Read this review - honest and unbiased!!!
First of all, let's address the difficulty. In the options you have various choices in tailoring the difficulty to suit how hard you want to play the game. I'm playing it on the hardest setting there is with my health lower and bad guys maxed out and I can honestly say that I haven't had any problems! Sure I've died a few times but that's normal. I certainly haven't been killed excessively or been tearing out my hair with frustration! The game awards you with plenty of health packs, assuming you can be bothered to explore, but hey, you are Tomb Raider and you are an explorer are you not?! To make it easier, you have an "adrenaline" feature that rewards you for successful hits on baddies. Just activate it and time slows down to make life easier. Continue shooting and it tops up all the time which makes combat significantly easier!
If you are finding the combat too hard you can tailor it to suit how "easy" you want it - can't say fairer than that eh?!
The puzzles are a challenge but that's half the fun - exploring and figuring it all out so when you do you have a real sense of, "yes-I did it!" Again, explore, look round, use the binoculars. If you really get stuck, you can get help from lara herself and if your tearing your hair out, it will tell you what to do! Tombraider is known for exploration and puzzle solving - that's what we all know and love the series for. If you want a game where it says go here, go there in big letters, or guides you on a linear path then maybe tombraider is not for you.
Tomb Raider is all about making YOU lara and making YOU explore and work it all out. With Tomb Raider games the action has always come second so it should come as no suprise that exploration and puzzle solving come first!
The game is stunning to look at, not to mention the leading lady herself! By far this is the most realistic TombRaider to date. Lara gets dirty, swats bushes out of the way, ect. The gameplay environments are stunning to look at and superbly complimented by a very pleasing ambient score with suitable background sound effects.
The story ties in with anniversay and legend and is sufficiently intriging enougth to keep you playing to see how it all pans out.
As for the camera, apart from the odd few times where it's been abit dodgy I haven't found it difficult at all!!! Certainly it's not the pain people are making out!
It's obvious that Tomb Raider is in the hands of people who love the franchise and don't want to change an original formula. All you have to do is look at anniversary - this is a remake of how it all started remember and that involved lots of puzzles and exploring. If it's not broken - don't fix it!
The day Tomb Raider changes into an action fest and restricts exploration and turns away from the puzzles is the day Tomb Raider as we know it dies. I for one will be very sad to see the game go in that direction.
To conclude this epic review, I would say, if you want an intense shooter, then look at call of duty, ect!
If you want a game that's gorgeous to look at, works the little grey cells, makes you explore every nook and cranny and throws in the odd combat, then Tomb Raider is an essential purchase!!!
Thank you for reading this review and I hope this helps you make a better informed decision on whether or not to purchase. If you still have doubts - my advice - download the demo!!!