A survivor is reborn.
For the first time in 17 years, Lara feels like a real person. She is unsure of herself, cares for others, and feels pain as the events of the game pans out. Very few games allow having the character abused as much as Lara has. Past games from the series have Lara escape death, and she doesn't even have a scratch. Not even Nathan Drake gets a cut. You see the damage Lara gets throughout the game. Not only does Lara get through a blender, but we feel her pain as well.
The game more or less begins with her dropping straight onto a conveniently place piece of rebar and getting pierced through the side. I consider myself to largely desensitized to awful things on the internet and video games, but at a certain point in the game, even I felt the latest bone crunching drop onto the unforgiving ground was a bit excessive.
Whether that is considered a success in terms of creating a connection between game and player or gratuitous character abuse is something I haven't decided yet, but either way, it was effective.
The set pieces are a sight to be seen, it even rivals that of the Uncharted series. From escaping from a burning building to parachuting down a tree infested mountain side. Her will to survive allows her to come back stronger than ever. By the end of the game, Lara Croft has never been this bad ass. There is not a lot of weapons to choose from, but the weapons you do get you will use. There is not a weapon you will not use. There are ways to upgrade your weapons and deal out more damage.
Lara begins with nothing and over the course of the game, collects and upgrades all her equipment to further aid the attempt at a gentler, more believable path from defenseless victim to feared killing machine.Finding salvage and weapon parts will maximize your weapons. Finding relics, journals, and GPS caches will give you experience to upgrade yourself, by the end of the game, you can deal melee damage.
The combat is fast and exciting; the game is challenging, but never frustrating. Each fight that comes with it feels hefty and real. Each bullet and arrow that flies passed your head feels earned.The combat in Tomb Raider successfully makes almost all of your weapons feel useful. At its best, you are fluidly switching between them depending on the enemy and situation, and it feels comfortable, effective, and satisfying. I preferred to use the bow as much as possible because, despite being more or less the same as firing a gun, it feels just different enough to be a nice change of pace. It is also the weapon that allows for a stealth approach to the game, which I prefer to the hide behind waist high cover corridor shootouts that the game degenerates into once you break stealth. It's a thrilling experience that most games strive for. The light stealth is excellent and very satisfying. You can complete full section using only stealth. Cover is the best around. When enemies are nearby, Lara will cover down automatically and it has a sense of realism. No button is needed. The enemies will do the same. They will flank you or rush you and it never feels old.
As you progress through the game, you will come across tombs. There is not as much as I hoped for, but they do allow a mixture among action and puzzles. There is a focus mode called Survival Instinct, but a part of finding the way point, I hardly used it. The Survival Instinct provides the pieces to the puzzle, not the solution. In the game you can explore the whole island. While the game is leaner, it doesn't feel like it with its many places to find. Moving around is fast and fun while using the pick axe is a blast to do. Lara movies as you would expect someone will do, if she trips her body will have a response to it. Lara Croft's story to protégé to Survivor is an interesting one; it's not about looking for tombs, but her will to survive.
The side characters are not the most fleshed out, but they are interesting. The parallel between Lara and Mathias is interesting and the focus point of the game. As one goes mad with the will to survive, the other finds themselves stronger than ever. What helps this new Lara is the new actress playing her. I hope that we see more of her as Lara in the future. This is a rare game where the guns have power behind them. The game is not the most detailed, but it still looks great.
No game is perfect , There are some unbelievable flat stereotypes in the main cast. There are absurd moments that are presented as emotionally resounding yet fall flat due to these hammy characters. What the game calls "archaeology," is generally closer to looting or antiquities hunting. It's a travesty that flies in the face of peer review and I am disgusted! lol jk, obviously they can't put real science in, but 75% of the exposition in this game has the feel of being dumbed down from some hypothetically cooler or more intense concept. Would it hurt to portray real intelligence in characters that are supposed to be smart? It's hard not to root for Lara though, when she's doing the dirty work only to get blamed at by her friends, her mentor is an eternal skeptic who might be probably evil, and her quaint passion for a controversial archaeological venture that would raise an eyebrow of all but the most dubious of naked archaeologists.
Anyway enough bs. Just Play it.