of many a pre-pubescent boy, has made a return in a recent reboot. Published by Square Enix and Developed by Crystal Dynamics, the latest game has very large jungle boots to fill. 

This was always going to be a game I was going to play. The original was one of the first games I ever played on the Playstation 1. It was an awakening for me. It demonstrated the true power of the new console from Sony (and helped them sell the console in the millions). I delighted in the, at the time fairly limited, open world nature of the game, the varied and challenging puzzles, compelling narrative and likeable (ahem) heroine. I played the ensuing sequels and watched, with growing disappointment as the franchise aged and withered disgracefully, much like the sad decay of a beautiful hollywood star into post cosmetic surgery skin-stretched, vodka-martini soaked misery. Apart from the modest high of Tomb Raider Legend, I gave up playing the games and Underworld still sits on my hard drive unplayed.
With the promise of a re-imagining of the franchise, a story of Lara's beginnings, a survivor is born, expectations were very high, especially with the controversy surrounding that scene. I shudder to think about the pressure Crystal Dynamics were under to deliver. In this article I want to prove that, despite sales that didn't meet expectations, the developers made a game worthy of the Tomb Raider canon and is also worthy of your hard earned cash.  
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The game introduces us, by way of exposition and flash back, to Lara and her crew on their mission to investigate the history of the lost Kingdom of the Yamatai. Lara is a fresh-faced archaeology student, who is part of a crew of, admittedly stereotypical characters, who tick all the boxes for a mixed bag of young scientists and support staff. you have the token gutsy Afro-American mother figure, the geeky bespectacled computer nerd (resembling a young Dr. Hal Emmerich), a muscly Maori Mechanic and and weathered sea dog Captain. Throw in the publicity loving TV Archaelogist, sexy Asian sponsor and Sean bean type veteran explorer and you have the complete set. 

Lara is presented straight away as a thoughtful character, dealing with the inevitable challenges of being young, but at the same time very intelligent, and trying to be taken seriously. The ship they are travelling on, The Endurance, takes a turn for the worse, on the suggestion of Lara into a bermuda triangle analogue called The Dragon's Triangle. It isn't a spoiler to say that the ship crashes and the crew are stranded on a lost Island as most of the game's marketing campaign made good show of this. 
It is true to be said that at times the game can be gruelling. Crystal Dynamics have done a very good job of making you feel Lara's pain. She has a lot of pain. I found myself, frequently throughout the game, wondering how much punishment this girl could take. As Lara wonders the coast of the island trying to find her crew mates, you are taken through the inevitable tutorial missions to learn your way through all the controls and tools. This is done very well and doesn't seem too much like having your hand held. It is paced well and you are treated to a lot of girly grunting as Lara pushes and squeezes her way through foliage and rocks to further her adventure. 

It is important to note here that there should be no expectation of a game in the style of the original Tomb Raider. Crystal Dynamics have moved with the times and this is much more Uncharted than Tomb Raider, circa 1996. It is an interesting legacy to see that the game that spawned many a treasure-hunting copy cat is now treading on the tails of said games, and there are times during the third person platforming you are reminded of one Mr. Drake, but this is only in the game's favour. 
Gameplay is satisfying, with aspects reminiscent of Ubisoft's Far Cry 3, especially when hunting with the darling of the game industry, the bow. There is less focus here, however than Far Cry 3, when it comes to collecting loot. Everything you collect goes, in the form of currency  or spare parts, towards upgrades. I felt less of a desire to hunt specific creatures as there were no immediate hurdles to jump to get a specific weapon or upgrade. This did, however, remove the need to wander the island and just get onto the story. This appeals to me as I'm more time-starved than most, and so may infuriate the magpies and completionists, but you can carry on exploring the island once you've finished the main story. 

There are some token tombs to raid throughout the island but, unlike the original, lack the tension of hidden menace (who can forget the Kraken?) and the puzzles within are rarely a challenge to solve. These sections do seem like an afterthought, and merely serve to give Lara the Tomb Raider moniker, and one wonders how the game would be without them. Certainly the loot inside is desirable, and I did enjoy one of Lara's comedic comments when she encounters her first tomb.
Overall, the gameplay is fun and the environment is beautiful to behold. An Island environment is a great one to have as a continual backdrop to a game, with dangerous, rolling seas, gorgeous sunsets and craggy peaks.I really enjoyed the scenes where I could snipe out NPCs with my crossbow and the weapons have a satisfying heft and sound to them. The pace was excellent and the presentation of chapters supported the strong narrative. 
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As for the story, there's enough meat here to get your teeth into. Famously this has been written by Rhianna Pratchett, and is interesting enough to keep you playing. Aspects of the narrative are predictable, but it is drip-fed well to the player by means of dialogue, action and hidden notebooks and journals around the game world. There's enough detail in these hidden diaries to spur you onto seek them out and they're well read by the characters in the present and the past. There are other challenges to seek too, to boost your XP and skill points to spend on improving your 'Tomb Raider-ness' 

I felt a connection with the characters, and experienced genuine emotions in pivotal scenes, which also helped make the story believable. The voice acting is excellent, both in the main characters as well as the background detail. Camillia Luddington was particularly good as Lara and proves that new talent can bring a fresh perspective to a well-loved character. 
It should be mentioned that this game isn't perfect. The frequent quick time event scenes grated, and were unwelcome and out of place. With the exception of the few God of War-like boss battles, the QTEs could have been happily replaced with cut scenes and not insulted the gamer's intelligence, especially as the reaction timings seemed out of synch with other games. Now and then, I noticed some clipping of game environments, which mainly happened when crouching in cover (a game mechanic that is out of the control of the player, a curious but interesting technique to imply tension) and you cannot help but think this would have turned up in QA. At the more frantic times, when many enemies are crowding you, the camera angle hinders rather than helps, which is curious in a third person based game. Nevertheless these gripes were not enough to detract from my overall opinion of the game which I thoroughly enjoyed. In summary this is a satisfying and fun game with great visuals, characters and story. It is also the first Tomb Raider game in a decade worthy of its name. 

Wrap Up

The Good  - Great visuals, fun, satisfying gameplay, great story, good characterisation and voice acting.
The Bad   - Annoying Quick Time Events, some poor camera angles, clipping and visual artifacts. 

Score - 4/5
Images courtesy of Square Enix UK
Game - reviewer's own copy, PS3 version