Tomb Raider

 PC
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5047 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,086 out of 5047
  2. Mixed: 727 out of 5047
  3. Negative: 234 out of 5047
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  1. Soloux
    Jul 22, 2015
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is not a Tomb Raider game. End of story.

    That is for people who like short explanations. For the people who love to read, here it is: This is not a Tomb Raider game by name and title.

    Playing games retroactively have a lots of benefits, one of them is - to say that this game is crap and no one can take that from you. No hype clouded your mind and no paid reviews poisoned your experience how you have to enjoy your game.

    This game may be called - Silent Hill, Silent Hunter, Silent Lamb, or anything silent. Maybe Alone in the Dark, Home Alone, Alone Alone, but not - Tomb Raider alone.
    It is not enough to just slap the name and go.

    Someone may argue that at least this is AAA quality game. Maybe,... as quality as QTE goes. This is game is riddled with the "quality" of QTE.
    QTE with bad, BAD design of fancy prompts in a dark red color that you can't even see which button it says you have to mash like an imbecile. Frustrating QTE fest. I can't stress enough how bad this is in this "new" Tomb Raider. If you try to imitate consoles on PC at least have an idea of colored buttons like consoles have. Dark red and tiny letters is just amateur design.
    Beside, there are 2D pictograms for some actions, rotating like the foliage in early 3D games and irritating the player. Pictograms are for analphabets and monkeys. There is no reason to have this kind of "language" between players and game. Don't be Ubisoft!

    Developers, please, whoever told you this is game play, lied to you. This is crippled cinematic game where you need to push the wheel chair for cinematic to go on. Tapping same button is not fun either. That is NOT game play, never was and never will. At least not on PC.

    Now, Tomb Raider... If this was our, well known, Tomb Raider where are the tombs? Puzzles? Free jumping and exploring?
    The old TR games have simple story, determinate moves and mindless fun. This game - not! The story try to be serious like all games today, but it falls flat with so many holes and so many illogical moments. Uncharted, unknown location, unapproachable but there is so much infrastructure that one may be puzzled what they were smoking when came up with this "story".
    Boring cut scenes and even more boring audio transmissions and audio interventions which destroys the game play and immersion every minute by minute.
    The lost concept - what video game is, in Tomb Raider is fatal. If some of the developers are frustrated film directors, here is so much obvious than in any other game out there. Player is reduced to button pusher. Camera or controls are taken from your hands so often that it is beyond fun anymore.
    Like every minute or so you are reminded to look how cool we made this or that. Or the story itself try to make you "feel" something where is just pretentious crap like written from a 16 year old high school wanna-be-writer.

    In the first TR game we were introduced to this bad ass lady who can hunt artifacts without any other explanation. That was all we needed. We did not asked for the reason where or how she was born in which village and if she took the arrow in the knee or not.
    But now days we are bombarded with prequels and origins, soon catalysts, I'm sure.

    Game play mechanics - broken. So broken that I don't know where to start.
    Sometimes you can jump very high, even double jump, but sometimes you can't even go over a stone. And than there is inevitable survival mode.
    Why, why you called this game Tomb Raider Square Enix? Why? What is here from the old TR games except the name you slapped on this abomination of game?

    The new TR tells you that if you want to survive you have to hunt, just like in AC III or FC 3, or any other 2010+ game. And if you avoid to do so, game slaps you on the wrist and tells you - no soup for you. In this case - no upgrade points.
    Upgrade points in TR game? Why on earth I would like to upgrade my Lara? Just like: Why would I like to upgrade my Master Thief? To be more "Master"?
    And if you want your Lara to be even MORE "Master" Lara, there is unavoidable DLC to help you do. This crap with the DLC today goes so far that now they sell the tombs apart. Wow, that's new and original too!

    Tomb Raider games had a charm. You was in some exotic place with elaborate traps and puzzles. It was unique experience and it was fun to play and loose yourself with hours. But this abomination have no clue which one want to be. Actually, like all 2010+ games. There is, already mentioned, QTE than survival, than stealth, than shooting, than... You got the picture. Like mixture of all what is wrong with the games today.

    The new Tomb Raider tells you, and actually do so, that you can not loose yourself in this world of badly designed maps
    If you try to explore there is nothing from the path that game tells you to go. This is, unfortunately, a problem not just with this game - today, they all TELL you where to go. There is no crazy guesses like why I need a wig, a rat in the soup and hair laces.

    In TR 1 - 4 you know that you have to go from point A to point B. But how and what you have to do is up to you and it is your adventure. No one and nothing take the camera or controls from you. No interruptions just you and the game. In the old TR games you have short cinematic at the end of the level like "reward" for the effort or just to tell you what is the next step, but never a novel of a frustrated third class "writer".

    In Tomb Raider III, you was enjoying the silence. The "silence" of the jungle that is. In the jungle level you was aware of the sounds of the jungle and birds. No orchestral music, nothing to destruct you from your process of exploring and thinking.
    In the "new" Tomb Raider you have "new" experience. Orchestral drums are everywhere! You walk 3 steps - drums and music. Something is about to happen - you guess - drums! And this goes on and on and on...

    There is no drowning in the atmosphere of the place. Actually there is no real map with place to drown. Just a broken pieces of a map. Some of them, like in some LEGO game, left to play "after". This is a new fashion - to play after the game is over. Why not to play now? Why not when you are here in the same mood? Why the door shuts behind, cutting your exploration in exploration game?

    Controls, when you have them, are bad, but the camera is the one that is most terrible. Shaky mess - try to follow your movement but do nothing but nosier. Controlling the camera is like wrestling with your mouse. It is not free movement because camera "try" to correct itself all the time.
    Developers are so lazy today to put even options in their games. Maybe vanity that some gamer peasant will try to ruin their vision?!

    Old school collecting secrets is gone. Now days is collecting clutter more than secrets. There are no secrets if there are 499 of them and not actual ingame use. This are no secrets if you have a map where to find them. This kind of "secrets" does nothing for you except part time job - pro bono.

    At the end I would somehow quote Yahtzee: "Stop stealing the classics!".
    If you like to reboot something just make something new and let the people have the old love alone. Do not re-imagine things or heroes. People do not want that. Made a new one. Stop naming your garbage just with the first name of the original because is lame, lazy and cheap. Nothing "kwool" just cheap and misleading. Learn when is good to let it go. If you must, than learn that there is nothing wrong to have a number in your title. Final Fantasy proudly show its age and numbers. Why not any of re-imagining you do too?! I hear that the new TR will be just like this one or even better. Well... after the "new" and imaginative Thief, Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, Splinter Cell and many others, do not count on my money anytime soon, Square Enix.    … Expand
  2. kingjamesjr
    Mar 11, 2013
    4
    I stop playing Tomb Raider eons ago, Why cuz some of the puzzles in them were way to hard but then i was young thenthis plays more like max payne the anything else As i got older i went back to the series and give it another shot let me just say it gave me a real challenge back then, rather she was shooting extinct animals or not, also this tomb raider may look better then the olds ones isI stop playing Tomb Raider eons ago, Why cuz some of the puzzles in them were way to hard but then i was young thenthis plays more like max payne the anything else As i got older i went back to the series and give it another shot let me just say it gave me a real challenge back then, rather she was shooting extinct animals or not, also this tomb raider may look better then the olds ones is true but the game play is not the same by a long shot, yes they made some changes she can actually melee this time around and the actual cover system works for once for the new tomb raider, i can't say i've play uncharted 1 and 2 i gave it a shot when it was on playstation 2 didn't like it then and don't like it now.

    Now this is MY GRIPES about the new one noone else, like i stated in the very begining i felt like it had max payne 3 feel to it cuz that what i play that was similar to the game to me, the game start you off simulating that you actually need food to survive which i thought was a good start, seconds later you realize that you don't need food to survive ok Then you start to explore the map yes now you have bullet time indicator like thing that make stuff glows to actually help you find what you looking for, just press a button for you to explore basically the whole area of the map what is the point of that now that took the exploring clean out of the way, there were only a couple of times through the whole game that i thought lara was in trouble hell you had no control of that this is probably shortest game in tomb raider history.

    So now with that out of the way, how in the hell can you call this a survival game when you took out the most important parts, oh yea she has some new toys to play with wow really don't need to upgrade them just headshot any enemy with any weapon should suffice, then on top of that she wearing indestructible clothing that took the cake for me, i was playing a kids game with max payne graphics no story no depth to the characters nothing just hold my hand and the game will guide me where i need to go like a 2yr, thxs i didn't want to work any of my brains cell today anyway If you expecting to a fight a boss in this tombraider dream on.
    The caves look generic outside map were ok. Enemy characters, please one arrow to the dome its over even if they call for help, this was not tomb raider so why in the would they call it that you go into the tomb expecting traps and so forth an what you get is (gasping in awe) sigh wtf you got to be ♥♥♥♥ing kidding me right. This has zero replayability there is no real reason to get to 100% completion. The cons outweighted the pros in my book. Qtes i think that cover no need to comment on that Despite the amazing reviews on this game i have not read one that came to that conclusion on replayability from any of the professional writers for this game that's if they even play the game which i highly doubt.That kill lara croft for me will never get another tomb raider game period.    … Expand
  3. rickrey
    Mar 31, 2019
    4
    Try and die then figure out how not to die and keep trying. This is one of the most boring games I've played. The cut scenes don't really advance the limited story line. It's a nice looking game but it's just a run, jump, die a thousand times then shoot something.
  4. Schuback
    Dec 8, 2013
    4
    First off, I know this game is designed to be played on the console, but I decided to get Tomb Raider on the PC just to check out the awesome graphics. And so it's true, the graphics in this game is absolutely AMAZING!! It's so demanding that I can't believe I had to scale back the shadow quality to 'normal' and use fxaa even when running it with my AMD HD7990. That aside, we all know aFirst off, I know this game is designed to be played on the console, but I decided to get Tomb Raider on the PC just to check out the awesome graphics. And so it's true, the graphics in this game is absolutely AMAZING!! It's so demanding that I can't believe I had to scale back the shadow quality to 'normal' and use fxaa even when running it with my AMD HD7990. That aside, we all know a game is not just about the graphics. So how does Tomb Raider play out in its gameplay aspect? Well, its actually what you would expect: a very linear and highly scripted gameplay that lacks overall creativity and innovation. It's simply jumping, climbing, laughable combat mechanic, quick time events, and if you're too lazy to figure out where to go, just hit 'q' and it'll show you what to do. It's rinse and repeat. Combined with a lacklustre storyline featuring a younger, less hot and not so badass Lara Croft, this game will easily make you bored of it after the first two hours. Sorry Lara, you know I put up with you for so long, but this is it I think I just fell out of love. It's 5 out of 10.!!… Expand
  5. Shasow
    Apr 3, 2013
    4
    I was having fun in this game, it's pretty solid, but I ran into a serious bug that prevented me from further playing the game. At one point in the game, I went the wrong way and explored an area I was suppose to explore later in the game. As a result, my game is now all bugged up and the quest will no longer progress. It's really sad, I was looking forward to finishing this game.
  6. Daverid
    Mar 7, 2013
    4
    Having never played any Tomb Raider games before I went into this with an open mind ready to see what the fuss was about. Sadly it was anything but 8/10 worthy. The start of the game is just about the only reason this game scored a 4 from me, as it really kicked off to great satisfaction. At the start it really feels like Lara is completely down and out and quite literally fighting for herHaving never played any Tomb Raider games before I went into this with an open mind ready to see what the fuss was about. Sadly it was anything but 8/10 worthy. The start of the game is just about the only reason this game scored a 4 from me, as it really kicked off to great satisfaction. At the start it really feels like Lara is completely down and out and quite literally fighting for her life. Things like having to search for food and shivering until the fire was complete was extremely nice touches. Then it just started to go downhill, and it didn't stop. I came into the game expecting a Action/Adventure/Puzzle/Platformer and what I got was a ACTION focused, semi-adventure with minor Platforming elements and a couple of crappy puzzles. The story was interesting but sadly the writing team completely ruined any intrigue the story had. Poorly timed cutscene interaction combined with strings of conversations which felt like they came straight out of 'Short story writing for dummies', ultimately made for boring character interaction and a few chuckles at strange conversation flow. Characters were extremely cliched but thankfully so few of them get any sort of development that you don't have to cringe to much at watching them become fully evolved walking Cliches. Lara's development is less 'Girl to Hardened Survivor' and more, 'Is this girl stupid, why would she ever want to go on an exploration ever again?' There was extremely few puzzles and they were all ridiculously easy. Tombs where the puzzles were, however, extremely gorgeous and it's probably worth going inside for a look but then not even bothering to do the puzzle. Platforming was there but extremely watered down. There was a moment where I was jumping around little rocky cliffs and I found a way to reach the ground, however upon landing on the ground from a tiny jump I died. I had hit a 'DeadZone', which frankly is a disgusting thing to have in a game and it really made me think twice before bothering to try any interesting platforming for the rest of the game because there was probably not going to be anything there or a deadzone. However I did continue trying and every platform stage is very 'hand-holdy', you never really get a chance to just jump around, you always have to use your tools and because of this just about any place you'd reach by platforming was extremely spelled out and the game practically guided you in bright yellow. The Graphics weren't anything to be overly proud of, if anything a bit below average for a 2013 AAA title (Probably slightly worse then Deus Ex Human Revolution and a little better then Mass Effect 3). Artstyle was probably akin to Mass Effect 3, very sort of standard video game, slightly cartoony realism. The opening Cinematic was fairly meh, not even close to the quality of the Openings to say; Deus Ex: HR, Witcher 2 etc. Cutscenes were well done but the Camera got a little funky from time to time and of course QTE (Quick Time Events) were just rife throughout which really detracted from them. On that matter the QTE's were a massive annoyance, having to use them for something as simple as a 'Stealth Kill' was just absurd, and then having to use them in practically every aspect of the game was just over the top. My final point, and this is where I'll sum up as well, is that simply it's sad when you play a game labeled as a; Action/Adventure/Platformer and the most polished and fun part of the game is the standard boring 'Call of Duty' style shooting elements. Based off how the game started I was expecting Alot of Adventure, Alot of Platforming and a bit of Action and then about 25% of the way through it just started to deteriorate rapidly and turned into a full on Action game with some basic Platforming. The final 50-60% of the game just felt like I was running from one scripted shooting encounter to the next, it didn't even feel like an adventure. It feels like they've tried to do what alot of Video Games lately are doing and attract the Call of Duty/Battlefield market. Which clearly has worked for them considering all the rave reviews from the same people who praise those lame shooters, but for someone like me who hasn't experienced a proper good Action/Adventure/Platformer since Donkey Kong 64, I was once again extremely let down.… Expand
  7. jpalomo
    Mar 7, 2013
    4
    Tomb Raider (the reboot) is less of a game and more of a movie. First lets get the pro's out of the way:
    -The game is visually appealing. The atmosphere is set perfectly for each moment of the game.
    -Lara, the player's character, is well developed throughout the story of the 'game'. -Voice acting is good. Thats it for everything good about this game. Now for the con's: -Even though    Tomb Raider (the reboot) is less of a game and more of a movie. First lets get the pro's out of the way:
    -The game is visually appealing. The atmosphere is set perfectly for each moment of the game.
    -Lara, the player's character, is well developed throughout the story of the 'game'.
    -Voice acting is good.
    Thats it for everything good about this game. Now for the con's:
    -Even though Lara is a great character, almost every other character is boring and 2-dimensional. You don't feel any connection with any of them.
    -Way too many cut scenes! Especially at the beginning of the game. Also, there are some sections which severely restrict the player's control. This isn't fun.
    -The dreaded quick-time event. There are also too many of them, and they appear when you least think. You never know if it will be a cut scene, or a random quick-time event. They aren't built into the combat system very well either. The only time I ever died was to this atrocity of a gameplay mechanic. Also, did I mention they aren't fun?
    -The so-called "platforming" is ridiculously easy. This is the one area they could have went crazy with, but they decided to play it safe and make it so easy even a toddler could beat it.
    -Hand-holding gameplay. Are you lost? Just use your 'survival instincts' to point you the direction you need to go. You seriously don't even need this because the areas are smaller than they look, and the game is mostly linear. You miss all your shots on the wolf pack thats about to eat you alive? Don't worry, we will toss some QTEs your way so you don't die right away. Regenerating health? Check. Frequent checkpoints? Check. Lackluster AI? Check.
    -Simplistic puzzle elements. Once in while, you get puzzles. Needless to say, most of them require little to no thinking on your part. There usually only a few elements to the puzzle, and even if you get stuck, you can use your 'survival instincts' to help you point out the elements.
    -Music is forgettable. I don't think I need to explain this further.
    -Story is average.
    -Lack of varied weaponry. You got your bow, pistol, and shotgun. Thats it, unless you want to count the axe that you use to pry open doors among other things.
    -Multiplayer mode... I don't even want to get into this. Tomb Raider has always been a single player game.

    tl;dr version:
    Overall, this game is just too generic. It looks pretty, but thats about it. I am disappointed in how it turned out.    … Expand
  8. SirZ
    Mar 8, 2013
    4
    This game about a shooting, oceans of blood and Lara's falling. No adventure and challenging puzzles. This is not a Tomb Raider it's regular shooter with old famous name beyond which there is nothing.
  9. Dekal1
    Mar 17, 2013
    4
    I have been a tomb raider fan for a long time. I have liked the majority of them and this is the worst tomb raider I have ever played. The music terrible, the fast travel is a bad idea in tomb raider, it's so un original. Where is the sweetness that made tomb raider so great? Where's the linear play, going from level to level, finding artifacts and stuff like that. This game is just likeI have been a tomb raider fan for a long time. I have liked the majority of them and this is the worst tomb raider I have ever played. The music terrible, the fast travel is a bad idea in tomb raider, it's so un original. Where is the sweetness that made tomb raider so great? Where's the linear play, going from level to level, finding artifacts and stuff like that. This game is just like any other game I have played recently. It's got stupid achievements and the loot system is ripped off from FC3. This game is an embarrassment to the tomb raider franchise and the only reason this game got rated high is because things have changed. Well, there's one thing that hasn't changed.… Expand
  10. squeax
    Apr 22, 2013
    4
    Tomb Raider [2013] is an interactive visual novel about a girl with gravity defying hair who ends up stranded on an island in the South Pacific after an accident. During her quest to survive she will be injured one way or another about every 5 minutes or even killed if she does not correctly executes a quick time event.
  11. mosconstein
    May 30, 2013
    4
    It would have been a very good game, but:
    -Quick-time events are just too frequent, and they are actually the only cause of player death.
    -AI is very poor -Game dynamics looks similar to far cry 3 but levels are very small. It just looses the magic -The main character (Lara) whines could really get annoying (as long as you are not a kind of maniac) -Why is so hard for Lara to die if    It would have been a very good game, but:
    -Quick-time events are just too frequent, and they are actually the only cause of player death.
    -AI is very poor
    -Game dynamics looks similar to far cry 3 but levels are very small. It just looses the magic
    -The main character (Lara) whines could really get annoying (as long as you are not a kind of maniac)
    -Why is so hard for Lara to die if a wolf stabs her throat, but so easy if I struck the wrong button during a QTE??    … Expand
  12. skinybarf
    Jun 8, 2013
    4
    You are looking for a skill-based pc game? Don't stop here. There is very little game to be found. Pressing forward, tapping repeatedly on the keys flashing on the screen and participating in a string of quick-time events are the extend of the Tomb Raider reboot.
    Looking for a nice story, good graphics and excellent presentation? Not bothered by lowest-common denominator console-style    You are looking for a skill-based pc game? Don't stop here. There is very little game to be found. Pressing forward, tapping repeatedly on the keys flashing on the screen and participating in a string of quick-time events are the extend of the Tomb Raider reboot.
    Looking for a nice story, good graphics and excellent presentation? Not bothered by lowest-common denominator console-style mechanics? You might be satisfied by this production.    … Expand
  13. HDFR
    Jun 17, 2013
    4
    For a game with so much hype surrounding character portrayal the supporting cast is weak. Sassy black chick serves as the critical voice to all the Lara’s concerns over the islands supernatural qualities. Cute Chinese girl functions as a plot device by being kidnapped like that guy who always disappears in The Hangover films. Large framed and even larger hearted Hawaiian guy keepsFor a game with so much hype surrounding character portrayal the supporting cast is weak. Sassy black chick serves as the critical voice to all the Lara’s concerns over the islands supernatural qualities. Cute Chinese girl functions as a plot device by being kidnapped like that guy who always disappears in The Hangover films. Large framed and even larger hearted Hawaiian guy keeps everyone’s spirits up while the island’s indigenous shower them all with fire based projectiles. The supporting cast is a too wide and nobody gets enough screen time or engaging dialogue to make a real presence, the main protagonist included. Lara isn’t well fleshed out either. She displays brief turmoil following her first kill, but she soon goes on to find new and outlandish ways to expose the inner craniums of hundreds more men without showing any further remorse or having the excuse of being drugged up to the eye balls like Far Cry 3’s Jason Brody. The writers attempt to book end the narrative with mournful references to her dead dad, but everything in between reads like the script of your average cookie cutter action flick.

    A lot of the narrative’s credibility has been tied to the portraying of Lara in a vulnerable light, but this doesn’t instantly make for thoughtful characterizing. If someone rewrote Mansfield Park and recast Fanny Price as a busty gun toting whore I doubt it’d be met with such appraisal, or perhaps it would; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies did alright, but I digress. While we’re talking literature, it’s worth mentioning that Tomb Raider attempts to embellish it’s narrative with collectable diaries and documents la Bioshock, but they don’t embellish it so much as contain every scrap of what could have made this story interesting. Additionally they’re so monotonously voiced and lengthy that players are like to harvest them for xp and swiftly move on. In further regard to the vulnerability aspect of Lara, it’s a tone that fails to resonate when she’s brushing off twenty foot drops every few seconds like some sort of human bouncy ball.

    Average writing aside game play isn‘t particularly jaw dropping, not to say that it‘s altogether poor as it functions fluidly, but remains uninspired. The box art is tag lined “A survivor is born” although survival elements are sparse. An opening tutorial has Lara murder and cook Bambi for nourishment. Later a heavily injured Lara has to abandon aggressive modes of combat, instead making use of throw able objects, bow kills and takedowns. However such scenarios were gimmicky and fleeting when instead they could have been more intricate and permanent features.

    More often or not oppurtunities to employ stealth are scripted and conclude with forced fire fights in which players need to hunker down in the same spot to pick off foes from behind cover. You can’t give a player the option to approach combat in their way for so long only to snatch it away. That’s like being invited to a dinner party where the first two courses are comprised of lobster and caviar, but turns out that desserts a massive un-optional sandwich.

    A.I isn’t too intelligent, take out one enemy by yanking him with rope and arrow from a platform and his buddy two feet away will assume they’ve went for a spontaneous paraglide session. Enemies endlessly gravitate towards flammable barrels like they were full of winning lottery tickets and the island’s rigged with more explosives than a Wile. E. Coyote cartoon so combat soon becomes pretty, but stale.

    Environments make impressive use of vertical spaces, but routes for dispatching enemies are persistently linear. Camera angles are occasionally an issue in woodland areas resulting in the player’s view being obscured by more shrubbery than if they were being tea bagged by a tree beard from Lord of the Rings. Woefully enemies can make better use of the vertical spaces than the player during combat and anytime the opportunity to perform impressive manoeuvres arises the game has the nasty habit of cutting to a cinematic or QTE, alarmed that the players satisfaction levels may be spiking.

    Out with combat, tomb raiding is optional activity and when the ’tombs’, read ‘small caves’, are encountered they’re usually preceded by long needless crawls towards an area containing remarkably simple puzzles. The purpose of these is supposedly to give the player a long look at Lara’s arse so there goes you feminist angle.

    The undeniably present lack of free will displayed in the game’s set pieces leads to the theory that it may have been Crystal Dynamic’s wish to produce a Tomb Raider movie. The abundant use of slow motion, cut-aways and the way the screen goes film noir when Lara takes damage would certainly suggest so. This in mind here’s the alternative to buying the game. Watch one of the old Angelina Jolie films with controller in hand and press the trigger every time Lara wastes some guy.    … Expand
  14. Delome
    Sep 20, 2013
    4
    Is a good Action game. But is a bad Tombe raider game It's juste an other AAA game shooter with too many ads finaly for a generic bad story, a generic Shooter, a generic Game.

    Disappointed
  15. mimetic
    Jul 19, 2014
    4
    About as much of a gaming experience as the original Dragons Lair for Amiga. Mostly a bunch of quick time events is used to let you do things and the camera is locked. Seems like they really rather wanted to make another Tomb Raider movie, but were forced to make a "game".
  16. damook
    Dec 13, 2014
    4
    Visually stunning and great concept that fell through on execution. The characters are flat, the control and camera angles are pretty poor. It's not so much as you're playing a game as trying to navigate through a poorly designed mini game in between cut scenes.
  17. pwp20
    Aug 2, 2015
    4
    My overall opinion: Beautiful and fun but borderline stupid. No masterpiece.

    Inspired by the positive reviews, and having enjoyed previous Tomb Raider games, I have to say I was expecting more than what I got. This game has been hyped to no end and the reason critics believe it to be a genuine masterpiece is beyond me. Well my only theory is that many players view it like a playable    My overall opinion: Beautiful and fun but borderline stupid. No masterpiece.

    Inspired by the positive reviews, and having enjoyed previous Tomb Raider games, I have to say I was expecting more than what I got. This game has been hyped to no end and the reason critics believe it to be a genuine masterpiece is beyond me. Well my only theory is that many players view it like a playable film: they are content having beautiful graphics explode in their face while they hold "forwards" and occasionally tap a button to remind them they are playing... Yes I get it: it's catchy, it's even fun at times, but it quite evidently lacks what makes a game a masterpiece.

    So to be fair: yes the graphics are beautiful, the map is cool, the playability is good, there are many creative gameplay elements, exploration is fun, and I found some parts of the story cool... So yes there are some excellent sides to it, but that is what made this game frustrating: they didn't go all the way to make a smart game. The game is actually pretty stupid:
    - The story has a cool basis (stranded on a perverse Island with an unexplainable curse), but it develops really stupidly: obvious plot holes, cliché characters, awful quotes, 2 dimensional character development, "twists" you expected from the start... It's like they were not authorised to actually make the story interesting, because they might loose the "dumb" segment of their audience.. I personally cringed through most of the cut scenes. Given they centred the game around the story, it's a real shame they stayed so superficial about it. There was real potential!
    - Most of the game switches between easy platforming, item collecting (all you have to do is use your "survival instincts" vision and inspect every corner), and sometimes impossibly hard gun fights. Some of it is fun, but after a while you start feeling like "meh I got the point". Weapon improvement helps give a sense of progress, but I found it in no way revolutionary. Once again it felt slightly dumb: there was only one real puzzle in the whole game. Any genuinely hard passage (i.e. gun fights) was overcome by grinding. Sadly all the excellent features of the game are overshadowed by obvious lacks: it tries to hard to be cool, and not enough to be creative.

    So I personally felt let down, but I can see many people don't mind it as much. I feel people who are serious about platformers might feel like this episode focused too much on making a polished game and forgot to give it a soul (which is ironic given the story).    … Expand
  18. JohhnyDepressed
    Aug 4, 2022
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Copied from my review on steam.

    TL;DR This is a joyless prequel/reboot of a great franchise, with a weaker version of titular main character.

    Whereas the gameplay itself is fun, the story takes itself far too seriously. It is a less fun and less inspired than that of the OG Tomb Raider series. For one Lara neither looks, nor acts like classic Lara. OG Lara killed few people even if they had her ones dead to rights often opting to knock them out and leave them while she continued her investigation of the artifacts at hand. This Lara is killing people left and right and when she isn't she is being brutally killed as if several members of the dev team had snuff and gore fetishes. OG Lara killed dinosaurs, zombie centaurs and mummies in the first one. It had this sense of fun and goofy adventure to it while the visuals in Anniversary provided interesting designs and an interesting story about a grand supernatural mystery.

    Going more into Lara herself, OG was a badass, took no ♥♥♥♥ and kept a cool head that showing that she was in charge of the situation even when giant monsters are involved. There is danger for her however she is competent and capable, but is still fun often being flirty in certain situations when appropriate. When someone does die, be it an innocent caught in the cross fire or someone trying to kill her she treats it with the weight it deserves. She is what people should think of when they talk about a strong female character. New Lara is so weak willed and acts so different at times often like a sociopath throughout the reboot series. At the beginning of the third one she starts the apocalypse and kills countless civilians and is joking with a friend the next day showing the series has an inconsistent tone throughout. At times it looks like she is about to cry or off herself to get out of the situation at hand. She is all over the place.    … Expand
  19. DonyDoNya
    Feb 14, 2023
    4
    Its a decent shooter, dot. The advantages of the game end here. People love the hurricane action in Tomb Raider, but guess what? 8 hours of explosions everywhere, climbing everywhere, long cutscenes with a poor cliche predictable story (+point to the game for brutal elements). I'd say there is too much action that its tiring. Also the action is not convincing because of a repeating tricksIts a decent shooter, dot. The advantages of the game end here. People love the hurricane action in Tomb Raider, but guess what? 8 hours of explosions everywhere, climbing everywhere, long cutscenes with a poor cliche predictable story (+point to the game for brutal elements). I'd say there is too much action that its tiring. Also the action is not convincing because of a repeating tricks as explosions, destructions, etc. It stops impress you after 2 hours. Lara Croft itself is a boring character, she's just a typical movie hero "I wanna save everyone, everything is my fault". She doesn't have self-awareness of what she's gone through and doesn't give a sh**, then goes on an every mission alone, getting cracks, bites, beartraps, all types of injuries, and goes on, while any other character gets injury and can't go on, sending you further. The atmosphere is nothing special, cursed island, bad weather all the time, wild insane people attacking everyone, its getting boring after an hour but it lasts the whole game. Appreciate the 3d platformer mechanics - its always pleasing to be able climbe everywhere you want. Bad thing that there is no "run" button in the game and no endurance upgrades. Upgrades are kinda lame too and there's not a lot. About weapons: not enough riffle ammo always, a lot of shotgun ammo, but shotgun sucks - pistol better.… Expand
  20. KRChief
    Sep 19, 2022
    4
    The controls sometimes feels stupid. Upgrades feels nothing and really bad story. Only jumping and running action scenes and music made me feel good
  21. mb59
    Jul 24, 2013
    3
    Graphically it is very well done and the story-line is quite good. Character development is somewhat juvenile, but not in any meaningful way. The combat mechanics of the game and its controls are fairly easy to learn (Notable exception: QTE's) and they blend with the story-line well enough.

    However, all of the positives mentioned above are eliminated by the inept, frustrating,    Graphically it is very well done and the story-line is quite good. Character development is somewhat juvenile, but not in any meaningful way. The combat mechanics of the game and its controls are fairly easy to learn (Notable exception: QTE's) and they blend with the story-line well enough.

    However, all of the positives mentioned above are eliminated by the inept, frustrating, clumsy-beyond-belief and unplayable QTE's (Quick Timer Events). These absurd and enjoyment-ruining inserts bespeak a laziness and lack of confidence on the part of Square Enix/Eidos in their product. I believe they feel the need to "increase the challenge" of the game by inserting this ridiculous and unnecessary interactive cut scene construct into most combat sequences. Accomplished Game developers rely on a working difficulty progression, set by the player at the game's onset. I played this game (first time through) on EASY difficulty and was not able to get by the Wolf Fight in the Wolf Lair.

    I play games for enjoyment, first, last and all in between. Square Enix/Eidos has ruined my enjoyment by including this disastrous QTE insert into what could have been a fairly enjoyable game.. I rated the game at 3, in an act of generosity for the inclusion of those aspects mentioned in my opening remarks. Had I rated this game on enjoyment alone, I would have justly given a "0".    … Expand
  22. dionissos
    Mar 18, 2015
    3
    Terrible game and this is NOT a Tomb Raider! It has nothing to do with the tomb raider gameplay and is a kill fest with hordes of enemies. I think tomb raider lore is Dead :(
  23. reecej
    Jul 31, 2013
    3
    Pathetic, Tomb Raider is the most overpolished piece of in the history gaming, and anyone who enjoys this game is either a woman hater or graphics fanatic.
  24. Nedearl
    Aug 8, 2013
    3
    Huge letdown for me. There is absolutely no psychological exploration of Lara in this game, as was so loudly promised. What you get is a cliché snivelling little girl, constantly wailing while butchering through dozens of mercenaries with absolutely no progression in emotional intensity whatsoever. Lara's is shocked after her first kill and the next moment she just cuts to pieces a hundredHuge letdown for me. There is absolutely no psychological exploration of Lara in this game, as was so loudly promised. What you get is a cliché snivelling little girl, constantly wailing while butchering through dozens of mercenaries with absolutely no progression in emotional intensity whatsoever. Lara's is shocked after her first kill and the next moment she just cuts to pieces a hundred men without regrets (wut?). Some areas are well designed but the whole experience just feels like a long, tedious corridor filled with an unnecessary large number of ennemies (as well as scenaristically unconceivably great). The QTE moments are a pain, you never really know when you are in control of the character or just expected to press a single key. The skills seem to have been implemented at the last minute since they have absolutely no impact on the gameplay. Graphics are strange, oscillating between really really cheap (models of some flags and plants which are just planes with a png botched on it) to sometimes impressive (the interiors are a success) but they never really convey depth. There always seems to be a problem of depth of field, the backgrounds being sometimes a little better than plain pictures on a skybox. The narrative thread is just boring, the decisions of Lara are just pulled out of thin air and I sort of lost interest halfway through the game. All in all, play it if you're an absolute fan of the series but don't expect a huge background and revelations, nor an intense storytelling or interesting gameplay, the artistic direction is kind of nice though and is the only thing worth saving in this game.… Expand
  25. Lowflyer
    Mar 9, 2013
    3
    I really wanted to like this game and for a while I also really tried. The graphics are very nice and the story is ok, but the gameplay is so far from "Tomb Raider" it's appalling. There are some puzzles but none requres too much brainwork and even so the hardest ones seems to be entirely optional as well. Half of the game plays like a semi-interactive movie where you sometimes have toI really wanted to like this game and for a while I also really tried. The graphics are very nice and the story is ok, but the gameplay is so far from "Tomb Raider" it's appalling. There are some puzzles but none requres too much brainwork and even so the hardest ones seems to be entirely optional as well. Half of the game plays like a semi-interactive movie where you sometimes have to press a button or waggle the stick in order to not see Lara impaled for the nth time, and the other half, the combat sequences, she turns into Rambo's more violent little sister. There are some emotional cutscenes as well that tries to make us see her as the frightened little girl that she wasn't even close to being the moment before and make us feel sorry for her. Sadly though I mostly feel sorry that she's in the hands of Crystal Dynamics.… Expand
  26. xmo28726
    Mar 10, 2013
    3
    The QTE's outnumber the actual puzzles, the controls and camera are clunky way too often that is, when you do actually have control (the game's ai will modify your trajectory so no precision is needed). The combat is repetitive, headshots basically line themselves up and you can dodge the ai's attacks damn near blindfolded. The gore is over the top and the plot feels shaky. Overall itThe QTE's outnumber the actual puzzles, the controls and camera are clunky way too often that is, when you do actually have control (the game's ai will modify your trajectory so no precision is needed). The combat is repetitive, headshots basically line themselves up and you can dodge the ai's attacks damn near blindfolded. The gore is over the top and the plot feels shaky. Overall it feels less like a genuine exploration platformer and more like one of the old FMV games on the original Playstation in the mid to late 90's. What we need is a Tomb Raider that goes back to the series roots that is, actual *Tomb Raiding* large expansive tombs, small and confined tombs, traps that try to kill you at every turn and require actual dexterity to evade, and jumps that require forethought, practice and flawless execution in order to progress. This game is not that, it's basically snuff-porn for people who like their victims filthy and drenched in gore.… Expand
  27. Harlanfontaine
    May 22, 2013
    3
    Shoddy Game-play, just a third person shooter with Heaps of QTE's and Cut-scenes.
    Funny, just coming out of playing Dark souls and then going through this crap. I'm happy Square didn't meet their sales target.
    Horrible puzzles and a cliché supernatural island cult blab.
    I remember the puzzles in the original tomb raider being challenging this ain't got nothing on the originals.
  28. Fods
    May 10, 2013
    3
    Visuals pretty, especially with 3D glasses. Just like a movie... but that's all this game is.

    The "puzzles" are trivial linear only-one-path cakewalks and are entirely optional. Combat is trivial rinse-repeat with Lara insanely overpowered on Normal (didn't bother turning it up, I just wanted the game to end), and practically unlimited ammo. This franchise continues to go down with    Visuals pretty, especially with 3D glasses. Just like a movie... but that's all this game is.

    The "puzzles" are trivial linear only-one-path cakewalks and are entirely optional. Combat is trivial rinse-repeat with Lara insanely overpowered on Normal (didn't bother turning it up, I just wanted the game to end), and practically unlimited ammo.

    This franchise continues to go down with each version.    … Expand
  29. gyigyo2
    May 18, 2013
    3
    I can't believe this is the new Lara i mean she hate tombs,The story is nothing to do with tombs.The old Lara persona was way better,story was better king arthur,mystic tombs,This game should be called the "Lost Island" or something similar.
  30. Sardoc
    Jun 8, 2013
    3
    I just don't get WHY the hell TR 2013 keeps getting 9/10, 10/10 and 5 star ratings. You only ever do 3 things in the game: 1) shoot at human enemies with low AI all the time, 2) watch QTEs, 3) watch how the devs injure Lara more and more. The funniest thing is people call this 'the best TR to date'. Oh please.

    Old legends say Tomb Raider franchise once had actual tombs in it (I know, I    I just don't get WHY the hell TR 2013 keeps getting 9/10, 10/10 and 5 star ratings. You only ever do 3 things in the game: 1) shoot at human enemies with low AI all the time, 2) watch QTEs, 3) watch how the devs injure Lara more and more. The funniest thing is people call this 'the best TR to date'. Oh please.

    Old legends say Tomb Raider franchise once had actual tombs in it (I know, I know, sounds unbelievable, doesn't it? Blows your mind away, yeah?). You won't find them here. I swear even Angel of Darkness had more of those. Hell, you won't find any traps at all, no rolling boulders, no spikes, no Shiva statues suddenly waking up... This game is literally try-hard Uncharted on the island from Lost. The only good points are graphics and sound, but then again, there's no code optimisation whatsoever. Who needs it, right?

    Whatever happened to good taste?    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

18
#18 Best PC Game of 2013
8
#8 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
17
#17 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Jun 10, 2013
    92
    The new incarnation of the iconic Lara Craft might very well be one of the best games out there right now. [April 2013]
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Mar 30, 2013
    90
    Everything you could want from an archeological adventure, except having to press six keys to mantle. [Apr 2013, p.80]
  3. DarkStation
    Mar 19, 2013
    80
    While not every promising idea Tomb Raider has is pulled off successfully, it nevertheless turns in a tense and memorable ride that combines modern game design with its forebears’ adventurous spirit in some exciting ways. Some of its missteps may well come at the cost of your enjoyment, but most can’t hope to hurt the adventure in the long run. Although it never fully finds its identity, this is a game and a story worth seeing through.
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