darkphoenix-83164 Review of Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015 Video Game)

As solid as its predecessor but lacks the technical polish

[8/10 · 18 December 2015]

I loved the Tomb Raider reboot. It was a lot more accessible and a lot less frustrating than the original series. I was dazzled by the size and scope of the island, the fast paced cinematic "escape" sequences, the simple yet captivating shooting mechanics and the boldness of delving so frankly into supernatural territory. Rise of the Tomb Raider just came out a few weeks ago here and I nabbed it as soon as I was able. It delivered everything I expected it would, a decent story with Lara's first encounter with Trinity and the race to find the "Divine source", an object that grants those that gaze upon it immortality before it falls into Trinity's fanatical hands. The combat remains fun, fast paced and somewhat easier with less need to take cover and instead allowing the run and gun approach. The traversal is more detailed this time around, with Lara having more tools at her disposal which unlocks areas previously inaccessible to her, like the Rebreather, Broadhead climbing arrows, and the ability to throw her pickaxe as a grapple hook. The crafting system has been overhauled, with Lara being able to craft bigger ammo and resource storage pouches as well as innumerous upgrades for each variant of pistol, shotgun, machine gun and bow. Most of these upgrades requires special animal hides, which Lara can acquire by finding hidden caches or through good old fashioned hunting. Bears and feral felines make an appearance this time as potential hunts for rare skins, but they won't go down without one hell of a fight... Lara can craft special ammunition on the go and accept side quests from allies who reward her with otherwise unobtainable rewards like new gear or attire. The tombs this time are more numerous and a lot more complicated to solve, at least the first time around. Completing them rewards Lara with unique skills like faster climbing, triple arrow shots and the ability to mine for rare metals required for the best weapon upgrades. There are also crypts in which Lara may find weapon parts and coin caches she can dig up to trade for weapon attachments and unique weapons. Unlike the previous game, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to acquire every skill and upgrade before the end, unless of course you enjoy grinding the same groups of enemies for hours, and so skill and upgrade choices need to be selected more thoughtfully and resources spared for the weapons you enjoy using most. The areas Lara visits are not as numerous as the previous game, but they are unquestionably larger, some maps may take hours and hours to complete while the transition areas usually take about an hour. Not every NPC is hostile towards Lara and there is one particular area that is home to a village filled with friendlies who Lara must help defend against Trinity. Some of these NPC's are quest givers, adding an RPG feel to the game. But there are unfortunately some hiccups that I need to mention (for X360). Traversal is somewhat clumsy, Lara might miss that ledge you are trying to grab, backtracking is a pain and sometimes impossible without using a campfire, and might even prove to be game-breaking if you press forward where you're not supposed to. I encountered such a glitch in Path of the Deathless where the game bugged out after I tried to fall through another previously traversed pitfall which I obviously wasn't meant to, and the game broke at this point where I got stuck, every time I tried moving past the last campfire I used the autosave would take me right back to the moment I fell in between the ice, with no way of continuing. This forced me to start from scratch all over again. The other technical problem I have heard about is during the final ascent you are forced to shake off someone who is trying to drag you to your death, then the game prompts you to shoot him repeatedly until he falls. When this happens, and you have no ammo, the game once again breaks as the autosave prevents you from going back and without ammo, you can't continue either. I have also found that some achievements don't unlock even when you have completed the requirements, especially the Compulsive achievement. One last thing I noticed is that the high diving challenge is extremely glitchy. So all in all... RotTR improves on the original by adding larger maps and more traversal methods, but ultimately lacks the polish of the original. Enjoy, but try to back up your saves...