The Good:
+ Visually stunning; textures and animations are detailed and realistic
+ The new Lara is a believable and incredibly likable character
+ Entertaining and fleshed-out stealth & combat mechanics
+ Superb voice acting makes every character feel lifelike
+ Short yet engaging puzzles lets you take a breather between action set-pieces
The Bad:
- Too short. Can be completed in as little as 6 hours, even shorter if you decide to skip stealth and shoot your way through the entire game
- Completely lifeless, unnecessary, and un-engaging multiplayer mode
-A bit on the easy side. If you're a good shot, you'll breeze through the game
The story takes place on a remote island somewhere south of Japan, where Lara, her best friend Sam, and her longtime mentor and friend of her father Roth, have decided to set out on an expedition to discover the lost Kingdom of Yamatai. However, a storm rips the ship apart and Lara, her friends, and the crew of the ship Endurance find themselves stranded on a strange island with a violent brotherhood of cultists, criminals, and ship-wreck survivors who want them dead. Additionally, it seems as though there is a mysterious force that wishes to keep the group stranded on the island.
However, while I give it a hard time for being too short, I must say the game is the funnest 8 hours I've spent in a long time, and if you're serious about exploring the island in its entirety, delving through every tomb, and gathering every collectible, you can probably squeeze about 16 hours from it. It's a good purchase, a must-rent, and makes you excited to see what is in the future for the new & improved Lara Croft.