Call of Duty Modern Warfare (Remastered) Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right time for another review and this one is another game, which I recently have played on the PS4, which is the original Call of Duty Modern Warfare in its remastered version. This was a great game on its release back in 2007 and I guess this was a 10th anniversary update as it was released in 2017 with enhanced graphics and a few other features. 

So, how does the game still fair after all this time? Well, let's take a look and find out...

And there will be the usual warning...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So to sum up the story briefly below, I will quote part of the plot from Wikipedia.

"In 2011, a civil war has broken out in Russia between its government and ultranationalists who seek to restore Russia to its Soviet-era glamor. Meanwhile, a separatist group led by Khaled Al-Asad seizes power in a "small but oil-rich" country in the Middle East through a coup d'état, executing its president, Al-Fulani. Al-Asad is ruthless and has extreme anti-Western views, which prompts the United States to invade the country. In the afternoon of the second day of the invasion, a platoon of USMC 1st Force Recon, led by Lieutenant Vasquez, is sent to capture Al-Asad.

In the meantime, John "Soap" MacTavish is recruited into a British Special Air Service (SAS) squad led by Captain Price. The group shortly conducts two operations, one which leads them to infiltrate a cargo ship in the Bering Strait. 

The second operation takes them to Russia in order to rescue one of their allies, a Russian informant named Nikolai working within the Ultranationalist party. Assisted by Russian loyalist forces, Price's team succeeds in rescuing Nikolai. However, their helicopter is later brought down, forcing the group to make their way through enemy territory with support from an AC-130 gunship before they can be extracted. Intelligence gathered from these two missions indicates that Al-Asad may be in possession of a Russian nuclear device". 

So from here the US and the SAS work toward separately toward their aim to hunt down Al-Asad and end his threat to the Western world.

THOUGHTS

COD Modern Warfare without a doubt is one of the best games in the series and it was a landmark in the franchise also because it was the first one to be set in the modern day rather than during the World War II. And the switch to the modern day setting is flawless as the player is thrown into a terrorist threat playing both as an US Marine and an SAS operative who play their part in trying to take down a terrorist leader in Al-Asad. The action again is thick and fast and pretty intense overall just as it was in the previous games with even more weapons available to the player and options for stealth and direct attacks.

GAMEPLAY

Gameplay wise CODMW is terrific as it features a great mix of taut combat where you employ both stealth and direct tactics in taking down your enemies and I will go into more detail on the gameplay in the sections below.

MOVEMENT

Starting with the movement, the play is in first person mode and has three stances of standing, crouching and prone (where you are lay flat on the ground) all of which will affect the player's speed but are used in different circumstances when necessary. The player can also climb over walls, fences etc whenever possible to traverse different areas in the game and they can sprint too to cover ground faster. 

PLAYABLE CHARACTERS & STRUCTURE

To quickly mention the characters of the game, you can play primarily as two, an SAS Operative, Segreant John "Soap" MacTavish and also a US Marine, Sergeant Paul Jackson and the two story lines of the US Marines and SAS intertwine as the story progresses. You can also briefly play as Captain John Price in a flashback mission later in the game (where Price is a Lieutenant). Soap however is the main playable character of the game for the most part. 

WEAPONS & COMBAT

Weapons wise there are plenty to choose from in the game as there is an array of handguns, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles and rocket launchers. The player can only hold two weapons at one time and can switch between them and some weapons also have attachment such as a grenade launcher. Players can also use different types of grenades such as flash bangs and smoke ones to disorientate enemies in addition to explosive grenades and set claymores that can be detonated from a distance.

So, combat wise, the player can switch between using firearms to close-up melee combat where they can take down an enemy at close range with their knife (I think!). The player however can also call in airstrikes too on certain missions or air-support from US allies and there is one mission where you can take down enemies from a chopper using assault guns using night vision. Players will also have pay attention to the health damage they will take from gunfire or explosives as the screen will glow red and their heartbeat will intensify as they take more damage and they can only recover their health by taking cover. 

MISSION CHECKPOINTS

The game's progress is saved automatically as you progress through the use of regular checkpoints on missions where you are tasked to perform a specific goals or take out a number of enemies in an area to achieve the goal and reach that checkpoint. So, basically if you die during a sequence of the game you will be taken back to the previous auto checkpoint in the game (kind of obvious really but figure I would give it a mention!). 

GRAPHICS 

As for the game's graphics, going by the remastered version, the game looks excellent with its new overhaul and the game's environments are again pretty rich in detail and variety from open wastelands to security installations and bunkers. The environmental effects are also great and this is particularly notable in the opening mission of the game where SAS infiltrate an enemy ship on a stormy night and the wind and rain effects are very well done. Character model wise, the game has had a good overhaul too as the characters look more defined than before in the original version of the game. So, overall CODMW the remastered version looks pretty fine.

MUSIC AND VOICE ACTING

As for the music score its an excellent one and was composed by Stephen Barton and it is very suspenseful and features some good tracks throughout, particularly the ones that are used in the acclaimed mission "All Ghillied Up" where we get a flashback to Price as a younger operative camouflaged. So, it is a very good score overall and one of the best from the series that I remember and it perfectly suits the tone of the game. 

As for the voice acting, the cast are all excellent.

Starting with Billy Murray (not to be confused with Bill Murray!) who is excellent in his role as Captain Price, the SAS operation leader who is set to locate and take down Al-Asad. Murray get's some good lines of dialogue in the game too such as in his first scene where Price first meets Soap and he asks him "What sort of a name is Soap?! How did a muppet like you pass selection?!". 

Craig Fairbrass is also pretty good in his role as SAS operative, Gaz, who you are introduced to at the start of Soap's campaign and you undertake a tutorial training mission. Fairbrass also has some good lines of dialogue in the game that include the one in the training mission where Gaz tells Soap to use his melee skills to slice a watermelon. So, when you destroy the watermelon, Gaz praises you for it by saying "Nice! Your fruit killing skills are remarkable!". 

Mark Ivanir also does a good job as Sergeant Kamarov, who aids Price, Soap and Gaz on their mission to fight against Al-Asad and he also aids the US Marine Corps too as the game later deploys a joint US-SAS mission. Yvegeni Lazarev is pretty effective too in his role as the main antagonist of the game, Imran Zakhaev although he has very little actual dialogue in the game however it has to be said. 

And last of all Mark Grigsby is very good in his role as the wise cracking US Marine, Sgt Griggs, who in the game later helps the SAS as the two of them take on a joint mission to take down Zakhaev. Grigsby himself was game company Infinity Ward's lead animator. 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

Flaws...does COD Modern Warfare have any??? Well, yes it has a few but nothing too major.

For starters I would probably say that the single player campaign is a bit on the short side and probably clocks in at just over six or seven hours worth of gameplay. So, if the campaign just that bit longer then you would be getting your money's worth out it more than what you do do get here. There is of course the multiplayer features of the game but I have kept this review primarily just to the solo campaign itself. 

I would also say that early on the game has some rather cringe worthy references to some dialogue from the sci-fi action film, Aliens, which really do undercut the realism the game makers were going for here. And these all take place in the first SAS mission of the game where they infiltrate a boat and we get lines such as one of the SAS guys saying "I'd like to keep for close encounters" and he cocks his shotgun and this also followed by "check those corners!". And to top it off just as SAS flee the ship, Price delivers the line "On you feet! We are LEAVING!!" which was of course delivered by Hicks in Aliens! So, yeah these little moments do feel a bit cheesy and totally unnecessary to the game and as I said they actually do a little bit of detriment to the game. 

WARNING: THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH REFERS TO A SPOILER!

I also felt there were times with the HUD (heads up display) for guaging your direction and distance to your next objective is a bit confusing to read at times in certain missions. This was especially the case later on for me in the game where Soap tries to chase down Zakhaev's son in an effort to use him as leverage to stop Zakhaev's plans to launch missiles on the West and you chase the guy into a derelict building. However, I must have spent about 20 minutes or so wandering around this bloody building trying to find this guy and didn't know where to go as the directions were very misleading! So, it does show that the system is a bit flawed at times. 

Then there is an issue with the whole airstrike system of the game, which can prove a but inconsistent at times in its effectiveness depending on where you target it. I say this because there are moments in the game where you can call in the airstrike on a certain enemy building but at times the attack helicopter barely makes a dent on some enemies perhaps because they are well hidden or just out of sight! So, this makes the airstrike at times a bit ineffective in the game it has to be said.

And last of all, I also have an issue with the tutorial mission of the game relating to the crash course Soap takes as he has to do it in under 60 seconds and there are some fake targets he has to hit. However, the way in which the course is set up is a bit confusing as the rooms you enter are numbered in pen but direction arrows are also shown, however its all too easy to get disoriented when you are trying to work through so quickly and end up in the wrong room! So, it has to be said I was never very keen on this tutorial mission for that alone!

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, Call of Duty Modern Warfare is still an excellent game 13 years on and the remastered version offers a worthy visual upgrade that help enhance its appeal. The game's single player campaign is also very tight and thrilling at times with plenty of drama and suspenseful moments and features excellent voice acting from its cast. And the game's success would be followed by two sequels, which is no surprise in itself given how good it is. So, after all these years, CODMW is definitely still worth checking out.  

So, that's all for now and I will be back hopefully with another review just before the end of the month but if not I will return in September for more.

Till then, stay safe and bye fer now! 

Solo: A Star Wars Story Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, just for a change I thought I would do a new film review instead of a revisited one and the film this time will be Solo: a Star Wars Story, which is a space western that gives the backstory of Han Solo as a younger man.

So, is Solo any good? Well, let's dive in and take a look...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY

So, I will summarise a bit of the story from Wikipedia just to save a bit of time below.

"On the planet Corellia, orphans Han (Alden Ehrenreich) and Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) escape a local gang. They bribe an Imperial officer with stolen starship fuel, known as coaxium, for passage on a transport, but Qi'ra is captured before she can board. Han vows to return for her and joins the Imperial Navy as a flight cadet, being given the surname "Solo"."

"Three years later, Han is serving as an infantryman on Mimban following his expulsion from the Imperial Flight Academy for insubordination. He encounters a group of criminals posing as Imperial soldiers, led by Tobias Beckett. Han attempts to blackmail Beckett into letting him join the gang, but Beckett has him arrested and thrown into a pit to be fed to a Wookiee prisoner named Chewbacca. Able to understand Chewbacca's language, Han persuades him to cooperate to escape. Beckett, aware of the usefulness of a Wookiee's strength, rescues and enlists them in the gang to embark on a dangerous hijack mission...".

THOUGHTS

As a backstory film, Solo for the most part does a pretty decent job overall and its good to see some sort of fill-in-the-blanks movie for a character as renowned and likeable as Han Solo. Of course the film does have some issues but I will get to them later but it does do its job well enough in showing how Han became the guy he well...became! 

Of course on a more unfortunate note despite the film being fairly well received by critics, it was a box office disappointment and that in itself seems to have stopped the possibility of a sequel happening in the near future.

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section may contain the odd spoiler!)

As for the performances they are pretty good overall.

Starting with Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, who does a pretty good job in the titular role and he plays Han with a mix of sly charm and cynicism aswell as the odd dab of heroism too. Alden himself actually spoke with Harrison Ford to gain some advice on how to play the part and on the basis of what we see here, he does a good job. 

Emilia Clarke is also very good in her role as Qi'ra, Han's girlfriend who he is separated from at the start of the film and Han basically vows to go back for her but things later on take a bit of twist as the story develops. Qi'ra's character was rumoured to be used as a Disney+ series that looked into the criminal organisation she works for. 

Donald Glover is excellent as a younger Lando Calrissian, who ends up working briefly with Han and the two of them of course gamble over the Millenium Falcon, which at this stage, Lando owns. Glover too manages to get down Lando's sly charm too and he enjoys a good rapport with Alden and the rest of the cast members. 

Woody Harrelson does very well also as Tobias Beckett, who is a gang leader and mentor to Han as the two of them work together to hijack precious fuel for the gangster boss, Dryden Vos and Woody does his usual mix of charm and world weary cynicism. The character of Beckett was said to have been based on Long John Silver from Treasure Island.

Paul Bettany is also pretty good as the sinister main villain, Dryden Vos, who Han is forced into doing a job for along with Beckett's gang and he for some reason has some pretty nasty facial scars and Bettany does his best to be fairly menacing although not quite as much as he was in Gangster No.1! Bettany himself was a replacement for Michael K.Williams who was unable to return to do reshoots for the film.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is also not too bad in her voice-role as L3-37, Lando's droid companion and navigator, who acts a something of social justice warrior for other droids as she is determined to fight for the freedom. 

And last of all is Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca and he's fine in the part although of course all he has to do is just move around beating up enemies or shooting them and we get to hear Chewie's familar growls over it. 

DIRECTOR

As for the direction, Ron Howard does a fairly good job overall with the film although the pacing is a bit off a times here as the film goes from being fast to slowing down throughout at different stages. This kind of makes the film a bit frustrating to watch as its 2 hour 15 minute run time actually does feel a bit flabby. That aside, Howard does what he can with the action, which is fairly solid and he get's some good performances from his cast.

MUSIC

Music wise this time round we get John Powell doing the main score but John Williams also contributes a couple of pieces and he composed Han's main theme for the film. To be honest, alot of the Star Wars scores at this point kind of all blend in together, so I can't this one is anymore special than the others and I still think that the original trilogy and the Phantom Menace's scores are the best. Despite this, the score is still decent enough even if it isn't overly memorable, it still that Star Wars John Williams-esque sound to it.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)

As for the flaws...yes Solo has some.

For starters, I think the pacing of the film is a bit slow at times and uneven as there are some good action sequences but in between some slower scenes that could have been cut down to reduce is somewhat lengthy-ish run time of 2 hrs and 15 mins. There are of course longer Star Wars films out there but this one could have been better paced.

I also thought that Han's sudden given surname of "Solo" was a bit cringeworthy as he escapes a local gang and joins the imperial navy as a flight cadet and the officer that enlists him basically makes the name for him as Han couldn't give him an actual surname of his own (persumably as he is an orphan). So, yep its a pretty daft moment in the film that is very similar to alot of other backstory films we get where some lame exposition is thrown in.   

Another daft moment was to do with what appeared to be the idea of Lando being "in love" with his droid co-pilot of the falcon, L3-37 as she put it herself but that she didn't feel the same way. I think its almost like the film wants to paint Lando as having a thing for robots like in the same way that Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek films has a thing for green-skinned alien females!

Another thing that is a bit bothersome is that at the end its left clearly open ended for a sequel but with the lacklustre financial performance of the film, it seems uncertain if there will be a sequel, so it feels that the film's end regarding Qi'ra is a bit rushed. Not to mention that, we suddenly also get to see the appearance of Darth Maul! So, obviously the film must have been set before the events of the Phantom Menace, either that or Maul somehow managed to stitched himself back together again after Obi Wan sliced him in half! ;-)

And last of all I felt that the whole idea of Han wanting to become an imperial navy pilot so he could fly back to Corellia for Qi'ra was pretty silly. It seems a pretty cheesy plan not to mention a rather lengthy one given that it would take him a few years to complete. I mean why didn't he just try and steal a ship somewhere and fly back in for Qi'ra rather than wait and go through a whole rigmarole to do so! 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Solo: a Star Wars Story is an enjoyable, light hearted film that tells a reasonable backstory of Han Solo and it features good performances particularly from Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover as Han and Lando aswell as Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra. The film does have some drawbacks of course with its uneven pacing and somewhat lengthy run-time and some plot issues but that aside its still a fairly fun Star Wars flicks that's worth a look.

Right, that's it for now and I will be back hopefully with another post before the end of the month.

Till then, keep safe and bye for now! 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Review

Right, well its time for a new review finally and this one will be on the action/adventure video game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which concludes the gritty reboot of the TR franchise.

Now, I have to confess not always having been a fan of the reboot games as they kind of drifted off the whole idea of the franchise for me with a more violent and altogether more serious approach with the first game being pretty good but the sequel, Rise, pushing the series in the wrong direction for me. 

So, with that all said how does Shadow of the Tomb Raider fair? Well, let's take a look...

And as I will mention a bit about the story, the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!! (NOT TOO MANY THOUGH!)

So, just for time, I lifted this plot section from the Wikipedia page.

"In the two months since Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft (voiced by Camille Luddington) and her friend Jonah Maiava (Earl Baylon) have dedicated themselves to stopping the activities of paramilitary organization Trinity. The two track a cell to Cozumel in Mexico that is led by Pedro Dominguez (Carlos Leal), the head of Trinity's High Council. Slipping inside nearby tombs being excavated by Trinity, Lara discovers a temple containing the Dagger of Chak Chel and references to a hidden city. Murals adorning the walls allude to the Silver Box of Ix Chel and warn of "the Cleansing", a Mayan apocalypse culminating in a permanent solar eclipse. Lara ignores the warnings and takes the Dagger to prevent Trinity from acquiring it. Dominguez catches her and reveals that by taking the Dagger, Lara has triggered the Cleansing. He takes the Dagger, intending to unite it with the Box to stop the Cleansing and use the power it grants him to remake the world in his image. Lara and Jonah escape a tsunami that destroys Cozumel and foreshadows the coming apocalypse..."

THOUGHTS

Well, after the disappointment of Rise of the Tomb Raider (well imho at least anyway) Shadow of the Tomb Raider sees the series get back on track as it is a far more entertaining and gripping action game than the Rise was. Here we also get to see a bit of further insight into Lara's character and her past as she dreams of her childhood and the events leading up to her father's death. Also more importantly, the game also re-establishes the close friendship between Lara and her good friend, Jonah and this time round we finally get to see them enjoy some friendly banter together, which finally shows a few shades of Lara's lighter side, which this trilogy frankly really needed. 

The action this time round is also really good as are the tomb exploration aspects of the game and Lara's traversing dangerous environments makes up much of what makes the game enjoyable to pick up and play. The puzzles can also be quite tricky to get your head round of course and unfortunately I've never been that great at them but that aside its part of what makes the game fun (and at times a bit annoying) to play all the same.

GAMEPLAY

Moving onto the gameplay, this section will be pretty big and as usual will be split into smaller sections as below. 

MOVEMENT

So, starting with movement, the game follows pretty much the same moves as in the previous games as Lara can run, jump, shimmy round cliff edges, climb of course (lol!) and swim. However, this time a new feature has been added to the swimming ability as Lara can discover air pockets underwater where she can come up for air, which is pretty handy and reduces the risk of her drowning. Lara can also use a grapple to grab onto beams in mid-jump as well as a climbing axe to scale the side of cliffs and in addition she can rapel down cliff sides too.

COMBAT

Combat wise, the game also introduces new stealth tactics as she can now cover herself in mud to camoflague herself from enemies and hide in bushes where she can perform stealth kills. That aside, Lara has access to various different firearms that include handguns, assault rifles and shotguns as well as use her bow for ranged takedowns. Lara can also craft arrows for her bow that can be regular or fire arrows and there is a new addition here of fear arrows that contain a fear toxin that when fired at an enemy will cause them to panic and open fire on anyone nearby. 

CAMP FIRES, CRAFTING & SKILL POINTS

Lara can also like in the previous games, use camp fires to rest at that act as checkpoint saves for the player and while she does she can craft ammo and upgrade her weapons and she does this by collecting items found throughout the areas in the game. So, Lara can upgrade different aspects of her firearms such as increase ammo clips, rate of fire, attach additional grips etc. Lara also accumlates skill points as she progresses in the game and from resting as the fires, this will allow her access to a unique series of abilities from here that enhance her stealth, attack abilities as well as allow her improve her climbing/swimming capabilities and these abilities are very important for Lara's progress.

TOMBS & PUZZLES

Throughout the game there are also plenty of tombs for Lara to explore and in them many traps and dangerous obstacles to overcome and some of the puzzles can be quite challenging to figure out too. Again I found some of the tombs to be tricky to work through and it really is a case of trial and error to figure out (or rather in my case just look walkthrough videos on Youtube for these tombs lol!).

HUNTING & HEALING

And lastly, Lara can also hunt in the wild using her bow to take down animals either for food or to hide their skins to create new outfits or indeed enhance them. Lara can also use herbs in the game for healing her health but also in some cases to boost her endurance as well as sharpen her senses to detect enemies, traps etc. And when you press the L3 button on the PS4 for e.g. this will highlight areas of interest as well as enemies or animals in the area. Lara can upgrade her senses through the inventory menu while she rests at the camp fires.  

GRAPHICS

As for the game's graphics, there is little doubt that this is best looking game visually in the series so far as the graphics are simply amazing. And the game's environments really do look stunning and they are pretty varied in their design not to mention very expansive too and in particular, Paititi, which comes to be the main area of the game, is rich in detail and just jaw-dropping overall to look at. The character models are also terrific here too as Lara looks great again although this time round Jonah has got a weird hairdo and seems to have gotten bigger! That aside, the game is visual treat and feast for the eyes as the environments and characters are all terrific and its easily the best looking to date.

VOICE ACTING

Moving onto the voice acting, the game's cast are all excellent and put in fine performances overall.

Starting with Camille Luddington who does another fine job as Lara Croft as she gives Lara a range of emotions for anger, sadness, grief to believe it or not, actual happiness as her take on Lara has never been the cheeriest! I would however say there are times in the game where Camille's voice does come over as being a bit robotic and flat when Lara is just exploring, which is a bit strange sounding given the rest of her performance is very good and the only other thing that bugged me about her was the way in which she said "Paititi" as I found it a bit grating after a while! That aside, Camille does very well in her role as Lara.

Earl Baylon is excellent once again as Jonah, Lara's emotional rock and best friend and he thankfully manages to enjoy a bit more of a light hearted friendship with Lara this time round. Jonah is certainly one of the most popular characters in the reboot franchise and its good to see him brought back once again and Baylon's vocal performance is solid throughout. 

As for the supporting cast, Carlos Leal is also very good as the main villain of the game, Pedro Dominguez, the leader of Trinity (the main antagonists in the reboot franchise) and he manages to give his character an extra dimension rather than be just a flat, one-note villain. Patricia Velasquez is excellent too as Queen Unuratu, who helps Lara in her quest to try and stop Dominguez and she proves herself to be something of a badass too when it comes to hand to hand combat! And last of all Kamran Lucas does a pretty good job as Etzli, who is the son of Unuratu and the rightful ruler of Paititi in future once Unuratu has passed on.   

FLAWS

As for flaws...yeah OK Shadow isn't quite perfect.

And for starters, one thing I would say is that there are sections of the game that can be a pain, especially ones where you need to evade Trinity soldiers in the forests as there are times where you can be easily rumbled and killed quickly. The stealth tactics of the game overall work well enough and you can kill enemies and conceal them if Lara is crouching in bushes however it would be better if Lara could drag the bodies out of sight if she isn't near any bushes, so that way enemies won't be rattled so easily.

This brings me onto another issue with the game as there is a section where Lara is forced to use stealth to kill Trinity soldiers and during this whole time can ONLY use her knife! I mean what the hell?! She can pick up weapons and ammo from fallen enemies prior to this so why the hell can she not do it here?! I think its basically designed to challenge the player a bit more at this point specifically I guess but it doesn't make any less annoying.

I also found some of the game's puzzles a bit well....puzzling lol! For example there is the one where Lara and Jonah have to fill up buckets of water to allow them to cross a bridge but in that puzzles its not even remotely obvious where you need to go to solve it. So, in the end I did the usual and looked it up on Youtube and I had to walk underneath a pathway to resolve it! So, yep well done Square Enix on confusing things on that one! 

Another issue was to do with the sequence where Lara has to fight against a particularly nasty and pesky jaguar, who chases her and in the sequence Lara basically has evade it and pump it full of arrows to finally put it down! I mean, why the hell does she need so many arrow to kill this thing?! Is it a genetically enhanced jaguar??? Realistically I think the jaguar would be down after just one or two arrows and that's it but nope, here you need to fire about 10-15 arrows in the bloody thing before it dies! So, yep so much for reality but it is only a game I guess.

I also think some of Lara's death animations were pretty silly as you see her fall for smaller heights than some of the other drops she makes and she dies anyway! So, for e.g. there is one where she basically falls into the water and she suddenly turns, hits her face on the rocks and dies. Yeahhh... I mean the fall in this instance really wasn't that high at all, so it does highlight the whole inconsistency of the game's fall damage but this isn't anything new in gaming. 

WARNING: SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

And last of all on a plot point, I find it a bit amazing how just so self absorbed Lara is early on in the game that she is more interested in solving riddles than help the people that were affected by a catastrophe she caused by removing a sacred dagger from a temple. And in an early cutscene even Jonah is yelling at Lara, telling her they need to help the people that were affected by a tsunami caused by her actions. However in the next scene, they are on a plane chasing after Dominguez like nothing had happened! So, yeah...Lara's actions early on are certainly questionable to say the least!

Also further to this point, Lara near the start of the game is busy taking photos in a tomb but she accidentally triggers timed explosive charges and is forced to flee the tomb. However, in the scene Lara just stands there taking more pictures and it takes Jonah to grab her and get her out of the tomb! Now if Jonah wasn't there, you'd really think that would have been the end of Lara right then and there and her thirst for knowledge would be the one that'd get her killed more than anything else! So, yeah that scene was a bit daft, also that and how Lara wasn't more careful walking around the tomb and not checking for any traps. 

So, that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, in summary, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a very solid and enjoyable entry in the TR franchise reboot and it thankfully sees Lara start to lighten up (albeit just a little!) after her dreary entry in Rise of the Tomb Raider where she totally serious. The game's action is again very solid and the game's platforming and traversing remains a real highlight as does its incredible visuals. It remains to be seen whether or not Camille Luddington will return to the voice role of Lara Croft but there is little doubt that she has done a fine job overall with her performance here and the rest of the cast are equally as good.

And yeah there are one or two issues here and there but nothing that detracts from the enjoyment of the game and I would definitely say that Shadow of the Tomb Raider is worth a look.

So, that's it for now and I will return sometime soon with another post.

Till then, bye for now!