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- Publisher: Square Enix
- Release Date: Mar 5, 2013
- Also On: PC, Xbox 360
User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 1104 Ratings
User score distribution:
Positive: 979 out of 1104
Mixed: 45 out of 1104
Negative: 80 out of 1104
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Mar 6, 2013I very much wanted to like this game. I remember playing the first TR game the day that it came out and being blown away by it. This, however, is not a Tomb Raider game. The closest and most succinct description that I can give is that it is Uncharted with breasts and XP. There's some exploration crack that's sprinkled on it, but for the most part here is the bulk of the gameplay:
Follow a linear path.
Encounter a group of armed thugs and chest high walls.
Kill aforementioned thugs.
Rinse and repeat. The game is mostly set pieces and constantly holds your hand. It comes complete with a win button that you can use to get the game to tell you what to do in case you can't figure it out, which never happens anyway because the way the design is done it's basically got sign posts telling you exactly what to do at every point in the game. Also, I'm about 3/4 of the way through and there has been exactly zero swimming, which would make this the first TR game without swimming. It is also nowhere near as gritty as we were led to believe, nor do you ever really feel vulnerable. The cutscenes and voice acting are well-done generally, but outside of them it's boom headshot time. This isn't a Tomb Raider game. It's barely an action-adventure game. It's mostly just an action game, complete with a heavy melee unit that shows up right on cue. But, for an ACTION game, it's decent. It plays a lot like Spec Ops, but has a more interesting main character, platforming, a less interesting narrative, but better combat. It isn't an awful game. If you LOVED Uncharted, and you KINDA LINKED the previous Tomb Raiders, you might want to check this out. If you came looking for an honest-to-goodness reboot of the Lara Croft franchise, well then I'm afraid I've got bad news for you...… Expand
Mar 9, 2013As a die-hard Uncharted fan I can easily say that this game is a game to be reckoned with and to boast about. Crystal Dynamics has done a great job in terms of storytelling and especially gameplay, with the bow and arrow being a pleasure to use. It's Naughty Dog's turn now, hopefully if they release Uncharted 4 they will have the Tomb Raider standard to have to top.
Mar 5, 2013This is the new standard for tomb raider. The atmosphere is amazing. Great story so Far( i am 5 hours in) The gameplay is great. And for the first time in a long Time i truly care about lara. And if She lives or dies. The only cons are the multiplayer feels of uncharted lite. But the cover system is great. I love being as stealthy as I can be. I am very much looking forward for tomb raider 2. lol. Don't let this one pass you by!!!!… Expand
Mar 12, 2013Lara Croft is back and the best she's ever been! Since Tomb Raider: Underworld's release, Crystal Dynamics has been hard at work putting together this origin story, and it definitely pays off. An unbelievably unique game in many ways. It is true that some inspiration is taken from modern titles like the Uncharted series, but to be honest, if it hadn't the outcome may well have been a completely different game. I believe Naughty Dog's series gave Tomb Raider the boost it needed to evolve for more mature audiences. The script is brilliantly written by talented Rihanna Pratchett, already having worked on female-driven action games. The gameplay is tense, adrenaline-fuelled action and adventure, with a lot of exploration opportunities. The most important feat Crystal Dynamics has accomplished is that they have created an entirely new, 3-Dimensional Lara Croft who is so much more human. I have yet to complete the game and I must say I am nowhere near disappointed in any way. The over system is unique in such a way that I expect other games to adapt this revolutionary technique in future titles. An absolute must-have! Even if you were not a Tomb Raider fan previously, now is the time to get in on the action.
NOTE: Having now completed the game, I deducted a point based purely on the multiplayer. Although at times fun, it shows just how rushed and un-evolved it is. The single player may well have been improved with a longer duration.… Expand
Mar 8, 2013Tomb Raider shows off its team's technical strengths and provides adequate gameplay. Every single point of my review goes toward the craftsmanship involved, which left the same sort of impression on me as a sturdy wooden chair or endtable. It has shape, polish, and function, and fits right in with the other well-constructed action games of its ilk. But then, it gets weird. It gets really, really weird. It gets weird enough to knock off more points than a videogame story should/ Not since Lifetime's worst-rated films have I cringed through such uncomfortable, pedantic, pandering female-empowerment-exploitation schlock. Not content with mediocrity, the plot clashes against its gameplay, employing torture porn and revenge-killings as the only means of character development. Lara Croft, a plucky young girl on an innocent adventure, has to shoot through hundreds of specifically male strangers to grow into a strong woman, yelping like a pornstar every minute of the way as she's beaten, stabbed, eviscerated, crushed, drowned, shot, impaled, burned alive, eaten, gored, and otherwise violated by everything. Thanks to the genre setpieces, Lara seems to like these beatings so much that she goes out of her way to get more, crossing deadly terrain when everyone else clearly uses safer means. She stops her bizarre thrill-slaughter only long enough to whimper her insecurities and angst over piles of dead bodies. This wannabe blockbuster script slathers itself greasily on top of a standard yet solid game, deforming Tomb Raider into a jarring, uneven, and unsettling experience. Just don't.… Expand
Mar 8, 2013This is a great reboot for the Tomb Raider Franchise. I rate it a high 8. Everything in the game is well done. The island is very atmospheric with its awesome weather effects. The controls are solid. Tomb raider takes pretty much something from every triple A franchise before it and implements it into its own design just as well as those franchises did. There's stealth elements that feel like your playing a Splinter Cell game, combat and climbing that feels like Uncharted, bonfires from Dark Souls, brutal kills from Gears of War, etc. Everything is incorporated brilliantly while allowing Tomb Raider to still feel like its own game. The game starts off like the typical action adventure that you have played countless other times, but as you progress further and further into the game, the adventure starts opening up and throwing more variety and twists and turns at you. The game gets better and better as you move further into the adventure. An interesting note to make is that in relation to previous Tomb Raider games, this one is a lot more combat/action oriented than puzzle solving. This helps keep the games pace up, but old fans might be disappointed. The tombs are nowhere as cool as Uncharted's, but still a nice break from all the action. Also, finding the collectibles in the game adds a nice bit of challenge and reward for exploration. The reason, it doesn't get a 9 from me is that it never really does anything totally new or had me saying holy that was awesome! For every cool moment, there usually would be countless annoying deaths that followed which would mess up the feeling of excitement. And that's another big con for the game, there will be parts in this game that will piss the out of you, you will want to hurl your controller at the screen. The game starts off relatively easy to moderately easy but near the end gets annoyingly difficult and sometimes it's difficult to tell where to go or Lara just won't do what you want her to do. But overall, it's a huge accomplishment that the game is able to implement so many different features into its design so well for the first time and I'm looking forward to see what Crystal Dynamics can do with the next game.… Expand
Mar 6, 2013After years of poor tomb raider games a reboot was well needed. The new gameplay is fun as you can either choose to sneak around killing everyone or go in all guns blazing. The story is interesting and the exploration is fun. The multiplayer is this games only let down but im not going to let it affect my score as any true fan knows tomb raider is a single player game!
Mar 6, 2013Clearly,this is not a tomb raider game.As you can see in this video,(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y-JQ6zkEBs),crystal dynamics played a lot of uncharted during the development of this wannabe tomb raider.Too many déjà vu moments for a reboot of an iconic franchise.I am utterly disappointed.
Mar 17, 2013I just finished Tomb Raider and felt like I had to write something about the game as I feel I disagree with a lot of the gaming websites positive reviews. My experience was really all over the place with Tomb Raider, I felt the game had little to no identity of its own. Tomb Raider is like playing Uncharted, Assassins Creed & Arkham City all in one. The game play itself is nothing new although there can still be a few fun moments in this game. Raking up head shots with the bow and arrow was a highlight, I used this for the majority of the game and found some of the other weapon options fairly pointless until very late in the game. Being a big fan of the both Tomb Raider and the Uncharted series I was really excited for the release of this game and it was disappointing that for the majority of the game I felt like I just wanted it to be over. Unfortunately they made Lara a whining cry baby who moans and makes painful noises when you do basically about anything in this game, apparently this is to show her emotional side and her struggle but instead just gets really annoying. Tomb Raider has a dull story line filled with unmemorable characters who add no substance to the experience what so ever. The majority of the characters are only introduced to you for a few seconds leaving you with no attachment or understanding of their characters at all. So when one dies, you seriously couldn't care less. Another thing that irritated me with this game is Lara's face… It may as well have had no eyes or mouth on it at all, it remains plain and expressionless for the entire game and any close ups leave you wondering why they didn't put more detail into the main character.
It may sound like it but I didn't really have that bad a time with this game, I just wish they had put more emphasis on the storyline, It just left me feeling like I wasn't doing anything with purpose in the game and instead was just jumping around from ledge to ledge picking up bits of wood to upgrade my weapons. If you are however into picking up lots of useless stuff in games, this one is for you. The tomb puzzles were fun but could have been a bit more complicated and longer.
Again I just felt like the game was lacking its own identity, I can see how people would enjoy this game but it just wasn't for me. If you can borrow it over buying, I'd go for that option.… Expand
May 3, 2013Tomb Raider has come a long way, and for better or worse I can say I've been with it almost all of the way, having bought every main console game since the first one on release day. Very few people can claim to have been looking forward to this game as much as I was, especially having to look at it every day but being unable to play due to a busy work and school schedule. Unfortunately, as I had suspected the game is a giant disappointment, not only as a Tomb Raider game, but as a game in general. With today's technology they had the potential to do something truly great, something amazing. Instead, they saw an opportunity capitalize by making an uncharted game and branding it with Tomb Raider and a Lara Croft skin for a few extra sales. It's sad seeing the series decline to this, sure Angel of Darkness was bad but at the very least that game can say it's its own game, this on the other hand can't even claim that. What once had been greatness has been thrown out the window in favor of creating what must have been a desire to compile every tired, overdone, unwelcome, noob friendly trend of modern gaming they could possibly pull out of the last couple years. You name it Tomb Raider 2013 has it, regenerating health, strong focus on cover based shooting mechanics, quick time events, linearity, over the top set pieces, unnecessary catering to nongamers, ect the list goes on. The game also seems very forgetful and insecure with the very entertainment medium in which it is a part of. For a video game, you spend an awful lot of time watching cutscenes, doing/repeating poorly implemented quick time events, dealing with other scripted events, and an underwhelming amount of time being in control of the character of this so called "video game". It doesn't say much for the game that I died tons of times due to stupidly done QTEs and not once during the actual gameplay. The time in which you do actually spend in control playing the game treats you as if you've never played a video game before in your life. The gameplay is paint by the numbers, in some cases literally stopping and telling you exactly what button you need to press and when to press it, the game is even so insecure with itself as to incorporate what amounts to an "instawin" button just incase you happen to be braindead or sleeping and get stuck on any of the simplistic puzzles or lost in the 80% of a line map. Is this what gaming has come to? At this point we're literally regressing back to the days of Sega CD and FMV games, because that's exactly what this game feels like, an FMV game. With the depth of gameplay and complexity of platforming and vastness of levels the original game had 17 years ago, there is absolutely NO excuse for this game to have inferior gameplay, absolutely no excuse, IDC how low standards are today. I remember the original games invoking feelings of excitement and terror, prompting you to hold down that X button extra strong because you were shimmying over an enormous void and one slip would send you plunging down to the ground in a cringe-worthy "crunch" sound. This game has none of that, anything cool that could have been done is done through quick time events instead of gameplay. Seeing all the praise this game gets makes me genuinely worry about where games are heading. Plotting an imaginary line of gameplay regression over the past few years would have believe we'll soon all be playing on the next gen playstation CD.… Expand
Mar 6, 2013Yes it borrows heavily from the mechanics of Uncharted, but it also makes it frankly better and refreshing next to Nathan Drakes arsenal. All the tools Lara has by the end really make you feel like a badass and able to take on anything, but in fun and interesting new ways. I have nothing bad to say about the game other than normal gaming issues and bugs. Also the water is extremely pixelated. It's weird.… Expand
Mar 8, 2013Just finished the game. One of the best games this gen. If you love Uncharted you'll love this game. The story was cool, the graphics were top notch for a multi platform game. And the setting and set pieces were stunning. I love those asian set pieces like Uncharted 2 also did. Great work Crystal Dynamics keep 'em coming.
Mar 5, 2013Tomb raider is one of the best game had ever play.The graphics are amazing, the puzzles are like side missions and feels very rewarding to discover the way to its end. I wish a sequel and DLC
Mar 9, 2013I think people are becoming too liberal with 10/10 scores because if you've ever played a Tomb Raider game before, then you'll know that this is not it. The Tomb Raider of 2013 will be forever remembered for catering for the masses and giving the audience what they assume we want which in short are recycled broken game mechanics, set pieces, quick time events and shooting. There is nothing remotely satisfying about this game and considering how high the review scores have been, makes me wonder if they were really playing this at all. I have found absolutely no resemblance to anything positive they have mentioned in any review I've seen, with the exception of the graphics. Crystal Dynamics have previously done a stellar job of the series but now I think their creativity has been stunted and all we'll get from here on out is more hum drum Joe Bloggs bull ****
http://whatispaulplaying.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/review-tomb-raider/#more-1197… Expand
Mar 12, 2013It's Uncharted with a girl. Which could be fine --unless you were looking forward to raiding tombs. Fans of quicktime events and enemies to gun-down are in for a treat. (for a "girl-becomes-a-women" origins-shtick, she sure murders a lot). Now, If you wanted to solve puzzles and again raid-tombs, then well...
Mar 9, 2013I rented this game and what I have to say is that this is a pretty good action/adventure game, the combat feels good, the environments are good and there's plenty of generic humans to kill which gets old and boring very fast.
But this is a awful Tomb Raider game, just awful, I wish it was never made. There is nothing, absolutely nothing what so ever in this game that made me a Tomb Raider fan back in the 90s, no dino killing, no dragon slaying, no back flip shooting, no swimming and no dual wielding handguns, all I'm doing in the sack of game is shooting human after human after human after human after human and it is just pathetically boring. I never finished the game because I just got bored. Worst of all, I'll never ever love or respect Lara Croft ever again, I loved Lara as the unbeatable badass babe who could hold her own against monsters and dinosaurs, but now she's a pathetic man needing baby who has become just downright annoying with her crying, moaning and screaming.
I'll never play Tomb Raider again if it continues in this bull**** direction. 4.5/10
One of my most boring games of 2013.… Expand
Mar 5, 2013Tomb Raider is back and better than ever. What's awesome is that, despite being a reboot, the classic aspects of Tomb Raider that we all know and love is still very much present in this game. There is still a huge emphasis on puzzles, platforming, and exploration. Combat, this time around, is much more prevalent which isn't necessarily a bad thing; it works well, and is seamless. The cover system itself is innovative, eliminating the chunkiness of taking cover that plagues most third person shooters. Instead, Lara blends with environments with ease. The new Lara is a huge improvement over the past iterations. The story is also stronger than the past games which gives us incentive to care about the characters. All in all, an amazing game. It's no wonder that, after 9 games, Lara is considered an icon. She is a legend. Enough said.… Expand
Mar 12, 2013Too easy, waaaaay to easy... This hole game (almost!) just felt like a level 1 or the tutorial level from any of the old TR games...6 hours total with hand holding all the way through is a JOKE. And whats up with the camera angles and wardrobe? Where it set and made by religigious fanatics? I really dont want to see Lara with a 1930s adventurer, bomber jacket, case closed!!!!!!!!!!!! And yeah, the graphics kinda sucks too...it tries to fool you and make you think that it's good, but suddenly all the caves looks the same, and as in Far Blurr 3 this suffer from the same poor writing distance. I bet this can run well on an ipad in relativly short time, and thats not an overstatementt! Sad to see that Lara is gone cause this simply isnt a TR game!!… Expand
Mar 15, 2013She jump over 10 feet!!! WTF!!!!!! she get a molotov!!! she take 10 AK shoots...she is fine...WTF!!!!! just crap, its like Uncharted 4, but with boobs
Mar 5, 2013Oh wow this game is simply stunning! I've been a fan of Tomb Raider ever since I played the original on my very first computer. Through the years I haven't spent much time with Laura but I'm back for this one and its the best one to date. Everything about this game is a work of art. The gameplay is fluid and looks so beautiful. Let me emphasize on BEAUTIFUL!!! Best game of the year so far. The multiplayer is pretty good and it will get better. They have a lot behind this so they will fix it and it will be loved by most. Either way its a game worth checking out. I'm a happy guy!… Expand
Mar 9, 2013Tomb Raider is indicative of modern gaming these days, and while that in itself is hardly a criticism, it does commit the same glaring and obvious issues as games from this generation. For instance: (a) Too much focus on quick time events. (b) Simplistic puzzles (Puzzles were a halmark of the the first Tomb Raider games, yet here... they're simple and merely a time-sink) (c) Less emphasis on exploration and tomb raiding (d) cardboard characters and one dimensional villains (can we please move away from this lazy writing) (e) lazy writing.… Expand
Mar 6, 2013The storyline of this game is quite interesting. Especially at the beginning of the game, when you are crawling through some tunnels, the skulls of dead people are laying around, creepy stuff brings excitement. The idea of upgrading weapons and skills is also quite good. The speed of the game is high, so when you are playing the main story, you shouldn't get bored. Shooting is quite interesting, well made and sometimes hard. Graphics are amazing, all the details are astonishing and well implemented in to the game. And that is it. Now the bad... The game has to many cutscenes. There is no freedom of your movements. Lara croft slows down the tempo any time she wants, she starts to crawl when there's enemy nearby and so on and so fourth. The game is very short!!! It took me 4 or 5 hours to complete the main story!!! Seriously? Even in tomb raider: legends you had to spend more time in order to complete the game (which was the shortest game of all). Also, talking about main story, all you have to do is go ahead. I mean Lara doesn't do anything special, she just goes front and everything is exploding and somehow she survives. In previous games, even in the legend you had to do something special, or to scout the area, now you are just going straight ahead, shooting guys, Of course there are some puzzles, but basically it's a joke. Now! WHERE IS WATER? Why Lara Croft dies when she hits water? Tomb raider underworld had great missions in the water. This is a game for people who haven't played tomb raider, but the true fan will be definitely disappointed. P.S Tomb raider: the last Revelation (tomb raider 4). it took me a month to complete. That was a huge adventure and when I completed the game, I was really proud of myself. I don't understand why the games like: assassin's creed 3, tomb raider, became so short and so easy... With no puzzles or thinking. Brainless stupid adventures. Very disappointed. I give 5 only because of storyline, graphics, and the tempo of the game.… Expand
May 18, 2013I tried so hard to like this game but at the end I couldn't. As amazing the graphics are, it couldn't help save the lack luster story, clunky controls, and the game is far too easy even on the hardest difficulty.
Apr 28, 2013Bad. Just bad.
I recall the original tomb raider. Press forward, Lara moves forward. A rock falls down, you have to press away from the rock to run away from it. If a rock falls from above, you move or you die. Not so in this new version. A rock falls, you have to guess what button you have to press before it tells you at the last millisecond giving you no time to press it unless your first name is robocop. Then there comes the part you need to scrabble up a slope and the simple system of pressing a direction to go that direction gets replaced by the l and r button. I seriously do not have the patience for this kind of crap. If I have to press triangle, I expect to be told this ahead of time. I don't expect the game to serve me freshly pickled death just so it can laugh at my Lara girl getting crushed by a huge rock, not giving me much choice because of a completely disproportionate reaction time.… Expand
Mar 8, 2013Tomb Raider is a brilliantly crafted action/adventure game. Offering a directed experience, Tomb Raider is very cinematic, but it also features large environments within that allow you to explore, collect things, unlock pathways to new areas, etc. in the vein of the Metroidvania games. This is a very polished and beautiful game that deserves your attention. My one complaint are some annoying quick-time events.… Expand
May 12, 2013I'm about halfway through Tomb Raider (already, after sitting with it for just a few hours just three times) and I have to tell you, it is boring as all heck.
First of all there is way too much combat. Tomb Raider is suppose to be an exploration game with some gunplay on the side; it's not suppose to be a shooter. Also, the gameplay is very linear and every five minutes there's another cutscene. You never really get to relax and explore the world because you're always on a mission to advance the story, and quite frankly I have no idea what that story is. Lara is on an island with a bunch of bad guys trying to kill her for no apparent reason while her lost friends are communicating with her by radio telling her to go here, go there, do this, do that, so that's what she does. I have no idea what the map even means either.
Also, if you do not have a fairly large HDTV don't even attempt to play this game; all the text is tiny and blurry and you will have to stop the game and look up every upgrade on the internet to find out what the tiny little blurry letters say. I did manage to finally hook it up to a decent TV and admittedly the graphic are cool but looking around is very choppy and limited so even though it looks realistic it's not a realistic experience. And even on the HDTV it was boring because every five minutes I was in another shooting match with another army of men who wanted to kill me for who knows what reason. And if you die in one of these battles which you are likely to do because you are after all one girl against an army of men throwing dynamite at you and shooting machine guns at you, you'll have to start the entire battle all over again. YAWN.
I kept asking myself when do I get to climb a pyramid for a couple of hours and actually RAID A TOMB? You explore for at the most five minutes before you find yourself in another long drawn out gun battle or sliding down some collapsing debris ala Uncharted, forced to push a series of buttons in a certain order just to get through another segment of the linear gameplay. YAWN.
And yes, I understand that this is a prequel and Lara isn't the woman yet that she is in the other games, but come on, enough with the annoying whining and crying. For someone who can slaughter armies of men and go around shooting helpless animals for money and loot (huh?) Lara sure is a bit of a crybaby
All in all I'm very disappointed with Tomb Raider. I was really looking forward to enjoying playing a traditional Tomb Raider game except with more awesome graphics but instead got a really bad Uncharted rip off. I've played all three Uncharted games and there was nary a dull moment in any of them. I'm only halfway through Tomb Raider and I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth finishing it. I mean I already know what's going to happen next. She's going to climb some more ropes, scale some more walls, kill more men who are rushing at her like maniacs, nearly reach one of her friends before whatever she's standing on collapses making the hour it took to get there completely pointless, and repeat.… Expand
Mar 9, 2013I went into this hesitant, mainly because I wanted to see would Crystal Dynamics butcher this franchise, and they haven't! I've enjoyed this game tremendously and cannot wait to see where this series' future will head towards.But for those of you who wish to know why this is a beautiful, well-crafted game, I have compiled sections of mini reviews on each aspect of the game down below.
Gameplay: 8/10
This is where this game really hits it home.Lara begins her journey into survivor-hood with a basic bow and a couple of arrows, but over the course of the game she gets everything from a tactical pistol to a grenade launcher.These weapons can be upgraded giving the bow such things as napalm arrows, (Which do a nasty amount of damage!) but the upgrades come with a cost."Salvage" is your upgrading currency and can be found throughout the island, make sure to scavenge as much as this as you can, because you'll need it! Skill points play a major part in "upgrading Lara" as they allow her to gain cool new moves from the "Brawler" category of skills.These upgrades are done through means of attaining a set amount of xp from completing challenges, killing enemies and so on. Other neat additions to the gameplay is the climbing axe which allows you to traverse high cliffs, and the puzzles,(Albeit mediocre) found all over the island's secret tombs.The gameplay would've gotten a 10/10 from me but the inclusion of Quick-Time Events prevents that, they cause cheap deaths and really added nothing to the game, only detracted from it.
For Crystal Dynamics to make Lara a compelling personality and true survivor, they needed an equally compelling story and true experience of a survivor. The trapping of Lara an her friends on an island in the Dragon's Triangle provides just that. Lara really feels like a human in this, when confronted in different situations such as saying sorry to the first deer she's killed to feeling full of sorrow after murdering another person. Seeing Lara undergo the change of an innocent woman, to a dual-wielding badass was truly amazing, although the pacing was quite quick.The motive pushing Lara on, is to rescue her friends from the ever mysterious Mathias and his following of cronies, and to escape from the island engulfed in madness.Lara is without a doubt, the most fleshed out character in the story and apart from Mathias, her best-friend Sam, and father-like figure to Lara, Roth, the supporting characters are essentially a bunch of stereotypes. This is definitely a game that does better in gameplay over story in my opinion.
While the graphics aren't up to par with the console's best this gen "Uncharted 3", they're certainly very pretty. There was also no framerate issues with the game for me, which I was surprised with. The island provides elegant scenery with everything from the smallest plant, to the grand snowy cliffs, are done to a high detail. Graphics are usually a bonus to me anyway,they don't make a game in my opinion. So if you are one who favours nice graphics, you might want to give this game a try.
Sound: 9/10
Jason Graves certainly composed an excellent soundtrack for this game, and captures the emotions of each scene perfectly, but I felt no track in particular stood out. Each arrow fired, to the howling of wolves are all very crisp and sound life-like. All of this makes for a brilliant and immersive experience in my opinion.
Overall: 8/10
Solid campaign, unique gameplay, enough story to keep you enthralled in the game, the score is well done, but where the game really loses credit is the multiplayer. I admit that it is fun to an extent,incredibly inspired by the Uncharted series' multiplayer, but it feels lacklustre.I feel as if the game could've done just fine without it. but hey, I guess it adds some value to it! Amazing experience for me and I'd recommend it to anyone with a thirst for adventure.… Expand
Mar 10, 2013To start this off, I've never played any Tomb Raider game before, nor do I really enjoy games like it. But this game was just a bore. Lara was just a terrible character, never before have I not cared so much about a MC. It seems like she goes out of her way to get injured by something that could be easily avoided. Several times through out the game she has a chance to kill the antagonist, but she doesn't. This may be because it's a video game, but she doesn't even attempt to do it. She also moves like a snail whenever going through almost any dark area which gets very annoying. The gameplay was alright at best. I was playing on hard, but nothing could kill me besides enemies with machine guns. The enemies with machine guns were only annoying because they had the ability to stun lock you. Every other enemy posed almost no threat to you. The upgrade system was okay, all you really needed to upgrade was the machine gun and the bow because they were vastly superior to any other weapon. The multiplayer wasn't great, though I only played around 5 rounds of it. They include collectibles in the game which are near impossible to miss since you have bat-man vision which highlights them through walls if you get a certain upgrade. Tombs weren't very fun to explore since Lara moves at an unbearable speed to get into and out of them. There is no challenge in this game at all. The puzzles are all incredibly easy, almost disappointing. Overall, this game is okay. It's bearable if you don't pay attention to the story at all. This game isn't worth the $60, but it is a nice time-waster so it'd be decent to rent.… Expand
Mar 18, 2013This Game really brought me back to the older games with the bizarre Story line, but they defiinitely have taken the tomb out of the raider, there was just a sheer lack of them old tomb experiences which we all experienced in the previous games
Jun 17, 2013For a game with so much hype surrounding character portrayal the supporting cast is weak. Sassy black chick serves as the critical voice to all the Lara's concerns over the islands supernatural qualities. Cute Chinese girl functions as a plot device by being kidnapped like that guy who always disappears in The Hangover films. Large framed and even larger hearted Hawaiian guy keeps everyone's spirits up while the island's indigenous shower them all with fire based projectiles. The supporting cast is a too wide and nobody gets enough screen time or engaging dialogue to make a real presence, the main protagonist included. Lara isn't well fleshed out either. She displays brief turmoil following her first kill, but she soon goes on to find new and outlandish ways to expose the inner craniums of hundreds more men without showing any further remorse or having the excuse of being drugged up to the eye balls like Far Cry 3's Jason Brody. The writers attempt to book end the narrative with mournful references to her dead dad, but everything in between reads like the script of your average cookie cutter action flick.
A lot of the narrative's credibility has been tied to the portraying of Lara in a vulnerable light, but this doesn't instantly make for thoughtful characterizing. If someone rewrote Mansfield Park and recast Fanny Price as a busty gun toting whore I doubt it'd be met with such appraisal, or perhaps it would; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies did alright, but I digress. While we're talking literature, it's worth mentioning that Tomb Raider attempts to embellish it's narrative with collectable diaries and documents la Bioshock, but they don't embellish it so much as contain every scrap of what could have made this story interesting. Additionally they're so monotonously voiced and lengthy that players are like to harvest them for xp and swiftly move on. In further regard to the vulnerability aspect of Lara, it's a tone that fails to resonate when she's brushing off twenty foot drops every few seconds like some sort of human bouncy ball.
Average writing aside game play isn't particularly jaw dropping, not to say that it's altogether poor as it functions fluidly, but remains uninspired. The box art is tag lined "A survivor is born" although survival elements are sparse. An opening tutorial has Lara murder and cook Bambi for nourishment. Later a heavily injured Lara has to abandon aggressive modes of combat, instead making use of throw able objects, bow kills and takedowns. However such scenarios were gimmicky and fleeting when instead they could have been more intricate and permanent features.
More often or not oppurtunities to employ stealth are scripted and conclude with forced fire fights in which players need to hunker down in the same spot to pick off foes from behind cover. You can't give a player the option to approach combat in their way for so long only to snatch it away. That's like being invited to a dinner party where the first two courses are comprised of lobster and caviar, but turns out that desserts a massive un-optional sandwich.
A.I isn't too intelligent, take out one enemy by yanking him with rope and arrow from a platform and his buddy two feet away will assume they've went for a spontaneous paraglide session. Enemies endlessly gravitate towards flammable barrels like they were full of winning lottery tickets and the island's rigged with more explosives than a Wile. E. Coyote cartoon so combat soon becomes pretty, but stale.
Environments make impressive use of vertical spaces, but routes for dispatching enemies are persistently linear. Camera angles are occasionally an issue in woodland areas resulting in the player's view being obscured by more shrubbery than if they were being tea bagged by a tree beard from Lord of the Rings. Woefully enemies can make better use of the vertical spaces than the player during combat and anytime the opportunity to perform impressive manoeuvres arises the game has the nasty habit of cutting to a cinematic or QTE, alarmed that the players satisfaction levels may be spiking.
Out with combat, tomb raiding is optional activity and when the 'tombs', read 'small caves', are encountered they're usually preceded by long needless crawls towards an area containing remarkably simple puzzles. The purpose of these is supposedly to give the player a long look at Lara's arse so there goes you feminist angle.
The undeniably present lack of free will displayed in the game's set pieces leads to the theory that it may have been Crystal Dynamic's wish to produce a Tomb Raider movie. The abundant use of slow motion, cut-aways and the way the screen goes film noir when Lara takes damage would certainly suggest so. This in mind here's the alternative to buying the game. Watch one of the old Angelina Jolie films with controller in hand and press the trigger every time Lara wastes some guy.… Expand
Mar 6, 2013I enjoyed this game immensely. I am a long time Tomb Raider fan and I thought this game was a well needed breath of fresh air. I think Lara has earned back her treasure hunting crown from Nathan Drake (not bashing uncharted, love those games too) as there is plenty to see and explore in Tomb Raider, even after the story ends.
Mar 12, 2013[Disclaimer: I haven't played the entire game so my review is partly based on actual gameplay and the rest is what I've already read.] Wow. The visuals so far are amazing. It does exceed Uncharted that way, also in the openness of the levels and the natural feel to the platforming and combat. I can tell I'm going to be playing this for a while. I haven't played MP at all, I also don't like that there are MP Trophies required for platinum. If it wasn't for that I'm sure I would Platinum this to explore every nook on the island. The leveling up of the character makes sense, I've read it seems like your a bit powerful at the end. This is a must play for 2013. Might be in the top 3-5 to finish this console cycle.… Expand
May 30, 2013Great from the moment it starts and stays great forever. A little bit of trial and error was annoying, but it doesn't happen too often. The graphics and presentation are some of the best. Like uncharted with a bit more of an open world and a darker tone. Some truly original abilities too, that are intuitive and easy to use. Like using the bow and arrow to create zip-lines. Just one of those near perfect games.… Expand
Sep 29, 2013Tomb Raider without tomb raiding Zero. This game shouldn't even be called tomb raider. The gameplay is really bad, it's so linear and repetitive and predictable everything explodes or brakes and then you have to push a button to save your ass from the explosion/fall. And the rest of the time it's just another shoot em up action game which isn't that bad but wasn't Tomb Raider about exploring tombs Well, in this game they are "optional". And are extremely easy. Why Because tomb raider is dead. Really, if you're a Tomb Raider fan, don't buy this game… Expand
Oct 6, 2013Highly overrated game. It's just a poor mans uncharted. Graphics are stunning, and for the first hour or so the game play is fairly enjoyable. But then it's just Lara vs about 20 guys over and over, with the developers seemingly running out of creative ideas for these set pieces other than throw in a couple more baddies or giving them better weapons. The strategy is same and repetitive through out, little to no variation of how to approach each set piece. Bravo to those that finished the game, because boredom sets in about a third of the way through when puzzles and platforming become minimal and replaced with mind numbing boring duck and cover shooting that has been done to death on this generation of consoles.… Expand
Mar 6, 2013This new Tomb raider is dirty, beautiful and shocking and Lara really shines in this game!
Set pieces will make you're jaw drop and keep you at the edge of your seat the whole time!
Game is amazing and you should get this now!
Mar 9, 2013wow, what an awesome game. the pace is non stop rush. i loved the design because it is made to have fun with also. this tomb raider is different, but none the less great. laura grew on you and she became s likable believable character. it is obvious that the guys who made this tried to make a great game. my opinion is they did. thanks for an awesome game. visually this work was perfect. story was great. game design was player friendly. there weren't the excessive amounts of punishing restarts like the old ones if you made a mistake. this game gets my coveted 10.… Expand
Mar 6, 2013Great game. Beautiful and awesome environments and I love the exploration aspect of the game. Its among the best action/adventure games on the PS3 but this game is a little more open world while also keeping you engaged and right in the action. Plus the score is amazing, such beautiful music.
Jun 21, 2013Wants to be Uncharted so bad it's gelling it's hair and making (horrible) attempts at wise cracking jokes all the while failing to realize that no-one is gonna out do Naughty Dog at making an Uncharted game. Not a horrible game but it's not really good either. I kept getting lost, story was lackluster, didn't give two about the one dimensional characters (including Lara) and the combat was soooo basic. The graphics are nice though, I'll give it that.… Expand
Mar 5, 2013This game does not seem like past Tomb Raider games because it really isn't meant to. It is supposed to be a new start and it gets off to a great one. This games Lara isn't the confident and completely fearless Lara from past titles. She is a vulnerable and more realistic character who really makes the player feel more connected to her. The story is a very rich and exciting one that made it very hard for me to take breaks This game is about her very first expedition and how it helped her become the Lara we all know and let me tell you, it is fantastic. Like Uncharted took inspiration from the original Tomb Raider games, this new Tomb Raider title does the same but still maintains a sense of originality. The gameplay is very easy to grasp and very fluid. Not a whole lot of issues there. Also the game allows a variety of tactics to use. If you want sneak around like Rambo and take everyone out silently with a bow, you can do that. If you are more traditional and want to grab an assault rifle and start a fire fight, then yippee ki yay The whole world is beautiful and I didn't notice any glitches. If there were some, which there probably were, they were so small that you probably won't notice unless you look for them. Camilla Luddington does a fantastic job as Lara and I was impressed with the rest of the voice acting as well. Crystal Dynamics wanted a grittier storyline to take this franchise to new horizons and they succeeded in a triumphant fashion. Hopefully this is a start of a glorious revival of the Tomb Raider franchise.… Expand
Mar 16, 2013As Tomb Raider was one of the first PS Games I've played in my life, I was really excited for this game, and the result didn't disapoint. Crystal Dinamics made a game that is as fun as addictive, and an epic new beginning for a saga that promises. Tomb Raider is exceptionally great.
The story introduces us to an innocent Lara and his crew, looking for the lost kingdom of Yamatai. But as an awful storm sweeps them away to an unknown island, Lara must learn to survive as she is separated from his crew by some cruel inhabitants. The story, though it doesn't seem much of a Tomb Raider game, it's one of the best of the whole Tomb Raider saga, 96' and on. Lara's transformation from an innocent explorer to a survivor is incredible, though sometimes rushed. The relation between Gameplay and Story is not sublime. One time, Lara is hardly trying to open a deer's stomach. One second later, she is killing everything she finds. But such a small detail does not make the story a pain in the butt. Lara will discover the island's past throughout the game and it will catch us into the story as it gets more and more attractive (And more Croft) near the fantabulous ending, whose epicness is hard to describe. The game, also has some characters moments, but the lack of character development make us feel nothing for them. Let's put it this way: Someone dies, but as no background story or large talks with that character were introduced in the game, we hardly feel as Lara does. We just know she is sad, end of the story.
One thing I have to praise to the game is the fantastic combat system. The problem with all the Tomb Raider games is that the gameplay is wonky, and sort of falls flat. But Tomb Raider enhances in a smooth way, with one of the best cover systems a video game could only wish for. The two signature guns from the previous games has changed for the 21st century most hyped weapon, The Bow. And Boy, is it good! Almost all guns are good here. And by collecting different things we will get two types of points: XP Points and Savage points. The last one is useful to upgrade our guns, and make them more lethal, silent or a chaos machine. The XP points are also important, as we can unlock different Finishes (Some kind of Fatalities) we can practice on our enemies, or even help us find the tons of collectibles that are hidden everywhere in the game. There are so many, that trying to complete the game a 100% without knowing anything will probably take a normal person around 30 hours of gameplay. There are also Optional Tombs filled with medium-difficulty puzzles that are extremely rewarding, but the greatest thing about the game is the "Uncharted" style Summer Blockbuster playable scenes where we have to avoid being crushed by a plain or escape an exploding bridge. The "Booms" and "Pows" of Tomb Raider really make it special.
Now, one thing they could have copied from the successful Uncharted saga is the multiplayer, which is a little bit disappointing, but still is fun. This is mainly because of clunky servers and low resolution textures, because the map design is great and full of incredible ideas, though poorly executed. The "trap system", for example, seems more to be on your con side than on your favour. But...I don't care! Tomb Raider is not COD,...by that, I mean you don't buy it for the multiplayer. You buy it for the action-packed, exciting, epic and nerve-wracking campaign that lacks of replayability (At least you really like collectibles) but provides hours of fun the fans of the world's sexiest archaeologist needed. Tomb Raider is a 9.3, but as I don't have the authority to put that score, I will award it with a solid 9.… Expand
Mar 6, 2013This is the perfect game for the end of this generation of video games. Tomb Raider is beautifully made, has great storyline and characters and it is a extremely fun game, from beginning to end. But the real point here is Lara Croft. She is more human than ever and also very charismatic. It's a pleasure to play with a female character that is clever and straight, and is not just a "sexy chic". Definitely is a better character than Nathan Drake from Uncharted and, of course, she is an icon. Just three words: BEST-GAME-EVER.… Expand
Mar 5, 2013i'm not one to boast on the technical prowess of any game... but i'd have to go on record saying this may very well be some of the best programming i have seen in the genre. the game shines in all aspects. the combat is a trustworthy extention of the the platforming and the set peices never dissapoint. i feel fanboyism could be the only thing that may take this game's score down a few notches on metacritic.
truthfully, i have experience with tomb raider one and two, and am having a great time experiencing this reboot. the old laura was a cartoon. the new laura feels like a person. sure, being an action game i'd say tomb raider has similarities to uncharted. but that extends into what you are doing. not the feel of the game or the location. the game feels new, fresh, and revitalized. the enviroments trump uncharted's in sheer beauty and scale. these are very tightly woven vistas with great pacing. i feel, the tomb raider fanboys are going to hate that laura's cup size changed, and the uncharted fanboys are going to make bold copycat claims without playing the game. it's just how these sites work. but trust me, this game is worth the purchase... it feels almost next generation in it's polish. everything looks and feels great. i'm unsure of the story as of now becuase im only half way through it...but i'm willing to wager that the last 6 hours have been some of the funnest times i have had with a game since uncharted 2, skyrim and farcry3 even though this outing bares little resemblance to any of those titles. i'd check it out if i were you. and don't forget about bioshock infinite later this month! "the truth shall set you free"… Expand
Mar 6, 2013I honestly don't know what I'd change about this game. The location is gorgeous, and wholly believable. definitely gives even far cry 3 a run for its money. The new Lara, who has some of the most believable motion capture I've ever seen in a game, gives an impressive amount emotional range and detail. may be the best game performance ever, i can't remember one more intense. Now, mind you, I love the Uncharted series, but especially when it comes to combat, namely gunplay, this game ANNIHILATES it. This is partially because of the new cover mechanic, and partially because an M rating gives developers more freedom to accurately depict violence. The puzzles are great, as long as you ignore the giveaway hint system, and figure them out on your own. The pacing has adrenaline at a constant high, and have a surprising amount of variation. Story is great, as long as your not easily turned off by a slightly cheesy supporting character or two. All in all, this is the first adventure game that has truly felt like an adventure worth taking. This game game certainly holds the adventure game throne, at least until The Last of Us comes out.… Expand
Mar 5, 2013It's been 3 years since we last had a Lara Croft title, 5 years since we had a game bearing the Tomb Raider title, but it has definitely been worth the wait, while the start of the game takes a little while and several QTE's to settle into it's stride what follows is a fantastic action/adventure game that reminds us precisely why Miss Croft was named "Most Successful Human Video Game Heroine"
Mar 7, 2013Amazing gameplay and graphics anyone voting under a 8 or 7 at the very least is obliviously either not played it or just trolling just like:-
guyphs Constantine I still love it how people say this is not a Tomb Raider game well no S$%* Sherlock it is a reboot read that word again REBOOT lol it is made to be different you cannot compare this to any of the other Tomb Raider games.
Mar 11, 2013This series actually needed reboot, waited in patience and it gets it in a right way, fixing weak aspects of previous games with alive character, interesting story-driven adventure, good combat system. This is a great game which asks you for 2 things only: try it at least for 3 hours and deal with showstopper QTEs (actually, only cinematic-fighting type of them is really annoying, but they are not so frequent). Rare puzzles also too easy, but gameplay flow is so nice and joyfully unstoppable so you don't really mention it and keep playing like in childhood till the very end.… Expand
Mar 15, 2013This is not exactly tomb raider. It feels like Far Cry 3 or Uncharted. Nevertheless, the game is beautifully made, the story is decent, lot of fun fights and not a single glitch. Just do not expect a die-hard tomb raider and you will enjoy the game a lot.
However, there are parts that are really a let down lot of cinematic action. Often it feels like being back to the laser disk game era. Freedom to move, but not real freedom of action. Useless button smashing action to open chest as well as useless RPG-like elements.… Expand
Mar 30, 2013Very disappointing.
Graphics are very pretty but the game is way to linear with far to many cut scenes. Lots of the encounters just involve following prompts on screen to press triangle, or square, etc and you spend more time watch cut scenes than playing. Then when you do get to play, there's only one route to go it's very very boring. Especially after having just played the brilliant Far Cry 3.… Expand
Oct 24, 2013I should point out before I start that my score is lower for this game then I expected it to be. I had high expectations since the critic reviews for this game were so positive and unfortunately, I feel a bit let down. This game is very good but I just didn't enjoy it as much as many did. Firstly, I feel like it is too similar to Uncharted. There are action set pieces everywhere, you slaughter more enemies then you could possibly count and there is even a supernatural element. Perhaps I was comparing it to Uncharted too much but I think the similarities are too frequent and obvious to be ignored. Lara and Drake are extremely similar, they both have a superhuman jump length, both are capable of taking extreme pain and both are capable of taking on 100s of enemies. The difference is that whereas Uncharted is more lighthearted and fun, Tomb Raider is being much darker and serious which I think lets it down. I could love Uncharted for all of its flaws because it doesn't take itself too seriously., one of these being pain tolerance. Lara goes through hell in the first 5 minutes of the game after surviving a shipwreck, fire, being impaled, attacked by animals and numerous falls but I can't accept this like a could in Uncharted because one of the main plot points is about Lara becoming a survivor on this island. The island made her stronger emotionally yes, but when trying to tell a mature story with someone who is almost invulnerable from the start who should be dead, it becomes difficult to accept.
The gameplay itself is fine though, with lots of variety, weapon upgrades and really fun puzzles. I just think that It doesn't suit the story well, or more the story doesn't suit the gameplay well.… Expand
Nov 1, 2013What an incredible video game.Tomb Raider is totally a work of art or is a masterpiece.The world in this game is huge and the graphics are so cool.Hell there are many tombs in this game that are to be explored.The game play is also fun and even the storyline of this game is also good.Plus you can as always change Lara's outfit which is also great because all of Lara's outfit are darn good.Okay those are some of the good parts and here are the parts that are missing in this game.First of all after finishing the whole game there will be no more enemies to kill.I wish the enemies here are not limited.Second its almost not like a survival game because after she eats one deer there you go you don't need to eat anymore.Sometimes a video game character needs to eat more food.Finally the last one the most important one....there is no more Croft Manor!With the kind of graphics the game has it will be awesome if the manor is in this game.Well anyway this game is good.So for all of you Tomb Raider fans out there you must buy this game and play it.… Expand
May 21, 2013One of the few games this year that I thoroughly enjoyed playing, especially with the taut storytelling of Lara's origin story by Developer Crystal Dynamics that had me rooting for Lara every step of her way. In addition to the story, the gameplay was fantastic too, very tight and responsive controls in movement (climbing axe was awesome) and while in battle (shooting with the bow and arrows was great fun). As an Uncharted fan, I was impressed with the gorgeous majestic cinematic sequences, they were exciting and one scene near the end to me topped Uncharted, and I'm an Uncharted fan to boot. The single drawback to me was the multiplayer, it's just not as fun. I would have preferred if they had a longer single solo playthrough instead of the weak multiplayer. Highly recommended, and keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel! More of the excellent new Lara Croft, please.… Expand
May 25, 2013This game might have it´s moments but so does Unchartad which is much better in my opinion. Tomb Raider has stolen so much game mechanics and level design from Uncharted you could think it´s the same series. How can the reviewers miss that it´s obvious if they ever bothered to play Uncharted.
Jun 9, 2013The multiplayer of this game is soo poor I want to kill myself, There was so much Lag on Console versions and it was not consistent, it had bugs glitches, the campaign was very short too, it felt too lack lust and i wish it could've been more but the replay value just died as there were many latency and server lagging within the multiplayer!
Jun 27, 2013First there was the original Tomb Raider with kinda scary atmosphere and enemies clever and somewhat challenging puzzles and jumping sections and overall interesting gameplay, it gradually went to and then Uncharted appeared taking large portions of the original Tomb Raider assets and dumbing them down for the wider audience. So its not so weird that the new Tomb Raider game with its overblown budget that was supposed to appeal to that wide audience looks and plays so much like Uncharted and it not a surprise that it is overhyped generic linear spectacle with a female heroine that has a fit about killing one poor dear but doesn't mind killing hundreds of people, effectively throwing her supposedly dramatic character arc out of the window. And where did she even learn to shoot in the first place?… Expand
Jul 4, 2013Played this game for a good 4 hours now and i am left with this "meh" feeling. Probably not even going to finish it to be honest. Let me first say that the gameplay is decent for the most part and it has some impressive motion capturing going for it. The graphics and soundtrack are above market standards as well. And that is the best i can say about this game unfortunately.
The "story", if you can even call it that, is a complete dud written by what must be a pretentious high school drop out with a pen. Actually, it is almost insulting the way logic is challenged over and over. For example, Lara is cold, shivering etc, yet i cannot pick up a coat from one of the 30 guys i just murdered? It is full with crap like this, and it will get annoying fast. Heck, the game even starts this stupid by completely impaling Lara trough the gut with a rusty stake-like object, yet she is completely fine for the rest of the game??. And that is just one of the ridiculous injuries she sustained, more, even absurder injuries follow later. The supporting cast is completely forgettable and as two dimensional as rice paper. And then there is "Lara" (or Laura to some cast members who are supposedly her friends, yet cannot pronounce her name right). Lara is as Mary Sue as they come in. A pure cliche turd with a nice set of jugs and a good looking piece of ass, but not much else. Her voice actor is annoying to the point where you just want to turn the voice down altogether after an hour. OOOooh's and AAAaahh's aplenty, but not the kind you would expect from a person in painful survival mode, but rather from a person doing the voice overs in a pornographic film. They also tried to give Lara some humane personalty traits this time around, but it fails so miserably it enters comedy territory. For example, the first guy she shoots causes her to drop to her knees and yell something like "whyyyyyyy!!!!!" but it is done in such a amateur way you cannot help but laugh at this "emotional" performance. Actually, i am not even going to continue this review, it is simply bad. It has some good gameplay here and there (and some horrendous too, quick time events for the lose) so some fun can be had, but for me, a solid 4/10… Expand
Mar 29, 2014I've always been a big fan of TR, since I was a child. I'm really disappointed by this game. This is not tomb raider. This is a horrible sequence of QTE and cut-scenes, with no tombs to raid. This game should be called Lara Uncharted or Female Uncharted. This is definitely not Tomb Raider. I want my money back.
Aug 27, 2013as a woman i am appalled that they keep using hot chicks in video games. just kidding! yep she's still hot, the gameplay is still outstanding. the graphics for this title are gorgeous and the plot is actually the best in the entire series. very emotional, not just a suspense-drivel plot. (there is also suspense of course.)
Jun 13, 2013I really enjoyed this game and had a great time with it. It probably deserves a 9 but for me I finished it in 3 sessions and that is just too short. Playing this reminded me of when PS2 came out with God of War, this game has that same excitement and action the entire way through. The only exception to this was the start of the game I found it too easy and too much looking around for stuff on the map. Thankfully the more you played the game the better the action became and also the story. This is a very clean game with no glitches and bugs and I would like to thank the software developers for releasing a game with no errors of any sorts. I did have a few cosmetic glitches but they were really minor. The upgrade paths to the weapons were fun but really they paced the game as to how to play the game. I both liked this and didnt. On one hand it made the game quite easy but on the other dampened the consequences of what you picked. All in all though the game was fantastic in terms of action so I can't really complain there too. My only complaint about the game really was I don't like to play games who rely on a dark setting to make the game difficult. I do understand this is an exploration game but the game relied on so many other games, all of which I enjoyed but I found the night time/creepy dark atmosphere in some scenes to just be annoying and give me a headache playing in the dark. I could have adjusted visual settings but it still ruins the set atmosphere. Overall I would recommend this game to everyone, it was finishable very easily but also very fun, non stop action pretty much all the way through. This game is well worth your time, it may be quite cut and paste/copycat but overall the entertainment value is definately worth the pricetag.… Expand
Jan 23, 2014Even though there are several gameplay issues, the one that grabs my attention more than any other would have to be the fact that Laura can't climb (jump) every available surface, She can use her tool to climb the walls and rocks but nothing for climbing over 5 foot fences or 4 foot desks. But other than a cliched beginning, it proved to get way better as you play the game. Once the game starts up, then it gets just unbelievable. There are several scenes that could be considered cliche, but the way that the developers designed certain levels and the graphics, along with the outstanding voice work, it becomes a great game. Just absolutely marvelous. At times, the game feels like an obvious GOTY nominee but it also has its faults. It's a really great game but it's just muffled by some weak areas. The story, I though could not have been better. It's just enthralling and picks up the pace beautifully. Also the graphics were some of the best that I've ever seen at the time, Now acknowledging that there are next gen systems that will play this game, I can say that it will probably be beautiful on PS4 and Xbox One. The game is great on PS3. but can't wait for the PS4 edition!! It's a near perfect game.… Expand
Jul 7, 2013This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. i was never huge fan of the tomb raider franchise, but after reading so many reviews of the game and hearing all the critical acclaim about it, i had to check it out. needless to say, i wasnt at all disappointed. though i am not too familiar with prior work crystal dynamics has done before, this game stands out in the puzzle/action genre that i hope future games of its kind will model itself after. the graphics and visual aspects of the game, the sound design and replay value of the game is awesome.
over the course of roughly 2 weeks since i first recieved the game, i beat the game in about 3 or 4 days, with a final completion score of 82%. i would play the game for a couple of hours at a time, and always looked forward to coming back to it. the game is in fact an origin story. that is, provides an interesting idea of how lara croft did became the strong survivalist character we identify with her as a being pop culture icon we know her as today. The game is developed by Crystal Dynamics. to my knowledge, they havent done anything previously that has really stood out to me in the gaming industry (though if anyone wishes to suggest a game of theirs i should check out, please do). they have done a truly great job with the game. the overall visual design of the game is absolutely beautiful and the play mechanics of controlling Lara are smooth, clean and precise.. the sound design captures the immersive environment incredibly well varying from a thick jungle to a sprawling mountain town with accompanying various changes of realistic weather as you progress through the game. the combat, which drives about 75% of the gameplay, borrows subtle incredients from the recent Resident Evil games we've seen in recent years and is fluid, engaging and thanks to the rich various different environments, i never found dull.
if you appreciate the more technical aspects of current gen games, the game has a lot of great visual effects that add to the overall experience which one would really appreciate, not to also mention things like realistic destructible cover during the intense shoot out scenes and its environments, ragdoll physics mechanics with the bodies of enemies as they hurl through the air during explosions and the like. overall, these elements done so amazingly well help to drive a fun game play experience.
the game has a compelling storyline with a few subtle plot twists, and it is easy to identify with lara as a protagonist. this game is rated 'M' for mature and for good reason. Lara gets bloodied, beaten up and in an extreme capacity that would make even the most hardened gamer or even horror movie fan of gore cringe occasionally. the game is of course an adventure/shooter game with lots of shoot-out set pieces. it offers lots of use of weapons for lara to find and learn to use anything from a pick axe,a pistols, machine guns and even (my favourite) the awesome bow and arrow. this game offers a warm welcome to such a primitive weapon. it's fun to use and being able to pull off headshots is just incredibly satisfying.
one thing i of course must mention is the puzzle solving aspect to the game. the puzzles arent as heavily placed in prior games. in fact, they are entirely optional to pursue. you can get by without engaging in any of them which are found in tombs placed all throughout the game, but ignoring them completely even on a second playthrough would be discouraged. the rewards from solving these puzzles rewards Lara very generously with bonus XP and that is always a great thing! on a personal note though, i felt that they often slowed down the pace of the game and as i came across these tombs, i really debated with myself if i really wanted to do them at all.
as said earlier, the story line is engaging and rarely has a dull moment. the action never lets up, and is a great game that offers the player tons of replay value to return back to previous locales to look for any outstanding secret areas. i cant see this as game that too many people will be returning, trading or selling for something else in the long term. i recommend this to anyone who likes the puzzle/adventure games but also enjoys the intense action of 3rd person shooter. This Tomb Raider game has in some ways set the bar for future games of its kind to model after.
i would happily rate this as one of the top 10 games for 2013.… Expand
Mar 31, 2013ths game was really amazing! Close to uncharted but definitely not as good as! it lacked a little mystery and the voice over for Lara was sometimes annoying. Besides those problems it was a beautiful experience! macnificent visuals!Thank you Crystal dynamics and square enix!
Mar 5, 2013Anything less than a 9 is pure hate. This game is incredible and took me by surprise. It's actually nothing like any of the other TRs. Although this game steals elements from other games which is pretty obvious, it's still in a class of its own. Definitely worth buying.
May 5, 2014The reboot combines elements of the old franchise, Uncharted and even Farcry to make an epic game. The graphics are lush and the puzzles are just hard enough to keep you trying again and again. Combat is frustrating at times but is more accessible than the Uncharted combat. The multiplayer is poor but this game is not about MP. I was lucky enough to get this 'free' with plus. Awesome stuff. The only downside is having to wait for the sequel.… Expand
Apr 7, 2013MUCH MORE BETTER THAN ALL UNCHARTED TITLE xd
so...i think pc version is all better than console version, but this Tomb raider is an a graphical adventure finally we can see gory scenes and violent, something completely neglected in the past. in my opinion a great game, but to just buy used. not worth 70 for 11 hours of adventure
Apr 14, 2014I've never played the original games, and I honestly not sure if I would have ever gotten around to playing this one if it weren't for PS Plus. It's just not a series I have taken any previous interest in. Well all that changes with this latest entry. It's single-player makes for one of the best action experiences you'll find in gaming, and it's just an all around blast.
The game looks fantastic, and the voice acting and soundtrack are top-notch. The story is mostly well-done, and the characters emotions are believable, even if they aren't these aren't the smartest survivors out there. Even main character Lara Croft fails to recognize the obvious twists in the story until hours after they have been revealed. This is all forgivable when you're actually playing the game, taking in it's fantastic setting and atmosphere, and experiencing it's many awesome set-pieces.
Gameplay here is excellent. It clearly borrows from the Uncharted series, and rivals that series in many ways with it's excellent gunplay and platforming. Environments are filled with collectibles and other items to scavenge that you can use to upgrade your weapons. There are plenty of reasons to pull yourself away from the main quest for a little bit. Even doing things like hunting animals can gain you valuable XP that you can use to upgrade Lara's survival skills. With all the fun stuff that is going on, the story mode can be hard to put down. Sadly the same can't be said for the game's multiplayer, which is a truly buggy and unpolished experience.
With characters that glitch around the map, rough graphics, and severe balancing issues, this is the epitome of a good game with bad multiplayer. It feels unfinished and rushed, and conflicts are largely one-sided affairs where one side completely destroys another with no apparent reasoning. I had matches where my bullets would take out my opponents in a few hits, only to experience another match where it felt like I was shooting my opponents BB gun pellets. The multiplayer feels broken, and it in no way matches the extreme level of excellence that the campaign achieves. I was done with it after only a few matches, and I would have given the game a better score had multiplayer not been included at all.
Overall the majority of this game is incredibly impressive. From a technical standpoint it's gorgeous and plays perfectly. It's story mode is tight and a heck of a lot of fun. As long as you avoid the multiplayer you will have a blast with the game. This is one 3rd person action game with a story-mode that rivals even the work of the mighty Naughty Dog. Truly this is one you do not want to miss. I give it an 8.5/10-Great.… Expand
Aug 16, 2013To set the context, I had just finished playing The Last of U (good), and before that Metro: Last Light (really good). I was looking for something to move onto and was worried it would be hard to find something that lived up to the experience of these two games... I was very much pleased with the Tomb Raider. I think the developers did an awesome job with the game, the environments were great, voice acting top notch, and the game play had a lot of the traditional Tomb Raider without being overly difficult or cumbersome... I enjoyed the whole game, BUT, OMG, The MP IS ABOUT THEN MOST HORRIBLE THING I have ever seen on this generation console... WHY DID THEY BOTHER? I played it once and almost barfed at the stark contrast. Play it for the single player experience and move onto something else. for me, I am going back and catching up with the Dishonored DLC.… Expand
Nov 2, 2013I was really enjoying this until a part where I had to fight my way through a rusted shanty town near a downed helocopter.Then the game devolved into a standard 3rd person shooter for a while with waves of enemies(on a lost and oh so mysterious isle)and it all went downhill from there and I lost interest within the hour.Maybe it returned to the high points of the adventure but I'll never know.
Mar 21, 2013It's like they have entered my mind and gave me the game I always wanted. In my honest opinion, this is an ALMOST perfect game. Think of it as Uncharted meets Far Cry 3 and you'll get a picture of what a great gaming experience this new birth of the TR franchise means. Lara is younger, very much younger, trailing the path to become the famous explorer. She is not confident, she's learning, she's suffering, gradually becoming the fearsome leonesse she'll eventually be. This game gives you everything. Stunning graphics, fluid gameplay, strong atmosphere, movie-like moments of tension, small bits of RPG (like leveling up and upgrading) and a big island to explore (FILLED with collectibles, by the way). I JUST CAN'T PUT THIS GAME DOWN. You know when you are playing a game and you keep feeling sorry that each hour you put in means it will eventually end? I don't want this game to end. It is THAT good. Although this is just March, in a year with a lot of promising releases, I already think Tomb Raider is one of the games of the year (if not THE game).… Expand
Mar 24, 2013Absolutely amazing, such a turn around for a horrible franchise. To put it gently, Tomb Raider was a very bad series, but this new Tomb Raider changes all of that. When completing the game, yes, it can feel like they are holding your hand, but the game is just too epic and amazing to give a crap about something that Uncharted is just as guilty of. Where this Tomb Raider defeats Uncharted is the tombs and optional tombs that await off the beaten path. While in these tombs, there is absolutely no hand holding and I get giddy about the joy to behold when I discovered a hidden tomb deep inside of a cave or inside a merky mountain passage. Inside these tombs, there is brilliant and rewarding puzzles. Buy this game, it is the best game I've played in YEARS. 11/10 in my opinion, but the rating bar only goes up to 10.… Expand
Mar 26, 2013Every action adventure fan must play this. The gameplay is rich, combat is fun and climbing is even better with lots to explore on the island. The island has a wide variety of amazing environments and is brought to life by the fantastic graphics. There are lots of collectibles and tombs to find, as well as a deep upgrade system. The main story has thrilling set pieces with a well rounded story. Lara is a great character and its her development as a character that makes the story much more exciting, however the rest of the supporting cast are generally lacking. Multiplayer is not worth it, it feels very rushed and underdeveloped. Overall an incredible game that you must not miss out on.… Expand
Mar 28, 2013This isn't your grandpa's Tomb Raider. The level of commitment and passion that Crystal Dynamics put into this game is fantastic. I remember playing the old Tomb Raiders, and it was nice to see a breath of fresh air blown into a franchise that was beginning to run a bit stale. The graphics and presentation are excellent. The island of Yamatai is fully-realized and detailed, putting you in the universe with ease. Lara herself looks phenomenal. The writing and story is surprisingly good, well beyond what I expected. I was invested in Lara's character throughout, and was genuinely concerned for her safety throughout. This game truly was all about survival. Gameplay wise, it plays like your standard third-person shooter, with a stealth twist. It was fun, but the similarities to Uncharted were there. The customization and upgrade system was was a nice touch, and the ability to fast travel back to old locations in order to collect missed collectibles was awesome. My one main gripe with the game was the lackluster tombs that populated the games. This IS Tomb Raider after all. The 8 or so tombs that were in the game felt small and simple. Most of them could be solved with very little thought going into them. I would have liked to see a little more attention go into these tombs. My other gripe is the multiplier, which I felt was unnecessary. It feels tacked on and not fully-realized, like they were just looking for something to increase the game's longevity. Overall though, and excellent game that should be played by fans of the franchise and newcomers alike.… Expand
Mar 10, 2013Wow this is by far the best Tomb Raider game yet.The game play is incredible the action is intense and the controls is as smooth as butter not forgetting the graphics it is stunning. The entire game is incredible you even have some very thrilling scenes a true survival game at it's very best. Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics did a brilliant no an excellent job in rebooting the tomb raider franchise. If you love action packed games filled with thrill and adrenaline then Tomb Raider is for you forget the negative reviews those people simply do not know what a good game is all about.… Expand
Jul 24, 2013Lara Croft is back and with her a lot of dismembering, assaulting and fighting. This game has no balance whatsoever between exploration and fighting sessions. All elements are pretty well done, but they don't mix the right way.
What is left is an uncanny experience that could have been much better with a little tweaking. This reboot is an easy game with some exploring, a lot of shooting and some of the most recognizable graphics of this generation.
You'll have fun playing it, that's for sure, but you could end up wondering what might have been. And that would have been easy to achieve with a more careful treatment of combat sections.… Expand
Mar 11, 2013Many say that this game is a heavily influenced game I agree. There are remnants of Uncharted here and there are glimpses of FarCry however the game's execution is what makes it shine. The way this game has the ability to let you do what you want in a free roam capacity however still provides a sense of linearity during campaign is something that not many games that don't fall under the sandbox genre can do. Tomb Raider has done it and done it well! And just for kicks, put a free roam function at the end? Genius! The gameplay was great, story was compelling, control set robust, weapons/unlockables satisfying and puzzles generally made you feel good about yourself post completion. The only let down was poor character development in regards to the rest if the cast. Great game, looking forward to more!… Expand
Jun 18, 2013WARNING: Playing this game will ruin the gameplay of many other games for you. TR has it's issues, but in terms of gameplay, combat and movement, it is a resounding success, very satisfying, fluid and intuitive. I tried playing other 3rd person PS3 games like Uncharted 3 and The Last of Us, and in comparison Nathan Drake handles like a shopping cart. I'm kind of sad now because after playing TR, I just can't enjoy those other games like I used to.
Not a traditional TR game, but as an action game, it's great!… Expand
Mar 9, 2013If you were to were to watch just the shooting segments, it's a clone of Uncharted (just with more brutal ways to kill). Though the game does not play like third-person shooter, there's far more exploration, platforming, and quiet moments to take in. The tombs are rather sparse and very easy, but the open world hubs can be challenging. They are very busy with lots of things to do and places to explore, so they are not at all linear. They story is not awful, but it's nothing to get excited over; it's pretty basic. The gear items and the RPG system is fun, they make for a more tailored experience.
There's many places to use your rope arrows to create zip lines or pull movable objects, blast barricades with your shotgun to access new areas, use the climbing axe to scale cliff faces, and things to set on fire for items or XP, etc.
If you rush through just the story missions, then it will be a short game. If you take breaks to discover new areas and search for items in the expansive hubs, then it might take you about 20-25 hours to get a 100% completion for the single player (including beating the story).
It's a great game. For being a AAA title, it's very fulfilling without being too cinematic (like Uncharted) and strikes a nice balance between a mainstream game and a classic Tomb Raider title.… Expand
Apr 4, 2013This game has so many explosions you would think you were watching a Michael Bay film. I'll let you decide if that is a good thing or not. This particular Tomb Raider puts exploration on that back burner and focuses on cinematic set pieces full of daring jumps and big explosions. While everything is executed very well, I miss those exploration elements that cause you to stop and think. They do present themselves a few times but these moments are rare. The combat is enjoyable and better than any previous Tomb Raider but still starts to wear thin about half way through the game. Even with the generic combat and lack of exploration, the interesting story and strong visuals should be enough to keep you playing through to the end.… Expand
Mar 6, 2013Tomb Raider's emphasis of the polished, emotive, story-driven campaign is so wonderfully refreshing amidst a sea of shallow Medal of Duty Warfighter Ops multiplayer driven titles. Not only is the game drop dead gorgeous, it's controls are tight and fluid, the gameplay is slick with tons of angles and the scavenging for upgrades is addictive and ads a ton of depth. This is a brand new Lara Croft, a stunningly beautiful one that I hope to see a lot more of in the future. I've only given a couple of titles a 10/10 in my PS3 gaming career and this one is ever so close with a 9.5+. Don't even think about it.. Buy this game today. IMHO, the best of 2012 2013.… Expand
May 5, 2013This might be my favorite game of this generation. Huge Uncharted fan but this bests it. Better combat and better platforming on top of a fun upgrade system. Not an open world game but much more open than the very linear Uncharted. Fun exploring looking for collectables. Great length of game that will keep you busy for a while. Multiplayer is kinda of slow and chunky but can be fun for a short burst but it isn't the draw of the game. Must buy!!… Expand
Mar 12, 2013Thoroughly enjoyable reimagining of the tomb raider franchise. It borrows heavily from Uncharted but also exceeds it in certain respects. Level design, particularly in the use of height to create sense of large space is excellent. There are elements of the game that remind of Dark Souls in that levels run from one to the next in a persistent way that actually allows you to back track through the island if you wish. Although the game doens't quite return to core puzzling like the best of the tomb raider moments you can remember it does include enough of those elements to reignite your love for the series. The collectables are actually interesting and make yoiu want to use your acrobatics to seek them out and the hidden tombs which are optional do provide reasonable puzzles that are enjoyable to complete if not that taxing.
As with all tomb raiders and uncharted imo the combat is ok and often unecessary, it is varied enough if you wish to explore the dynamics but I would have minimised this even further to sparse but unique events. Tomb Raider also excels at tension building, a number of scenes I won't mention here for fear of spoiling genuinely are tense if often without any real danger to the player dying and you will find yourself frequently smiling at the end of an action scene at how it was put together and the response the developers have got from you. I'm giving this a 10 and hope the developers on their inevitable next time out don't feel the need to break the format by making it more 'actiony(DEADSPACE)' or overdoing the currently excellent cutscenes(Uncharted 3)
If I was to be hyper critical I'd say Lara's character development is somehow off without me being able to put my finger on it. One minute determined, the next afraid an unsure of herself, it seems to oscillate a bit. Again perhaps I'm being over analytical there.… Expand
Jun 25, 2013This game is amazing! I can't believe it took me so long to play it! It has the best graphics I've seen in a game. Those graphics are backed by super fun gameplay mechanics and amazing storytelling. If they make a sequel, I'll be in line for a midnight release.
Apr 27, 2013Where I to judge this game solely on the single player, I would say this: Tomb Raider 2013 is a worthy prequel to both the character and the series. Sadly, the multiplayer mode hangs around this game's neck like a rotting albatross, and it has tarnished my lasting opinion of the title.
My advice to you all is not to touch the multiplayer unless you are desperate to get the Platinum; this is a single player game, and you should treat it as such.
On the merits of the single player, there are plenty. The combat is satisfying, the exploration is fun, the puzzles and platforming are challenging enough without feeling unfair or frustrating. Lara's character development is quite difficult to watch sometimes, but it feels good to see her grow into this tough, warrior-adventurer heroine.
Tomb Raider 2013 is a must-buy for any Tomb Raider fan who has been left feeling lacklustre after Underworld and its ilk. For people new to the franchise it could be a good starting point. It's just a shame they wasted so much time and effort on that crappy multiplayer; without that, I'd likely give the game a 7 or 8.… Expand
Apr 27, 2013It's been a long and broken path for our favourite survivor, Lara Croft. She shone through all those years ago in the mid-90s when she came bursting onto the scene in all her pixeled glory. But a few mishaps and and misfire games all but tarnished the name that lets be honest, was a big reason most of us bought a PS1. When Crystal Dynamics took over they tried to bring Lady Croft into the HD world, but they just didn't click anymore with the fans.
Then perhaps the biggest decision they ever had to make, how can they make a new game, but make it entirely different from the others? Why not go back to the beginning, all the way back to before Lara was the world renowned explorer with her dual pistols and clever attitude. Lets go right back, and they have did a remarkable job at rebooting not only the franchise, but also the character herself.
We meet a 19 year-old Lara, who has convinced the descendants of a long lost kingdom of people, that the island they used to dwell in, Yamatai, may still exist. having been lost for years.
Lara goes along with her friends and colleagues on an expedition to find the place, but a freak storm in the 'Dragon Triangle' near Japan has dire consequences for the team, as they are stranded on a deserted island...or so they think.
The game really tells the story of just how Lara came to be how we remember her, and on this island she gets a pretty hard time of it before reaching that path of the beautiful and clever explorer.
A strange group occupy the island, and Lara must fight her way through the men, who at one time attempt to rape her, and thus incurs her first, but certainly not last, kill of another human being.
The game asks the player to guide Lara in her quest to rescue her friends and attempt to find a way off the island. Borrowing much of its style from Uncharted, Tomb Raider plays out as an almost non-linear style, where Lara must look for salvage to upgrade her weapons, find weapon parts for her bow, shotgun, rifle and of course her pistol. But the island of course isn't kind to our hero, wolves will attack you, guards are trying to kill you and the island itself is dangerous to be jumping around on. Lara must climb her up rugged and rough terrain, take down an enormous group of enemies, and solve the mystery as to why nobody has gotten off the dreaded island, but of course we cannot forget her actually exploring tombs either, and there are plenty to raid.The game takes plenty of twists and turns, outlining tragic events that Lara had to deal with to make her the battle-tested survivor she became.
The island is beautiful to look at, and of course the animations of Lara and her journey through the island are exceptional, especially the button-mashing cinematics that have occupied many games now, but still work best in this and of course Uncharted.
There are a few minor hiccups that I felt took away a little from having a fully enjoyable experience. Although the game offers plenty of exploration, it really would have benefited more from being an open-world adventure with linear aspects thrown in, the island is quite large, and to get back to various locations you have discovered you must fast-travel to an already discovered camp, I think it would have been a better option for the player to explore their surroundings on their way back, but don't get me wrong the area you are in is still vast enough to explore in, it just could have been more.
The actions of Lara need to be brought up as well, although it comes to the point in the game where she knows she needs to do anything to survive, her abilities and actions at killing enemies with various methods sort of take away the fact that she felt such distain and vulnerability when slaying her first victim.
But these minor speed bumps aside this is a much needed and welcome reboot to a franchise so dear to many people, something that started the gaming exploration, and a character as memorable as Lara has been done great justice in how her early years panned out.
An excellent adventure and an unforgettable experience.… Expand
Mar 7, 2013Me gusto desde que lo vi en la E3.
Ahora que lo he podido jugar no me ha defraudado, es un juego de aventuras muy completo y que renueva la franquicie.
Mar 30, 2013WARNING:HARDCORE TOMB RAIDER FANS MAYBE DISAPPOINTED BY THIS REBOOT OF THE SERIES...I REPEAT THE KEY WORD IN THIS SENTENCE.......REBOOT PEOPLE!! Now I usually start with the good but I want to get the bad out of the way first so here it is...THIS IS NOT BADASS...BACKFLIPING...HANDSTAND CLIMBING...DUEL PISTOL WEILDING...DINOSAUR KILLING...BEAR SLAUGHTERING....TOMB RAIDING...FEARLESS SHE GOD we grew up with.She's A SNOT NOSED...CO-DEPENDENT...SCARY ASS CRYBABY WHO QUICKLY GETS ON YOUR NERVES. I must admit as a tomb raider fan i was shocked at how weak and vulnerable she was..that she needed constant reassuring! I didn't like that killing animals who were frolicking for food was necessary for xp vs killing animals because THEY ATTACKED YOU in previous tomb raider games were now the status quo......um....where's the swimming segments in this game? Wait...shes on an Island but cant swim? What happened to the tombs? Remember raiding HUGH tombs? Its here but they are EXTREMELY SHORT AND EVEN EASIER TO NAVIGATE AND COMPLETE WITH PUZZLES DESIGNED TO CHALLENGE A SEVEN YEAR OLD KID! Wait it gets worse....THE DREADED QTE ELEMENTS ARE HERE....WATERING DOWN MY PRECIOUS TOMB RAIDER?? NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! From the beginning the qte scenes are there...ready to take control from the player and force them to complete certain parts of the game the way they want you to instead of you completing it the way you want...the end boss? A QTE GAMEPLAY STEALING NIGHTMARE WHICH QUICKLY TURNS INTO AN ANTI-CLIMACTIC SCENE..I wish I could have fought him myself but I was disappointed that I had no direct control over the final fight of the game. Lets not forget about the hand holding...I hate to agree with some of the other reviewers but it constantly takes away the strategy aspect of the game because if you do get stuck you can either wait for lara to gives you the clue you need(this was in TB underworld but was optional)or just press L2 and the game highlights your objective which takes away ALL STRATEGY!! For these aforementioned....this is NOT your average tomb raider game or tomb raider at all..it also suffers from a few bugs...one enemy approached me and he disappeared but his weapon was still visible..and the game froze on me more than twice when a lot was going on on the screen like at the end when you fight the storm guard...it froze because of all the enemy's and explosions happening at once.she also doesn't wield dual pistols until the end(qte scene steals gameplay). Oh and the multiplayer was not only tacked on to say hey everyone we have multiplayer!!' feel to it... but just wasn't fun because honestly...this game..like uncharted or dead space or any other third person game like the ones mentioned DO NOT NEED MULITPLAYER!! When I get God of War ascension I wont play multiplayer just like I didn't with dead space 2 and 3...uncharted 2 and 3 but I tried it here and didn't like it. Now the good: The addicting story! I gotta say that even though lara was scared out of her mind and co dependent I really liked the new lara(once I gave it a chance that is) the yamati island changed lara but before that I felt a connection for her and as such...I cared about lara when I played tomb raider.the island is Hugh and even though its linear in its approach there's still a ton to do given the size of the locations of the area's she visits like the gps search..various relics and treasures...audio books on the shipwrecked crew including lara and the islands inhabitants as well as the queen and the storm guard. Its linear in its design but remarkably deep and covers a wide range of different aspects of the island so thanks for that crystal dynamics. The graphics are amazing but sometimes things in the distance start to become transparent but it doesn't take away from the experience at all....I just love the tower lara's in and has to bring down a giant bell!! The wind looks amazing as it makes Swiss cheese of the wooden tower!! The weapons are a joy to use as each gun...hand gun(single) shotgun..Ak47 with grenade launcher are upgraded and I gotta say...its worth it but the show stealing bow is easily the best and most unique weapon(my fav by the way) need to get to that far cliff? Use the rope and bow combo Need to burn that high up net? Equip the fire tip arrows. Want to explode your enemies but don't want to use the ak47/grenade launcher combo? Don't worry the bow and arrow has you covered!! Tomb raider isn't without its flaws but this is a great action adventure game that's only for people willing to accept change...which isn't all bad just let us swim in the next game and PLEASE DO NOT ADD QTE SCENES AND HAND HOLDING TYPE GAMEPLAY!! The adventure is here...the exploration is here...tomb raiding(though small and lack complexity) is here and the combat is phenomenal(you use a hiking tool in battle) and so are the executions lara performs!! I give tomb raider a solid 8 out of 10 for its gameplay..graphics...and story..welcome back lara!!… Expand
Apr 21, 2013Enjoyable and over-the-top take on the Tomb Raider franchise, essentially taking the mechanics of Uncharted and putting Lara Croft back into her rightful place as the poster-child for relic hunting in video-games. Final act is a highlight but the final boss is disappointing.
Mar 7, 2013Let me start by saying I was never I huge fan of the old tomb raider games in the past,and I never really got involved with tomb raider or Lara Croft since the series first appearance on PlayStation 1,I always thought they where to hard and just plain Boring...But now in 2013 with the release of this AMAZING Reboot,all I can say is that this is the Best game ever created.the graphics are some of the best I've ever seen(even beating the uncharted series in that sense).the music,voice acting and controls are superb.the game is going to keep you on the edge of you're seat, Tomb Raider is in plain words a masterpiece that gives the Uncharted series a run for it's money.Well done Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix I'm now a Fan of Tomb Raider.the multi player is okay just not perfect,besides that weakness Tomb Raider 2013 is INCREDible.go get it you won't regret it.… Expand
Aug 3, 2013I've never played a Tomb Raider game really apart from Legend on DS but as this stands this is a great game. I'm a big fan of Uncharted and while it is similar, it's also very different too. I found Tomb Raider a pretty solid game with good gameplay, graphics and voice acting, but the latter is not perfect. The story revolves around the beginning days of Lara Croft as a survivor and it's interesting to see how she became the hardened killer we know and love.
Weapon combat is very satisfying and it's nice to be able to upgrade your weapons, but the physical combat is pretty average. I also like the touch that Lara sticks automatically to walls when enemies are near, something Uncharted never had.
Graphics are also very nice to look at across the island and you can spend more time afterwards wandering about the place when collecting items and other collectibles. And there is a ton of things to pick up, make no mistake.
Overall, an excellent game that portrays Lara Croft's character arc very well, with great gameplay, nice environments and acting.… Expand
Apr 6, 2013People want to compare it to the other Tomb Raider games, but this games has so much more depth than previous games and much better gameplay. Not every single previous Tomb Raider game was good, and there was a need for Lara and her story to be re-envisioned. Great graphics, this games is exciting and the engrossing. Only set-back was that it felt there was something lacking in the story line and characters. The game does sometimes feel like you are playing a version of Uncharted, but only in certain instances or parts of the game which does take away from it at times.… Expand
Mar 8, 2013After so many bad dates with her sequels, Lara has regained my respect and affection.
This game is just incredibly fun, i.e., the joy of exploration and discovery; acrobatic
maneuvering; and a beautiful, detailed world. Despite some over-drawn characters, the
narrative is constantly suspenseful and the pacing is exemplary. Combat is surprisingly
GOOD(better than Uncharted) but too many enemies too many times mindlessly rush in.
Another minor concern for me is the too small window of time for some of the QTE prompts.
Are they really needed? Lastly, one of the great strengths of Tomb Raider is that it challenges
the mind as well as the thumbs. Personally, I'd like to see even more puzzles incorporated in
the next game.… Expand
Jun 22, 2013Tomb Raider is a fantastic experience. This game nails the balance between puzzles and action-packed sequences, creating all the time a new and fresh experience. The game is beautiful and the new-Lara as a character is extremely likable. I've been a fan of the series since TRII and this game got me absolutely hooked. The environments are stunning, the action sequences are really fun and the amount of collectables make a collector like myself truly hyped. You'll find everything in this game: awesome tombs to explore, a lot of stuff to collect, enemies to shoot and nice weapons to upgrade. Lara grows from an innocent teenager to the bad-ass we all know and it's a delight to be a part of that experience. Can't wait for the next game in the series.… Expand
Mar 18, 2013This game contains a lot more action than the previous installments of the series. But at the same time it also contains a fantastic story with a very believable main character. It is not a story about another super hero fighting his way through countless enemies. Lara has feelings and opinions and they are portrayed in a believable way that even surpasses many movies. That surprising amount of depth makes this one of the rare games these days that take their adult players seriously. This game will certainly have to be a contestant for the game of the year awards.… Expand
Mar 10, 2013GOOD: stunning graphics, physicals, gameplay mechanics, beautifulls enviroments, good story and very fun in general
BAD: No Underwater zones, Automatic health recovery (TR takes the good things of Uncharted, but the bad things too???!!), Excesive checkpoints sites, too many hints and help!! ("help button"..was a trally mistake) and too much "war" situations
Apr 14, 2013I just completed this game this week. Overall I thought the game was enjoyable and Lara was a solid lead. Definitely a game I enjoyed the first time around but don't care to 100% or play again. PROS: I enjoyed the gameplay progression and how skills were unlocked over time. I also enjoyed how Lara became more proficient over time in both survival and in battle. The action sequences were enjoyable though some of them were a bit over the top. I thought the gameplay overall was verly fluid. CONS: Some of the action sequences repeated themselves a bit too frequently i.e., how many explosions will one person jump away from in their life? How many times will one person fall down a long slide? The storyline was a bit mediocre and the supporting cast was two-dimensional. I did not feel an attachment to any of them. Because the game itself was still enjoyable, I still give this an 8 even though the plot feels tacked on.… Expand
Mar 18, 2013I want to keep this one pretty short. There hasn't been, arguably, a decent Tomb Raider game since Tomb Raider 2 on the PS1 (Underworld had its' moments). Crystal Dynamics, a once promising and innovative developer, had been stuck with the Tomb Raider franchise for years without a solid budget to make truly great games. Finally, with a grand production, this is the Tomb Raider game I'm sure they've wanted to make from the time they were first handed Ms. Croft's legacy. A near-perfect action-adventure game in every way, marred only slightly by a forgettable, and seemingly tacked-on, multiplayer mode. A must own for fans of the genre, a chance to rejoice for fans of Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. And, on a side note, there most likely wouldn't be an Uncharted without there having first been a Tomb Raider, and there wouldn't have been a Tomb Raider without Indiana Jones. Deal with it.… Expand
Mar 24, 2013This game exceeded all expectations, the graphics are really good, the controls are nearly perfect (after a few minutes) and the sound is top notch. The game starts out with way too many QTE's (in my opinion) and at certain points in the game I feel the story borderlines on absurdity (much like the grossly overrated uncharted series) but this is Lara Croft at her finest, never has a Tomb Raider game been this good. If your a fan of action games such as Uncharted then you should definitely pick this up.… Expand
Mar 14, 2013I am having a blast with this game. Full disclosure: I am a relatively new console gamer and I haven;t played too much of the old TR games. However, this reboot is a blast. I like the adventure style of the game, and the experience system looks like Eidos honed and improved their already excellent setup from Deus Ex. The characters are interesting, the story is pretty engaging, and I Lara's character development made me feel connected to the game. Did I mention it looks great? I highly recommend this game to TR fans and noobs alike, it's a lot of fun.… Expand
Oct 16, 2014Neverending Cutscenes, scripted events, QTE. WTF is all this BS where is my game to game on? I don't want an interactive experience I want a game to game on.
May 12, 2013Did naughty dog make this game? lol cause it's exactly like uncharted with added weapon upgrade, and other other upgrades. Saying that uncharted 2 is one of my favorite games of all times so I don't mind. What can I say this game has a little bit of everything, awesome cut scenes, good gameplay, good story, mini puzzles, etc. It was fun, and finding the collectibles were also a challenge to find. Don't let the awful slow beginning fool you, this game keeps you on the edge of your seat from the semi start to finish. Like some reviews said it best, it's uncharted with boobs.… Expand
Mar 17, 2013Up until now, I'd never played any of the "Tomb Raider" games, but after seeing a very generous review about it from a critic I appreciate, I decided to give it a try. And let me just say, it was nothing short of a highly satisfying experience. Influenced greatly by the infinitely superb "Uncharted" games, this new and rebooted treatment is not just a great game it's a great story. I got immediately attached to Lara Croft and her comrades, intrigued by the mysteries of the island, and motivated not only to follow the main game story but complete the side tomb raiding missions and search for all sorts of hidden treasures and salvage. It's a very complete game and I loved playing every minute of it.… Collapse
Apr 11, 2013This reboot of the series not only surpassed my expectations, but it is easily one of the best games I have played in a long time. If you're like me and love story driven games that offer a great gaming experience then Tomb Raider is definitely for you.
Apr 3, 2013There's no denying Tomb Raider is a heavily influenced work, both mechanically and aesthetically (its nods to Neil Marshall's The Descent are so happy to be there at one point Lara even re-enacts the "girlrising-out-of-sea-of-blood" scene). While it offers nothing wholly original, its salvaged parts combine to produce an experience that is consistently better than anything its own heroes have produced. [April 2013, p70]
Mar 28, 2013Despite occasional dissonance between narrative and game mechanics, Tomb Raider is a highly polished, highly accomplished reboot. Kudos, Crystal Dynamics. [Issue#235]