Rise of the Tomb Raider review: I played this before the 2013 one so I'm perfectly OK with calling this one Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Rise of the Tomb Raider review: I played this before the 2013 one so I'm perfectly OK with calling this one Rise of the Tomb Raider. 

Title: Rise of the Tomb Raider 

Release: Xbox- November 13th 2015 PC- January 28th PS4- October 11th 2016 

Platforms: I just listed them, look up. See? 

I remember always quiet liking the Tomb Raider games, obviously when I was younger it was more along the lines of, "Look a woman." However, now I find myself just admiring her as a (fictional) person more than anything. Obviously, when it comes to talking about female characters on the Internet; you're gonna get shit from someone no matter what you say, that in mind, I think Lara Croft is a great character because she's smart, intelligent, gets shit done, makes her own decisions, relatable? (not sure about this one as much since normal people don't usually fight supernatural monsters). I do also remember her having more of a sense of humour in the earlier games (I mean, she might still have one but she doesn't have much to laugh about in this game). Most of all, she's likeable. She's not a smug prick *cough* Nathan Drake *cough* what I'm basically trying to say here is: I like Tomb Raider, even if the PS1 games have aged about as well as a a fine milk left to mature like wine. I am also trying to put down extra words, just so it looks like I've said more than I actually have.  

Gameplay 

I did actually play a little bit of the first Tomb Raider (2013) and from what I recall; if you've played that one, in terms of gameplay, then you've played this one. For those who may not know Tomb Raider started as more of a puzzle platformer- with occasional fighting bits and boss fights- on the PS1 then it moved to PS2 with Angel of Darkness (which was shit) then the PS3 (which were my favourites, even if I didn't finish them all). Then, in 2013 there was a reboot of the series; instead of the being on the more puzzle platforms it turned to a grittier shooter with occasional puzzles and platforming. Basically, it plays like Uncharted; except not shit. Innit, (in all honesty, I'm a tad biased because I've never really liked the Uncharted games thanks to their boring characters with their questionable motivations. Plus, I just think it plays better. I'll try to stop mentioning Uncharted from here on).  

Lara's weapons consist of a bow (arrows not included), an ice pick, a rifle, a pistol, and a shotgun. All of her weapons can be customised and you can unlock different variants of each that include different stats, you can also craft different types of ammo for each that have their own affects. And yes, this game has crafting. You craft ammo, resource pouches, upgrades, costumes, and a few other things. For me, personally, that's something that puts me off but doesn't make me dislike the game as long as that isn't the main point of the game, thankfully in Tomb Raider it isn't a big issue and can be pretty much ignored. By far, my biggest problem with Tomb Raider is the game is filled with stuff. Now, not everyone sees that as a criticism, if you're one of those people then take this as a plus then, but for me I get very, very stressed when games just fill a map with icons because I feel like I need to go and do every single of those fuckers (they just sit there, looking smug and mocking me. 'You'll never get us!) and the reason I never get them, because I never really feel like they actually give me anything worthwhile that truly adds to my experience. Plus; there are always just too many, it's why I had to give up with Dragon Age: Inquisition, among others. The only other thing that really bothered me was with movement; felt like Lara wasn't always going where I was telling her to, however, in all honesty I actually think that may be my controller. Or it was just me. 

Presentation 

Often, I think Square Enix games can be a bit too focused on the visuals and making the actual gameplay can seem like a second thought, see Final Fantasy XII- for example, thankfully Tomb Raider doesn't feel like that. The story, visuals and the gameplay all feel like they fit and work well. Much like the gameplay Rise of the Tomb Raider is just like Tomb Raider (2013) except it’s just improved. However, one thing I noticed after starting Tomb Raider (2013) was that game is so much darker; what I mean is that, it’s literally darker, and things like Lara’s deaths in the 2013 game are more akin to deaths in old point & click games where they are so brutal and sometimes even serve to make you feel quite uncomfortable. In Rise that seems to be toned down quite a bit, though some deaths- for example- I fell into a spike pit and it impaled Lara and she was just lying there, not like she could much else to be honest, and twitched, it really made me feel quite uncomfortable; to a certain extent I actually felt really bad that I killed Lara. Apart from that I don’t have much else to say other than, it’s a Square Enix game so of course it looks amazing. 

Story 

Quite a lot of people, understandably, complain about how this game is a sequel to Tomb Raider- (2013) which was widely known as a reboot of Tomb Raider franchise- and yet the game is called "Rise of the Tomb Raider" the point people make is: 'Didn't Lara already rise in the last game?' And even though this is an understandable point; I find myself seeing what Square Enix was going for because in the first game (that's the reboot's first game; is this confusing yet?) Lara is forced into a situation where she has to survive, but, in Rise it's a lot more like what people are used to from a Tomb Raider game. Or at least that's what I think- I might be completely wrong. I probably am. 

So, the story goes that, Lara had a daddy, Lord daddy then became quite obsessed with finding something called the 'Divine Source' (said to give people Indiana Jones powers) and everyone else was convinced that daddy Lord was just crazy and that the source was just made up. Then, Dord Laddy dies and his family is being made fun of by all the mean people because yddaD droL was a bit crazy, or so people thought, then Lara, Daughter to Laddy Dord droD yddaL, takes it upon herself to clear his name- and the name of her family- by proving her father, Lord Croft- I can't think how to make that joke any worse now- was not crazy and the Divine source is real. I should write plot synopsises on the back of DVDs. 

In all honesty, I think the beginning of the game is pretty generic story wise, but then it does get quite a bit more interesting when the more supernatural shit starts coming out. But, credit to the writers because the story is always moving forward and never feels like it's dragging and even at the beginning when I was a bit less interested it was still well written enough that I never felt like I wanted to stop playing, I always did want to keep going, and I'm glad I did. Also, the main writer was Rhianna Pratchett, so maybe I am a little biased because I have a lot of respect and admiration for her and her father. 

All in all, I think Rise of the Tomb Raider is a damn good video game, some say it is just a rehash of the first (I think you know which one I mean by now) however, I only just stared playing that one so I have no idea. Even if it is then I still think I would enjoy it just as much, it has a good story, interesting and believable characters, the cinematic moments look great plus they are enjoyable to watch, my only real complaint is that the game- like many open world games- are just filled with collectables that I never feel compelled to go out of my way to get, and the more I think about the less I like the crafting system; even if it was just like the first one where you just have one currency to spend on upgrades- I think I'd find that preferable. Oh, I forgot to mention; the game has card packs. Why? No idea. What do they do? Not a clue, but you get from doing stuff in-game, and you can buy them. Because of course.  

Dord Laddy  yddaD droL Laddy Dord droD ydda/10 

Btw, that Dreamfall chapters review will happen. Eventually.