The 2013 Tomb Raider reboot was a superb action/adventure game that saw Lara Croft learning how to survive and fight under dire circumstances. Rise of the Tomb Raider sees Lara off on another even more grand adventure. This is an excellent sequel that improves and expands on the first game in almost every way imaginable. The first game drew many comparisons to the Uncharted series however this time around it feels like Crystal Dynamics has done a good job of really carving their own path. The game has a lot of big open environments that offer many quests and collectibles to tackle how ever the player seems fit. Lets delve into this world and all the cogs that keep it going.
As the game starts out Lara makes up her mind to continue where her dad left off in his search for Kitezh. The city is told to have the divine source, the key to immortality. You quickly find out Lara is not alone in her search, a very power group called Trinity is searching for the divine source as well. It turns out Trinity had placed one of their own near Lara's father and now Lara must face this betrayal. It turns out the divine source is being heavily guarded by a group of native people who follow a man simply referred to as "The Prophet". It will be your job to earn these peoples trust and help them repel Trinity's advances. This is all while you continue your search to find the source yourself and redeem the legacy of the Croft name.
The gameplay in Rise of the Tomb Raider feels rock solid and offers a lot of flexibility. In combat you can often sneak around and pick off enemies without alerting anyone. Its easier than ever to get behind an enemy and take them out with a choke hold. By throwing objects or shooting arrows you can distract and separate the enemies to be picked off one by one. Should you slip up or simply desire a firefight you'll still have plenty of options at your disposal. Lara eventually finds herself equipped with a bow, pistol, shotgun, and rifle. All your weapons have multiple upgrades and as you level up you'll acquire new abilities that will give you even more flexibility in combat. Often there will be explosives lying around to take advantage of or you can just craft your own.
When you're not fighting there is plenty of other stuff to do. There are quite a few challenges tombs that will give Lara different puzzles to solve that reward you with various upgrades. There are tons of audio logs to collect that do a fantastic job of adding a lot of context to the story-line and its many strong personalities. You can also find hidden relics, coins, crafting materials, and exotic prey. By hunting different animals and looting enemies you'll gain the various materials needed to upgrade you equipment. Lets not forget all the jumping, climbing, swinging, and swimming you'll often do as you navigate from area to the next. This is as much a platformer as it is a sandbox adventure game.
Content, lots of very polished and fun content. This game is full to the brim with stuff to see and things to collect. Yet, unlike a lot of other big and open games it manages to keep all the pieces together for what is actually a really solid story-line. Rise of the Tomb Raider gives you the exploration and flexibility of an open-world game within the realm of a tight linear narrative. This is one of a select number of games that really earns the title of the action/adventure genre. Anyone who enjoys exploration and collectibles will be kept busy while those who love the thrill of combat and platforming have plenty to look forward to as well. All this variety means this is truly is a game that should sit well with any traditional or "hardcore" gamer.