Recent reviews by costas

What can I say about Ghostrunner 2? Overall, I feel it is a true successor to the first Ghostrunner. Playing the game, it is evident the devs had a bigger budget and more resources to utilize. I would like to emphasize in my first review that this is a HARDCORE game. It is neither easier or harder than GR1. If you are not good gamer, you will die a lot and that's a fact.

+ Ghostrunner 2's gameplay is improved yet it still preserving its authenticity. There are returning and new enemies which is great to see, and introduces actual boss fights which compared to GR1 are more platform-based. Skills now play an important role in gameplay, allowing for infinite use in-game over picking up power-ups. The motorbike is a great addition to GR2, and it plays mostly well despite a few hiccups with controls. However, I am upset that some movement mechanics are slowed down, and a stamina bar is introduced to keep players' speed in check. These nerfs were probably for speedrunners which didn't stick well for me when GR2 launched, but I kinda got used to it. I also wish there were more levels with the wingsuit since the only mission with it was my favorite in the game. Some levels are designed to be semi-open which works well with the motorbike missions.

+ In terms of graphics, Ghostrunner 2 retains its cyberpunk setting, and introduces a post-apocalyptic landscape from the Outside levels. I noticed they reduced the bloom of neon lights which were my favorite aspect of the first game. Overall graphics are great in Dharma Tower, but I don't like the lack of detail when you're outside. I was assuming GR2 would be developed with Unreal Engine 5, but to my surprise is still made with UE4. Too bad the devs couldn't take advantage of UE5 technologies. One thing I wished in my GR1 review was the ability to view your POV model, can happily confirm my wish came true! I'm having mixed feelings on performance. While the game brings great FPS for most hardware, I have occasion hitching and lots of lag. I'm hoping performance is greatly fixed with upcoming updates.

+ Ghostrunner 2 continues its story from the first, with a split between mostly dialogue and significantly more cutscenes to view. It also introduces a hub where you can have conversations with other characters and I liked it. There are more levels to play in GR2, and longer to play through. New Game + is introduced through Hardcore mode, and I do not recommend if you have anger issues!

+ There is no arguing the soundtrack is improved, and brings in new composers to make you feel like a badass while slaying some enemies. Some of the tracks are some of my favorite in my gaming career which is a lot to say! Absolute W's to the composers.


+ I still want to advocate my request to the devs to introduce proper mod support, mainly custom maps and gameplay changes. But in summary, Ghostrunner 2 is my example a successful sequel, but trying out the first Ghostrunner is definitely recommended. But nonetheless, I will support the game by buying their cosmetics.

I'm gonna be honest. I like the game, as a new player to the Battlefield franchise that is. But it's unfortunate that this terrible downfall has taken place and I'm totally on that side. EA seriously needs to re-evaluate the future of this game or it will go straight to the pit of officially dead games. That being said I'll continue to play BF2042 from time-to-time, however my motivation to do so decreases over time if EA doesn't do anything.

I don't have much else to say. Maybe can add on the poor optimization, lack of good maps and limited weapons to use. Graphics are good, but compared to BFV or BF1 it is a concerning downgrade in level of detail.

That's it. I probably will not come back to this review until things get better, or possibly worse.

I would describe Ghostrunner as Titanfall and Dishonored having a surrogate baby with Mirror's Edge (while Cyberpunk 2077 is claiming to be the father). Yeah, that. This is one of the best games I've played in a while and I have a lot of good things to say. For players that are new to FPS action games (such as the mentioned above) or new to gaming in general. I must warn that this is a HARDCORE game. If you are not good, you will die a lot and that's a fact. I highly recommend that you play at least one of the games mentioned above to easily be comfortable with Ghostrunner. Heck, even Call of Duty: Black Ops III will help you which plays loosely like Titanfall.

+ Ghostrunner's gameplay is solid, I can say a lot about it but it would take up this whole guide. Combat-wise, it is simple as hack-and-slash. However, Ghostrunner offers good enemy variety to attack which should change the way you play. It's a one hit kill for all enemies, however to sort of balance it you are also a one hit kill to anyone. Additionally, the skills that are unlocked upon playing the game are insanely good, especially Tempest and Blink. Movement-wise, the game offers a fast-paced Titanfall-Dishonored experience with sliding, wallrunning, teleporting, grappling and so on. All of these feel fluid and satisfying to chain. For a person like me, I quickly attached to the movement, and so I began my journey speedrunning the levels. God, speedrunning is insane but it's so good to see. People will instantly be lost to the way you play if you know your sh*t. Level design is also good, depending on how fast you play the levels can be very short.

+ Graphics-wise, Ghostrunner is beautiful. It perfectly captures the Japanese cyberpunk theme (probably better than CP2077 itself) and much of my liking is with the lighting. Performance shouldn't be a problem as my setup is capable of running 144+ fps on 4K ultra (without DLSS). You seriously have to appreciate the great optimization from Unreal Engine 4. And with DLSS enabled, the insane frames per second gives you buttery smooth gameplay. Props to the devs for DLSS and ray-tracing support. After a few patches the game is in a much stable state and I receive much less crashes, and ray-tracing is much more optimized. Now don't get me wrong, ray-tracing looks great especially reflections but regardless the base lighting is already great, and the difference with RTX on from off is minimal in my opinion, and a game that is fast-paced you won't have time to notice the change in lighting. A minor but preferred feature that is not in the game is the ability to see your POV, it kinda feels like you're floating sometimes without feet.

+ Surprisingly, Ghostrunner has a decent story. The story is told throughout the levels you play and I do seem to have a connection with the characters despite only being dialogue. It's also good to hear some dry humor between the Ghostrunner and the Architect. Depending on how fast you play, the story is short at around 5-6 hours of gameplay. However, there is support for New Game + with Hardcore mode, and it is no joke when they say it's hardcore.

+ The soundtrack. Wow, no words can describe how badass it is. Similarly to Doom, without the soundtrack it still plays great. But with the soundtrack, it's legendary. Also like with Mirror's Edge, (almost) every level has its unique soundtrack which makes every level memorable. Huge props to the composer.

+ Finally, Post-launch DLC. For the most part, new gameplay additions are free which is always good to hear. Hardcore is included as post-launch, I'll take any form of NG+ to add to my time. Kill Run mode is a good addition, though lacks true replayability. I wish they added at least 10 levels at launch, or if they planned to add more in the future. Photo Mode is a godsend in any game, but with a graphically stunning game like Ghostrunner it is wallpaper free real estate. Wave mode is also a neat gamemode to really show off your gameplay skills, pretty fun to speedrun as well. The rest of the paid DLC are cosmetic only, and they look good enough to satisfy me

Project Hel is its separate expansion from vanilla Ghostrunner, and plays partly different to the original. Gameplay for Hel took a little getting used to due to the new mechanics like the jump, but it offers a different experience to the original which I seemed to have enjoyed. But I must say, Hel's movement is inferior to the original. New enemies are present in Project Hel, however the don't necessarily feel like a threat compared to enemies like Mechs and Wardens which are also present in this expansion. If you were enticed to Ghostrunner's story, Project Hel offers the backstory of the events during the game, and answers most questions of how it came to be. Which to say, the story is also well-presented despite it being presented through dialogue. I'm a little saddened there are only 6 levels in this DLC, I would have been satisfied with a minimum of 8 for this DLC. But to be fair, the levels are a little longer than the original Ghostrunner. Nonetheless, more levels means more soundtracks which is always a win.


+ My main request to make this game better is proper mod support, mainly custom maps and gameplay changes. The community may be small, but it's strong. I'd be delighted to follow any custom made mods for Ghostrunner.

Here's my summary:

+ Great gameplay, phenomenal for speedrunning
+ Excellent graphics, performance and (base) optimization
+ Decent story, can play with different difficulties
+ Awesome soundtrack
+ Free DLC modes, cheap DLC skins
+ Sells for okay price, best buy on sale

- Gameplay geared for hardcore players
- Poor optimization with ray-tracing, but has been fixed
- Lack of mod support
- Minor performance issues, but has been mostly fixed

Overall, Ghostrunner is an excellent game, for me at least. Some people are put off by the immense amount of restarting (which is why I said it is a HARDCORE game). But nonetheless, I will support the game by buying their cosmetics. I am very intrigued in the next Ghostrunner game!

It's a simple game to follow, with each level requiring more brain usage as the levels get more complicated. But it's a great game just to clear your mind, play some relaxing music in the background.
But the main aspect of this game is the achievements. Much variety of colors to choose, and to show on your profile. Pretty cool, all for a very cheap price.

Well what can I say about Far Cry 4?

This is indeed my first Far Cry game, and I enjoyed it very much. I was quite hesitant to purchase and play the Far Cry series, but I've come to terms that some games shouldn't be judged by their looks. This was the case when I was actually going to play Far Cry 3 first. Then 4, then 5. However I did start with 4.

+ FC4's gameplay is excellent. Much of the gameplay mechanics have been copied from FC3 due to it being developed by the same engine. However I feel everything in FC4 is at least a step up from FC3. This game is easy to be stealthy, however it is a large learning curve to become a true ninja. I'd say it's sorta like Tomb Raider but in 1st person. Overall, excellent stealth mechanics, and pretty satisfying takedowns. FC4 is set in a land of verticality, and so the game features the grappling hook. As an avid player of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it is no doubt that I really enjoyed this feature. One of the more unique features of the FC franchise (since FC2) is the healing, particularly their animations. While I do like to see them, it's been a degradation since FC2. In that game you'd basically perform self surgery and return to the fight like normal, while in FC4 it's basically putting a gauze and that's it. Not complaining, but just, c'mon. In relation, vehicles also play an important part in the game and I think it feels great. The overall driving, mounted guns, auto drive all make it good. A lot of guns to chose from (better selection that FC3), most are pretty fun to use. However I was at slight dismay that these guns feel more like toys rather than actual guns, as well as SFX and reload animations not really up to par. I understand that this is more of an 'arcade' feel, I must have had my expectations higher since playing Modern Warfare 2019 (which had very good-feeling weapons). Meanwhile gun customization is a nice feature, get to choose attachments and camos.

+ FC4's graphics is hell top notch, especially from a game released in 2014. Within a matter of hours of playing I was quickly immersed into the world. Ubisoft managed to capture a surreal image of the Himalayas, and the mythological place of Shangri-La. I also wanna give props as to how animals look in this game, thanks to the fur rendering. I wish any game to this day with animals had this technology, it would make animals much alive. My only complaint is the rock textures in-game. While they look decent, it does get a bit annoying (for me) seeing the same rock textures almost everywhere.

+ In terms of performance this game is well optimized and can run on low-end machines since it's a game from 2014. Though some frequent problems that I had with the game are the audio (which tends to suddenly become soft when you die repeatedly) and the field of view becoming very tight. Though a restart does fix these issues.

+ FC4's story is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I'd describe Ajay as boring, naive and reluctant. But at least I feel he feels like an actual human since he has a personal connection with the villain, Pagan. And speaking of, Pagan is excellent. I believe his character is charismatic, classy and a true psychopath brought to life by his VA Troy Baker. Also a special surprise to see Hasan Minhaj (i.e. the Patriot Act host). While the story is okay, it gets somewhat interesting when you find the real plot of the story (i.e. the 'secret ending'). I also wanna say that the missions that take place in the Himalayan mountains are one of my favorite missions to play in my gaming career. Other of my favorite characters are Longinus, Yogi and Reggie, and Willis.

+ FC4 has a lot of side missions and collectibles to find, they may get a bit boring to find over time. The Shangri-la side quests are a lot of fun to playthrough, it is a lot fast-paced than the regular world. If you're a dedicated player enough like me, it can take you around 50 hours to properly 100% the game,

Overall I'd say Far Cry 4 is a superior game, and it is a must have for your library. Best to get it on sale, or buy it from Ubisoft directly as it's cheaper on their own platform. I haven't played the DLC yet, but will try to in my next major playthrough sometime in the future.

After some time waiting, EA have now finally released some of their titles to Steam and I see this as a huge win for the gaming community. Before Catalyst was released on Steam I wrote this guide in advanced in my Mirror's Edge 1 review in hopes that this day would come, and it finally did. By the way, this review was written with over 70+ hours of experience so I know what I'm saying despite having 15 minutes of gameplay of Steam at the time of writing this review.

Well what can I say about Catalyst? Overall, almost every aspect in Catalyst is better than ME1. Here's why:

+ Catalyst's gameplay is much better than ME1, in my opinion at least. All parkour moves feel very smooth and it is much easier to chain moves. The grappling hook is a neat addition to the game, an easy way to get across buildings. Though I have to say the physics is slightly wonky, but that doesn't really bother me as the physics can get real cheeky with performing advanced moves. I'm just a bit concerned that even when you start the game, half of the level skill tree is unlocked and the only way to activate them is to complete parts of the story. Weird...

+ Like with its predecessor, Catalyst lacks a good story, but is better in a slight way which adopts a cyberpunk setting. The first few missions of the story are good, but when you're 1/3 into it, it changes plot and becomes a cliche of 'saving the city'. Not everyone will comprehend the story, but it can be more understandable through collectibles and reading the comics which is a prelude to the game. Not a bad story, but could have been improved.

+ Catalyst's combat has been slightly altered from ME1. Guns have been removed and players are required to use their fists and legs to fend from enemies. Again, I will give credit that combat in Catalyst is better than ME1. Despite some flaws with enemy AI, Faith will always be a badass especially when doing finishing moves.

+ Catalyst's map is mostly well-proven to be good for me, but when it was revealed some players were not happy with the fact that it is now an open-world rather than linear. Personally, I enjoy open-world maps and because so this does not irritate me. Map design is great and there is decent enough to explore in the city of Glass. The only problem is that the actual 'freedom' of travelling to different regions are limited (i.e. Rezoning is only accessible with the magROPE, no other way to access the place).

+ Graphics are really good especially a game coming from 2016, and it still competes with some games today. Catalyst utilizes the Frostbite 3 engine which to me is my top 'realistic-looking' engines that I've seen a game from the past. The game utilizes a lot of reflective surface, like a lot to the point that it looks like RTX. And speaking of, I believe Catalyst would look like another game with real-time ray-traced reflections and shadows.

+ And lastly, the soundtrack. Nonetheless, it's the best soundtrack I've heard in any game period. Different themes in different parts of the map, day or night and during combat. The music really does go well with this game and that won't stop me from coming back just to listen and play. Solar Fields never disappoints! Here are some examples of my personal favorites: Anchor District, Viva La Resistance, Kingdom, Family Matters and Back In The Game. I could even listen to it while studying, it's that good!

+ The creme-de-la-creme of Catalyst is mod support. Thanks to the Frostbite Engine, it's very easy to mod this game. And it can significantly make gameplay better with graphic improvements, gameplay changes and quality of life fixes. It easily provides extra time to continue the game.

+ I would propose several things to improve Catalyst, which include a Multiplayer mode, a longer story, better graphics in terms of view distance and plain textures, more variety of enemies and official access to the streets of Glass.

Overall, Mirror's Edge Catalyst is worth the cheap price when it's on sale in Steam, and it will always be installed on my computer :)

Are you looking for a cheap knock-off version of GTA5? Are you an avid viewer of martial arts films? Have you wanted to see hijacking a car in motion? Do you like Chinese food and karaoke? If you answer to all these questions is YES, then Sleeping Dogs is the game for you.

+ Sleeping Dogs' gameplay ranges from martial arts to gunfights to car chases/races. The martial arts in SD feels very good. There are a decent amount of moves to unlock through the skill tree. I'm quite surprised there is parkour implemented into SD, and it feels very smooth. I also like how you can also use the environment to brutally kill enemies. Meanwhile gunfights in SD feel average to good. I'm a bit disappointed that the gun variety is lacking for a game associating with organized crime, but if you're a fan of slo-mo action shooting scenes then that's one more reason to buy SD. Throughout the story and side quests you will be in a vehicle either racing or being chased by enemies. To be honest, vehicles in SD don't feel good to drive but when you look at how you can hijack cars and ram vehicles then that's the unique spot of SD.
+ Sleeping Dogs' graphics is a bit mixed for me despite it being a definitive edition. Yes, I'll agree that the United Front have done a good job trying to replicate the looks of Hong Kong. Things such as densely populated places, towers and night markets set the mood that you're really in Hong Kong. Graphics look a bit average from 2014, meh textures (and repeated textures which I hate), meh shadows. Can't expect too much. I only faced a few bugs in my time.
+ Sleeping Dogs' story takes in motion as an undercover cop trying to stop the triads in Hong Kong. I think the story is excellent as it's fitted with plenty of combat and brutal scenes. The story at first is you getting used to the environment, but later on it does get juicier. And yes, all cutscenes are rendered in-game which I like. Good voice acting for most of the characters, and was surprised to see Emma Stone in this game.
+ Overall, if you have a few Dollars in your account then you can give Sleeping Dogs a try when it's on sale (as low as around $4!). You can expect around 30 hours to 100% complete the main game (my virtual wallet has suffered a lot), while another 15 hours which includes all DLC content. Just to be careful that deleting the game also deletes your save, so it's better to have a backup file. Several things I would have added to Sleeping Dogs to retain players are New Game +, a bigger map (or more playable areas), better vehicle customization and an online mode. I was excited when I saw that Triad Wars (the proper GTAV-esque version of Sleeping Dogs) was in production back in 2015, but unfortunately the game was cancelled along with the United Frontline shutting down, kinda feel sorry for them.
Sleeping Dogs is an experience similar to but not like Grand Theft Auto, this is a game you should consider having in your library to come, and I regret not playing this earlier on PC!

And remember... a man who never eats pork buns is never a whole man!

Coming back to this game 2 years later, I nearly forgot this gem. Ironically, it was Rise and Shadow that I had written reviews for even when TR1 was the first game that I'd played before them. Well, that's what I'm about to do right now.
+ Looking back at TR now, it is quite simple and dull but it should be noted that this revolutionized action-adventure games. TR's graphics are excellent given the situation. Good textures, good shadows and post-processing can still compete with few titles today. But to be honest, the color palette used looks dull which may symbolise the dystopian coast of Japan. Given the year that TR was created, no one should be complaining about low frames per second with the highest setting enabled. Also most cutscenes are not pre-rendered, which I like :)
+ TR's gameplay is something to appreciate. Enemy AI can be a bit simple but I really like how they can move to different cover. Traversing the environment can never get better and the animations are almost spot-on. I appreciate the equal parts of exploration and combat. To make it even more challenging, I disable survivor sense as well as set it on hard difficulty as a mean to get the best experience. I recommend you try this out. Upgrading weapons is quite simple in this game, you simply collect salvage and upgrade it.
+ TR's story is yet excellent. We get to know every character through dialogue and collectibles, and the theme of Japanese mythology is an inquiring start to the franchise. Through its average-timed story, we get to experience Lara's beginning into the tomb raider model she is.
+ TR's soundtrack suits the game very well. When in combat, being chased or also the introduction. It is something that isn't appreciated by many, and I wish it could.
+ TR features a PvP mode that I wish I could try when it was free to download back in March 2020, but now there aren't enough players to start a match.

Tomb Raider features some DLC, but to be honest it's not worth the purchases and you're better off buying the plain game. Yeah there are outfits for Lara to buy but most of them break the immersion and originality of the game. The other DLC for Multiplayer maps and Multiplayer skins aren't worth it as well, while the DLC tomb is bugged.

Now you'll probably hate me for this, but here goes my verdict: I love TR1, honestly do. But I will not recommend TR1 for newcomers or experienced players. Why? Well, for a few Dollars more you can get Rise and that has a longer story, better gameplay and better graphics. If you got it free back in March, I appreciate that you took your time to try this out. Sure you can get it for sale, but when Rise also goes on sale as well it's definitely worth what you are getting. The reason for the short review is simply because there hasn't been much so from a game in 2013. Rise and Shadow have built on many of the aspects on TR1.

What can I say about Call of Duty: Black Ops II?
+ This whole game is my childhood and I spent most of my time playing offline with split-screen with relatives of mine. And yes from 2012 to 2016 I was playing on Xbox most of the time, didn't get the PC version of BO2 until 2016. Some annoying times, mostly good times.
+ BO2's Campaign is my personal favorite out of the CODs I have played (well, honestly BO2 and BO3 are really the games I have completed the Campaign) as it mixes the past and the future into one. Good story, good missions and Menendez will always be my symbol of anarchy.
+ BO2's Multiplayer is nonetheless perfect. Some may consider this the best MP in the Black Ops series and I totally agree with that to an extent. I never got to play online which is unfortunate, but local gets the job done. I do remember the first time I got my hands on BO2 back in 2012. 10 year-old me was sitting in my brother's friend's house with a PS3 and I was pretty much dominating them with the R870 MCS, and I didn't even know how to sprint! Solid maps like Hijacked, Standoff, NukeTown 2025 and Slums were top notch.
+ BO2's Zombies will always be in my heart. I didn't know until the release of BO3 that TranZit was reviewed so terribly, but me and my brother played Town for most of the time camping in the bar with LMGs. Die Rise is personally better than TranZit, but again didn't know until the release of BO3 that it was reviewed poorly. Mob of the Dead is my go-to no matter what. I had to wait 2 years before I could personally get my hands on any DLC, and it was definitely worth it. Buried is a well-balanced map. Good camping spot, good gameplay and we all can't forget LEEROYYY!!! And lastly, Origins is my second go-to map. Almost everything was good about it, and I could play it for days non-stop. Jason Blundell really outdid himself with MOTD and Origins which is why many consider them the best maps of all time.
+ However, BO2 is definitely not worth $60-90 in 2019, MP and Zombies is unpopulated or riddled with hackers and I will recommend you wait for a sale purely for the Zombies and the Campaign.

I've decided to republish my review for this game for further relevancy on both my and the game's end.

What can I say about Shadow of the Tomb Raider? Overall, I can say this is a good game, but it is not perfect in some areas. Here's why:

+ Since 2015, I've always looked up on the rebooted Tomb Raider games, each of them having new features as the franchise progresses. TR1 had limited features but I can't blame that because it was game from 2013 and first in the franchise. Rise made a big leap in new features and executed it almost perfectly. However for Shadow, yes they implemented new features, but there wasn't enough risk when doing so. I am quite fine having ported movement mechanics from the past games but what I would have done to make them better is to alter them a bit, like the animations or even the mechanics itself for a new experience.

+ Moving forward, one thing that mostly everyone has to appreciate is the graphics. Obviously, the graphics have much improved since Rise and the aesthetics of the area really does make it feel like you are in a hot, humid jungle. Anti-aliasing has greatly improved from Rise at launch with no notable shimmering across most flora in the game. As of 2nd January 2022, DLSS 2.x is an actual feature after 2 years since the 1.0 version before the update didn't benefit much. I never expected Eidos-Montreal to have updated it but the day that I found out it was being updated, I had to read it too many times to believe it. Textures look great, shadows by default look great but with ray-tracing it definitely feels better the more you play with it on, overall lighting is great and far more detailed environmental graphics compared to Rise. Depending on your rig, Shadow can be a very demanding game but for me with an RTX 3060 Ti I can safely play the game on 'Ultra' preset with RTX on in addition to DLSS. The overall payload is quite worth the visuals, and Lara looks even more glamouring.

+ I very much like the soundtrack Shadow has featured, as good as Rise. Whether it's the end credits (which got me emotional I'll admit), during combat or ambient music, I'll like it no matter what. The OST features a lot of wind and string instruments (particularly the viola and cello) and it suits Lara's emotions and the environment very well. Great job in this department, they have my respect. In similar context, sound design is very good. Too much to say about it, but the quality and fidelity of audio is clean.

+ Another thing Shadow has improved but devolved is combat. This game is supposed to make you feel that you are 'one with the jungle' i.e. use the environment to stay alive. I clearly feel this in some situations, and Crystal Dynamics have done a good job with stealth. You can camouflage to hide from enemies, go up high trees and rain death from above, and in the case where enemies have thermal vision forces you to quickly change your play style. However, there is an imbalance between combat and exploration in the story and side quests, to which clearly exploration is the main focus in Shadow. I don't like how CD removed weapon executions, those were my favorite in Rise.

+ Onto the actual gameplay. Shadow has implemented some new mechanics in order to traverse the environment. The prominent feature is the swimming. In Rise, we were limited to where we could swim (and in TR1 we couldn't even swim). In Shadow there is full freedom where to swim and I really like that (oh and I find the water in Shadow to be one of the best water graphics so far). Surprisingly Lara is vulnerable to decompression sickness no matter how deep you swim... You can also hide yourself from predators that will kill you and that just shows a level of detail that has been put to this game. Shadow heavily emphasizes on verticality, and with that comes overhanging climbing, rappelling and rope swinging which I heavily enjoy. There is genuinely a rock-climbing simulator in Shadow. Decent amount of customization in Shadow, from weapons to outfits. I don't like how you have to change outfits to progress the story and/or start conversations. From an improvement since Rise, Shadow also features a more elaborated economy system. Now, players can buy and sell items from merchants in the map, and trade resources for cash. Continuing on with gameplay, players have the choice of their play style/difficulty. For example, if they want hard traversing but easy combat, or hard combat but survivor's sense disabled. For me, I'll just stick to everything at its hardest i.e. Deadly Obsession.

+ At first I didn't really understand the story, however every playthrough I'm starting to like it more and more. As you get an insight of Maya mythology and playing as Lara Croft, who by now is fully endured to be the Tomb Raider she is. Great voice acting from Camilla (Lara) but not much impressed with English-speaking NPCs. One thing that I can praise Crystal Dynamics is NG+ (New Game Plus). That so I can repeat the story with my inventory which increases the replayability of Shadow. Whoever thought of this seriously must have a pay raise, not a lot of games have NG+ and Shadow is just the few of them I know. Aside from the story, there are lots of side quests, collectibles and tombs to finish which pretty much took me around 30 hours to do so. But the removal of 'Chapter Replay (Elite)' from Rise was a bit of a bummer since I'd like to play specific quests.

DLC is partly cosmetic for guns and outfits, addition of weapons and challenge tombs. All tombs in the DLC are great. Some of my favorites are The Serpent's Heart, The Grand Caiman, The Nightmare and The Pillar. For $5 each, it's not bad for what you're getting but I recommend you get all of them at once.

Since my original review of Shadow I wrote in early 2019, there was a mixed decision on having to recommend the game as indicated by the 'Mixed' reception seen on Steam for a fair amount of time. But as time went on until now more people have appreciated Shadow and I think reception is in a good state now. I can recommend Shadow of the Tomb Raider on sale if you are a die-hard rebooted TR player like me, or a rock-climbing enthusiast. If you are new to TR, then I would you suggest purchase Rise of the Tomb Raider first to get the feel of the mechanics. IMO it's a great game but it hasn't greatly changed from Rise. If you want a highly immersive and detailed experience, then of course Shadow is the choice. Based on my experience from Shadow of the Tomb Raider, you can expect around 30+ hours of playtime depending if you wish to replay the story through NG+. 50+ hours with DLC included.

It's unfortunate that this is the final series of the trilogy (maybe). I'll continue to support and play the TR franchise when I feel like. Crystal Dynamics have done a spectacular job with all three games, and they have my respect.