Though I understood why people enjoyed the early “Tomb Raider” games, I never really got into the series during my youth most in part thanks to trying out the first three iterations and discovering clunky controls, weird camera angles and complicated scenarios that hindered my progression of the games (mind you, there were no Youtube videos or in-depth strategy guides with color pictures other than the paperback walkthroughs you had to purchase at local bookstores or game establishments). I essentially gave up trying to embrace my inner tomb raider after “Tomb Raider 3” in 1998.
Fast-forward some fifteen years later and the entire scope of gaming had changed, as did the adventures of “Tomb Raider’s” once-titillating central character, Lara Croft. Looking to regain the positive notoriety that was once associated with the franchise, Crystal Dynamics (under the Square Enix banner), restarted the series featuring a more humanized Croft dealing with the pressures of being a simple explorer trapped in a Japanese island with religious zealots and murderers; having to kill, craft and climb her way to safety and eventual enlightenment. The gameplay was very similar to games like “Uncharted” and “The Last of Us”, feeling right at home with the current crop of action adventure games while retaining the exploration of tombs and usage of puzzles that was seen previous “Tomb Raider” games.
Taking the plunge, I found myself thoroughly enjoying “Tomb Raider (2013)”, blasting through the main story in less than a week. Three years later came its sequel and while not having the great drama & characterization of the previous entry, the gameplay improved upon its foundation in marvelous ways. With the third entry in this rebooted trilogy now arriving, it was time to see if the origin story of everyone’s favorite looter of the dead still has enough to keep things interesting; or if this experience will have to rely heavily on the strength of its gameplay yet again.
Did I Complete “Shadow of the Tomb Raider”?
Taking up where the previous game left off, Lara Croft is an adventurous woman looking to explore the world, uncover great mysteries people wouldn’t even believe existed, and avenge the death of her murdered father by taking down a shadow organization. Similar to the previous games, my goals were simple: Complete the story and finish all of the optional Challenge Tombs & side missions with the latter being nothing more than exaggerated fetch quests or opportunities to talk to townspeople to learn their stories of salvation & survival. Lasting around ten hours, the game’s plot takes you through hazardous jungles, abandoned ruins, and the watery depths. Hidden throughout these semi-open world areas are Challenge Tombs where the player can really get to raiding by solving somewhat complicated puzzles that, when completed, allow Lara to gain beneficial abilities. The tasks I set for myself were accomplished fairly quickly at fourteen hours or so.
Did “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” Live Up to the Hype?
Similar to “Rise of the Tomb Raider” before it, “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” had all the makings of improving upon everything crafted for the past two games without raising the bar too high & alienating fans both old & recent. Not much has changed in the way Lara controls. The series’ heroine can still jump, climb, crawl, dodge and, most importantly, kill her way to survival. Grabbing onto walls with her trusty axe, rappelling down into the depths, and swinging across dangerous gorges is almost a walk in the park for Lara at this point as the player doesn’t need Croft to relearn all of her abilities like she did in “Rise”. One of the biggest critiques when it came to the 2013 reboot & “Rise” was the lack of focus on exploration & puzzles. “Shadow” mostly fixes this problem by featuring several puzzles the player must complete to advance the story that can really be brain twisters. Scattered across the map are the returning “Challenge Tombs” that Lara can enter and solve not necessarily in a variety of ways, but are grandiose enough to feel epic with an added bonus of learning new skills with each completed Tomb including faster regenerating health and Lara being able to hold her breath longer while underwater. The reintroduction of underwater sequences in the series are both a blessing & a curse with the latter featuring eels & piranhas that Lara must hide from in tall seaweed until a moment arise – something that can be a problem thanks to the camera being unable to move properly in tight spaces underwater. Underwater sections can be a nice change of pace, but sometimes go on too long to be entertaining after experiencing them a couple of times.
Also taking a page out of “Rise’s” playbook is the focus on stealth over firefights when it comes to combat. While gun battles do occur, there are a lot less variations outside of the forced moments when Lara must shoot her way to another area or when Croft is spotted and it’s wiser to run & lose the attention of her pursuers rather than to shoot her way to victory (though Lara can easily become overpowered when she’s given machine guns to take on people with bows & arrows). Tying into the greater implementation of attacking without being seen, “Shadow” introduces a slight stealth system with Lara being able to cover herself in mud to hide in plain sight thanks to nearby nasty walls. There are also clothing design choices Lara can use to make herself even harder to spot by enemies … or just look like a high-resolution model of her “Tomb Raider II” version. Sadly, gunplay is actually better than the previous games, but the moments of usage are so few & far between it’s hard to discover the improvements until the last couple of hours. Lara’s patented bow & arrow is back and it’s deadlier than ever with various arrows including fear/berserk style arrows that can cause enemy friendly fire. Human enemy AI is actually pretty dumb by standing around explosive barrels, walking into traps without a second thought, and rarely noticing a body hanging from a tree that’s no more than eight feet tall. Really only two enemy types (jaguars & underworld beings) pose much of a threat by being somewhat unpredictable in the heat of combat no matter the difficulty level.
Projectiles can both be used as distraction devices and weapons such as Molotov cocktails & smoke grenades. For some odd reason, Lara drops items that can be thrown when she stands beside a wall to enter stealth. The game also has a skill tree that is actually too beefy for its own good as a majority of abilities (especially the combat “Warrior” branch) aren’t needed and the player won’t even use more than likely without trying. Lara’s crafting abilities are just as strong as ever with her being able to even make shotgun shells with her bare hands. Crafting on the fly is definitely a great benefit.
For all the improvements in regards to exploration of a semi-open world featuring almost too many collectables & tomb raiding over combat-oriented action, the story leaves a lot to be desired yet again. In the 2013 reboot, the personal journey of Lara discovering her inner survivalist was monumental for the franchise. In “Shadow”, Lara is in a race against time to stop the end of the world in “Shadow” as the evil organization Trinity is on the hunt for items that can “remake” the world. The initial promise of “Shadow’s” story is quickly lost when the main villain proves to be schizophrenic in his thinking & actions that just, somehow, fall into place alongside Lara’s traveling. “Shadow’s” plot may not be great, but the characters & voice acting is phenomenal featuring great sequences between Lara & now-series veteran Jonah as well as the solemn moments when Croft arrives in a hidden city. For a short time the player will also see what it was like for Lara as a child. This short section featuring an adolescent Lara is actually one of the best parts of the story for being not only a nice change of pace, but also because it fleshes out the dynamics of the Croft family when Lara was a youth. It’s rather unfortunate from a narrative perspective the quality in this trilogy has gone down with each sequel.
Fans of “Rise’s” online “Expedition Mode” will be disappointed as no online options are available upon the game’s release with no tentative date to explore Challenge Tombs with friends. One of the most impressive additions to the franchise are customizable difficulty options including turning down hints as to what walls are climbable by removing the white paint indicator or making puzzles simpler to complete. Graphically, the game looks somewhat better than its predecessor from a character model perspective (though the robotic nature of everyone when talking face-to-face outside of cutscene is definitely off-putting), the world itself is absolutely gorgeous no matter where Lara is; underwater, swinging through the jungle, or avoiding fire-spewing mechanisms. Technically, though, “Shadow” struggles. Certain cutscenes fail to load properly no matter what you’re playing on, and even go out of synch in regards to audio. Frame rate drops can occur and, most importantly in regards to platforming, the game can be finicky in regards to Lara sticking a dire landing.
“Shadow” doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel, but doesn’t do much to improve upon what came before it either. The gameplay is as solid as it’s ever been while graphically & mostly technically its fine. Combat & the puzzles are very fun. But for the finale of a trilogy, “Shadow” definitely feels lacking in the story & innovation departments when not only stacked against its contemporaries, but also compared to its own predecessors.
Should You Play “Shadow of the Tomb Raider”?
Fans of the franchise dating back to the original Playstation days have lambasted the last two games for moving away from what made those first iterations so memorable. “Shadow” mostly fixes the exploration to combat ratio that plagued the last two games, but fails to overcome the benchmark set by the 2013 reboot in regards to the plot. Players who enjoyed the past two “Tomb Raider” experiences will definitely love the gameplay, especially if the player doesn’t care about the narrative. Even gamers who didn’t wholly care for what the franchise has become may like certain aspects of this one. No matter what side of the fence you fall on, “Shadow” doesn’t feel worthy of a full priced purchase due to how much it feels like “Rise” without a better narrative and enemy AI still lacking in being effective adversaries. Definitely check this one out, but wait until it’s on sale unless you have a thing for watching Lara be gruesomely killed … or her doing the killing like she’s Rambo Croft.
