The new Tomb Raider is an interesting game... but I feel that in order to do it true justice, I need to review it as two separate games.

The first game is quick and easy to deal with... it is a painful mess of quick-time events (QTE) and forced linear missions.  There is no freedom and an instant death is waiting for you should you try to stray from the pre-defined path.  The very start of the game, for example, is many (many) QTE in quick succession.  They are not fun or exciting, they serve no real purpose, they are just frustrating (especially when it's not clear which key you should be mashing).  I honestly wouldn't blame anyone for simply giving up on the game, assuming that the rest of it is the same.

But that would be a shame... and wrong, so very wrong.

Because the other game is a completely different beast.  Freedom to run and climb round a stunning world, hunting collectables and seeking out hidden tombs to raid and murdering hundreds of rather dedicated henchmen.

Sorry, were you under the impression that poor little Lara was a vulnerable and naive girl having to face up to the harsh realities of life on an island full of nasty men? It's true that when Lara first 'lands' on the island, she appears to be less than happy with the idea of doing anything unpleasant, and the first time she has to kill someone, there is a significant amount of groaning and remorse... but it doesn't last.  Give it 30 minutes and you're running round with a machine gun, taking out heavily armoured henchmen with ease.  Spend enough points in the relevant skill tree and you'll even be happily getting up close and personal, using your climbing axe to (apologies for the pun) make a point.

But here's the thing... it's fun.  The developers have understood that while it's great to give Lara that vulnerable side, they need to get her to a place where she's happily able to jump around gunning endangered species into extinction.  The best parts of the game revolve around the same things that the original Tomb Raider games did... running around solving puzzles and taking out people, animals and anything else that threatens to kill you will leaping around like a bad ass.

The graphics look great, although I'm not convinced the new hair effect, TressFX, really add that much considering the performance hit they appeared to cause (particularly on nVidia cards).  The voice acting is pretty top notch, which is normally an area developers seem to cut corners on and the sound in general worked well.  Combat and movement are both solid and I didn't encounter any real issues (even the camera position).  As one of three major games recently released involving bows (something I know quite a bit about), I felt that Tomb Raider's implementation was one of the more satisfying to use, although not the most accurate.

The fact that the majority of the game is spent relatively free to do what you want, when you want, the QTE and the missions that constantly push you forward without letting you properly explore your environment feel like a real slap in the face.  Some might argue that they offer a contrast to the freedom and allow you to appreciate it more... QTE do have a small role to play in games but they need to be done right.  You shouldn't have to go through one EVERY time you take on a wolf or some other animal (I'm looking at you Assassin's Creed III) and there is only so many times you want to be mashing a button to force open a door or crate... it doesn't add anything to the game.  Most importantly, they should almost always be optional (in my opinion) but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be punished.  Don't want to press 'F' to kick the nasty man in the face... fine, you take some damage or lose some ammo or some other penalty... but instant death because you'd chosen that moment to pick up you cup of tea for a quick swig thinking it was just another cutscene... no thank you.

Tomb Raider IS a good game.  It's one I have happily recommended to a number of people (with the advice to ignore the string of QTE at the start, it gets better)... but it could have been so much better.

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~ Naiboss