OK time for a wee change from the movie reviews as I've decided to review a video game and this one will be the new revamp of the Tomb Raider series, which has been aptly named Tomb Raider. It sees a far more adult and gritty take on the series than we have seen in the past and this sees the origins of Lara Croft becoming the intrepid explorer that she is, so with my usual review structure let's have a look at the ol plot.
Well the story begins with the young Lara Croft (voiced by Camilla Luddington) who travels on a ship the HMS Endurance, on an expedition to find the lost kingdom of the Yamati. The ship however travels into dangerous waters as it heads at the suggestion of Lara into the Dragon's Triangle, east of Japan. The ship is caught in a violent storm which causes the ship to split in two and the survivors wash up ashore and are stranded on an isolated island. Lara is captured by a savage man who takes her to his cave, however she soon escapes and the man is killed as the cave collapses in on itself. Lara soon catches up with one of the crew, Sam, who is a close friend and she is with a man named Mathias who claims to be a passenger on the ship. Sam tells Mathias of the legends of Himiko, a Japanese queen, while Lara from exhaustion passes out, and when she comes to, Sam and Mathias have both gone. Lara eventually rejoins the remaining survivors of the ship as she tries to find one of the missing crewmembers, Roth, whom she eventually finds, who tells her to try and find a way to send a distress signal for help. Lara however also learns along the way the island they are on is in fact Yamati and they inhabitants all workship Himiko, who capture the remaining survivors, and it is also soon revealed that Mathias is in fact the leader of the cult followers on the island, who has captured Lara's friend Sam as she is a direct descendant of the queen Himiko, whom he intends to use to revive her. And from here its up to Lara to try and rescue her crewmates, stop the evil inhabitants and rescue Sam from her fate....
As a reboot of the series, Tomb Raider is an excellent, intense and enthralling experience, which pulls you in from the word go. The design and style of the game is actually very similar to the critically acclaimed action adventure game Uncharted 2, which was about the adventures of the archaeologist Nathan Drake. There are plenty of seamless cut scenes where we go between the live action and the story of Lara as she progresses through her trials on the island. And the main theme here of course is survival as we see Lara start off as a frightened young woman, who is thrown into a terrifying and harrowing situation and as the game moves on, she becomes a strong, hardened survivor. And the game does really well in making that leap and it is done with fair credibility that Lara is able to adap to her violent surroundings, as she finds the adventurer in her that was with her family before.
Gameplay wise Tomb Raider is very much what makes the game work so well, as the control system is very ease to use, and Lara can do pretty all the usual moves, such as run, jump, crouch, shimmy, etc and she can also pull some melee attacks at close range. Lara's movement in tight areas such as cave crevices also makes impressive use of her movement as she can crouch into these areas really well, and she can also in dark places also light a torch. Lara can also use an icepick to climb cliff faces as she can jump from a bridge onto the side of a cliff, she uses her axe pull herself up. In the game you also have access to the usual sort of weapons, starting off with a bow and arrow, then a handgun, automatic rifle (which is later upgraded with a grenade launcher attachment), and a shotgun. And one of the best aspects of the gameplay is the upgrade system as Lara can gain new skills, such as hunting, brawling, as well as being able to upgrade her weapons, by adding various add-ons to them, such as more ammo, attachments, better grips, etc. This is usually done by Lara finding a camp site she can sit down at and as she fights her way through the game she gains more experience. Another neat aspect of the game is Lara's ability to use zip lines, and she can also create them by using her bow and arrow tied with rope she can fire at an aimed target such as a cliff face or wooden wall. Then there is the much use timed button process, where you have to react to an enemy attack by press the right button at the right time, which is fairly easy in this game and doesn't get too frustrating. Lara also has survival instincts, which you can use to scan areas for clues on how navigate cetain areas of the game, such as trying to find your way up to a higher level or a platform, these areas will be highlighted in pale yellow as the screen goes grey in instinct mode.
Visually the game also looks stunning and the environments are vast and very impressive, and there is a great deal of variety, as Lara runs around the woods, beaches, cliff faces, castles, and of course tombs! The character models are also very good, and Lara has been given a new overhaul, and her face is based on the real life model, Megan Farquhar, so she looks pretty good. Also more realistically Lara no longer has ridiculously big boobs, and she has instead a smaller but nice and firm pair (ok sorry perv mode off!) which may leave certain fans of the series disappointed! ;-) But the game has come quite a long way from the ridiculously sized polygons of the first game back in 1996. The voice acting is also really good and this time Keeley Hawes, who voiced Lara for every Tomb Raider game since Tomb Raider Legend decided not to return, and this time the young (and hot!) actress Camille Luddington has taken over her duties, and she delivers a fine performance. And Camille conveys really well Lara's fear and vulnerability at the start (even if she overdoes the sobbing a bit early on!) and as she progresses, her toughness in adverse situations.
In terms of the game's flaws well its not got too many, but one thing I guess that can be levelled at it is the overall tone of game is very serious and grim. And it might have proved to have been a choice that could have alienated an audience by making this reboot of the Tomb Raider series more adult and intense than before. The game is also not short on graphic violence and gore, as Lara is put in many situations where she is forced to kill many baddies in bloody ways such as sticking her pickaxe through their skulls or stabbing them in the back as well as shooting them or burning them alive with flame tipped arrows. There was also controversy over a scene early on in the game where it is implied that Lara was about to be raped, by one of the Russian mercaneries one the island. However having watched the scene its not really conveyed that way, although in the scene you to prevent Lara from being killed by him, and this leads into her first kill of the game. But to be fair the overall tone of the game maybe serious, but I think it was important in a way to show Lara's beginnings as an explorer and as the series progresses I'm sure it will develop. And the game isn't entirely devoid of humour as Lara falls into a tomb at one point in the game she gasps frightened and says "I hate tombs!".
So with all that said, Tomb Raider is a very worthy and entertaining reboot of the series and it maybe more adult and intese than before, but in a way its no bad thing as it is a new slant on an old series, and if you are into previous Tomb Raider games and like action games in general, you will find alot to like in this one.
And on that note I shall leave you there.
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