Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration

I already mentioned in my previous review, but I went back to playing Rise of the Tomb Raider after finishing Shadow. This one seems to have received better reviews and seems to be considered by a lot of people to be one of the strongest entries in the franchise. My take on that: I can see why that would be the case. By all means as good as Shadow is, the improvements in gameplay 3 years later were somewhat minor. Graphics are slightly better in the sequel, controls got an overhaul and there are a couple more mechanics like muddying yourself up to increase stealthiness, wall running to gain more jumping impetus and I guess some unique battle options in the later game are new, but otherwise Shadow does it's name justice by being in the Shadow of Rise of Tomb Raider in the sense that it just didn't provide much inovation.

Heck, Rise of the Tomb Raider even had a similar plot progression, similar continuity for acquiring new power ups (almost the same power ups as Shadow) and a similar character arc for Lara, that I hope they can put to rest after Shadow's resolution in a potential 4th game.

If this intro discourages you from playing any of the two games, don't be. Both games are fantastic in their own right, I just feel like I could give Shadow a bit more flack retrospectively after playing Rise. Like the sequel Rise comes at you with a combination of 3rd person shooting action, some interesting puzzling, platforming sections to test your skill and exploration. Story is pretty solid, but like I said it just hits very similar notes to Shadow.

Even though I have complained about Shadow a bit in the intro, I'd probably still pick it over Rise, even though it's a somewhat safer and perhaps less innovative game. Reasons being it has a more interesting setting. It feels bigger. It has these nice quiet towns with big secrets that are a joy to explore as opposed to Rise which gets a less exciting gulag that is part a warzone and boring village with wooden huts which is also on edge for some spoiler-related reasons. The chase and run sequences also feel much grander, so even though Shadow plays a formulaic game, it does get to me on a superficial level more.

Anyway, sorry for perhaps making this more about Shadow than Rise. Rise is still a good game that's as good as it's sequel in most gameplay aspects, but if you are fresh to the series it could be recommended to not start with the latest game. It's also a better introduction to the character of Lara Croft.