Review: Tomb Raider (2013)

(Photo Credit: Digital Spy)

The most iconic female character in video game history, Lara Croft hasn’t had the best of times lately. Her misadventures in the Angel of Darkness released back in 2003 was a critical failure.

The fearless archaeologist disappeared until Crystal Dynamics released Tomb Raider: Legends in 2006 which put her back on gamers' radars. Now Lara is back in her (chronologically) first adventure and she’s better than ever in this reboot aptly titled Tomb Raider.

The game starts with Lara and her friends on an expedition to find the lost kingdom of Yamati. Their boat, the Endurance, encounters a freak storm and the crew wakes up stranded on an island with ruthless savages.

This is not the T rated Tomb Raider you’re used to. Crystal Dynamics took a very dark and mature turn with this game. Lara is beaten, choked, bashed around and slammed down.

You think you're having a bad day? Try seeing your friends dying, being punched by a buffed up guy, crawling away then falling down a water fall.

This is an M rated game all the way and that’s why it packs an emotional punch. You feel for Laura, and with that investment you want to play more and more.

Tomb Raider is linear for the first hour or two, but then opens up to a non-linear and beautiful island to explore.

The controls are some of the best I've experienced in a long time. They feel slick and you never battle with any of the buttons: it makes jumping, covering, shooting and climbing easy and fun.

Yes, you will think of Uncharted while playing Tomb Raider. The controls are basically the same, except Lara controls more fluidly then Nathan Drake.

This game has a lot to offer in terms of gameplay. You have the standard leveling up your weapons, your moves, your health with the experience points you earn by finding lost journal papers from your crew that are scattered around the levels, shooting enemies, finding artifacts, investigating them and raiding the optional tombs where you have to solve a mind bending puzzle to get a special reward.

You never feel as though your back tracking or playing the same level over and over again. One part of the island could be a mountain where you're trying to sneak around undetected, and the next you're hanging high up from an abandoned gondola lift.

(Photo Credit: GamerGuides)

As you progress through the game you actually feel like Lara is getting stronger and her character is evolving; not just physically, but mentally as well.

Lara starts out as a scared, nervous girl who is confused and helpless, but then by the end of the game she’s one of the most badass female characters we have seen in a while.

The main story is surprisingly long, clocking in at 15 hours for just the single player campaign to complete everything. Getting the 100 per cent achievement is probably going to take you a good 20 hours.

The voice acting for Lara is top notch. Camilla Luddington's performance enchants the player into believing this is a real human being. Her mannerisms, tone and even screams when the player fails to hit the right button during a quick time event feel real and authentic.

The same can’t be said for everyone else joining Lara. They are cookie-cutter characters with unbelievable dialogue and clichés we have seen in every other adventure game. The skinny guy with glasses that knows everything, the strong tribal tattooed cook and the best friend who gets captured are all present. But Lara’s character is so well acted and well written that it’s easy to forgive and overlook.

The online mode? Well it’s there, but that’s all I can say that’s semi-decent about it. The game is like every other online third person action game: kill, earn XP and repeat. You have your standard team deathmatch mode. There's Rescue, which is basically capture the flag mode with med packs as the flags. Cry for Help pits the survivors of the Endurance against the other team, with the survivors trying to activate a radio transmitter  The ubiquitous free-for-all  rounds out the available game modes.

(Photo Credit: Game Rant)

Nothing new and nothing original, and when playing online you get bored pretty quick. Some of the maps let you plant traps, but that’s as interesting as it gets. You level up after each round of play and the higher your level, the more guns and grenades you unlock as well as characters.

Character unlocking is just frustrating right at the start, because you really have no characters that are worth playing and you can’t even play as Lara, the star of the game, until you reach level 60. I am an achievement whore and I couldn’t even force myself to play to level 60. If I did, I would have jumped out the window due to the repeating maps, the dry game play and just uninspired online level design.

Tomb Raider is a great game and a surprise to me. I felt emotionally connected to the character. I was astounded and astonished by the beautiful graphics ranging from the intense sunlight shining on the island to the dirt and blood on Lara’s skin. The multiplayer we could have done without, and you probably will play it once then go back to the addictive single player.

This game is a possible contender for Game of the Year so far. There is just one question I pose to Crystal Dynamics: how the hell are you guys going to top this with a sequel?

A survivor is born and hopefully a great game franchise.

Welcome back Lara.