Lara Croft has had a long, storied history in video games. She has been a fixture for years, going all the original Playstation. However, not all of her adventures have been great. While the original Tomb Raider, developed by CORE Design, and published by Eidos, in 1996 introduced Lara and was a huge hit, subsequent games in the series put more and more pressure on the development team to surpass the previous effort. The team could no longer handle the immense pressure, and in 1999, in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, they killed off Lara. However, they managed to work out a fifth game in the series, but using Lara’s funeral as the backdrop for a series of missions. At the end of this game, called Tomb Raider: Chronicles, Lara it is revealed, has not died. This set the stage for what would become CORE Designs’ final Tomb Raider game, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. This game, which found Lara on the run and wanted for murder, had a decidedly more supernatural bent to it than previous games in the series. It was also darker than any previous game. It took players places that Lara have never been before. And, it turned out that those were places the vast majority of fans of the series didn’t want to go. The game was not very well received critically, and after it’s release, production of Tomb Raider games was handed over to Crystal Dynamics, where it continues to reside today. In 2009, Eidos was acquired by Square Enix and dissolved, becoming Square Enix Europe. Square Enix is now the new publisher of the Tomb Raider franchise. And, so after the announcement in 2010 of a reboot, 2 years of trailers, images and gameplay teases, here we are at last. On March 5, 2013, the first game in the rebooted Tomb Raider, continuity, simply titled Tomb Raider, was released. The game represents a reboot for the franchise, as well as Lara herself. It is safe to say that hopes are high. So, is Lara’s redemption at hand? Here’s my review.

Figures and More Game Review

        Game:                      Tomb Raider

        Publisher:               Square Enix

        Developer:              Crystal Dynamics

        Systems:                   Playstation 3, X-Box 360, PC

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Lara Croft is finally back, after a long, and ,some would say, necessary rest. And, for the first game in what is being positioned as a new franchise, it’s back to basics. This game serves ad Lara’s origin in the “new” continuity. Basically, everything that has come before is being wiped out, and the “reset button” is being pushed on the franchise. Given how muddled things seem to get in the end, this, in my opinion, is a very good thing. The best part about it though, is that this is really Lara “starting from scratch.” She is not the seasoned adventurer you knew. In fact, she is just out of school, and although her family has left her well-to-do, she is determined to make her own way in the world. She is on her first ever expedition at sea as the game opens. They are searching for the lost Japanese nation of Yamatai. And, although she is not looking for adventure per se, as she convinces the crew to travel to an area known as the “Dragon’s Triangle,” adventure is about to find her.

And, find here it does in a big way. The ship is damaged and tossed about. Lara finds herself stranded on a island with the rest of the crew. Suddenly, she is knocked out and when she regains consciousness, she is hanging upside down in some type of body bag. This is where YOU begin the game. THIS IS THE TUTORIAL LEVEL! After freeing herself in an intriguing way and suffering a gruesome, but not fatal, injury, Lara must make her way through a horrifying level featuring rooms full of bones, blood and candles, with makeshift altars. Your first piece of equipment, a torch, is acquired shortly after. After making your way through a few rooms, Lara is assaulted by a mysterious madman. This is your introduction to the Quick Time Events mechanic. Wiggling the Left analog stick will break the man’s grasp long enough for you to get away. The torch is used to solve the game’s first puzzle. After solving this puzzle a cave-in begins and you need to jump between large slabs of rock and they break apart. After you make it to the other side, the madman returns, more determined this time. To break his grasp and be rid of him this time, you need to not only wiggle the Left stick, but push a specific button at a specific time, indicated by a meter on screen. I will discuss this further later in the review. Successfully completing the sequence frees you from his grasp, just in time to see him crushed to death by a large boulder. Fail to complete the sequence, and you are the one crushed by the boulder. Yes, that’s right, YOU CAN DIE DURING THE TUTORIAL! That fact alone, sets this apart from tons of other games. Anyway, you’re not out of the woods yet. Now, you need to use the shoulder buttons to climb up a cliff face, while using the Left stick, at appropriate times, to dodge falling chunks of rock. Have I mentioned, THIS IS THE TUTORIAL LEVEL! So, you make your way to the top, and Lara pops out of a small opening. After surviving this level,  Lara stands on top of a cliff and spies the lifeboat from the ship. Believing her comrades alive, she sets out into the forest to search for them. This is where the game begins in earnest.

And, what a game it is! Lara meets up with and is separated from her friends several times over the course of this expansive adventure, which takes you across the entire island and into numerous villages, temples and, of course, tombs. This is still TOMB Raider, after all. But, the tombs are extra levels, ancillary from the main story. As a result, they feel more like a bonus than in past games. In the process of making your way through the game, you will encounter numerous characters, so of them friendly, others not so much. You will meet the island natives, the enigmatic and dangerous Solarii. Make no mistake, there are NO nice Solarii. Every time you meet them, it is kill or be killed. Also, on the island is some wildlife. Deer, rabbits and chicken will provide you with meat and xp, but wolves will attack you and are pretty vicious. Fortunately, you will get your first weapon early in the game, but it’s not what you think. This being a reinvention, everything is changing, including the long standing image of double-barreled Lara blowing away enemies left and right. You may get there eventually, but not right away. Instead, you are asked to make due, for at least a little while, with a simple bow. However, I have to say that this game provides some of the most satisfying bow combat I have experienced since the Legend of Zelda on the Wii. The aiming and firing controls are super tight and very intuitive. There is little that is more satisfying than a headshot delivered via bow and arrow. Eventually, you will obtain firearms, and, when you do, the aiming and firing controls are just as tight. However, the neat thing is, even though you find guns, you will also get new bows, and new types of arrows. With all this danger, you certainly hope that there is ample chance to save. I am pleased to say that this has been addressed through the clever use of “base camps.” Each time you visit a new area, you will encounter a base camp, which saves your game, and acts as a “checkpoint.” Here you can also use salvage collected along the way to upgrade your equipment, and spend any skill points earned by acquiring xp to upgrade your abilities. The game also has an autosave feature that creates periodic checkpoints for you. This works very well to make it less frustrating for less experienced players.

So, I’ve mentioned them several times, it’s time to talk about the controls in more detail. Note: as this review is of the PlayStation 3 version, the control buttons mentioned correspond to a Dual Shock controller. Movement is, as you would expect, controlled via the left stick. The right stick controls the camera. When you press in the right stick, you access a weapon aim zoom. the x button causes you to jump, the square button is the “action” button, which allows interaction with the world. It also reloads your weapon. The triangle button is your melee attack button. It some cases it will also execute a finishing move. Finally, rounding out the main action buttons, the circle button, is the dodge button. When used while moving, you roll. Weapon controls are mapped to the directional pad and the shoulder buttons. Pressing the directional pad will cycle though your weapons. You aim your weapon with the L1 button and fire with the R1 button. The L2 button is used to activate a feature called “Survival Instincts.” This a helpful feature that when activated turns the screen grey and freezes you in place. Your objective and any objects you can interact with will glow gold. It’s a nice feature that is there if you need but doesn’t have to be used if you don’t want to. It is great to have if you get lost in the massive levels however. The R2 button is the alternate fire button. The select button will bring up you status screen and the fire button will pause the game and allow you to access the game options menu. These are some of the tightest, most functional controls I have worked with in a long time.  Movement ranges from creeping to a slow walk, to a jog, to a full-tilt run. Climbing up and crouching are, rather brilliantly, automatic. They happen when you need them to. Combat can be frenetic, but aiming and firing is, thankfully, pretty simplistic. However, you are encouraged, whenever you can, to pick off enemies from afar and while their backs are turned, with head shots whenever possible. The game rewards you with extra xp for a head shot, and even more for a stealth kill. There is a tremendously rewarding feeling you get from a successful head shot from afar, especially with a bow. The controls is this game should serve as a blueprint for future games in this, and, indeed, other games in the adventure genre.

This being a Tomb Raider game, of course there are collectibles. In fact, there are a TON of collectibles. First up are the relics. These are the historical artifacts you expect to find in a Tomb Raider game. The include various masks, vases and urns, and flesh out the history of the island and it’s inhabitants. There are also GPS caches, which are there only to be found and serve no purpose, find them all, however, and you will unlock a pretty cool Easter Egg. There are also documents littered about that give you insight into the thoughts and personalities of both the island inhabitants and your crewmates, in addition to those who have been here before. You will also find treasure maps which show you the location of all of the hidden items in an area. One of the most important items you will find scattered about is salvage. You will find it crates around the island. Salvage is used at a base camp to modify your weapons. Some items you carry must be upgraded to advance in the game, other upgrades are optional. Also, in each level there is a challenge, which involves destroying a certain number of identical items. Completing these challenges earn you extra xp, which will allow you to earn skill points faster.

There is a multiplayer component as well, You can choose to play as the Endurance Survivors or the Solarii. You play in a number of different locations around the island. There are four different modes. Free-for-All is the traditional death match mode. The other three modes are team based. Cry for Help involves the Survivors must activate radio transmitters while preventing Solarii from getting the batteries. Rescue is a mode in which Survivors must grab medical supplies while Solarii are trying to finish them with a melee execution. Finally, there is Team Deathmatch, which is pretty self-explanatory. The matches are chaotic and frenzied and a lot of fun. Full Disclosure: I did not spend much time playing the multiplayer, because I am AWFUL at it. This review is based solely on the merits of the single-player experience, but in the interest of a complete review, I felt it necessary to mention the multiplayer component.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Tomb Raider is the best game I have played this year so far and one the best adventure games I have ever played. It is a welcome return for a once great franchise that ran off the rails. One of my favorite parts of this game was seeing Lara develop before my eyes into the heroine I knew she would become. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. Lara is back in a big way, and Nathan Drake had better watch out, because she is ready to reclaim her adventure heroine throne.  A 5 out of 5.

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For more information, visit www.tombraider.com.