Tomb Raider

Spoilers are Present

Tomb Raider has always been about free form puzzles that encourage the player to use their knowledge of the game mechanics and design to solve obstacles with little input. This produced both satisfying and engaging game-play that lead to the huge success of the original games. While the lack of narrative was a weak-point, they tried to rectify this with the next gen releases. Tomb Raider: Underworld being their last attempt before they wiped the slate clean and started over. Underworld was a step in the right direction with its expansive puzzles and more involving storyline. As Lara you explored underwater caves and mythical tombs, trying to unravel ancient mysteries, which keept in tone with what Tomb Raider was while bringing in superior controls and visuals. Pretty much the ideal way to create a next gen version of an extremely old game.

This reboot shuns all of it in a poor attempt at creating a tight narrative to engage the player on an emotional level. The ever growing demand for more meaningful motives for the characters and story has created the issue of extreme dissonance. The story tries to humanise the characters, but the game-play is still the same fare of action-adventure which breaks any attempt at a bond being formed. The issue with presenting a character as being weak or scared is a difficult one, as inevitably they are being controlled by the player, who will likely share none of their terror. This creates a case in which the narrative suffers due to the gameplay and vice versa.

Tomb Raider suffers from this disconnect heavily as Lara's whimpering is interrupted by my chain executing a group of five men that physically dwarf her as well as out gun her. The problem caused is, at a certain point I stopped caring about her anxiety. I controlled her in full confidence that my ability to head shot enemies with a bow and stab them in the neck with an arrow would keep Lara safe. While I have no problem with a game giving the player a wide set of skills to progress with, in the context of a young stranded girl trying to survive, it broke the illusion as the enemies seemed to be more scared of Lara than the other way round. I frequently charged into the fray swinging my axe around and counter attacking enemies, resulting in a pile of bodies and a serious sense of disbelief at just how fragile Lara really was.

The narrative itself was underwhelming with too many characters with little to no purpose. Besides Roth and Sam, everyone else had no place besides throwing some filler dialogue in. The story tries to create sympathy when one of them sacrifices himself for some tools. Lara kisses him on the cheek and runs outside, screaming in anguish as an explosion is heard. She holds up the aforementioned tools and you see a screwdriver and a wrench. The man died holding off less men then Lara typically encounters in a skirmish, for the most basic of tools. Bear in mind Lara can turn a WWII rifle into an AK-47 with some salvage, so I am sure she could create a screwdriver and a wrench. This is an example of a poor attempt at trying to make the player engage with the action on screen, I did not care for the character, he did nothing previously to warrant attention, and he wore a shirt with an ESC button print. I'm not sure how I was supposed to react but empathy was not one of them.

The gameplay itself is responsive and fun to handle with combat sequences being exciting if not a major break from realism, Lara herself is fragile to gun fire so you are forced either to engage from a distance or move from cover to cover to get close and use the axe. The weapons are varied and feel powerful, which is needed as some combat scenarios seem to throw wave after wave at you. The aftermath of which leaves dozens of corpses strewn about the place, once again creating a break from the narrative in which she frequently flees from a handful of enemies. The customisation of the weapons and upgrading her abilities adds a welcome sense of progression to her abilities making late game combat more intense as enemy variety is increased from shield wielding heavies to samurai.

You might have noticed the lack of Tombs being mentioned in this review so far, that is because there only 7 optional tombs that consist of one puzzle each and no combat with indigenous creatures. Despite all the issues I have highlighted so far, the largest one is the lack of actual exploration. I forgave the original games for the pointless plot, frustrating combat and controls since it gave me something no other game did, the chance to actually use my brain to solve rather complicated puzzles in expansive environments. While Tomb Raider has a fast travel system and optional back tracking, I found those to be useless besides finding secret items that had no bearing on the plot. The fast travel system is an illusion of scope and grandeur to make up for environments that have a singular path as Lara heads inexorably towards the final encounter.

Tomb Raider comprised of too many set pieces and enemy encounters, with not enough expansive Tombs to explore and learn to progress. I would spot a craggy wall mid set piece and know that bridge is going to snap, resulting in me having to dig my axe into the wall. This resulted in me playing the game on autopilot and rarely having to pause and think, which is what Tomb Raider is supposed to be. There are other games for shooting and basic platforming, Tomb Raider is supposed to be something else. Which is a massive shame as the game had immense promise with its stunning visuals and animations, ability to render large environments, exciting gun play and stellar voice acting. Its tragic that in Square Enix's bid to appeal to a wide audience they sacrificed every ounce of originality in favour of mainstream appeal.

I actually enjoyed the game for what it was, a short fun ride with great production values. However in a world where $60 games is more of an investment than a offhand purchase, that is not enough to justify the cost. The lack of money the game made in relation to its development cost is a sign that bigger isn't always better. Hopefully this will encourage a smaller budget sequel with a focus on challenging gameplay rather than an attempt at creating a story that will stay with the player. I don't want every game I own try to take me on a tour de force of emotions and attachment, people seem to forget why we play games. Because they put a huge smile on our faces.