Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider delivers an evenly paced, action-packed, evolutionary tale that explains the genesis of one of gaming’s most beloved heroines. Along the way, we are treated to top-shelf visuals, a soundscape that rivals a Hollywood blockbuster, and gameplay that is both thoroughly engaging and aesthetically varied. It may not be perfect, but it delivers a must-play gaming experience for action adventure fans everywhere.

The payoff from this pre-packaged drama and online target practice barely amount to the value of a single, raidable tomb, and it’s easy to imagine the resources spent on these elements being better utilized to bloster the game’s strengths. The top of the triple-A summit hasn’t quite been reached in a single game, but if Tomb Raider can overcome its identity crisis and focus its efforts, the series could easily reach even higher.

Whatever the setting, however well-designed the tombs, however precise the controls, Tomb Raider wouldn't work if you didn't care about Lara. And at first, you don't. When the game begins, she's a bit of a killjoy, so obsessed with her work that she almost forgets how to deal with actual people. But once things get grim and she's forced to face the fact that help isn't coming, her humanity is touching to see. We see her in a way we never have before - vulnerable and real.

Tomb Raider is well-written, sympathetic, exciting, beautiful and just incredibly well-made. The single-player rarely makes a mis-step, and though Lara's quick transformation into a hardened killer seems at odds with the narrative at first, the game quickly moves past it. It is a superb action game that brings a new emotional dimension to one of gaming's most enduring icons, and repositions her alongside Nathan Drake at the top of gaming's action-hero heirarchy.

Tomb Raider could so easily have gone wrong, and its opening gambit looks like it's heading down a most erroneous path. This first impression is an awkward obfuscation, however, one that soon erodes to reveal a savvy, thoughtful, and above all, immensely enjoyable game. In fact, I'm happy to go on record as saying this is the best Tomb Raider game I've played. Tightly produced, competent in both its puzzling and its combat, this is one reboot that manages to be unequivocally superior to its predecessors.

This is clearly the work of superior craftsmen and women. It is extremely impressive, on both technical and artistic levels. With that degree of sheen does come a lack of edge, of course, and Tomb Raider is not a brave game. Nor is it one that’ll likely live long in the memory, but while you’re walking in Lara’s muddy size fours, it is spellbinding.

The single-player campaign here is the main attraction, and it is excellent. It doesn't try to rewrite the book on third-person action adventure games. But with its excellent controls, engaging heroine, thrilling combat, and fascinating setting, it doesn't need to. Lara may be covering some previously charted territory here, but Tomb Raider is so well-crafted, you won't mind at all.

Tomb Raider is back in a big way. This third person adventure is the best we’ve ever seen of its kind. Yes, that explicitly includes you, Uncharted. The comparisons between Tomb Raider and the Uncharted franchise will likely rage on between fans, but the simple fact of the matter is, that Crystal Dynamics has built a better mousetrap and iterated on the formula. It rarely makes a misstep in the single player campaign, and for longtime fans, it’s an even more interesting look into the origin story of this iconic character.

Tomb Raider might be guilty of trying to do too many things at once, but the relative quality of each one of those individual things is high enough that the whole is still pretty satisfying. The game deftly rises above the unpleasant tone of the marketing that preceded it, recasting Lara Croft as a capable young heroine for whom many new adventures inevitably await.

It’s really hard to be excited about the future of Tomb Raider after this game. It fails where more successful films and games of its kind succeed: in its characters. The way in which Lara goes from inexperienced to full-on action movie hero survivalist is so jarring that it’s near impossible as a player to remain on the same emotional wavelength as the story. Because of this the rest of the game falters. It’s appeal is grounded in intense, exciting action moments.

That unexpected thoughtfulness extends to most of the game. It's easy to point out the many ways that Tomb Raider borrows bits and pieces from other popular games of the last five years, but Crystal Dynamics has blended these disparate strengths into something remarkable. It's cinematic yet open, intense yet laid-back, fresh yet polished. It's a near-perfect embodiment of the age of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with a hint of what to expect next.

Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix had an undeniably heavy burden in modernizing a character born from an immature, male-oriented fantasy, but no matter your gender, if you're a gamer, you should play Tomb Raider. It combines high-levels of interactivity, excellent pacing, and a true bond between the player and the character on screen. The game might ask you to suspend your disbelief from time to time, but at least it's not for Lara's measurements.

For those who have never delved into the series, Tomb Raider serves as a great first step. The combat is the best it's ever been, puzzles are short but satisfying, and Yamatai is a veritable platforming playground. For the series fanatic, there are loads of secrets to find and a new legend to digest. More importantly, it just may convince a new generation to like Tomb Raider again.

Crystal Dynamics has nailed a pitch-perfect new vision for one of gaming’s most recognizable characters, and revitalizes her for what I hope will be many more installments. Whether or not you’ve embraced the previous games that went by this moniker, this is the time to take another look at Lara Croft.

The change has been a controversial one, but it's also revealed as the right one. We'd rather be excited for a new Tomb Raider than preserve what worked for the originals at their time of release. Better we're out with an invigorated Lara than watching a gaming icon gather dust and cobwebs for fear of change; that Lara belongs in a gaming museum. This Lara marks the return of the great adventure.

Beneath the noise there is an engaging story clamouring to be heard, and there are moments of true beauty, serenity and pathos fighting for attention. The game does get better as it goes on, and despite the distractions the last few hours are a pleasure to play. At the centre of it all is a brilliant character, still iconic but more human and believable than she's ever been before.

Tomb Raider is an adrenaline-filled title that is aesthetically superb. It isn’t a difficult game, it isn’t an overly long game, and it is by no means a perfect game, but the fact that you’ll be sorely tempted to sit and play through the entire thing in one or two sittings is testament to how polished and exhilarating the package is. The whole is much, much greater than the sum of its parts, make no mistake about it. Excellent.

Lara's return is a triumphant one, providing gamers with a visually breathtaking adventure around a well-realised island setting that harbours some dark secrets. Some more challenging puzzles and platforming would have been welcome, but as it stands, Tomb Raider is a thrilling reboot of a legendary franchise.

Tomb Raider reaffirms the importance and value of having strong, realistic female protagonists in games, while also successfully transposing much of what people loved about the original titles into an adventure that feels superbly modern. It’s a better Uncharted game than Uncharted 3 was, and goes a long way towards reminding us of the value of the Triple-A blockbuster in a market where smaller indie efforts have started to get so good that we need such reminders.

Tomb Raider es uno de los mejores juegos que vamos a ver este año, y una de las cumbres del género de aventuras y acción en los últimos tiempos. Inapelable desde el punto de vista audiovisual, la faceta jugable está cargada de flamígeros combates y espectaculares secuencias de acrobacias. Puede que Lara Croft sea ahora más joven, pero demuestra por fin la madurez que los aficionados deseosos de experiencias inteligentes y adultas tanto ansiaban.

Lara regresa con una obra a la altura de su mito que aunque no sorprende -mucho menos en el divertido aunque convencional multijugador- ha sabido colocar a la arqueóloga en las aventuras de referencia de la generación. Un imprescindible para los seguidores del género y la nueva confirmación del formidable trabajo de Crystal Dynamics con este icono.

De algún modo lo que tenemos aquí es casi como un resumen de los juegos de aventuras y acción triple-A de esta generación, es algo que se refleja claramente en las mecánicas y mimo puesto en la ambientación. No siempre es fácil conseguir que un juego de este tipo, aunque sea simple, acabe siendo tan equilibrado y divertido como este Tomb Raider, pero no hay duda que en Crystal Dynamics lo han conseguido.

Tomb Raider est un jeu qu'on vit intensément et dont on ne décroche pas une minute. Techniquement impeccable, le titre vous laissera bouche bée devant ses décors étourdissants et ses animations criantes de vérité. Seule petite ombre au tableau, la queue de cheval de Lara se comporte parfois de manière étrange dans le vent... Franchement, quand on en arrive à noter ce genre de détails, c'est vraiment qu'on n'a rien d'autre à se mettre sous la dent pour jouer les blasés !

La survie, gérée de façon simpliste, y apparaît alors comme un élément en trop, phagocyté par les principes d'XP et de customisation, bien loin de la recherche de racines. Mais, voulu tel quel par Crystal Dynamics, TOMB RAIDER est surtout un divertissement pur jus, parfois vraiment intelligent dans sa mise en scène et ses choix de ton, qui ne restera pas dans les mémoires, mais fait un sacré bon boulot.

Tomb Raider si ferma allora ad un passo dall'eccellenza offrendo un'avventura intensa, tecnicamente notevole e molto divertente da giocare. Con una sceneggiatura migliore, in grado di trovare soluzioni di gameplay più convincenti oltre che a dipingere un cast di comprimari meno anonimo e qualche ora di campagna in più, ci saremmo trovati di fronte ad un prodotto imperdibile.

Crystal Dynamics heeft zich met deze vernieuwde Tomb Raider duidelijk een lastige taak op de hals gehaald. Aan de ene kant wilde het Lara opnieuw uitvinden, en van een uitgebreid verhaal voorzien. Aan de andere kant wilde het een spannende, actievolle en zeer cineastische ervaring brengen. In beide is het geslaagd, waardoor ironisch genoeg juist het geheel niet perfect uit de verf komt; gameplay en verhaal zijn in deze game duidelijk in strijd met elkaar.

Utöver det har jag enbart positiva saker att säga. Kontrollen är helt klockren att använda, oavsett upp du skjuter pilar, klättrar berg eller försöker komma ut från en byggnad som eldas upp vilken sekund som helst. Den är så pass bra att jag först i slutet inser att det inte finns någon knapp som gör att jag kan springa snabbare. Det är något som ytterst få spel lyckas med. Våldet är inte heller sparsmakat, men den håller en fin balans som aldrig gör att det blir parodiskt. Det känns helt enkelt naturligt.