A franchise that indeed lives under the Shadow of the Tomb Raider; a bygone era of my childhood that predated this trilogy by many years. What remains in its stead is an imposter draped in many shades of mediocrity.

Admittedly, calling myself a fan of this reboot would have buckled me back when the first game stumbled onto the scene in 2013. My prior reviews are testament to the opinion of failed potential. This game, sadly, has faired no better. As always, I’ll attempt to unwrap some more precise points about various aspects of the game as *ahem* fairly as I can.

Story
• I never walk into a McDonalds expecting good food. I just want something that can temporarily sate me and is consistent with prior experiences. Lara Croft in her most recent adventure has once again succeeded in this endeavour. Its story is uninspired, but not bad. Predictable, but not clique. I was entertained, but not enamoured.
• Almost all the characters aside from Lara and Jonah are functionally glorified NPC quest givers. Perhaps I wasn’t giving these guys the chances they deserved: But I find it hard to ascribe any traits or personality to most. What is good however is the bond between Lara & Jonah and the interpersonal conflict Lara displays at key points in the story. Especially when she realises, she’s partially at fault for some bad things.
• The primary antagonist, Amaru, is one of the biggest disappointments because of the untapped potential. Clearly, the writers were trying to strike a balance between good intentions and the ends justify the means. But it just didn’t strike deep enough. If his character had been developed further (Which “The Price of Survival” DLC does a little, by the way!), I could have ended up significantly more invested in this story.

Gameplay
• Full disclosure: I am a masochist by nature. If I see a hard mode, I’m normally extremely eager to check it out. While this masochistic drive drove me to select “Deadly Obsession” for my first playthrough; No amount of hatred for oneself or desire for pain could make this crap palatable. While the combat remains easy, and the lack of constant puzzle tips from Lara is welcome, the jumping and climbing sections are unforgivable. The amount of time and patience I have lost to bugs and glitches in a platforming/climbing session to be set back by 20-60 minutes is infuriating. In unrelated news, I’m training to be a Buddhist Monk and have learnt the value in meditation.
• Aside from this, the gunplay, puzzles and platforming is alright. As with everything with this game, you’ll find it enjoyable enough but won’t be amazed. Thankfully, the tombs and puzzles in this game are quite a bit better in my opinion. A few I enjoyed. Perhaps this is a consequence of being able to stop Lara offering me the solution if I dare take longer than 2 seconds thinking about it.

Graphics
• Without doubt, a selling point of this game. It’s the extra spice, or the god-tier croutons, that can redeem a bland tomato soup. It’s beautiful. Raytracing does make it look even better in select areas (Mostly in the scenes they used in promo reels showing of the tech – Funny, that).
• The addition of a Photography mode is greatly appreciated. It was fun to dress up Lara in the many costumes available and sending them to friends. It’s enabled users to showcase many beautiful vistas and scenes across the game across the internet. Great stuff.

Summary
Attempting the desire to rattle on about this game and its flaws is a difficult task. Perhaps my discontent and disappointment is born from a want to see this game flourish in its potential. Yet, three out of three times, I’ve been left soured by my unmet expectations. At this point, I expect that this is a failure of myself rather than the game.

But – it’s alright. Its biggest failings are its story and its hardest difficulty mode. Most of you probably care more about the story and aren’t stupid enough to choose “Deadly Obsession” first time as I did. So, if you venture in, torch in hand, and give this game a go, despite my ramblings, I hope you find the investment in its characters and world that I did not. Dig deep. I explored, but perhaps I did not find the treasure.

A franchise that indeed lives under the Shadow of the Tomb Raider; a bygone era of my childhood that predated this trilogy by many years. What remains in its stead is an imposter draped in many shades of mediocrity. Admittedly, calling myself a fan of this reboot would have buckled me back when the first game stumbled onto the scene in 2013. My prior reviews are testament to the opinion of failed potential. This game, sadly, has faired no better. As always, I’ll attempt to unwrap some more precise points about various aspects of the game as *ahem* fairly as I can. [b][u]Story[/u][/b] • I never walk into a McDonalds expecting good food. I just want something that can temporarily sate me and is consistent with prior experiences. Lara Croft in her most recent adventure has once again succeeded in this endeavour. Its story is uninspired, but not bad. Predictable, but not clique. I was entertained, but not enamoured. • Almost all the characters aside from Lara and Jonah are functionally glorified NPC quest givers. Perhaps I wasn’t giving these guys the chances they deserved: But I find it hard to ascribe any traits or personality to most. What [i]is[/i] good however is the bond between Lara & Jonah and the interpersonal conflict Lara displays at key points in the story. Especially when she realises, she’s partially at fault for some bad things. • The primary antagonist, [spoiler]Amaru[/spoiler], is one of the biggest disappointments because of the untapped potential. Clearly, the writers were trying to strike a balance between good intentions and the ends justify the means. But it just didn’t strike deep enough. If his character had been developed further (Which “The Price of Survival” DLC does a little, by the way!), I could have ended up significantly more invested in this story. [b][u]Gameplay[/u][/b] • Full disclosure: I am a masochist by nature. If I see a hard mode, I’m normally extremely eager to check it out. While this masochistic drive drove me to select “Deadly Obsession” for my first playthrough; No amount of hatred for oneself or desire for pain could make this crap palatable. While the combat remains easy, and the lack of constant puzzle tips from Lara is welcome, the jumping and climbing sections are [b]unforgivable[/b]. The amount of time and patience I have lost to bugs and glitches in a platforming/climbing session to be set back by 20-60 minutes is [i]infuriating[/i]. In unrelated news, I’m training to be a Buddhist Monk and have learnt the value in meditation. • Aside from this, the gunplay, puzzles and platforming is alright. As with everything with this game, you’ll find it enjoyable enough but won’t be amazed. Thankfully, the tombs and puzzles in this game are quite a bit better in my opinion. A few I enjoyed. Perhaps this is a consequence of being able to stop Lara offering me the solution if I dare take longer than 2 seconds thinking about it. [b][u]Graphics[/u][/b] • Without doubt, a selling point of this game. It’s the extra spice, or the god-tier croutons, that can redeem a bland tomato soup. It’s beautiful. Raytracing does make it look even better in select areas (Mostly in the scenes they used in promo reels showing of the tech – Funny, that). • The addition of a Photography mode is greatly appreciated. It was fun to dress up Lara in the many costumes available and sending them to friends. It’s enabled users to showcase many beautiful vistas and scenes across the game across the internet. Great stuff. [b][u]Summary[/u][/b] Attempting the desire to rattle on about this game and its flaws is a difficult task. Perhaps my discontent and disappointment is born from a want to see this game flourish in its potential. Yet, three out of three times, I’ve been left soured by my unmet expectations. At this point, I expect that this is a failure of myself rather than the game. But – it’s alright. Its biggest failings are its story and its hardest difficulty mode. Most of you probably care more about the story and aren’t stupid enough to choose “Deadly Obsession” first time as I did. So, if you venture in, torch in hand, and give this game a go, despite my ramblings, I hope you find the investment in its characters and world that I did not. Dig deep. I explored, but perhaps I did not find the treasure.