This game rose above its predecessor to create a even better experience.
Following up a fantastic reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise is no easy task. Yet Eidos managed to add enough new things to make a good game into a great one. The story picks up a year after the last game with Laura looking into what her dad was working on before he died. This leads her to do a small globetrotting adventure in search of the city of Kitezh. Which is just an excuse to tell another Indiana Jones like adventure. Which is in no way a negative and was actually great at keeping me hooked to see what happened next. Even the scrolls and audio logs add in a nice backstory to each area Laura goes through.
Rise Of The Tomb Raider is once again another third person shooter with some platforming portions to add some variety to all the shooting the player will be doing. As a shooter it feels good and I ended up using her jack of all trades bow more than I expected. By the end of the game it is one dangerous weapon if you have enough stuff to craft one of the special arrows. The platforming sections are augmented with Laura’s bag of metroidvania like upgrades throughout the game. Ahh I don’t want to say arrows again but most of the upgrades end up being a different type of arrow. Along with a few other types that unlock new areas to explore if you're willing to go back to a previous open area.
Yes that’s right some of the areas in this game are fairly open worldish. Nothing too big or crazy but they are welcome as a place to slow down a bit and explore after going through a linear section of the game. Littered in these areas is something the last game felt like it was lacking. That's right Tombs have returned. At least in a more fully featured way with at assortment of puzzles to figure out to unlock the upgrade contained within. Along with those upgrades the rest of the game has a leveling system to unlock abilities to help Laura survive all her troubles. For example you could get something basic like bullet resistance or if you feel like sneaking through areas a silent take down might be worth investing in.
All of this is great till the game goes into frantic mode. This was only during the last 20% but I didn’t feel like I should stop to explore a new areas thanks to what was going on in the story. But it was all worth it just to face down a video game's most hated enemy near the end also known as a helicopter. The other mode in this game lets the player replay levels and play through a set of challenges in the open world sections. That mode may be worthwhile to some but I just didn’t see any reason to revisit areas of the game after I already scoured them for all the collectibles.
In the end this is a well produced game that adds new layers to a franchise that could have just been about crafting a linear action adventure game with a bunch of explosions.
