Tomb Raider

   Once upon a time many years ago (or 10 to 12), Lara Croft was one of gaming's biggest and most popular icons. She had all the makings of a great video game heroine. She was tough, fun, sexy, courageous and knew how to shoot dinosaurs in the face. Like her counterpart Samas Aran, she stood out among the lot of video game characters as someone different then what the norm was. She is even one of the few video game characters to transcend the video game format and influence popular culture as well with a major motion picture, tons of models posing for the character, a successful comic book run and becoming one of video games many recognizable faces along with characters like Mario and Sonic.
    Unfortunately the years have not been very kind to Ms. Croft. After the first game things started to go down hill. Sequel after sequel were made and each iteration did very little to change the previous games formula. Each game had minor changes but you were essentially doing the same thing in every game. Run into tomb, shoot things, shoot things while jumping, platforming and then done (repeat for the rest of the game). All the problems with the series culminated in "Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness". A buggy mess of a game that made playing "Drake of the 99 Dragons" look appealing (Okay okay nothing makes that game look appealing). After "Angel of Darkness" Lara was sold to studio Crystal Dynamics, better known for games such as the "Gex" games and the "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver" series. Her games got better but they weren't unique anymore. No matter what Lara did (if she made a good game or a bad game) she just didn't stick out like she used to and was still primarily in the background of gaming culture. And for many people (myself included) that's where I felt she would forever stay.
     However in 2011 gamers found out that a reboot was in the works for gaming's first lady and that it would portray Lara in the beginning of her career, as frightened, stranded girl on her first adventure and that this tale would be bloody, dark and grim. So after two years of hype, Lara has made her return in a flawed but enjoyable game.


   Lara Croft is a young archaeologist who has set out with a team of people to find the lost civilization of Yamatai. Supposedly it's located in a mysterious part of the ocean called The Dragon's Triangle off the coast of Japan. Once they get there, they are assaulted by a massive storm that sinks their boat and strands the team on an island. After being captured by a tribe of mysterious individuals, set on fire, stabbed, assaulted and being nearly crushed she escapes to the surface of the island intent on finding her missing crew and getting the hell off the island. But things aren't as they appear as the island is explored and Lara realizes that to survive being trapped on this island with it's crazy inhabitants she'll have to become the survivor we all know her as.
   The story is decent. I think I like the set up for the story more then I actually like the execution. You are stranded on this island, you, a frighted, tank top wearing, skinny, rich girl. Who has never encountered this sort of situation before and must explore and fight to survive as she uncovers the true nature of the crazy inhabitants of the island. That sounds awesome, right?  Well in execution it's okay. The story is competently written but it is prone to more then it's fair share of plot holes. Some of them are blatant when playing the game and others I thought of while I was just thinking about the story while writing this review.
   The games writer is Rhianna Pratchett, I bring this up because she is one of the writers in gaming that I want to be better then what she already is. She's written for games such as "Mirrors Edge", "Heavenly Sword" and  "Prince of Persia (2008)". People who have played those games know that while the set up for them is good, the execution is lacking. Either from under developed characters and world (Mirrors Edge), it's woefully short (Heavenly Sword) or a piss poor ending among other things (Prince of Persia). That's what happens here, you get invested in the story early on but tiny mistakes keep piling up until they just become a pile of mistakes you think back too at the end of the game. It's a decent story but I don't think it's one of the better things I'm going to think about when I look back on it.
   Though if there is one thing that Pratchett does amazingly right in this game, it's the character of Lara Croft. Lara's character and development in this game is amazing. At the beginning of the game you feel like Lara feels. You feel scared, helpless and alone. Your taken aback at the sheer enormity of the island and the large journey you have ahead of you. However as you move forward, the world seems to get tighter and more focused. You know what your doing by the end of this and you are ready to face whatever is in front of you. This is one of those games where the characters progression and the gamers' progression in the story go hand in hand. You always feel like you are taking one step closer to the end and one step closer to your goal. Even if your off collecting artifacts or raiding an optional tomb, you feel like you are getting more back story on the island and the people that live there. By the end of this game, Lara has matured into the strong, confident heroine we all know her as (though she's not that sexy......yet).
    The other characters however are hit and miss. Some of them I really liked and others I either didn't care for or out right hated. One of the characters I really liked was Lara's mentor, Roth. This guy was bad ass all the way through (except for that one part where he passed out, but he passed out like a bad ass). He's this former marine who decided to become an adventurer and mentor the young Lara to become a great archaeologist  But he's no pushover, he knows how to handle a weapon. Whether it be a pistol or sniper rifle, he is awesome. Plus I totally buy the relationship between him and Lara. It feels like a real father daughter relationship even when he's not her father. They have this great chemistry that did wonders not just for Lara's development but for his as well.
  I also really liked the chef Jonah. He's this big imposing Hawaiian guy that always carries a machete around on his back. I liked that he was way more understanding of the paranormal and was pretty much the muscle of the team. He is also the distributor of wisdom in the group, he seems like a guy that knows more then he lets on. I really liked him, in fact half way through I just started calling him Hurley. I don't know why, he's just the guy I got reminded of the most. There was also this old guy on the crew named Grim who was pretty awesome but he didn't get much screen time, he did remind me alot of Popeye though.
   The other characters though range from meh to hate. The meh side of the characters is comprised of the nerd character (I can't even remember his name), Sam and the villain Mathias. The nerd character is the guy who as soon as I saw him and heard him speak I said "Your dead, your gonna do something stupid and die.".  He didn't really have much of a character outside of "The Nerdy One" and any kind of development he did get was cliched and kind of sappy. Sam is Lara's best friend and the one that alot of the plot starts to focus on. We should really like this girl but outside of a few lines she didn't really leave an impression on me. She was just kind of there, she wasn't a bad character she just didn't stand out like I feel she was supposed to. Plus some of the character development is just down right weird, like video taping Lara while she doesn't know about it (Voyeurism, it's for women too). And the last of the meh is Mathias, the leader of the Sollarii cult that inhabits the island. This is it, this is the guy you should hate the most, you've been going around reading journal entry's about this guy about how apposing he is but how almost saintly he is but also about his origins and how he just snapped after he crashed on the island. He should be really interesting, but he's not. At all. All he wants is to get off the island. That's it, there is nothing else to this guy. He believes in a higher power that will free them from the island and that's it. He's a pretty boring bad guy and isn't interesting in the slightest.
    Since this segment is running long, I think I'll sum up the two people I hated the most in three words.
Reyes
-Bitchy
-Demanding
-Dumb ass
and Whitman
-Cliched
-Boring
-Moron
   As a whole the story side of Tomb Raider is okay. Outside of the great character development for Lara and some of the side characters, I felt that the story was pretty weak and only barely held up for the entirety of the game with it's numerous plot holes and weak characters.

  Now I know I have been pretty harsh on the game so far but when it comes to game play, this is where everything changes.
  The game is divided up into small sections of land where Lara can jump and climb and explore to her hearts content. These areas are great. They are filled with secret places you can get too or places to climb to, if you are big into exploring a game, this will certainly satisfy your craving. Plus your don't have to get everything on your first run through an area, you'll find multiple campsites that you can use to fast travel back to an area with a puzzle or a collectible that you couldn't quite reach but now can due to your growing arsenal.
   Each area has numerous collectibles, journal entry's and optional tombs to raid. These tombs either range from piece of cake to time to Gamefaqs it (not that I did that or anything >.>). Alot of the tombs take great advantage of the games physics engine. Where you may have to release a barrel and let it open a gate for you via a handle it hits and then you move with that barrel and make sure it hits the next paddle switch so that you can advance. I loved doing these optional tombs, they were all fun, creative and never really left me with the feeling of wanting to smash my controller.
   Also the controls for this game are buttery smooth. Lara controls great. She has that right amount of weight to her but too much to where it starts to get annoying how heavy she feels (I'm looking at you Nathan Drake, lose a couple pounds man). Whether it's running, jumping, climbing or fighting she controls great and the animation for her is beyond impressive in some scenes.
   Now exploring is a big part of the game but it's not the entirety of the game, you also have to fight (alot). And how does that hold up? It's even better then the exploring. The combat is fast and dynamic, it's tense and heart racing, so much care went into this combat system that it's one of the best I've played in years.
   The key words to remember in this game's combat is simple yet tense. By the end of this game there are so many way's to take out your foes that you almost feel like your just not being fair to the hundreds of deranged killers. The controls for the game's combat start out simple and then slowly introduce new elements that feel organic and easy to use. For instance at some point you are going to get a grenade launcher attachment to your assault rifle. Now instead of just offering it to you as an upgrade at your camp (more on those later) you actually have a cut scene that shows how Lara found it and then have a small segment where you just wreck a bunch of guys with it.
   However when fighting that Key word Tense starts popping up because the Sollarii are no push overs. Their AI is incredibly smart and efficient. They will take zip lines to get closer to you, flank and sneak up behind you, take cover and snipe at you while their acrobatic buddies just charge your position. It's really well done and it's never made frustrating or unfair at all (*ahem* Uncharted 3 ahem*). Another thing that really makes this combat stand out is the cover system. The cover system in this game is a small detail but one that I feel should be addressed because it's so well pulled off. To get into cover all you have to do is move Lara towards a hiding spot and she will automatically crouch or get behind a wall. There is no button that you need to press to enter and exit cover like in many other games. It all just adds to the immersion.
    The last thing in terms of game play that I want to touch on is the weapons and upgrades system. The weapons in the game are really well done. They sound great, they feel great and they are all really fun to use. Special mention would have to go to the Bow and Arrow in the game. It's just such a satisfying piece of equipment to use, especially in stealth. Pulling back that string as far as it can go and aiming just right to hit the guy in the head and hear that loud "THWACK" sound as he goes limp. You will feel like a complete bad ass.
  The upgrades for the weapons are also well done, even if the implementation of the system kinda feels wonky. Some how Lara made a scope from a bunch of crap she found all over the island. However you don't just have the ability to upgrade your gear, but you also have the ability to upgrade yourself as well. Unfortunately these are either really useful or really unneeded. For instance there is an ability to finally give yourself a melee attack, great I need that it will be incredibly useful when it comes to close quarters combat. Then there are one's that upgrade your survival skills. The problem with these relies in the survival element of the game itself. You can go around and collect plants and hunt animals but there really is no reason to do so. All you get for it is a little bit of XP that you can spend on upgrades. But you can collect that XP anyway from just collecting artifacts or raiding tombs which is infinitely more interesting. So the survival aspect of the game feels tacked on thus the upgrades it has also feel tacked on. It's still a good upgrade system just some aspects of it feel more thought out then other's.

    So the story is just okay but the game play kicks ass, so what about the presentation? It's fifty fifty. On one hand you have the visuals. The visuals in this game are incredibly good (especially on the PC). The island feels alive. It feels dark and dirty and ugly but it also feels like this place that has a ton of secrets for you to uncover. There's also just alot of little touches that makes the games visuals stand out. One of them is the character animations. Now while all the climbing and running look great, it's the little things that stand out. Whether it's Lara's hand brushing a wall as she walks by it or her idle animations or the way she slows down when entering a dark part of a cave. Alot of detail was put into this game's visuals and it shows in big and small ways.
   When it comes to music however, it's pretty forgettable. It's not bad when your playing the game, it fits the mood and tone of the situations and makes the epic moments feel more epic. But the second you turn off the game, you wont remember any of it. I really can't remember a single track from this game. And while the gun sound effects are great, I don't remember alot of other one's unless it was scripted. Again the sound isn't bad it's just very forgettable. (Wow a segment that I kept under 3 paragraphs)

  So in the end, how does Tomb Raider come out? I've been racking my brain for days, trying to figure out what rating I should give this game. There is alot of good solid elements to the game but there are also alot that I feel just don't work. I was going to originally give this game a seven out of ten because while the game is elevated very high by the great game play, visuals and some of the characters it's pushed down almost as much by the other characters, story and musical presentation plus a few things I didn't go into such as multiplayer and the disconnect between game play and story. But I think what elevated the game a little higher is two things.
  Firstly this game is memorable. I remember certain events, certain characters, certain set pieces, certain locals. Alot of the other Tomb Raider games I have played are fun but not very interesting, I don't remember anything about Tomb Raider: Legend, Anniversary or Underworld but I do remember alot about this game. And I remember it in a good way, I remember all the fun I had with it while I was playing it and it makes me want to play it some more.
     Secondly the game is fun. It has so much for you to do and explore and uncover. You want to keep playing the game, you want to find the secrets, you want to explore the tombs, you want to get more back story out of this place because that means you get to climb up that cliff side and fight some guys to get at it. And I feel that's the one sign of a great game, a game that has extras that you don't need to get but you really want to come back and keep playing to get to them.
     Overall "Tomb Raider" is a fun, memorable well done reboot to one of gaming's icons. I can't tell you exactly where they will go from here with Lara but I know that I'm going to be along for the ride.


RATING
8/10

Random Thoughts while playing "Tomb Raider"

--- Okay so it's about a person who is stranded on an island, who is at first a filthy rich kid who must survive and adapted to their surroundings and their main weapon of choices is a Bow and Arrow. Did this game just start out as a "Green Arrow" video game? Cause I totally approve of that.

---At points I'm not sure if Lara's grunts mean she's in pain or that she's getting turned on.

---You know at some point I expect Lara to run into Ben and the rest of the Others.