Rise of the Tomb Raider

By: Robert Murphy

As anyone who has ever played a Tomb Raider game up until this point will tell you, Lara Croft has a deep regard for her sadly departed father. He is the reason for her becoming an archaeologist and the man who spent years uncovering mysterious that made the Croft name legendary. Near the end of his life however he became obsessed with one artifact in particular and in attempt to prove that her father was not as mad as they say, she sets out to find this piece of history that was said to be the secret to immortality. 

Like the previous reboot to the franchise before it, Rise of the Tomb Raider blends together a modern story about a missing artifact that takes it's lead character on a road to the supernatural. The big difference this time around though is there is plenty of time for a heart beneath the harsh battle that lays before Lara, she is far more battle hardened than when we first met her and so she has an easier time looking deep inside herself and into her past. A huge credit once again goes to Camilla Luddington who brings out the emotional journey that Lara is going through with flying colors. This is no longer simply about survival for her, it is an emotional drive that is pushing Lara harder than she has ever gone before and while she won't go as far as forsaking herself for this unknown treasure she will any perilous threat in order to clear the name of the late Richard Croft.

In the midst of all this she is faced with a brand new foe and one who is as determined as she is to find the source of immortality.  A shadow organization known as Trinity comes nipping at the heels of Lara's discovery and wants the artifact in order to create and unstoppable army the like of which the world has never seen. Plus living forever doesn't sound like a bad concept either. They are led by a ruthless radical named Konstantin who believes in the cause so deeply that he will crush any and all who stand in his way. His is the face of fearful enemy that was missing from the first game and one whose connection to the overall story made for an excellent twist to the tale. 

The landscape has never been more beautiful than it is here and I say this knowing full well that a good portion of the game is played in a harsh Siberian tundra and when you aren't freezing to death there are plenty of predatory animals, pit falls and muscle headed gun jockeys waiting to take out poor Lara Croft. Still the exceptional scenery and other hidden tombs spread throughout offer a plethora of breath taking moments, I especially loved finding the hidden society stowed away in the mountains who have been defending the secret artifact for centuries all of whom lived a Shangri-La style paradise. 

Traversing these new environments will require some of your handy tools and a host of new ones as well. Getting to hidden tombs and new locations require tools like the new wire spool which allows you to throw your trusty climbing ax and swing across large crevices and avoiding some of those gruesome death scenes for poor Miss Croft. You then have other new tools like the stake arrows that can be shot into weak wooden planks and then climbed upon or the rebreather tool that allows you swim underwater without having to come up for air. Other new additions to your Batman-esque utility belt apply to your ever growing offensive style of playing, weapons like the combat knife allow you to pounce down on thugs from tree tops but also helps with some of the trickier puzzles later on too. Seriously though, Lara Croft equals Batman. The truth is out there. 

The original tools players spent their time earning also make their return and are used just as cleverly as ever with the variety of optional tombs, collectibles and optional missions hidden throughout the game. I barely felt like I needed any sort of tutorial once I started this new journey, I crafted a wooden bow, grabbed my ax and I was ready to go and kick some tail. This is great too because there was so much to be explored right from the get go from the hidden coin cashes to the new landmark/journal entries strewn throughout levels that work hand in hand with the language learning component to the game. Finding certain entries or plaques/paintings will increase your knowledge of a certain language and ever the avid learner Lara needs this to help read map statues and other helpful collectible finding tools. Yes the collectible fetching is so expansive now that it even incubuses a language learning skill, it's crazy, and maybe a little too crazy. I'm all for collectible fetching and it is not central to the story in anyway but for Rise of the Tomb Raider you really didn't need this much when you have brought so much else to the table. 

Rise of the Tomb Raider is knock out follow up to it's 2013 predecessor by somehow expanding upon the massive amount of material that was present already. With the addition of optional tombs, more weaponry, a deep emotional story and a frightening villain to confront I found myself diving straight into each challenge all the while knowing I'd be just as eager for the next. But, even without all of that the game still has Lara Croft at it's core and her emotional journey this time around was even more compelling than the last game and truly does the Croft name proud.

Good:

- Lara shows a new side to her character and is still strong as ever

- Beautiful scenery

- A strong new enemy

- New optional tombs, missions and tools

Bad:

- A bit overboard on the collectibles

Scully Rating: 9.3 out of 10