A beautiful restart that gives just enough but not too much to keep you looking forward.
Why this game is many things there are a few things it is not. Importantly, it's not entirely the same Tomb Raider series you remember as the deeper puzzling elements seem to be lacking. For some, this might be a turn off but for me it was a pleasant and continuous reminder that Lara is only getting her start in this game so less is more in my opinion. Without these more traditional series elements they still were able to move the series forward in a way that is inviting, full of action, and enough of the genre to keep you wanting more. One would hope that they would push the finer elements of the series in the next game to ensure they lock in long term fans.
While this game is not quite as graphically ambitious as Uncharted, the way the overall game comes across shows that Nathan Drake has some challenges ahead. They did a very good job of creating beautiful environments coupled with a well paced narrative that flowed from beginning to end. Again, though, the more puzzle type sections in this game seemed more breaks from the action more than important to the game play. Nearly every puzzle from start to finish is quite easy and does not hold you up. This can be good and bad depending on your perspective.
As a FPS, the game does hold its own with the player having to keep abreast of nearby and distanced foes at every big fight. While generally the fire fights are fairly easy to beat, they are fun enough that you willingly choose different tactics and weapons simply because you can. That is to say, you are not forced to take down enemies in any particular way and each weapon has its own pros and cons. Some games seem to be weighted in ways where you wind up using only certain weapons for the majority of the game but with Tomb Raider I didn't find myself in this rut as much. That was a pleasant surprise.
Some complaints might be had regarding the more cinematic action approach they took in this title. Some QTEs early on could be a little bit frustrating as the cues/keys were not always as clear to know what to do. However, once you got past these the game continued in its fairly straight forward pace. Importantly, I did wish there were more intentionally fun/challenging puzzle segments to balance out the serious bullet time Lara plays in this game. For a reboot and origin story, it just seems that Lara killed a whole lot more enemies than she might. It would have been nice if the balance between battle/puzzle/stealth was done to make that component just a bit more realistic. Too, while the RPG were generally a nice touch, you never felt that they were too needed and/or pivotal in how and what you decided to do with upgrades.
Ultimately, this is a great title and a lot of fun from start to finish. I'll admit, I'm excited about the competition between this series and Uncharted and this type of series is one of my favorites.