Sometimes revisiting games from a previous generation can ruin the great image you had in mind, and other times it can help you learn to appreciate it more. My time with Tomb Raider is a case of the latter. It's been about 6 years since I first ventured with Lara on the mysterious island. While some game play design choices date the game, overall, it still shines among the open world games of previous years.
The story takes you through many different areas on the island of Yamatai. Lara's arc is fascinating. She goes from a relatively timid person to someone who will sacrifice everything to save herself and friends. One moment that really stood out to me is the one of the first times she demonstrates her willingness to survive. Lara wakes up with her hands tied behind her back, and finds her friends missing and fires are blazing on the side of the mountain. She finds out very quickly that whoever is responsible are ruthless and violent people. Lara is forced to hide behind cover and sneak behind guards as she continues her trek up the mountain. However, after a little while you’re found and grabbed. With some luck and fight back Lara is able to take the other man's gun, and fire off a shot. The expression on her face backed with the music makes for a very memorable moment. Even if it's muddied down a little by the fact she goes on to kill hundreds more.
While you progress through the game you'll see areas off in the distance that you've been to before, and some places you'll go to soon enough. You'll weave in and out of mountains, contact centers, and shantytowns. All the while, searching for the crew who were shipwrecked on the island with you. New abilities become unlocked as Lara learns to survive through the wilderness leading to an almost Metroidvania light experience. You can revisit areas to gather collectibles (diaries, GPS locators, artifacts) that you weren't able to on your first go through.
Combat feels really good for the most part. The bow and arrow still has a place in my heart as being the best I've used in gaming. Every kill is rewarding and has an impact. Long distance bow shots to the head help break up the flow of combat. I’d spend time plotting out how I could get through the area by picking off enemies one by one, and being able to execute that without being spotted resulted in fun, player made puzzles. The feeling of pulling back the bow, holding your breath, releasing and knowing how your shot will go before you let go leads to intense combat situations. The tight controls leave failure up to you. If your shot isn't good that's on you. Upgrading only makes the bow more lethal and fun to use. You also get a couple guns to help mow down enemies but I found myself going back to the bow most of the game.
The game isn't all combat focused and you'll spend time raiding tombs and solving puzzles as well. These puzzles are a nice touch and range from really easy to fairly difficult. A couple towards the end I had to look up after spending 4 or 5 minutes getting nowhere. Using survival instinct, a mechanic in the game that causes points of interest to be highlighted, can give you hints on what the best solution as well. I feel they could have done a little bit more with these but overall they add a little hurdle to get over.
The issues I had with this game are few and far between. I think they are more growing pains than anything. As with previous generation open world shooters there are a lot of shooting galleries (one room, a lot of enemies) and then not a lot of combat for a while. Like I said, they fill that time with fun and rewarding exploration and puzzles so there really isn't a dull period.
Another design choice that hasn't aged well is the use of quick time events. There isn't many, which is good, but still just a touch too many for me. Plus, the end boss is just a series of quick time events which fumbles the experience a lot. Working on a 10 hour journey to have it end so suddenly and empty was a pretty big bummer.
However, Tomb Raider is still a real gem in the open world genre. It's nice to see it hold up so nicely and I can't wait to see what changes they made from this game to the newest entry in the series, which unfortunately fell under the radar upon release. If you're looking for a familiar adventure to revisit or something brand new, Tomb Raider really delivers.
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