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. tazdevil41
    Mar 5, 2013
    6
    I am trying really hard to love this game as there is so much to love.
    The quicktime events need to go though. They are just so frustrating on PC and drag down the experience.
    Who on earth thought adding so many was a great idea? The game was strong enough to work without these elements and it seems to just be lazy programming that resulted in them. Leave them as an option if people    I am trying really hard to love this game as there is so much to love.
    The quicktime events need to go though. They are just so frustrating on PC and drag down the experience.

    Who on earth thought adding so many was a great idea? The game was strong enough to work without these elements and it seems to just be lazy programming that resulted in them.

    Leave them as an option if people want it that way but there should have been an option to skip as an instant death over and over again for not pressing a button on a controller or a key on a keyboard within a millisecond is pretty cheap.
    Visually this game is great and sound and exploration in parts is fun too but please no more quicktime events ever     … Expand
  2. behastie
    Mar 5, 2013
    5
    I've only been playing for a couple hours but I really had to quit. This game isn't awful and if you really like the run of the mill AAA shooter genre then you might find this game worthwhile, but if you aren't a fan of quicktime events or linear set pieces then you won't enjoy yourself that much. Just about everything that Lara does is a quicktime event: fighting wolves, fighting people,I've only been playing for a couple hours but I really had to quit. This game isn't awful and if you really like the run of the mill AAA shooter genre then you might find this game worthwhile, but if you aren't a fan of quicktime events or linear set pieces then you won't enjoy yourself that much. Just about everything that Lara does is a quicktime event: fighting wolves, fighting people, climbing things; all of it is just onscreen prompts. Crystal Dynamics has made less a game and more a movie that occasionally checks to see if the audience has fingers.… Expand
  3. Ciugi
    Mar 5, 2013
    5
    Which generation do you belong? Despite all the marketing tricks, TressFX (top notch performance-eater!) and a famous franchise title Tomb Raider, this game is a great example of a dumbed-down experience. Linear levels, scripted events... Every linear element is there to pretend you're an idiot who cannot learn how sand-box works, make your own decisions that could matter, change theWhich generation do you belong? Despite all the marketing tricks, TressFX (top notch performance-eater!) and a famous franchise title Tomb Raider, this game is a great example of a dumbed-down experience. Linear levels, scripted events... Every linear element is there to pretend you're an idiot who cannot learn how sand-box works, make your own decisions that could matter, change the outcome, etc. You're thrown into a pile of garbage. Follow your only path and do only what game tells you to. You're too stupid to decide. If you like games which take your hand and lead from point A to B all the time, you'll like this. Otherwise, prepare for a nightmare. And BTW, story is average. I don't play games for SFX. Ignore this game, if you truly love freedom. Ciugi out.… Expand
  4. Lorenna
    Mar 5, 2013
    5
    It could be any other game..besides Tomb Raider. Its very easy and its more of a movie you interact with than a game. Its about 70% Quick Time Events as far as I can see..which are very buggy to say the least. I have to keep restarting the client as they just don't work..and after googling it seems to be a common problem. For anyone who's a fan of the older Tomb Raider games likeIt could be any other game..besides Tomb Raider. Its very easy and its more of a movie you interact with than a game. Its about 70% Quick Time Events as far as I can see..which are very buggy to say the least. I have to keep restarting the client as they just don't work..and after googling it seems to be a common problem. For anyone who's a fan of the older Tomb Raider games like myself..don't get too excited. Its still enjoyable...just not as a Tomb Raider game. Its not even Lara..they messed with the character too much.… Expand
  5. praXis
    Sep 3, 2014
    7
    Like quick-time events? Goofy cutscenes? Button mashing? Over-the-top gore? This game is for you!
    Like pathfinding and puzzle-solving to gain access to... you know... tombs? You probably want to buy something else.
    Very pretty game with some nicely designed big maps, but gameplay is uninspired at best, and annoying as hell at worst. Combat and movement is laggy while the camera jerks    Like quick-time events? Goofy cutscenes? Button mashing? Over-the-top gore? This game is for you!
    Like pathfinding and puzzle-solving to gain access to... you know... tombs? You probably want to buy something else.
    Very pretty game with some nicely designed big maps, but gameplay is uninspired at best, and annoying as hell at worst. Combat and movement is laggy while the camera jerks around wildly. Very linear in many sections, and the hand-holding for the console kiddies (despite being a very rated M game) is blatant. Tacked-on terrible multiplayer is worth nothing. Single-player campaign has little to no replay value.
    It's amazing how much good content manages to shine through this though, and ultimately it's a mildly entertaining diversion - for those that can stomach its glaring problems.    … Expand
  6. Tridus
    Oct 14, 2014
    7
    When you're actually allowed to play, the game is pretty fun. The problem is they have this nasty habit of throwing in awful QTEs all over the place, some of which just require flat out memorization of the sequence to get through. I'm docking points for that alone, because they should have known better.
  7. TitaniumDragon
    Jul 1, 2017
    5
    Tomb Raider – or, as it more accurately might be called, QTEs and Shooting From Behind Waist-High Walls – is not a game about raiding tombs. There is only one tomb you “raid” to any meaningful extent as part of the story, and then only at the very end. If you were hoping for a large number of platforming puzzles and overcoming ancient traps and suchlike, you’re going to be disappointed.Tomb Raider – or, as it more accurately might be called, QTEs and Shooting From Behind Waist-High Walls – is not a game about raiding tombs. There is only one tomb you “raid” to any meaningful extent as part of the story, and then only at the very end. If you were hoping for a large number of platforming puzzles and overcoming ancient traps and suchlike, you’re going to be disappointed.

    Tomb Raider is, instead, a cinematic action game. Where the game excels is in movie-like action sequences – bits where you run through a burning building and fight your way out, or run across a disintegrating bridge, or maneuver around a boat which is being shot apart around you. It is in these scenes that the game excels and feels exciting, as Lara Croft makes her way through the environment.

    Sadly, this game offers very little else that excels.

    The game is ostensibly a “how Lara Croft became who she is” story, but at that, it actually doesn’t do a very good job at all. The biggest problem – which I’m afraid is kind of crucial – is that the game does a rather poor job of doing exactly that. Lara Croft apparently learned how to do many things before this game even started, as in the tutorial sections towards the beginning, she constantly refers back to things she learned from other characters. As such, this is really the first time she used those skills.

    Beyond that, I don’t know who Lara Croft is by the end of the game. She is, frankly, a generic power-fantasy action hero who is kind of whiny about it. When she kills a bad guy for the first time, she freaks out a bit and cries – but this is an event which has zero meaningful emotional impact on the audience. The problem is, we’ve all killed bad guys in video games before, and this particular rendition thereof is not particularly remarkable. Worse, Lara Croft herself is a certified badass – perhaps not at the beginning of the game, but by reputation, we know that Lara Croft is one of gaming’s Big Heroes. And indeed, throughout the rest of the game, Lara Croft kills many hundreds of bad guys, with pretty much zero impact.

    As such, the game is already undermining the idea that taking a life is a big deal here at all – mechanically, it isn’t, players have already done all this before, Lara Croft herself is reputationally someone who kills lots of people, and in the game she kills hundreds of people.

    She is scared for much of the game, until she resolves herself at the end, but this is simply not communicated mechanically – you feel powerful as you slaughter your way through hundreds of bad guys. When she starts shaking in the cutscenes after having escaped death and gone through numerous ridiculous movie setpieces, it just doesn’t sell itself to the audience at all emotionally.

    This results in a sharp disconnect between the audience and the character, and indeed, between the character in cutscenes and the character outside of cutscenes, as she is actually played. It just doesn’t work.

    And this means that the entire story falls flat on its face.

    The plot itself is a mess – numerous characters come in and out of the story, but the reality is that there is just no reason to care. There are at least two characters who are introduced to you and then killed off a scene later, negating any possible emotional impact their deaths might have had. The only good guy character who spends any significant amount of time with the player through much of the story is Roth, but his presence, too, is too ephemeral for the player to care about what happens to him, and his eventual fate is not something that the player feels in any way responsible for.

    It doesn’t help that the characters themselves are all extremely flat. Lara talks about her dad’s theories, but we don’t get a good grasp of who were dad was. Sam, the person you’re trying to rescue, is not someone you forge any sort of meaningful emotional bond with as a player – there are a couple of flashback scenes, which I thought were there to try and establish the bonds with the absent characters, but then they end and I’m left going through the rest of the story trying to rescue someone that I have no real emotional connection to. I mean, sure, you’re going to save them – you’re the hero – but as the player, you have no reason to care. Likewise with the rest of the surviving crew, who mostly only show up towards the end of the game.

    The bad guy himself is a standard crazy cult leader/survivalist, and the bad guys are dudes with guns, occasionally mixed up with dudes with machetes and a few dudes with riot shields. Almost everyone you confront throughout the game falls into those categories; there just isn’t enough variety. There’s a handful of wolves, who only feel threatening in any way at the beginning, and a tiny number of "boss-like" enemies - maybe two or three in the entire game, and none are particularly exciting.    … Expand
  8. Liquidlizard
    Aug 3, 2013
    6
    More of a movie than a game. More of a console than PC game. Quick Time events can get annoying and cutscenes are overused. Visually appealing, yet not optimal for PC gamers.
  9. chocobo
    Mar 23, 2014
    7
    I've played every TR except 1, and I've replayed Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld just to prep for it, that's how much I'm into TR.

    And here's some unpolished thoughts: Puzzle-wise it's lacking in scale and coherence--understandably because it's now in semi-open world format, which means open world travel > tomb/confined spaces > open world travel. And this actually hurts the    I've played every TR except 1, and I've replayed Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld just to prep for it, that's how much I'm into TR.

    And here's some unpolished thoughts:

    Puzzle-wise it's lacking in scale and coherence--understandably because it's now in semi-open world format, which means open world travel > tomb/confined spaces > open world travel. And this actually hurts the immersion you get from tackling long series of great looking puzzles in a grand tomb/ place alone which defined TR. Interestingly, Assassin's Creed's large tombs had given that same kind of immersion to me.

    Social aspect is strong, but i just don't know was it helping or hurting the game because solemn exploration and comrade-helping is somewhat contradictory in nature, and either needs a lot of time and content to be memorable. There were too many different characters, and the focus on each of them was scattered and short-lived (except Sam), not allowing any deep memorable connection to develop.

    The extras (hidden stuff, journals, artifacts) again were overambitious in that they were all trying to cue the player towards various of lore/ side story that would be interesting, but were not quite resolved.

    Enemy placement was unbelievable at times, like spawning from a cave entrance behind which you'll discover afterwards that it's a slide > jump > cling wall place

    It's still a good game in that It has good graphics, focused back story, detailed character movements, fluid combat system, and a solid chunk of non-repeated scripted interactive scenes. But again everyone knows that focusing the game's development resources on these things takes it away from other things (in this case, actual playable puzzles and interactive time between characters).

    To be fair, given the scope/ experimental stuff they did to the game, this TR could only be seen as a prequel (if there will be any sequel since SE thought they didn't sell enough)

    From a player's perspective the game is totally worth it, but critically, it's an experimental TR that misplaced too much of its resources in things that did not define the franchise. The end product is another modern AAA title that doesn't stand out an awful lot.    … Expand
  10. mugen_is_here
    Mar 29, 2023
    6
    With its exhilarating parkour and entertaining shooting mechanics, this game offers a thrilling experience that is sure to captivate players. However, some may find themselves struggling with certain frustrating elements, such as constantly falling off ledges or smashing into objects. Additionally, the game's over-the-top explosions and tough enemies - which require multiple grenades toWith its exhilarating parkour and entertaining shooting mechanics, this game offers a thrilling experience that is sure to captivate players. However, some may find themselves struggling with certain frustrating elements, such as constantly falling off ledges or smashing into objects. Additionally, the game's over-the-top explosions and tough enemies - which require multiple grenades to defeat - can prove to be irksome at times. Despite these minor setbacks, the game manages to deliver an overall enjoyable experience that is well worth checking out. So if you're willing to overlook its occasional annoyances, this title is definitely worth your time.… Expand
  11. theirrelephants
    Apr 22, 2019
    7
    Good game, not as good as Rise of the Tomb Raider but still pretty enjoyable. I rushed through it because I played the second one first and wanted to get to the third game... the tombs are almost entirely optional, so I only did a few, not that there were many to begin with.

    Story was neat, unlike the second game this one has more of a fantasy twist than scifi. A good first person    Good game, not as good as Rise of the Tomb Raider but still pretty enjoyable. I rushed through it because I played the second one first and wanted to get to the third game... the tombs are almost entirely optional, so I only did a few, not that there were many to begin with.

    Story was neat, unlike the second game this one has more of a fantasy twist than scifi.

    A good first person adventure game, I recommend it. If you like it, you'll enjoy the second one even more - as it improves on the first in every single way.

    Downsides:
    The side characters who aren't lara are all extremely irritating. Fortunately, you don't interact with them much at all.

    I figured out who was going to betray me before the end of the game in the PROLOGUE. Geeze.

    Combat can be a bit janky. Probably only noticeable if you've played the second one, which was much more smooth.

    In hindsight, if you play the games out of order, Lara's freakouts in the second game over murdering someone make zero sense. You're in the triple, if not quadruple digits as far as kill counts are concerned by the end of this entry.    … Expand
  12. Danny83
    Aug 26, 2013
    6
    Graphics are great... the rest is the pinnacle of consolitis. The game play is ordinary and linear, and quick time events are everywhere, not even one is acceptable. why they feel they need to put rpg elements in all these games is beyond me, it feels fake and draws me away from immersion. The perfectly placed zip lines feel stupid, and why can i only climb in certain areas? hunting isGraphics are great... the rest is the pinnacle of consolitis. The game play is ordinary and linear, and quick time events are everywhere, not even one is acceptable. why they feel they need to put rpg elements in all these games is beyond me, it feels fake and draws me away from immersion. The perfectly placed zip lines feel stupid, and why can i only climb in certain areas? hunting is pointless and must have been an after thought. what is with games and collecting things? if i felt like collecting random i would clean my house. does any idiot actually collect hundreds of these pointless items? are we rats? i might go and play dues ex again. not human revolution, that was consolized crap also.… Expand
  13. Melanie_Han
    Jul 27, 2013
    6
    More a movie with quick time events than an actual playable game. Though nothing like Metal Gear Solid, there's still way too much cinematic. You can tell that's where the effort went, to the expensive of everything else. You spend about 45% watching some cinematic while remaining vigilant in case a random quick time event pops up, about 40% running and jump around small enclosures to findMore a movie with quick time events than an actual playable game. Though nothing like Metal Gear Solid, there's still way too much cinematic. You can tell that's where the effort went, to the expensive of everything else. You spend about 45% watching some cinematic while remaining vigilant in case a random quick time event pops up, about 40% running and jump around small enclosures to find little trinkets and talisman, most of which don't have any purpose, and rest of the15% staring at the scenery. Well, there's some combat too, and it's not bad. I guess Tomb Raider has always been about level exploration than anything else, but if so than there's no justification for how small the levels are. Excellent graphics though. Good voice work, not too many cheesy lines in the dialogue. Overall, not the greatest game, but if you really like cinematic and crazy fast paced explosion then go for it.… Expand
  14. natefifield24
    Jan 1, 2014
    6
    I won't lie, this game was linear. I absolutely hate linear games, but I paid 30 usd for it so I gave it a go.

    The game was so much fun I had trouble putting it down, played all 10 hrs I have into this game in four or five sittings. While it was incredibly fun, it was annoying at the same time. Here is my list of most disliked things 1. It is darn near impossible to find enough    I won't lie, this game was linear. I absolutely hate linear games, but I paid 30 usd for it so I gave it a go.

    The game was so much fun I had trouble putting it down, played all 10 hrs I have into this game in four or five sittings.

    While it was incredibly fun, it was annoying at the same time.
    Here is my list of most disliked things
    1. It is darn near impossible to find enough parts and salvage to upgrade all the weapons and equipment to full levels.
    2. Very linear, there is a certain path that you must take,and there are very few options if that isn't true.
    3. Button mashing, I about ruined the 'x' key on my keyboard from all the button mashing I had to do in order to get through this game.
    4. The format of cut-scene after cut-scene and designated save points appearing were frustrating, It led to me knowing when a certain fighting area was over or to prepare for the next bit, it left nothing to be a surprise or to my imagination of what was coming up next.
    5. Basically 0 replay value unless you are the kind of person who likes to collect pointless little bits from all over the playable area.

    My favorite parts:
    1. I thought the story was very well developed and quite cool and interesting.
    2. it looks utterly fantastic.
    3. The controls were well thought out and key-bindings easily changed if you disagree with me.
    4.It stayed mainly true to my perceived concept of a tomb raider game, fun puzzles, good level navigation (climbing), and a great story related to some ancient civilization and the supernatural.

    I give it a 6/10 for the fact it was wicked fun and very good looking, but was linear had some silly gimmicks and game-play mechanics and has virtually no replay value.    … Expand
  15. JusticeReview
    Jun 17, 2014
    5
    The amount of things I didn't like about this game can not compare to the things I did like. I'm a big fan of female protagonist games, particularly action adventure games. I was never a big tomb raider fan however, but my god did they make this game blow. Past titles I've played in tomb raider have taken the cake compared to this.

    Lara is significantly less badas* than ever before. And    The amount of things I didn't like about this game can not compare to the things I did like. I'm a big fan of female protagonist games, particularly action adventure games. I was never a big tomb raider fan however, but my god did they make this game blow. Past titles I've played in tomb raider have taken the cake compared to this.

    Lara is significantly less badas* than ever before. And her main weapon of choice is the bow instead of dual handguns (who decided this I have no idea). There is no way a bow is cooler than twin pistols. You can't even use twin pistols in the game, which is what I believe to be her iconic weapon choice. It's just corn on the cob every which way in this game.

    The combat in this game is well. It's boring. It's just like every other bad third person shooter game with absolutely zero substance. You don't feel in control of the character, you never get to do anything cool. Your dodge move is a fast crawl on the ground instead of a cartwheel or roll (unless you tap it twice then you roll, hurray?). The game is littered with QTE that punish you if you press the button too fast, you have to push it slower as if you had downs.

    Sometimes the fights are unfair, one time I was in a throne room with enemies coming from all sides and I could only hide behind destructible pillars, while the enemies lobbed grenades and used machine guns. The pistol, not only was it discarded as her weapon of choice, but is also the worst weapon in the game and nearly completely unusable. The enemies come in droves of 20+ at a time, but only 4-6 can be on screen at once.

    One of my biggest gripes is that only 4 corpses can be on screen at once. So if you kill 20 guys, you can only loot the four. Which forces you to scramble around like a mouse looting corpses mid fire fight if you want to collect the in game currency (which gets you nothing interesting btw). The entire leveling system is contrived and unnecessary (which is common of main stream titles these days).

    Also to be noted your always in danger. You can't even climb a ladder without a strong gust of wind cracking it in half. You almost never feel safe when traversing the world. Although it's meant to be dramatic or something, sometimes my eyes roll when a 2000 year old temple waits for me to show up before crumbling apart, despite being the home of a cult of samurai for the past 1000 years.

    Nearly everything is scripted. There are only 2 enemy models. Man and wolf. Later on you fight big man, and sometimes the enemies wear different types of armor (who cares). Was it too much to add a bear to the game, mountain lion, shark, or anything besides wolf and man. Even werewolf, a combining of the two might have been interesting. You just sit there fighting the same dudes with different armors and guns nearly the entire game, and it's incredibly boring.

    The story is pretty much nonexistent. There isn't a single plot twist or particular development that matters. Within the first hour of the game you've figured it out. Evil island, Jackass Backstabber Friend, Sun Queen, bunch of guys who want to solve the plot in a completely illogical way.

    A major theme is supposed to be survival. But survival is one thing, and killing an army with a wooden bow is a completely different story. The game introduces a ton of concepts and fails to deliver consistently on any of them. Combat, Platforming, Hunting, Survival, Tomb Raiding, blah blah, no single element shines in this game. It's just a mish mashed potato.

    So lets wrap this up with what I did like about the game. I liked the fire temple level, it was very well scripted for a scripted sequence and pretty to look at. Most of the game is pretty to look at, and the environments and levels have an interesting design. It offered an average level of entertainment, but was ultimately boring.

    So I'm giving this a 5. Because I didn't have fun playing this game but I managed to beat it anyways. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never did.

    If your bored or are tomb raider fan it's worth picking up if you have spare change.    … Expand
  16. Vidyafan9999
    Jun 15, 2013
    6
    I honestly don't care much about the previous games, this is a reboot after all, so I'm reviewing it for what it is, a mediocre Uncharted clone with a touchy feely girly protagonist that goes from frail scared little girl to female Rambo by the end of the game. My main problems with it are the gameplay, which is derivative, very similar to Uncharted but less polished, underdeveloped meleeI honestly don't care much about the previous games, this is a reboot after all, so I'm reviewing it for what it is, a mediocre Uncharted clone with a touchy feely girly protagonist that goes from frail scared little girl to female Rambo by the end of the game. My main problems with it are the gameplay, which is derivative, very similar to Uncharted but less polished, underdeveloped melee and stealth, grimdark graphics, and story that conflicts with the gameplay and the premise of the game.

    The gameplay is basically third person shooting with regenerative health, with platforming and stealth elements. It's enjoyable but very derivative. The game has some light RPG elements, such as weapon upgrading, which is not that fleshed out and nonsensical (how do you craft a modern day tech bow starting from a caveman style bow using just scrap metal?). You also get experience points, you can upgrade your abilities and gain more moves, and later on, some really over the top, Rambo style takedowns that make the game very easy. There are no survival elements, outside of one tutorial session->cutscene in the beginning, you don't need to get food or anything, so really, this game has zero survival elements, even though the game's tagline is "a survivor is born". The game also has some minor "metroidvania" elements, as you can backtrack and explore areas you already completed in search for upgrades and other hidden stuff, but it's mostly pointless considering how easy the game is. This game also has hidden tombs that you can raid, which are basically one-room puzzles, very easy and not rewarding at all, they only give you exp. There are collectible artifacts and other stuff, but again, no reward other than exp.

    The story is very mediocre and the supporting cast is awfully clichè. There are some heavy supernatural elements that don't make much sense. Also, by the end of the game you kill so many people it's pretty crazy. You will get to single handedly destroy an ancient army of undead samurai by yourself, which is pretty crazy. The game also has many set pieces with QTEs, it doesn't really go overboard but they are pretty uninspired, Uncharted did this much better. Finally, there are some very gory areas just for the sake of being dark and gritty. I'm not a big fan of the setting of the game, which is a really bleak, brown island with skulls and skeletons everywhere.

    Voice acting is good for Lara, decent for everyone else. Music is unremarkable and sound effects are alright.

    The graphics on PC are pretty good, the game sports some advanced graphical effects not present on consoles (on consoles this game looks much worse than Uncharted), such as TressFX hair, which is cool. If only the game wasn't so brown and bleak for no reason, I'd be ok with the graphics. On release though, it had a lot of glitches and crashing issues.

    Overall, a mediocre action third person shooter, which is very derivative and uninteresting, with poorly executed mechanics, you play it once and forget about it.    … Expand
  17. RathHood
    Feb 29, 2016
    5
    Good gameplay, fast paced, most of the quicktime events are ok - some are extremely tedious. Why low score? Because storyline, characters, dialogues and overall writing is worse than Mortal Kombat single player mode. It's so bad that most of the cutscenes /dialogues I was squirming and just want it to be over and get back to killing baddies. In most of the games cutscenes are this littleGood gameplay, fast paced, most of the quicktime events are ok - some are extremely tedious. Why low score? Because storyline, characters, dialogues and overall writing is worse than Mortal Kombat single player mode. It's so bad that most of the cutscenes /dialogues I was squirming and just want it to be over and get back to killing baddies. In most of the games cutscenes are this little rewards for progress in the game. Not here - it's like watching worst Hollywood action movie. I have no idea how they spend so much money/time to develop this game and there's clearly a lot of good in there and they can't hire 1 guy with decent writing skills. About midway point in the game I found myself just rushing through it just to get it over with - something I never do. Another thing (but minor in comparison) is stealth mechanics - very undeveloped and it's a shame because there was so much potential.… Expand
  18. ShodanSpectre
    Jul 14, 2016
    6
    This is a review from a person who is familiar with the Tomb Raider / Lara Croft franchise, but not a particular fan of the game series.

    The game starts out fairly good, the first hour or two of the game bring up some puzzle-solving, almost Portal-style, and a bit of combat which is appropriate for the setting of a sole young woman in the woods, not some one-man-army macho - you fight    This is a review from a person who is familiar with the Tomb Raider / Lara Croft franchise, but not a particular fan of the game series.

    The game starts out fairly good, the first hour or two of the game bring up some puzzle-solving, almost Portal-style, and a bit of combat which is appropriate for the setting of a sole young woman in the woods, not some one-man-army macho - you fight wolves with a bow or pistol and two wolves may be enough to kill you if you screw up. The searching for food and shelter quest was very nice, brought somewhat of a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. feeling, but with the protagonist being Lara and not some mysterious dude.

    But after the first couple hours - the game turns into a typical shooter with arcade jumping - now Lara can take out dozens of armed men (while 2 hours ago struggling against a couple wolves remember!). There's a mediocre backstory for why the guys are aggressive.

    There will be a few stupid/illogical quests aka "make something greatly visible from the air" - WHILE SITTING ON TOP OF 150+ m TALL RADIO TOWER WITH A RED LIGHT ON TOP OF IT! But no, go blow up barrels of gas to make a fire.

    What made me quit is coming to an area where there are houses attached to the side of a vertical cliff. Why would anyone build houses like that is beyond me. And of course they crumble and fall under the weight of Lara which is anything but fat, maybe 55kg by the looks. Oh yeah that should be more like 100kg with the guns and ammo, but still :-D Anyway this part looked like a very badly designed platform-jumping part with no backstory of why the heck must I jump through there now, of all places... So that was it for me.    … Expand
  19. niknuk
    Mar 12, 2013
    6
    A nice game, but they really pushed it too far with the quick time events. They take you out of immersion every time, and we could have lived so fine without them. What`s the thought behind them, is beyond my comprehension.
  20. OwenSaund
    Mar 28, 2013
    7
    The story takes place in an island, this is a prequel to the other games and shows Lara developing as a strong character. Going through various trials to get to the end goal of getting off this island. At the start you are put in a situation where you are alone in a cave where you have an hour of fun filled… quick time events. Well at least the graphics are good and you get to see her haveThe story takes place in an island, this is a prequel to the other games and shows Lara developing as a strong character. Going through various trials to get to the end goal of getting off this island. At the start you are put in a situation where you are alone in a cave where you have an hour of fun filled… quick time events. Well at least the graphics are good and you get to see her have super human strength by grabbing on to massive ledges and pulling up her bodyweight with minimal training. Archaeologist must be from some sort of different planet. But yes you will find throughout the game that this woman can literally do anything. Except from raid tombs, this barely ever comes up, except for a couple of side missions. There are a couple of rewarding mechanics, shooting a deer or a human with a crossbow is always fun. And the gunplay is rewarding and there are upgrades to keep you engrossed all through the game. The island has a lot to explore and multiple collectables. This is a very gory game so I would say it should be for a 15 year old or higher.… Expand
  21. workingpixels
    Mar 7, 2013
    5
    I was VERY happy seeing all these grrreat scores and terrrrific reviews around the www and I was starting to believe in TR being reborn, You know. I gave the game like 8 hrs now. it's just fair. m e d i o c r e. yes- this is sad. i'm not freaking out. i am just an idiot, I actually bought this game, because it is sooooo dumb. PROS: .great CGI .Lara is nice .great SOUND .cool weapon feelI was VERY happy seeing all these grrreat scores and terrrrific reviews around the www and I was starting to believe in TR being reborn, You know. I gave the game like 8 hrs now. it's just fair. m e d i o c r e. yes- this is sad. i'm not freaking out. i am just an idiot, I actually bought this game, because it is sooooo dumb. PROS: .great CGI .Lara is nice .great SOUND .cool weapon feel CONS: .FAR CRY3 resemblance .QUICK TIME EVENTS! .not so cool story .MORE LIKE A SHOOTERslasher then the LARA CROFTish tombRAIDING .QTE QTE QTE! NO SANBOXING… Expand
  22. Anaya
    Mar 28, 2013
    6
    The game play and story both were both enjoyable, however the ending was very weak. There were hardly any bosses or harder enemies to kill. This is not a typical Tomb Raider game and my biggest compliant would be the embarrassingly easy puzzles, which there were very few of.
  23. tech-noir
    Sep 5, 2013
    7
    The graphics, environments, and weather effects are beautiful. Everything about this game is high quality and consisting of high production values. Its only flaws are the excessive amounts of quick time events and the overusage of cutscenes to tell a surprisingly good story. There are also many extras to collect.
  24. Alien91
    Jun 3, 2014
    7
    Straight to the point: This is the worst tomb raider ever made gameplay wise. Every moves are linear and it feels like you are watching more than you are playing. It's a fake open-game that only let you one path to choose, beside some mystic temples aside your path once in a while. When you think about it, does it really differ from past games? Not that much, but still it's a step backwardStraight to the point: This is the worst tomb raider ever made gameplay wise. Every moves are linear and it feels like you are watching more than you are playing. It's a fake open-game that only let you one path to choose, beside some mystic temples aside your path once in a while. When you think about it, does it really differ from past games? Not that much, but still it's a step backward with it's linearity and those infamous Quick Time Events that constantly ask you to tap a specific button, either X or Y so you can see Lara suddenly escape a trap, hitting back some dude by her own without your help. Feels like Shenmue. I don't like Shenmue. I hate it. This sort of gameplay doesn't reward you, it makes you watch while you do absolutely nothing. This is for vegetative gamers that can't move a character by their own. Do you remember the moves you were doing by yourself in the first Splinter Cell games 10 years ago? You could take out a guard the way you wanted, you had to be creative and it added replay values. It was more difficult but it was rewarding, then Conviction game out and it became retarded and over simplified. Press a big WIN button and your enemies are down.. talk about stealth. This is the same feeling I had with the most recent iteration of Tomb Raider. This is why this game gets a 7 instead of a 9. The animations on the other hand are amazingly good, the tress-FX adds alot to the beauty of Lara and the textures are really good for a vanilla game. The music is alright and the voice acting is top class. This game hasn't been praised by it's intelligence and freedom, it has been praised by the media because of it's high-professional execution, whether it's the graphic, the sound but most importantly, the presentation, which is stellar compared to previous Tomb Raider games. It's true that it might feel like an Uncharted game and it's no coincidence, it sells. I'm enjoying it despite the linearity and the dumbed-down gameplay, so should you if you are searching for a non-puzzling game. Yes, there are basically no puzzles anymore in Tomb Raider, it's too difficult to search for a door switch for the new generation of tax-payer. Hope you enjoy this non-biased, honest review.… Expand
  25. Scottixboy
    Apr 18, 2013
    5
    For the first 5 hours of game-play, you will come to love Lara Croft and her journey to being an official bad ass, Being ruthless and aggressive, Being stealthy. At this point, I was ready to give the game a 8-9 even 10 Score, That's how much I was falling in love with this title, The random Tombs hidden around, The great graphics, the very well scripted events. But then, about 5 hours in,For the first 5 hours of game-play, you will come to love Lara Croft and her journey to being an official bad ass, Being ruthless and aggressive, Being stealthy. At this point, I was ready to give the game a 8-9 even 10 Score, That's how much I was falling in love with this title, The random Tombs hidden around, The great graphics, the very well scripted events. But then, about 5 hours in, Lara Croft Turns into your average Dull shooter, It's difficult to explain why, but I think I know. First, The gun physics aren't great, but I can excuse that because I like to go into all the situations stealthy, which brings me onto my second point, At about 5 hours in, the game stops giving you the option to use stealth, You are FORCED! into Shooter situations which then, turns the game into a dull 3rd person shooter with a bad cover mechanic, So lets treat it like a shooter then, Well it has a bad recoil system that doesn't make much sense, seems like Lara is always firing from the hip and can't actually AIM a gun, the spread system is the same, just like firing from the hip bullets fly off in random directions meaning you need to use the rifles in a semi auto style, but that's difficult considering there's no firing mode options, The gun models aren't great either they look all washed out and fake, The upgrades system is very sub par. Now this takes me to my third point, You cannot go into and out-of stealth, the game decides whether you use stealth or not, and it's not like Splinter cell, Deus ex, Far Cry and Crysis, where the play can run and hide from the enemies giving them a chance to sneak up again, Nope, as soon as your detected, The AI knows where you are like they have some magical Laradar, You cannot hide after being detected, which ruins the entire stealth mechanic. Now my fourth point is about a common thing in gaming these days, Lara croft is plagued with the Button presses in uncontrollable action cutscenes(Known as quick time events) I personally think if these were more dynamic and would let user control effect the outcome, It would be better, as you would feel more in control of what your actually doing in a "VIDEO GAME" which costed you £40.

    BUT The game excels well in the "TOMB RAIDING" part of this game, Sadly there are far too little tombs and puzzles, some of them are too easy to solve, there is almost no challenge compared to the old Lara Croft/PoP/TLOZ games.

    So what are you left with? Your left with a dull third person shooter with poor shooting mechanics. A broken stealth system that has more quick time events than gameplay, An interesting story with a weak ending and finally a pretty puzzling mechanic which looks fantastic but is too easy and unsatisfying.

    I had high hopes for this game, It has it's good points, But they are overshadowed by the games crippling problems.

    If your interested in the story your better off watching a play through, if you want a proper jump puzzler, Go for Prince Of Persia: The forgotten sands, If you want a proper stealth-shooter game, get Far Cry 3.    … Expand
  26. Captiosus
    Mar 5, 2013
    7
    (After five hours of playing, I'm currently at 12% complete.) As an old fart of a gamer, I remember when Lara Croft first burst onto the scene and how she changed the gaming landscape. Since then, many others have duplicated the success of the Tomb Raider series (see: Uncharted) while Tomb Raider, itself, was left to languish as an aging property. The new Tomb Raider doesn't really change(After five hours of playing, I'm currently at 12% complete.) As an old fart of a gamer, I remember when Lara Croft first burst onto the scene and how she changed the gaming landscape. Since then, many others have duplicated the success of the Tomb Raider series (see: Uncharted) while Tomb Raider, itself, was left to languish as an aging property. The new Tomb Raider doesn't really change the genre like the original did but, instead, is content to merely copy off of successful IPs that had originally copied Tomb Raider itself. In case that line sounds confusing, think of it this way: Get rid of Sully and turn Nathan Drake into a woman, and you have the new Tomb Raider. Both games play the same, are loaded with quick time events, and are graphically appealing. The critical difference between the two is that the story of Lara is more gritty and realistic than the over the top stories of Nathan and his quests. Graphically the game is quite a treat. With DX11 support and TressFX, the game looks beautiful. Even something as mundane as rain can make you stop and just look around at the rich graphical detail. Of course, this all comes at a cost. DX11's SSAO and Tesselation are, as always, some of the biggest perfomance consumers and TressFX, while nice, costs a considerable amount of performance just to have more realistic character hair. To elaborate, running on a i7-3770 with a GeForce GTX 550 Ti, I have no problems running "High" level graphics and maintaining a consistent frame rate. Turn on TressFX, however, and the frame rate plummets into the 40s. Not worth it for "hair effects", in my opinion. Despite the graphical polish and more realistic Lara, the game thus far is higher than mediocre but falls just short of greatness. The major complaint I have is that it is TOO linear with a LOT of hand holding. Stand in one place long enough and Lara, no matter how injured, will tell you EXACTLY what to do next. Even if you ignore her constant dialog, tap one key and the world will light up all the critical elements like the Grizwold family Christmas Tree. I know people hate the term "linear" but, much like Uncharted 3, there's little reason to explore beyond the predetermined paths. Actual tombs to raid are few and far between (I've seen 3, one of which was only thanks to having the Survival Edition) while the puzzles within the tombs themselves have not been very challenging. Lara's story starts out engaging but starts to unravel after only a few hours of gameplay when the entire story line becomes muddled. Part of this is due to the way Lara turns from shrinking violet into action heroine. The transition is too rapid and incredulous which causes the game to drop focus on the other characters including the main antagonist. All in all, it's a good reboot that brings Tomb Raider on par with the Uncharted series but what does that really say when Uncharted owes its existence to Tomb Raider itself? Crystal Dynamics did an amazing job graphically and have made a story better than a lot of AAA titles so I do recommend playing the game. However, I can't see it having any real longevity beyond the first playthrough since the only reason to go back is to obtain missed collectables, as the scriped story never changes and the tomb raiding is such an afterthought that any tomb-adding DLC will likely fall flat. At $49.99 (current Steam PC price) or $59.99 (console price), I'm not so sure the price/entertainment ratio is quite worth it for a title that will collect dust after one playthrough. Your mileage may vary of course but, based on the gameplay experience thus far, it is my opinion that anyone interested in the new Tomb Raider should wait for a Steam sale or rent the console variety from Gamefly.… Expand
  27. cennsor
    Mar 7, 2013
    6
    looks visually pleasing, decently story-driven, with movement mechanics that did give me that old TR feel, but it's sadly just the umpteenth QET fest.
  28. EchoBlack
    Mar 11, 2013
    6
    Tomb Raider's return to form is an enthralling ride, a third person shooter recommended for all fans of action games. The overuse of QTEs does grate, and they are sadly frequently paired with on-rails "cinematic" set pieces in which gameplay becomes reduced to simply moving ahead and perhaps occasionally jumping while peril closes in, in true Indiana Jones fashion. Thankfully the game doesTomb Raider's return to form is an enthralling ride, a third person shooter recommended for all fans of action games. The overuse of QTEs does grate, and they are sadly frequently paired with on-rails "cinematic" set pieces in which gameplay becomes reduced to simply moving ahead and perhaps occasionally jumping while peril closes in, in true Indiana Jones fashion. Thankfully the game does intermittently give up on being a film, and at these times the player gets to experience some interesting puzzles and environments they can explore. The combat is competent and familiar, if forgettable, and gets too much focus at times. Tomb Raider gets enough right to be called an above average experience, though I recommend purchasing it when it's cheap.… Expand
  29. giappone
    Mar 15, 2013
    7
    Yet again, a great miss. This could have been the game of the year, but in the end ruined by laziness and stupidity. Yet again Square Enix gives us a game that could have been so great and end up average by bad game design and not giving a f**k about the PC gamer community... They need our money, but they sell us ported console-sh*t. Sad.
    From the first moment this game captures you, as a    Yet again, a great miss. This could have been the game of the year, but in the end ruined by laziness and stupidity. Yet again Square Enix gives us a game that could have been so great and end up average by bad game design and not giving a f**k about the PC gamer community... They need our money, but they sell us ported console-sh*t. Sad.
    From the first moment this game captures you, as a blockbuster action movie (a better one). And you think wow, I never liked Tomb Raider's platforming jumpandjackandpush gamestyle but this is something different. And it is, up to the 1st QTE. It's not that they are THAT hard, but it's just not for the PC. The two wont go together, dear developers. Brainless timed button smashing is for the young ones and they buy console. It's as simple as that. A game with QTE is a badly designed game (for the PC). Period. The other thing is performance. I had to take down resolution to 1024x768 to pass a the wolfie QTE, after 7 retries on 1920x1200... Its just missing my button hits... TessFX, thank you very much. 8-10 fps. And I wont buy a new machine fo r ONE game only, given that ALL my other games I play run smoothly on my machine, above 20-30 fps (even the newest ones Far Cry 3, etc). It's like Crysis I had to wait for 2-3 years till I got a machine I could run it maxed out. You can say its my problem, but Crysis 2 ran smoothly on the same rig and looked better. Coding, optimizing VS laziness. Just as here. In Deus ex HR, the bosses screwed up everything (and the console optimized controls), now the QTEs (and the console optimized controls). These games had so much potential. But no. I can't imagine how game companies pay a wealth for designers, who make so stupid mistakes and screw up a game mistakes that even I could tell them not to make...
    So it gets a 7, above average. Its not bad, but if you take the opportunity it had missed... It's a major flop, sadly.    … Expand
  30. Helts_47
    Mar 6, 2013
    7
    Let me start out this review by stating that I've never played any previous tomb raider games, so I was going into this sight unseen.

    Pros - Story - I really enjoyed the story, it moved along at a nice pace and there was a lot of tension to be had. Lara's character progression throughout the game was interesting though perhaps a little hurried at times. Puzzles, Platforming    Let me start out this review by stating that I've never played any previous tomb raider games, so I was going into this sight unseen.

    Pros -

    Story
    - I really enjoyed the story, it moved along at a nice pace and there was a lot of tension to be had. Lara's character progression throughout the game was interesting though perhaps a little hurried at times.

    Puzzles, Platforming Level Design
    - While most of the puzzles are pretty easy, I did have to stop and think a few times, and most of them are very well constructed. The platforming was a highlight of the game for me, there is a lot of different ways you can climb onto things and the level design in general was very solid. Weapon Customisation Scavenging
    - The crafting system in the game revolves around finding crates and boxes full of "salvage" which you can then use to upgrade your weapons. This is handled well in the game, as it forces you to go off the beaten track to look for salvage so you can keep your weapons at the same level as your enemy's. Almost every upgrade will change the appearance of your guns bow, and even the higher level ones still look handmade which is a nice touch.

    Combat
    - Whilst easy, the combat is nice and satisfying, the guns feel nice for the most part, though the pistol could use some work to make it seem less peashooter-y. The bow was the most outstanding weapon in my opinion and it felt great. Lara is not able to hold the bowstring back indefinitley like in other games featuring a bow, and when you shoot someone with it, the arrows actualy act like arrows, they pierce through people with sickening sounds and they are full size, even when sticking out of your prey.

    Enviroments The enviroments are very dark and gritty for the most part which I really enjoyed, and there was quite a lot of tension and atmosphere that really impressed me. You will be playing through caves and tombs, but also through shipwrecks and crashed aircraft ranging from recent to world war 2 era, all on a tropical Japanese themed island.

    Cons -

    Side Characters
    - Most of the characters that the developers obviously want you to care about, cheif amongst which being Sam (who is no exception to the rule) are bland and one dimensional. This isn't helped by the fact that the game will constantly push you outside of the group and force you along by yourself, further distancing you from the characters.

    Difficulty
    - Even on hard difficulty I had little to no problems dispatching massive hordes of enemies either through stealth or by shooting them in the face. This did severly limit my enjoyment of the game. The game is made easier by the fact that you will quite literaly never run out of ammo. I found myself actualy deliberatly not picking up ammo crates to limit myself in combat and I still didn't struggle.

    Linear Gameplay
    - The game is very linear. It pushes you in a certain direction whilst attempting (rather poorly) to disguise this by providing multiple ways to get to your destination. The only redeeming factor here is that there are many many collectibles to find and salvage to get, so there is reason to explore the levels more fully.

    QTEs
    - If you don't like QTEs be warned this game is FULL of them. I don't mind them myself though it is annoying to instantly die because you didn't press a button at the correct time. More annoying is the fact that the prompts that appear don't tell you which button to press. ie. a symbol of a hand will flash up, which means you need to press 'E', a symbol of an exclamation mark means 'F' etc. It would have been much better to just show the letter the game wants you to press.

    Conclusion -
    Overall this is a good cinematic game with great storytelling and character progression. The game is very linear and is peppered with QTEs, but has good level design and intreaging enviroments and puzzles. If you don't mind playing linear games then I would wholeheartedly recommend this game. If however you hate the very notion, then stay clear.    … Expand
  31. GAGMR
    Oct 19, 2016
    7
    This game treats you like you're an idiot, even on the hard setting of which I beat it on without dying more than a few times. It holds your hand & does almost everything for you, from sneaking to cover. Everything is automated. I wouldn't be surprised if the game didn't have a hidden aim assist because headshots are incredibly easy to get. I think I got more headshots in this gameThis game treats you like you're an idiot, even on the hard setting of which I beat it on without dying more than a few times. It holds your hand & does almost everything for you, from sneaking to cover. Everything is automated. I wouldn't be surprised if the game didn't have a hidden aim assist because headshots are incredibly easy to get. I think I got more headshots in this game than any other game I've ever played.

    The game isn't unfun, though, even if it thinks I'm a mouth breather. The story keeps you playing through it & it's pretty good overall. Some moments are down right stupifying, though. Like, the part where Lara saves her friends by EXPLODING them to safety. I wish I was joking honestly, as it's the absolute dumbest part in the entire game.

    The graphics are fricking gorgeous & the game is optimized incredibly well for how much detail was put into it. I have an old 1GB 5670 & I was running at a smooth 60fps on high, albeit 720 resolution. Just don't turn on the hair physics unless you have a top of the line machine cause it kills the FPS like no tomorrow.

    Dunno why this is called "Tomb Raider" either as there are only about 5 tombs in the whole game, most of which are solved with one puzzle in about 30 seconds. It's more like "Uncharted: Featuring Lara Croft". There are no real tombs or puzzles or anything that any child couldn't solve. The game is basically for babies, but it's a fun game for babies with blood, guts & head explosions. Just don't take anything too seriously & you'll probably have a good time.    … Expand
  32. Orctownorc
    Aug 24, 2013
    5
    Agree strongly with the negative reviews. This game is a MESS of QTEs, narrow, linear levels and mediocre writing pretending to tell a deep story. The whole thing has a lot of potential, and it may get good towards the end. Who knows? I got sick of the quick-time crap pretty fast and went on to play Farcry 3, which was about 1000X better.

    THE GROT REVIEW CRITERIA: After a long time    Agree strongly with the negative reviews. This game is a MESS of QTEs, narrow, linear levels and mediocre writing pretending to tell a deep story. The whole thing has a lot of potential, and it may get good towards the end. Who knows? I got sick of the quick-time crap pretty fast and went on to play Farcry 3, which was about 1000X better.

    THE GROT REVIEW CRITERIA: After a long time writing reviews like an anus, think its time to set a few bad habits straight: Stop insulting designers. Show some respect for the design process and getting games in circulation. Hence (1) No Red scores. (2) Game scores as follows: Bad Game 5/10. Poor Game 6/10. Mediocre Game: 7/10. Good Game 8/10. Great game 9/10. Stella Game 10/10. To get 10/10 it must be a game that can be (theoretically) play-able for 1000+ hours. Not only great but near endless fun. Games may be bad or poor but making them should earn respect. Thus even the worst POS will still be a 5/10. 0/10 no longer exists in my vocabulary. Yellow is the new red. For the sake of accountability: you can reply if needed: Orctowngrot: Tim Rawlins: timtimjp@yahoo.com    … Expand
  33. Sh8de
    Mar 5, 2013
    7
    Game is decent especially after the first hour is over with but my only big gripe is this game seems to favor AMD rigs. I have a 690 and I have had crashes constantly and really inconsistent frame rate dips. When the game runs it does run wonderfully but it seems to have a lot of bugs as of now. If you do have a NVIDIA gpu don't even bother turning on TressFX no matter what GPU you have itGame is decent especially after the first hour is over with but my only big gripe is this game seems to favor AMD rigs. I have a 690 and I have had crashes constantly and really inconsistent frame rate dips. When the game runs it does run wonderfully but it seems to have a lot of bugs as of now. If you do have a NVIDIA gpu don't even bother turning on TressFX no matter what GPU you have it will murder your framerate. I'm about 5 hours in though and I am enjoying it.… Expand
  34. Duskspark
    Mar 11, 2013
    7
    Even though the visuals and gameplay are exquisite, Tomb Raider's voiceacting sometimes feels a bit too much. Lara always thinks out loud, and almost every single line she says ends in a higher or lower tone. The beauty of the voiceacting however is when you find relics surprisingly, that's where Lara's voice really stands above many other games.
  35. Skavenger0
    Mar 6, 2013
    7
    I really, really want to give this more that a 7 but can't quite bring myself to do it. The story, graphics and puzzles are excellent. For me there are 2 things that keep this off the 10 spot. Firstly. The quick-time events are awful, clumsy and extremely un-intuitive. I like the little ones if Lara slips while climbing but the major ones are just irritating.

    Secondly. The game tries    I really, really want to give this more that a 7 but can't quite bring myself to do it. The story, graphics and puzzles are excellent. For me there are 2 things that keep this off the 10 spot. Firstly. The quick-time events are awful, clumsy and extremely un-intuitive. I like the little ones if Lara slips while climbing but the major ones are just irritating.

    Secondly. The game tries not to be linear and encourage exploration but the map and navigation system needs improving and the objective view makes the puzzles a little too easy. It changes a puzzle from working out what to do. To working out how you are supposed to interact with the highlighted object.

    Good Game, worth getting but not the GOTY I was hoping for.

    - limited co-op options let it down aswel but I don't think that should effect the rating.    … Expand
  36. Stealthgear
    May 31, 2013
    5
    This game is a generic Japanese-style survival horror created for an imagined world market. Lara Croft is not really in the game, as this one has nothing to do with what makes her Lara (attitude, weapons, and James Bond style adventure). The character doesn't act like Lara and barely looks like her. Plenty of cutscenes interrupt the gameplay. Grostesque and bland environments are litteredThis game is a generic Japanese-style survival horror created for an imagined world market. Lara Croft is not really in the game, as this one has nothing to do with what makes her Lara (attitude, weapons, and James Bond style adventure). The character doesn't act like Lara and barely looks like her. Plenty of cutscenes interrupt the gameplay. Grostesque and bland environments are littered with junk, al-la Silent Hill. You can navigate the first areas holding down a single key. For long time fans of Lara, this is NOT a must buy. While not as crummy as TR2, I can say that the Japanese Square Enix ruined the series. TR: Legend, Anniversary, and the original game for the playstation are still what Lara Croft should be. This one is rebooted crap! The controls are ok, but compared to other 3d survival games, this one misses the mark, or is barely fun. Not a Tomb Raider game.… Expand
  37. nirax
    Mar 8, 2013
    7
    the good news is: the reboot of the series is generally far better than expected. combat is cool, story is cool, the character is believable (although empathizing more on the survival part rather than going full killer after 30 min would have been the better bet)

    one thing that doesnt works out AT ALL are those STUPID QUICK TIME EVENTS which you cant even turn off. man its like a plague    the good news is: the reboot of the series is generally far better than expected. combat is cool, story is cool, the character is believable (although empathizing more on the survival part rather than going full killer after 30 min would have been the better bet)

    one thing that doesnt works out AT ALL are those STUPID QUICK TIME EVENTS which you cant even turn off. man its like a plague since every designer and his mother thinks to involve the player in some kind of press this do this and jump around in your room stuff.
    it totally breaks immersion. On PC it doesnt even tells you what to press (you have symbols which you can look up what exactly they mean) and generally it feels totally repeatedly and unsatisfying to die over and over from QTEs. too bad i didnt read all of the reviews. would i have known that i wouldnt have bought it. at least i wont endorse the game to any of my friends.

    If you want to annoy ppl with QTEs make them optional. bah    … Expand
  38. Cell1e
    Dec 26, 2013
    7
    Buggy quick time events spoiled much of this game for me. I also didn't like the very dark atmosphere. Did anyone think it strange how many dead bodies there were lying about decomposing in massive piles in various locations? I mean how logical is it that there must have been tens of thousands of people killed and decomposing but how can this be? A remote desert island that an occasionalBuggy quick time events spoiled much of this game for me. I also didn't like the very dark atmosphere. Did anyone think it strange how many dead bodies there were lying about decomposing in massive piles in various locations? I mean how logical is it that there must have been tens of thousands of people killed and decomposing but how can this be? A remote desert island that an occasional ship or plane crashes into? I think the dead and decomposing bodies were put there to satisfy the blood lust of teenagers who might be enticed into the tomb raider franchise. Its a shame really because there was much I enjoyed about the game, I really felt invested in my Lara and her struggle to survive and keep her buddies safe. I enjoyed the exploration and I liked the combat. But I did find the immersion was broken by the bugged quick time events and the over use of dead and decomposing bodies.… Expand
  39. Sablcious
    Feb 1, 2014
    5
    I nice-looking but inordinately shallow third-person adventure game / 'platformer' (*term used loosely). The platforming in the game is very disappointing, even if it weren't a TR game. The game suffers from the infamous modern day video gaming cancer known as "accessibility". Due to the shallow, hand held environment traversal, the game boils down to little more than linear progressionI nice-looking but inordinately shallow third-person adventure game / 'platformer' (*term used loosely). The platforming in the game is very disappointing, even if it weren't a TR game. The game suffers from the infamous modern day video gaming cancer known as "accessibility". Due to the shallow, hand held environment traversal, the game boils down to little more than linear progression through what's meant to be an open world environ, with ho hum shooting segments interspersed throughout. The fully automated cover system destroys any semblance of tension, as it enters cover whenever an enemy is in the vicinity; irrespective of whether they're within the player's view or not. The game is also hampered by overuse of the dreaded 'QTE's' and too many cut-scenes. The violence depicted in said cut-scenes is also way overkill for the TR franchise -- patently done in order to attract a broader [American] crowd. If you want to play Tomb Raider for what made it a fan favourite - platforming, puzzles and exploration - don't play this 'junk food' title. Stick to early Lara Croft adventures. For Tomb Raider 2013 is little more than one cut-scene followed by another linear TPS segment until the end credits. (NB: I did not play the online-only, arena-based mutiplayer component of the game due to the scathing reviews it received.)… Expand
  40. Surg3on
    Dec 27, 2013
    7
    This is a good game but not a GREAT game. the reason being that you are lead by your nose though the whole adventure. You never have to do much thinking yourself as the puzzles are extremely basic and all ledges/climbable walls stick out like a sore thumb pulling you out of the game. Bright white rope that you can attach to, bright white ledges just bring home that you are in a GAME not aThis is a good game but not a GREAT game. the reason being that you are lead by your nose though the whole adventure. You never have to do much thinking yourself as the puzzles are extremely basic and all ledges/climbable walls stick out like a sore thumb pulling you out of the game. Bright white rope that you can attach to, bright white ledges just bring home that you are in a GAME not a 'world'. It feels a lot like Darksiders actually.

    My last point is there really isn't much tomb raiding going on here. The tombs are all single room puzzles and are generally quite basic. A real pity that developers can't throw some more difficult stuff into the optional tombs.

    Luckily the plot and desire to see what happens should get you through the game. The beginning and end are very good. its just the middle that suffers from "you are an idiot and we don't trust you to play the game yourself" syndrome.    … Expand
  41. RampantAndroid
    Apr 30, 2013
    7
    I'm only a couple of hours in to the game, so I may need to revise this over time, but here goes.

    This game...does have a lot to like. Great graphics, though those don't make or ruin a game really. They are however glitchy on nVidia 600 series cards look up the kaleidoscope bug. Story wise, it's relatively well done. You're shipwrecked and need to get off the island. You're in a tomb    I'm only a couple of hours in to the game, so I may need to revise this over time, but here goes.

    This game...does have a lot to like. Great graphics, though those don't make or ruin a game really. They are however glitchy on nVidia 600 series cards look up the kaleidoscope bug.

    Story wise, it's relatively well done. You're shipwrecked and need to get off the island. You're in a tomb raider game, so expect supernatural stuff to happen. No surprise, if you're OK with Indiana Jones, you're OK with this IMO.

    Acting: well done. Lara's acting is the best, and she seems like a believable character. She never really is OK with killing, which is a nice element.

    Redesign: Yeah, it's a new Lara, not as well endowed, but the difference is she is a believable character. Frankly, I like the new visual design they gave her. I like the fact we're seeing her kill for the first time, that she doesn't like it, that she struggles. That she's human.

    Gameplay: Well, here it gets a little dicey. Is it fun? Sure. Platforming is a little simple (jump, you'll make it.) The bow and gun are fun I especially like the bow. Silent kills work (bow shot, or strangling.) You can try to play the game like hitman, if you so wish.

    Movement is fine, except early on I would be going around thinking "there might be an enemy here, I should walk and not run" until I realized that the game would make me crouch if I needed to, walk slowly when someone was near. It removes the surprise from the game, it makes it TOO easy. One complaint though is that you're guided too much just when walking. Walking along a cliff that turns to the left? Don't worry about holding down the A key to go to the left, just hold W to walk forward, you follow the ledge automatically. Takes the fun out of the game.

    Combat is alright, like I said before the gun and bow work. It's cover based though, so again it's simplified.

    The AI is...stupid. They pop up to let you get a shot off quickly. The only challenge is timing how long you can hold an arrow taught on the bow.

    Quick Time Events (QTEs) and cut scenes. Yeah. They're there. Sometimes I go into a cutscene and don't know it and am left thinking "no, Lara. To the left! LEFT! Oh, wait...I'm not in control right now." Sometimes I don't know when I'm meant to take over. On the QTEs, I had to replay a scene where a russian guy can't decide if he wants to rape or strangle you. (knee him, bite ear, shoot, mash f key, mash e key, he's dead.) They don't make it explicitly known what key to mash all the time, so I start mashing everything. It's awful. There aren't TOO many of these. So far.

    All in all, I like the game so far. I can see myself replaying it. Will it make best of 2013 for me? No. But it's worth the money to me, I think. I like the redesign of Lara and the re-imagining. I hope Square keeps going, and learns from the mistakes in this game.    … Expand
  42. Adel2Mass
    Apr 3, 2013
    7
    Amazing graphics. Good gameplay. So many bugs though (Unplayable in some areas even after lowering it to normal settings). I can't give it more than 7 score.
  43. Penther
    Mar 24, 2013
    7
    Tomb Raider is becoming more a movie than a game. Compared to some of the previous episodes, this reboot is a good thing, but it comes with the defects of many AAA these times. Short video sequences are a good thing for ambiance, but it ruins the rrythm, you're always in the middle of playing when suddenly, "oh i've gotta wait for the end of this cinematics to continue what i was doing".Tomb Raider is becoming more a movie than a game. Compared to some of the previous episodes, this reboot is a good thing, but it comes with the defects of many AAA these times. Short video sequences are a good thing for ambiance, but it ruins the rrythm, you're always in the middle of playing when suddenly, "oh i've gotta wait for the end of this cinematics to continue what i was doing". QTEs are, as always, useless and boring, especially during the first hours of the game. Some animations also ruin the rythm by being too long too often (burning a net with materials, opening boxes). And difficulty is pretty low, for foghting sequences (if you aim with your mouse, you'll headshot most of the ennemies very easily). or for puzzles/exploration (always pretty obvious).
    Beside these defects the game is pleasant, graphics are really nice, and controls are good (some multi-platforms games can't be played without a pad, that's not the case here).
    In the end, I can see a lot of defects, not a lot of qualities, but I took pleasure playing it, that's the most important thing, but it does not make it a great game, only a good one.    … Expand
  44. Muuvinki
    Jul 17, 2013
    7
    This game is average at the most, nice going from game developers to make action & adventure game for casuals. I finished this on hardest difficulty and even though it was suppose to be hard it really wasn't at all. Enemy AI is stupid and even though they are going for cover from you they still leave themselves vulnerable for headshots and easy kills. All these climbing and small puzzleThis game is average at the most, nice going from game developers to make action & adventure game for casuals. I finished this on hardest difficulty and even though it was suppose to be hard it really wasn't at all. Enemy AI is stupid and even though they are going for cover from you they still leave themselves vulnerable for headshots and easy kills. All these climbing and small puzzle things that this game contains are outright boring and don't serve any other purpose than leveling up Lara to get some more skillpoints. Skillpoint system is old and doesn't bring anything new to the gaming. Developers really need to start thinking about new possibilities to improve these kinda games.… Expand
  45. kotgaf
    Mar 11, 2013
    5
    The biggest disadvantage of this game is childish difficult. Really, "hard" level it's very easy. No challenge at all.
    Executions of enemies gave my the most fun of the game. Besides that, I found nothing interesting for myself.
  46. TadejVig
    Mar 25, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I can't help it but compare this to the Resident Evil 6. I don't get it how the new Tomb Raider, a QTE fest game that destroyed its fanbase with over the top emphasis on bland mediocre combat, "puzzles" that are offensive to my intelligence and clunky platforming/lol so epic action sequences is so highly praised while Resident Evil 6, a QTE fest game that destroyed its fan base with over the top emphasis on bland mediocre combat, "puzzles" that are offensive to my intelligence and clunky platforming/lol so epic action sequences is considered VERY bad by so many reviewers and players.
    I would understand if the reviewers would be bought but the players act the same way (RE6 has somewhere around 5 on metacritic user score, Tomb Raider has freaking 8.6). I'm not saying that Resident Evil 6 is a great game, I'm just saying that both game should be lower as they are, especially Tomb Raider which is a reboot that changed most of the things we love about the series (ACTUAL exploring, solving grand mechanical puzzles for 1 hour straight, little action and most of it with animals, great platforming, instead we got around 6 two minute puzzles, fast "keep pressing a direction and she'll do the platforming for you and about 70% of the game at least are action sequences where you have to shoot at people in an unresponsive, non-satisfying combat). Resident Evil 6 at least has a decent lenght and didn't change much from the action roots of RE5, yet they still bash it for that. So Tomb Raider would be a much better game if it did its own thing, that is focus on survival (horror) elements, for example the time when you go into the wolf cave or fall into the river of blood, or if you had to hunt to eat and cure yourself (like in MGS3 Snake Eater), and of course focus on grand puzzles again then the game would have an identity of its own and wouldn't just be a bland Uncharted clone.

    I hope this devs don't go back to their Legacy of Kain they would just completely ruin it.    … Expand
  47. Tytos
    May 2, 2013
    7
    Best adventure of the last years, even if the story is rushed and there is too much action for old fans of the series, the game manages to entertain, however the dlc-policy is a joke.
  48. fullfrost
    Mar 6, 2013
    7
    The game is pretty decent. Starts off because of the all the quick time events. If you're playing this on the PC, you may have a hard time with the QTEs because the letter of the buttons don't appear. Press E when the comes up and F when the appears. 8-Graphics on the HD 7970 looks good and TressFX hair is amazing. 7-Game play is average for a 3rd person shooter. 9-Controls are solid.The game is pretty decent. Starts off because of the all the quick time events. If you're playing this on the PC, you may have a hard time with the QTEs because the letter of the buttons don't appear. Press E when the comes up and F when the appears. 8-Graphics on the HD 7970 looks good and TressFX hair is amazing. 7-Game play is average for a 3rd person shooter. 9-Controls are solid. 6-Story is meh.
    7-Music is average

    Game plays exactly like Uncharted 1-3, without the humor.    … Expand
  49. Net
    Mar 8, 2013
    6
    I would like to love this game but I just can not. There are some pros, the game looks great, but it is too 'console-like' for me. I remember old Tomb Raiders and they were much more PC games imho. They had quick save and many save slots (at the time I thought that there is too few of them and that there should be at least one save slot per level). In new Tomb Raider there are only 3 saveI would like to love this game but I just can not. There are some pros, the game looks great, but it is too 'console-like' for me. I remember old Tomb Raiders and they were much more PC games imho. They had quick save and many save slots (at the time I thought that there is too few of them and that there should be at least one save slot per level). In new Tomb Raider there are only 3 save slots as far as I can see. Not much if you ask me, it happened to me few times that save file was corrupted and I am afraid of that in games with few save slots. Another major cons for me are DLCs, multiplayer, achievements I just do not like them), DRM-Steam (I know some people do not mind, but I prefer my games DRM-free). And of course the biggest con of all QTEs. Stealth kill in many games is just one key, but in the new TR you have to press F and then A&D repeatedly...It is like playing Guitar Hero. Also there are no real puzzles or anything like that, the game helps player too much. There is too much of combat and almost none raiding of tombs.
    I really do not like QTEs, in older Tomb Raiders there were traps and you had to crouch or jump over them but there was no flashing key on the monitor, it is too immersion-breaking for me.

    Other than that I like the game, new Lara looks great, graphics are nice, voiceacting is great, story is like LOST:) I would give probably more if it was not named Tomb Raider. And much more if it was named Tomb Raider but instead of QTEs and cutscenes there was more climbing on the mountains and raiding tombs...    … Expand
  50. n47y
    Mar 9, 2013
    5
    Its a attractive game, can entertain for hours, but don't have... essence ...and it's a easy game.
    I miss the real Lara
  51. Animal210
    Mar 19, 2013
    6
    When this game is good it is awesome but when it's not it is so frustrating you will want to take a hammer to your PC. The game is spoilt but the QTE sequence which just do not work on A PC (or full stop in my opinion) there is no skill to playing these segments of the game just blind luck which means you end up playing them over and over and over until you hit the keys in the rightWhen this game is good it is awesome but when it's not it is so frustrating you will want to take a hammer to your PC. The game is spoilt but the QTE sequence which just do not work on A PC (or full stop in my opinion) there is no skill to playing these segments of the game just blind luck which means you end up playing them over and over and over until you hit the keys in the right order. Away from these sections the game is difficult to fault graphics are excellent and the game feels truly immersing but too often it feels like the game is playing you and not you playing the game.… Expand
  52. xTobyMc
    Apr 25, 2014
    6
    Things I like about the game:
    Graphically on PC the game looks and feels great. I run my games at 2560x1440 resolution and I was slightly worried frame rate might be an issue in a game like this, however, the game was very well optimised and had good FPS throughout. The soundtracks and typical Tomb Raider theme was very noticeable and it's good to see that they haven't lost the classic    Things I like about the game:
    Graphically on PC the game looks and feels great. I run my games at 2560x1440 resolution and I was slightly worried frame rate might be an issue in a game like this, however, the game was very well optimised and had good FPS throughout. The soundtracks and typical Tomb Raider theme was very noticeable and it's good to see that they haven't lost the classic gameplay that previous Tomb Raider games had. I also enjoyed the choice of weaponry (especially the bow) and overall the storyline was pretty good.

    Things I dislike about the game:
    Firstly, the AI are completely stupid. Throughout the game you are completely bombarded by waves of enemies which come in groups of around 7-15 people at a time. The fact that Lara Croft doesn't get killed by the obviously overwhelming number of enemies is beyond me. All the AI seem to do is run at you, whilst a few archers sit back and pop in and out of cover. Enemies are predictable and far too easy to kill. I would have preferred less enemies with harder difficulties. It also seems stupid how enemies without armour require multiple bullets to die, the damage settings in this game seem completely wrong. The next thing I dislike is the voice acting. Lara Croft sounded somewhat awkward throughout the game. I'm British myself and so I understand the British accent very well. There was something about Lara that was almost cheesy in a way. For example, she would often talk to herself to give you clues as to what to do next, something nobody would do. In addition, she seems a bit too confident when in combat. Shouting things like "You won't get me this time!" sounds really corny and any human alive (after what she's been through) would be exhausted and probably a lot more afraid of countless enemies with fire grenades and guns/bows running at you. I also found the game in general to be extremely repetitive. I was rushing through the story avoiding hidden loots and in-game secrets just so I could get the game done and dusted. After a few hours I was bored of the linear temples and climbing obstacles, it just seemed that every time Lara got near an exit, the exit would stupidly explode or something meaning you have to take an alternative route which is another 10 minutes of puzzles and rope climbing...

    The game was fun at times, but unfortunately not my cup of tea.    … Expand
  53. JLX
    Mar 28, 2013
    7
    tl;dr: It's a console port of style over substance and leaves out the signature Tomb Raider feel. It's beautiful with remarkably dull to frustrating game play. One more re-skinned console action game.

    The game is beautiful. "TressFX" is actually a nice change from the plastic hair helmets. The gritty edge to this re-imagined Lara is also a welcome change. What ISN'T nice is that    tl;dr: It's a console port of style over substance and leaves out the signature Tomb Raider feel. It's beautiful with remarkably dull to frustrating game play. One more re-skinned console action game.

    The game is beautiful. "TressFX" is actually a nice change from the plastic hair helmets. The gritty edge to this re-imagined Lara is also a welcome change.

    What ISN'T nice is that the core of what made Tomb Raider games fun is largely gone. The wonderful acrobatic puzzles and free roaming is basically gone. It's more of an adventure game where you need to jump through hoops to see the next sequence and move the story forward. It is also obviously a console port (eg: "Mash these buttons to fight" or "Press X" then sit back and watch the show...) which is highly disappointing at best and maddening at worst!

    While I'm curious to watch the wonderful graphics and see if there is a worthwhile story to be told, I'm already at a point where I have to jump through hoops and find just the right combo of keys to hit in the right order to win a fight. And the fight just starts over and over until I learn by trial and error what the combo is. So, it's likely I won't bother finishing.

    One more uninspired style over substance console port. If you like console style games, you'll probably like it but I'd suggest buying the console version and using the controller, etc. For PC users, don't be lured by the pretty graphics give it a miss.    … Expand
  54. gun21000
    Apr 25, 2013
    6
    Yes, the graphics are amazing, voice acting is beyond perfect, the story is good, but not impressive. But why in the world its a "Survival" game when you find ammo literally everywhere, Lara pulls out weapons out of her ass, stealth in this game is none, enemy can see you through walls. Collectibles are another story: why does Lara need to light every Buddha statue when she sees it?!Yes, the graphics are amazing, voice acting is beyond perfect, the story is good, but not impressive. But why in the world its a "Survival" game when you find ammo literally everywhere, Lara pulls out weapons out of her ass, stealth in this game is none, enemy can see you through walls. Collectibles are another story: why does Lara need to light every Buddha statue when she sees it?! Doesn't that give away your position to enemies? Why does Lara pick up every artifact she can find? I mean, she is surviving not looking for treasure and where she puts them? Up her ass?! The ending was a little bit disappointing because every character mention a human being throughout the game, but do you get to fight it? NO! Of course not! You fight the same boss twice! TWICE! Overall the game is average.… Expand
  55. dlddr
    Sep 10, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is quite reminiscent of Hitman Absolution. It was gonna be an amazing sequel (or a reboot in this game's case) that would send an already amazing series to further heights.
    However, real game fell quite short of the expectations.
    Just like Hitman Absolution, the Tomb Raider is rendered beautifully. Many sceneries look as if they came out of a big budgeted movie. I was also quite amazed with the new TressFX that made Lara's hair look like oiled strands from straw brooms.

    Unfortunately, similarities with Hitman Absolution do not end there.
    Hitman Absolution was criticized by long time fans due to the game playing more like Splinter Cell than a Hitman game. Tomb Raider has an endless supply of QTEs and some of these can be downright frustrating. Also, the numerous cut-scenes take control away from players. These cut-scenes are so many that after a while, you begin to see Tomb Raider more as an interactive story rather than a game.
    Tomb Raider does have few puzzles but other than one puzzle involving wind, nothing was all that memorable or satisfying to solve.
    Characters, other than Lara, are very shallow and very unmemorable. There's no bond between those side characters and the player. So when a certain character sacrifices himself for Lara and Lara gets upset, player feels nothing for that character and wonders just who the h*ll he was.

    This game could've been great and on par with Uncharted series. However, it seems the dev were more focused on aspects of the game that would invite hype rather than constructing a solid game. This was supposed to be a reboot that allowed veterans and new players to connect with Lara on an emotional level but this was made difficult by too many cut-scenes, lack of narrative and straying away from what made original series quite special.    … Expand
  56. braindamage
    Jan 17, 2015
    7
    the story play out like a interactive movie, the graphics on pc even at highest setting were dated, the combat mechanics are like your average action game with god like ai that will know where you are even if they should'nt , some of the puzzles were frustrating(due to dated graphic's), I picked this up for 5 bucks on a steam sale and I cant complain really , the dev really poured theirthe story play out like a interactive movie, the graphics on pc even at highest setting were dated, the combat mechanics are like your average action game with god like ai that will know where you are even if they should'nt , some of the puzzles were frustrating(due to dated graphic's), I picked this up for 5 bucks on a steam sale and I cant complain really , the dev really poured their and soul into the game I commend them for that, so the story is good, , the rest im sorta mixed on though… Expand
  57. crusader8
    Feb 3, 2014
    5
    If you want a ~10 hours long interactive movie, which has average story and enough explosion to make even Michael Bay satisfied, this is your title.
    If you want to play a game which has more game play elements than a platformer from the '90s you should skip Tomb Raider (or wait for a sale).
  58. EddieHollywood
    May 13, 2022
    5
    It played in 2022 for ~3 hours - it seems like an absolutely mediocre product with no distinct features, the game hasn't aged well that's for sure
    I wouldn't want to waste my time on something like this, quite surprised that it has such a high rating here.
  59. Kostas_Spirou
    Jul 17, 2022
    7
    A dark and brutal tale of a lone survivor.
    This is a fascinating Tomb Raider origin story, even though I was never really interested in these games, I now consider myself a fan of the Tomb Raider franchise.
    The gameplay is very good, many tools to use and weaponry to unlock, combat is fast and fluid, climbing is fun and the puzzles are decent. The Tombs are cool for the most part but    A dark and brutal tale of a lone survivor.
    This is a fascinating Tomb Raider origin story, even though I was never really interested in these games, I now consider myself a fan of the Tomb Raider franchise.

    The gameplay is very good, many tools to use and weaponry to unlock, combat is fast and fluid, climbing is fun and the puzzles are decent.

    The Tombs are cool for the most part but unfortunately there aren't many of them. However, there are some open world elements, you can explore the island for secrets and collectibles, which I enjoyed.

    Now the plot, it's just mediocre. It has some fantastic action-oriented moments, but for most of the time I didn't find myself attached to the story or the characters, and I didn't like the main villain.

    Also there are way too many Quick Time Events, and combined with the linear main story, there's no replay-ability, some sections are straight up exhausting to go through.

    Lara Croft carries this game, she is a great female protagonist and goes though some messed up things, and she's easily the highlight of the game.

    Final Rating: "Good" ~ 7/10.    … Expand
  60. mook
    Apr 3, 2013
    6
    There's nothing especially wrong with Tomb Raider. The team have done an admirable job rebuilding the Lara Croft character to be less the vacuous masturbatory aid she has been in the previous games and more a strong-willed female with a story to tell. Still there's not a lot that's different about this game either. The game mechanics are functional, the island everything takes place onThere's nothing especially wrong with Tomb Raider. The team have done an admirable job rebuilding the Lara Croft character to be less the vacuous masturbatory aid she has been in the previous games and more a strong-willed female with a story to tell. Still there's not a lot that's different about this game either. The game mechanics are functional, the island everything takes place on is... well, it's monotonous. It feels like you're progressing through the same Jungle=>Cliff=>Temple=>Cliff=>Jungle settings all the way through the game. The opponents you encounter are limited (Wolf, 2 types of human, samurai thing, bigger samurai thing) which adds to the repetitive feel of the game. There is very little variation here, by the time the game finished I was just glad to stop playing, I was thoroughly bored.… Expand
  61. poloman
    Jun 9, 2013
    6
    A well polished mediocre experience all around. Whether you enjoy shooters, puzzles, or a good story, you will be uninspired all around.

    I wasn't as annoyed by the various quick time events as some, mainly because they were not difficult but I would have rather just watched a movie in those sequences and enjoyed the visuals than missing those parts to hit a couple of keys at the right    A well polished mediocre experience all around. Whether you enjoy shooters, puzzles, or a good story, you will be uninspired all around.

    I wasn't as annoyed by the various quick time events as some, mainly because they were not difficult but I would have rather just watched a movie in those sequences and enjoyed the visuals than missing those parts to hit a couple of keys at the right time and pretending I was taking part in some way.

    It is still worth a run through but wait until it is on sale for $15 or less. I waited until it was on sale for $29 and should have waited longer. The content was way to short for the original asking price. Maybe 12-15 hours if you complete all side content.    … Expand
  62. Morring
    Apr 7, 2013
    6
    I believe this game has some major problems. First things first: this is not a Tomb Raider game. Not just because this is a reboot. That would be fine. Problem is, this game has a completely different idea behind it. The previous games were about exploration, a sense of danger and wonder, and they played it straight: Lara was a female Indiana Jones able to walk in and out of every sort ofI believe this game has some major problems. First things first: this is not a Tomb Raider game. Not just because this is a reboot. That would be fine. Problem is, this game has a completely different idea behind it. The previous games were about exploration, a sense of danger and wonder, and they played it straight: Lara was a female Indiana Jones able to walk in and out of every sort of adventure, and you got the sense that she, in fact, did that every day. The necessary tension to keep the game interesting came from the gameplay: limited life, limited ammo, scarce ammunition for most weapons. The puzzles were interesting and challenging, set in beautiful environments.
    Some of these elements kind of survive in this reboot, some do not. The puzzles are absolutely, boringly easy, and you also get an "highlight the objects I need" function, just in case. Some environments are still noteworthy, but as good as the graphics may be they fail to reach the same charisma of games like "the last revelation" or the recent remake of the original, and not even the platform elements remain intact. The "tombs" look like they were thrown in at the last moment just to be consistent with the name, and they usually contain one room with a single easy puzzle and a box. That's it. Now, I remember those challenging times when I did a few too many mistakes and kept going on, only to find myself with 1/4 of my life and 0 medkits in the old games. And getting past those moments was a rewarding experience. Now there is ammo everywhere and life regenerates (STOP TAKING THE GAME OUT OF MY GAMES). While the previous games created tension trough gameplay, this game tries to create tension mostly trough narrative. This is another mistake, as games are not supposed to be movies, but it could still work. However, they didn't play that right. If you want to create tension trough narrative, then the *spectator* (which should be a player, amirait?) should feel that there is something at stake, e.g. Lara's life. But Lara keeps being pierced, falling, and getting her feet in a bear trap, and falling, beaten, and then she just gets up and keeps on going! If you can see the main character basically brushing off almost everything that happens to her, then the tension is gone, no matter how much blood you want to show. Being too violent in this case spoils the effect, working against suspension of disbelief when the character just keeps on going. Later on in the game she is suddenly in need of medical assistance (even tough having been trough much worse), but the problem is solved is such an hasty way to make it as believable as the good ol insta-heal kits. But we accepted those kits in terms of gameplay, because it was in fact a different genre! Now, there were two road they could have taken: either go with the original formula, a female indy with over the top abilities we just take for granted, which does happily allow for much less realism, or a girl with little or no training except an archeology PhD that learns and refines her skills on the ground, forced to survive in a realistic and unforgiving environment. You would see her getting around clumsily at fist and gaining confidence trough her adventure. They obviously tried the latter approach, but excessive violence and a disempowered gamplay takes this game off the mark, not to mention how the added realism makes all the silly an unrealistic elements stand out, and there is very little character progression. Shes' already awesome to begin with, she just looks more insecure, again spoiling the tension. There is nothing at stake. Those two approaches are very different and you can't apply them both at the same time.
    Oh, I almost forgot: quick time events. Quick time events are a stupid excuse to make a long cinematic look like you're still interacting with a videogame. I'm fine with long cinematics, I hate "press E very fast to make the cinematic go on!!!". The number of too many QTE in your game is 1.
    It's not an exceedingly bad game tough, by all means buy it if you find a copy under 5 bucks, as there is much, much worse out there, but even if you're fine with it not being actually a tomb raider game, this is still a missed occasion.    … Expand
  63. dondon
    May 18, 2013
    7
    Let's get some of the obvious out of the way. The game is beautiful, graphic and art wise, the hair physics is incredible if your computer can handle the highest settings. Sound and the music set the mood for the game perfectly. The new cover system is the most impressive of the whole game. Lara will automatically crouch down near or stand up depending on the cover you intend to use. ThisLet's get some of the obvious out of the way. The game is beautiful, graphic and art wise, the hair physics is incredible if your computer can handle the highest settings. Sound and the music set the mood for the game perfectly. The new cover system is the most impressive of the whole game. Lara will automatically crouch down near or stand up depending on the cover you intend to use. This was such a breath of fresh air since I always hated that stick to the wall mechanic other TPS have. There are four weapon slots, on hard mode I did need to switch between at least three of those slots to survive. Enemies do try to flush you out of cover throwing Molotov 's or charging you. There are animals in the game that you can hunt for extra XP. They have no other purpose, don't expect to have a meter showing how hungry you are or use the skin of animals for other purposes. QTE's plaque the first hour or two of the game. On the PC, devs fail to tell you beforehand what button correlates with which QTE icon. This game is very linear, only reason to explore would be to obtain all the relics, documents, GPS caches, tombs, along with the in-game challenges. The tombs are not very mind puzzling like old Tomb Raider games and are incredibly short to do. There is no epic boss fight at the end, it's just littered with QTE's. If you can look past the QTE's this is a great modern day TPS gaming experience.… Expand
  64. JonAM
    Jul 12, 2014
    7
    Not the Tomb Raider game that I was expecting, but since it was more a reboot than a revisiting of the original ideas, maybe turning this game into an Uncharted clone was a fair choice. It still has very good moments where the exploration of the levels is very well performed, but so many combats and annoying quick time events just ruin the rest of the experience. Apart from this, the plotNot the Tomb Raider game that I was expecting, but since it was more a reboot than a revisiting of the original ideas, maybe turning this game into an Uncharted clone was a fair choice. It still has very good moments where the exploration of the levels is very well performed, but so many combats and annoying quick time events just ruin the rest of the experience. Apart from this, the plot is promising at the beginning, but it ends being a bad joke, so don't take this game too seriously.… Expand
  65. GolovA
    Jul 17, 2015
    7
    The game is good, but i'll start with the bad:

    - While the main plot of the game is interesting, albeit hackneyed, its execution - its writing - is lacking any force whatsoever. The characters are bland , unpronounced, and barely developed. The diary pages which Lara finds all throughout the Island are supposed to drive the story and move the plot, but instead they serve as unlinked    The game is good, but i'll start with the bad:

    - While the main plot of the game is interesting, albeit hackneyed, its execution - its writing - is lacking any force whatsoever. The characters are bland , unpronounced, and barely developed. The diary pages which Lara finds all throughout the Island are supposed to drive the story and move the plot, but instead they serve as unlinked distractions, which cohere together but at such a slow and not discrepant speed that they tend to get easily ignored and forgotten.

    - The action scenes are simply a disaster translated from the consoles onto PC's. I had to run through some of them for over a dozen times to complete. Much of the problem was the limited FOV (Field of View) and the very badly executed third-person camera (see below). Lara's deaths in such scenes is gruesome and uncanny. The game was designed by a sadist (see below).

    - Unmanageable third-person removed camera is not only a distraction, but an annoying obstacle. It's stuck to Lara as a bee on a spring, so each time i would move my mouse to see the surroundings (or enemies) while in motion, the obnoxious camera would return to the position it chose, which depending on the scene - is not necessarily static middle back to front. This recalcitrant camera made a game un-enjoyable and impractical - since i had to constantly fight with the angle of view, with no way of disabling the dynamics of the camera. (Once again - a blissful echo of the Console port).

    - The game was designed by a sadist. The morbid dying sequences are something else. But even when Lara does not die, the dynamics of a situation around her will hurt her, and hurt her bad. Just start the game, play for the first 2 minutes, and you will understand what i mean. Well, guess what - it gets worse :) Lara falls, rooftops crumble on her head, she gets burns, she is burned by explosions, knocked down by brutes, etc. - and she looks pretty torn up by the middle of the game. Wow! Wow - this game was designed or directed by a sadist.

    The above things are what makes the game bad, and steers it away from a score above 7. However, there are good things in the game:

    - Main plot, once again, is pretty good, although never fully developed or explored, and Lara's realization that she is on an Island where something controls the weather, and her inability to recognize the WWII subplot, make her a very imperceptive and unintelligent character, as opposed to her description (smart, cunning, intuitive). Really now, when you are looking at a WWII canon, dead soldiers lying around, and reading a diary which explicitly tells you in a German accent "The Russians are coming, we need to move the weather-controlling research away from them" - won't you be able to tie the things together into a Nazi Secret Project Theme? Well, Lara does not - instead she asks us - "What's going on here?!" Oh, come on!

    - Well, ok. Maybe it wasn't as good... :) Anyway, the leveling up system is pretty cool, and keeps the game dynamic but only up until the middle of the game.

    - Voice acting is mostly pretty good too, with just a few exceptions of inability to produce the proper emotion through over-acting and inexperience.

    - Combat sequences are fun, although repetitive.

    - Graphics are pretty good, and actually pretty well optimized for a port (although not completely - such as the low FOV).

    - Exploring is very fun, up until the point where you understand that all the artifacts you find have nothing to do with the story. And the confusion between Chinese and Japanese dynasties does not help the understanding of the whole story.

    Conclusion:
    7/10.
    Good game. 15-20 hours to complete on Normal. I did not play multiplayer. No replay value, unless you are a completionist and want to gain all achievements.    … Expand
  66. arkaram
    Mar 29, 2013
    7
    The game is great, but the story doesnt make sense when we speak of Lara as a girl. Just now she was crying about being weak and then she shoots 100+ enemies doing headshots. Graphically its great. Mechanics is great but the plot is dumb.
  67. sinadoom
    Jan 8, 2014
    7
    Square Enix's rebranding of yet another Eidos franchise uses the same design philosophy as Hitman Absolution. The focus is almost entirely on producing a very high quality title, regardless of innovation or sophistication in level design. The game engine is incredible, offering not only amazing graphics, draw distances and of course, hair, but also realistic destruction, superb controlsSquare Enix's rebranding of yet another Eidos franchise uses the same design philosophy as Hitman Absolution. The focus is almost entirely on producing a very high quality title, regardless of innovation or sophistication in level design. The game engine is incredible, offering not only amazing graphics, draw distances and of course, hair, but also realistic destruction, superb controls and realistic AI. Tomb Raider showcases some of the best practices in game programming and doesn't make any mistakes in this department. From intuitive controls to excellent combat mechanics, including an automated cover system. Although you have to always aim first before firing, the shooter sections are genuinely intense and provide a challenge on the Hard difficulty setting. The platforming mechanics and movement animations are meticulous and fluent. The instincts button is very helpful for identifying objects of significance and hints on what to do and where to go so as to minimise frustration. The checkpoint system is perfect, the ability to fast travel will make for some more enticing replay value and best of all, you are rewarded for exploring. Tomb Raider is an extremely linear game, and everything is scripted with a few (not annoying) QTEs and predictable movie-style cliché cutscenes. However, despite the almost automated progression, Tomb Raider will reward those that take the time to explore the extremely detailed environments and optional tombs with both direct gameplay benefits as well as some more backstory. The upgrade system is simple but not tacked on. You don't NEED to buy anything, and the whole game is very simple unlike most RPGs. There aren't a billion different skills and currency types and meters. Whilst this is preferable for non-RPG players like myself, it does lack depth and it would be nice if there was more player involvement and an opportunity to use the weapons. After all, it is a survival game so it should at least depict this in gameplay. The story and character development is OK but could be a lot better. The multiplayer has an interesting game mode with "Cry for Help", and the progression, weapon balancing, perks etc. are well balanced (minus shotguns, which are underpowered), but the quality is not comparable with that of the single player, with a few bugs and laggy matches aplenty. Overall, Tomb Raider is a true adventure game which tries to appeal to the casual audience. It is the kind of game you recommend to a non-gamer and the emotionally sensitive. Although Tomb Raider is a shining example of game quality and practices regarding collectibles, mechanics etc. and has mainstream appeal, hardcore gamers will find more enjoyment in other titles with greater depth and more gameplay-orientated, player-driven approach such as Far Cry 3. If you're looking for a modern adventure game though, Tomb Raider is by far the most polished and appealing even to those that don't like the genre.… Expand
  68. Ursadorable
    May 27, 2013
    6
    Very nice graphics ruined by console-itis. WTF is with all the button quicktime events? I would give this game a higher rating if I was playing it on a console, but I'm not.
  69. bobecker
    May 17, 2013
    7
    As someone who has been a fan of most Tomb Raider games I was somewhat afraid of change for the franchise. I did end up enjoying the game but not in the same way that I enjoyed the original series. The puzzles seemed somewhat bland to me, too simple and not as difficult as the puzzles in the original Tomb Raider. Other than that it did make for an overall enjoyable experience.
  70. ntall1
    Apr 24, 2013
    5
    Easter Egg Hunt: Lara Croft Edition.

    Its a good reboot of the series if they didn't put an Easter egg hunt in every single area of the game. I like doing extra stuff in games I really do. But when its one dimensional and adds nothing to the game its completely pointless, and in turn takes away from the actual game. I like to fully complete my games so when they put in something like    Easter Egg Hunt: Lara Croft Edition.

    Its a good reboot of the series if they didn't put an Easter egg hunt in every single area of the game. I like doing extra stuff in games I really do. But when its one dimensional and adds nothing to the game its completely pointless, and in turn takes away from the actual game. I like to fully complete my games so when they put in something like this I try to do it. However.. by the end of the game I was so sick of finding useless stuff in each area that I didn't even want to complete the game. It started to feel like a chore.

    If you ignore the Easter egg hunting and just play thru the game quickly it is actually pretty good. Without the mindless task of searching the environment for a bunch of useless stuff the game runs at a pretty decent pace, and the story and voice acting are not bad.

    So to sum it all up. Tomb Raider isn't a bad game, but they bloated it up with a lot of useless game play in an effort to make the game seem longer than it really is, and in doing so they really took away from the speed of the game, and it really was not at all necessary. Without all the usless features in the game I probably would have rated it a 7.    … Expand
  71. enrogae1
    Jun 15, 2013
    5
    I really want to like this game, but I'm having a hard time. The voice acting is good, the visuals stunning, and so far the story seems interesting. However, I hardly ever actually feel like I'm getting to play the character. Instead, I'm hitting a button or two in a QTE. This would've been so much better as a sandbox survival game, with platforming puzzles thrown in (it's freakingI really want to like this game, but I'm having a hard time. The voice acting is good, the visuals stunning, and so far the story seems interesting. However, I hardly ever actually feel like I'm getting to play the character. Instead, I'm hitting a button or two in a QTE. This would've been so much better as a sandbox survival game, with platforming puzzles thrown in (it's freaking Tomb Raider, folks). What makes even the good elements difficult for me to enjoy is the ridiculous amount of camera wobble/bob/spasm. I hated movies like Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project for this very reason, and I dislike it in games even more. Instead of making it more realistic, it just gives me a headache. At least in the movies the perspective is first person. In third-person, it is just plain awkward and immersion breaking.… Expand
  72. gabrielct
    Dec 10, 2013
    7
    This new Tomb Raider is more like a freaking overextended movie than a video games. What drove me insane is that at one point, like in the middle, it got really repetitive was the same old same over and over again. Like you got in a new area then find some documents, some relics, gps, kill some never ending guys and watch a freaking cut scene! Thats it!!! it repeats for an infinite amountThis new Tomb Raider is more like a freaking overextended movie than a video games. What drove me insane is that at one point, like in the middle, it got really repetitive was the same old same over and over again. Like you got in a new area then find some documents, some relics, gps, kill some never ending guys and watch a freaking cut scene! Thats it!!! it repeats for an infinite amount of times and in the end you just play to know whats gonna happen, cause it is no fun at all. But I do have to admit that the art direction in general was good, also the voice acting and some good sound. Overall its kinda enjoyable at the beggining and really tiresome towards the end. Would rate it a 7.5… Expand
  73. JMDubya
    Jun 15, 2013
    5
    Tomb Raider is less a game and more an interactive movie. The only action you have exclusive control over is the uninspired fire-fights. Waiting for enemies to pop their heads out or mashing Shift in close combat. All other actions that could have been used to give you a sense of achievement or at least involvement is at best quick-time events and the rest to cut-scenes. I had to stopTomb Raider is less a game and more an interactive movie. The only action you have exclusive control over is the uninspired fire-fights. Waiting for enemies to pop their heads out or mashing Shift in close combat. All other actions that could have been used to give you a sense of achievement or at least involvement is at best quick-time events and the rest to cut-scenes. I had to stop playing at one point when I walked into yet another shooting gallery populated with enemies who are immune to my learned skills. The combat is tedious. The puzzles are mindless and only difficult when the developer decides not to highlight certain ledges that in other areas of the game would be highlighted. Personally this game has zero replay value. The main story is surprisingly intriguing with most of the characters being adequately developed. Though Uncharted has done everything this game has done only Uncharted did them better. Instead of quick time events Uncharted had mini-games and it didn’t try to pretend that its puzzles were anything more than filler. Tomb Raider is at times a fun ride, 5/10.… Expand
  74. Budget_Security
    Jan 1, 2015
    5
    A perfectly adequate game, but not deserving of the hype. About as linear and scripted as it is possible to get, but that's ok. The story is decent, if a bit formulaic and predictable. There is at times too much rambo firefighting and arguably not quite enough tomb raiding. If I wanted firefights, I'd play CoD. When you do get round to tomb raiding, the puzzles lack variety are too similarA perfectly adequate game, but not deserving of the hype. About as linear and scripted as it is possible to get, but that's ok. The story is decent, if a bit formulaic and predictable. There is at times too much rambo firefighting and arguably not quite enough tomb raiding. If I wanted firefights, I'd play CoD. When you do get round to tomb raiding, the puzzles lack variety are too similar and a bit easy, almost HL2 easy. Fortunately, this port only has mild consolitis, yes there is the usual horrible checkpoint save system, but there is no mouse lag or acceleration. The graphics are clearly optimized for consoles (low res textures, dx9 etc), comparable to Far Cry 2 (from 2008). The quick time events (mash keyboard to survive) are a bit annoying sometimes. Get it in a Steam sale.… Expand
  75. mRon12
    Jun 12, 2013
    6
    This is a fun game for the first 5 or 6 hours of gameplay. The visuals are stunning if your pc can handle them. The environment looks great and it is fun to see the different locations in the game.

    However, after the first 5 or 6 hours of playing, I found that the gameplay became very repetitive, both combat and puzzle solving. Because of the repetition, I think I lost a quicker    This is a fun game for the first 5 or 6 hours of gameplay. The visuals are stunning if your pc can handle them. The environment looks great and it is fun to see the different locations in the game.

    However, after the first 5 or 6 hours of playing, I found that the gameplay became very repetitive, both combat and puzzle solving. Because of the repetition, I think I lost a quicker interest in the story line. Granted the story line is good and dramatic, but not my favorite. Had I written my review after only four hours of gameplay, I would be praising every aspect of it. But I lost interest in the game overall, even though I did finish it.

    I was also disappointed in the puzzle-solving within the game. I have never played any Tomb Raider games before, and, knowing the franchise to having a reputation for being a puzzle-solving type genre, I was looking for puzzles that grew to be difficult towards the later part of the game, like Legend of Zelda type puzzles: challenging and fun. However, the Tomb Raider puzzles were consistently pretty easy and straightforward in an uninteresting way.

    The game was beautiful, fun in the beginning, and worth playing only if Steam drops the price to maybe $25.    … Expand
  76. ultravincent
    Mar 20, 2016
    6
    I bought this game after seeing the stellar reviews...
    I understand that they wanted to do a fast-paced action game, but they overdid it. Explosions everywhere, buildings constantly collapsing, thousands of enemies and so on.
    It just looks like a rushed Hollywood action movie.
    And, it's extremely linear, as unfortunately games tend to be today.
    It's a decent game, and nothing else.
  77. herrabanani
    May 5, 2013
    6
    this game is kinda good, so far. i've palyed like 1 hour so far and i would recomend it. would. there is 1 thing that is just retarded and just brakes any emersion the game might have. quick time events. i was playing just now and i was in a cave and was supposed to get out. there was only one way. but when i got there a wolf attacks you and you have to go trough a bunch of quick timethis game is kinda good, so far. i've palyed like 1 hour so far and i would recomend it. would. there is 1 thing that is just retarded and just brakes any emersion the game might have. quick time events. i was playing just now and i was in a cave and was supposed to get out. there was only one way. but when i got there a wolf attacks you and you have to go trough a bunch of quick time events and i failed at this like 10-15 times in a row. i didn't even know what i was doing wrong! but at the 16'th time playing the same cutsceen i noticed that i had to mash e and f not just e. what do quick time events add to the game? what does me having to watch the same cutsceen 15 times and mash my keyboard add to the game? how does it make it better? i would give this game a 8 or 9 but it gets a 6 now. please fix this bug that is quick time events square enix. please. it's like watching a movie but you have to watch certan parts over and over because you couldn't press a button quick egnofh. it ruines the game… Expand
  78. Nerves82
    Jul 15, 2013
    5
    OMG the freaking quick time events!! It destroys the game! I really want to love this game, but as soon as I get lost in the enjoyment of discovery, I am yanked out of it by some generic "bridge falls out from under me" or "the rope I am hanging on snaps all of a sudden" event which leads into a stupid and un-enjoyable QTE! This is followed by a half hour of just watching Lara die overOMG the freaking quick time events!! It destroys the game! I really want to love this game, but as soon as I get lost in the enjoyment of discovery, I am yanked out of it by some generic "bridge falls out from under me" or "the rope I am hanging on snaps all of a sudden" event which leads into a stupid and un-enjoyable QTE! This is followed by a half hour of just watching Lara die over and over and over and........need I go on. I can't stand seeing a branch go through Lara's chest or a pipe through her head one more time. This is how I imagine the "Uncharted" series must play, which is why I say away from PS3 like the plague. I am upset at the butchering of a game that has so much potential, EVEN THOUGH I GOT IT FOR $5. Buy it is it gets real cheep.… Expand
  79. Magdi_alafifi
    Jun 23, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Tomb Raider takes a cliche consumed thousand times, theme and adds a boring historical-archaeological sauce.. Lara Croft starts the game as a smart reasonable strong enthusiastic adventurer who finds herself struggling to survive.. soon though she turns into a super legendary woman who can take entire alarmed armies of soldiers known as "the morons" on her own just with the slight theoretical training of her father-like mentor, Roth, who is a likable interesting character that was able to stimulate our sympathy and admiration.. Lara takes extremely enjoyable badass bow-takedowns.. Katniss croft makes you feel like a beast.. Although the stealth mechanics are not very original something in Tomb Raider still makes the stealth, in terms of fun, very enjoyable. Lara is also very lucky because most of the enemies she encounters have an IQ that ranges between 20 to 40.. the retarded enemies you meet in the game are not just stupid enough to worship a dead queen who they give a ton load of human sacrifices to liberate her soul out of her natural bitc*iness for her to stop the storms.. they also think it's very naturally healthy to slowly approach a person with a rifle and a shotgun in a ridiculous attempt to stab him with a knife.. Lara is also lucky cuz her magical pistol is given to her by Santa in her 7th birthday.. that's probably why it makes much more damage then a rifle or shotgun.. as the game goes on you start getting this irritating itchiness we used to get in Lost season 6.. the story gets lamer and more driven into the super-natural side.. Lara as she gets tougher and more brutal becomes also dumber and more pretentious that she has to end every sentence she says with "I have to end this" and with the less stealth in the later mission.. the game starts to feel boring.. and then....... a huge disappointment in the ending.. so in the end it basically turns out queen Himiko soul is stuck inside a statue or something so she has to consume hot young ladies constantly to slip out of the jail.. and would finally stop jerking around with people using those storms as long as they fully serve her homosexual fetishes for using white young women as blood fuel ..in the final scene we're back to the beginning, back to the boat. And everyone is safe and good.. except now they're only 4 and Lara is now stupid and superstitious.
    Now that my soliloquy is done, I wanna note that although my review may seem critical, I did enjoy the game and currently in a second walkthrough, It's fun, The stealth and arrow kills are simply FUN. a lot of fun.. However, as a story-driven game, I find the writing very clumsy, The story is ridiculous, and with tons of plots holes.    … Expand
  80. FruitCakeHD
    Apr 12, 2013
    6
    Tomb Raider (2013)

    Seems to me like a game that i won't really spend my money on its next title, hopefully. This game has absurd QTEs and buggy and glitchy platform parkours. Not to mention the unrealistic amount of times that there is a NDE (Near Death) in the story-line. Absolutely not worth the full price. Also the frequent frame drops with my 7970 makes me wonder if this is the    Tomb Raider (2013)

    Seems to me like a game that i won't really spend my money on its next title, hopefully. This game has absurd QTEs and buggy and glitchy platform parkours. Not to mention the unrealistic amount of times that there is a NDE (Near Death) in the story-line. Absolutely not worth the full price.
    Also the frequent frame drops with my 7970 makes me wonder if this is the standard game's coding and engine. Quite disappointing from Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics.
    Finishing the game for me is such a pain in the neck.
    The brighter side of the game is its retail version, it already gives the player 9/18 DLCs, not something you would see very often.
    Got it for S$52.90, did not really regretted or enjoyed.

    6/10    … Expand
  81. Seryin
    Jun 16, 2014
    7
    A great reboot to a franchise that desperately needed it.
    This game reminds me a lot of Assassin's Creed mechanics mixed with a Far Cry theme and survival setting.
    Though the world was open to explore, the gameplay was linear and always pointed you to a specific place or direction. Not much to do aside from the base story other than collect the collectables that we are so fond of in    A great reboot to a franchise that desperately needed it.
    This game reminds me a lot of Assassin's Creed mechanics mixed with a Far Cry theme and survival setting.
    Though the world was open to explore, the gameplay was linear and always pointed you to a specific place or direction. Not much to do aside from the base story other than collect the collectables that we are so fond of in games like these.
    However, what it delivered in the single player campaign was a quality, story-driven experience.
    The multiplayer is already completely dead. Could not manage to get into a multiplayer game after an hour of waiting on two different occasions.    … Expand
  82. happy-argentine
    Apr 20, 2013
    7
    This was one of those cases when the game play got in the way of the story; and broke my immersion in a definite way. Cut-scene Lara was a scared, inexperienced, beautiful young woman; game-play Lara was a raging murdering psychopath with no remorse, perfect aim and adamantium bones, mowing through hundreds of beings in an efficiency rivalling trained SEALs. It's a great game, wellThis was one of those cases when the game play got in the way of the story; and broke my immersion in a definite way. Cut-scene Lara was a scared, inexperienced, beautiful young woman; game-play Lara was a raging murdering psychopath with no remorse, perfect aim and adamantium bones, mowing through hundreds of beings in an efficiency rivalling trained SEALs. It's a great game, well developed, AMAZINGLY acted and fun to play, but a missed opportunity in my opinion. I think a 7 out of 10 does it justice....oh...almost forgot: no end boss battle???? really???? WTF?… Expand
  83. Pablo22
    Sep 5, 2013
    7
    The female Indiana Jones/ Nathan Drake is back with a reboot that looked like a more mature turning point for the character. I personally have only had the chance to immerse myself into only one of these boob fests and that is Tomb Raider: Underworld. While a good time it never managed to shine bright on my gaming shelf. And this new one is something I wanna talk about now.
    One of the    The female Indiana Jones/ Nathan Drake is back with a reboot that looked like a more mature turning point for the character. I personally have only had the chance to immerse myself into only one of these boob fests and that is Tomb Raider: Underworld. While a good time it never managed to shine bright on my gaming shelf. And this new one is something I wanna talk about now.
    One of the things to take note off is the brutal violence. And this is where it got messy. This game could have pulled it off if the script could mix in with this aspect. I thought it was cool to see this tipe of violence and darkness to the game but it mixed like oil and water with the actual script! They confused me by telling a mild adventure story with some mild characters and then throwing an F-bomb or some grotesque violent image to my face. It was incoherent and weird. Imagine watching a classic fun Indie movie and then seeing him say this ****ing and impaling someone. That was a major turn off for me since at first I didn´t understand what was off about it.
    Another thing is the survival aspect that was portrayed at us in an awesome intense way in a poster where they show Lara tying a peace of cloth to her wounded bloody arm. And it actually delivered at some points where you saw Lara all messed up and hurt in the rain fighting a pack of wolves or surprisingly by just sitting at a sad campsite in the woods! But at the same time it got tuned down when Lara just jumped of a building at fell through an entire mountain just to shrugg it off afterwards. That was a coherence aspect of the game too.
    A thing that really made this game shine was it´s enviroment and graphics. The snow and rain where sharp and you could almost feel the wind in Laras skin while it blew her off a bridge (****ing Himiko).
    The gameplay was fluid too, Lara moved realisticly and there wasn´t something more badass than using the bow. Besides what I said about Lara weirdly taking massive destruction falls of death, those setpieces where pretty amazin (plane crash FTW).
    So... was this game the reboot everyobody has been waiting to play? Maybe, for some but the definite most awesome one they could make, no. Script and game incoherences made it confusing and sometimes awkward. So if you want to play a game focused on telling a full adventure story go play whatever Uncharted game for the fifth time.
    I´m giving Tomb Raider a 7 outta 10.    … Expand
  84. max1c
    Apr 13, 2013
    7
    Being a big fan of original Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider Anniversary this game is just OK. Tomb Raider 2013 being a typical console port actually doesn't ruin the game that much. Nice graphics and semi generic game play with some elements of cute story telling makes this a decent game. I have to admit that some parts of game play were pretty cool. However, this is just another genericBeing a big fan of original Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider Anniversary this game is just OK. Tomb Raider 2013 being a typical console port actually doesn't ruin the game that much. Nice graphics and semi generic game play with some elements of cute story telling makes this a decent game. I have to admit that some parts of game play were pretty cool. However, this is just another generic shooter in which you kill literally hundreds of enemies which keep spawning and running at you. If you like puzzles and shooting this game is for you. Overall worth playing.… Expand
  85. Beldarak
    Jan 20, 2014
    5
    QTE ruined it. The game is kinda good, with a lot of nice ideas and a good design. But then you watch the same cutscene over and over again, because you didn't press a key quick enough. It a shame, really...
  86. Max15
    Apr 25, 2013
    7
    I loved this game! Great atmosphere because of amazing graphics, artistic design and music. The plot is ok, nothing spectacular, the best thing is Lara and how she changes through the story. Gameplay was a lot of fun and varied, with platforming, puzzles and action, plenty of upgrades that give a good sense of progression, only problem are the QTE, very annoying sometimes, but in myI loved this game! Great atmosphere because of amazing graphics, artistic design and music. The plot is ok, nothing spectacular, the best thing is Lara and how she changes through the story. Gameplay was a lot of fun and varied, with platforming, puzzles and action, plenty of upgrades that give a good sense of progression, only problem are the QTE, very annoying sometimes, but in my opinion it doesn't distract too much from the game. Overall I had a great time.… Expand
  87. DragonforceKin
    May 8, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don't have anything major against Tomb Raider, and seeing as I haven't played a Tomb Raider game since Angel of Darkness, I was looking forward to this reboot. However, even a month after release the game is still pretty buggy, main problem being with artifacts and other graphical bugs. Story was ok, however the narrative was pretty awful. It just seemed to go a little to quickly. I finished the game in little over 9 hours and didn't feel all that satisfied afterwards. The final boss was a joke, it was just a quick time event. Worse still I encountered a bug which made my quick time prompts float half way off the screen, making it pretty difficult.

    On the plus side, some of the tombs had good puzzles and I did enjoy this aspect of the game. The platforming wasn't to bad with only two occasions where Lara did the opposite of what I told her to do. I liked the effort that the developers have put into the environment, it was definitely a pretty game and I did enjoy the weapon modification feature.

    All in all I found Tomb Raider to be pretty average, it got exciting in some places, but other than that it was fairly bland.

    Nothing special.
    5/10    … Expand
  88. Andromidius
    May 12, 2013
    7
    Was not a previous fan, but I thought I'd try out this reboot. The game honestly isn't bad, though niggling faults stop me from giving it a higher rating and consider it 'good'. I will inflate my rating by 1 due to how people consider a '6' to mean bad I completely disagree, but there we go.

    Graphically the game is very nice. Very dark and gritty in tone. The sounds are equally as    Was not a previous fan, but I thought I'd try out this reboot. The game honestly isn't bad, though niggling faults stop me from giving it a higher rating and consider it 'good'. I will inflate my rating by 1 due to how people consider a '6' to mean bad I completely disagree, but there we go.

    Graphically the game is very nice. Very dark and gritty in tone. The sounds are equally as impressive.

    The gameplay is a mixed bag. At times its extremely tight and fluid, and at other times it suddenly won't do what you expect and you'll end up getting a knife in the face or plummet to the ground. Mostly good, though but not quite as tight as Darksiders II in my opinion. Combat is reasonably easy, though the bow and pistols are by far the most powerful weapons the assault rifle is a complete joke.

    The skill ups are very basic and in the end you'll get them all anyway. Feels a little redundant to give the illusion of an RPG.

    Story isn't bad, but Lara seems to become an idiot during cutscenes. Not quite as stupid as the bad guys though, who don't remove her weapons after capturing her!

    The thing that drags down this game though are the Quick Time Events. There are so many, and they spring out of nowhere and give you a second to work out what key you're supposed to hit and when. Its just frustrating, and the game would be served better not having them at all. Even if they removed the pointless ones like 'press e to avoid falling' seems completely pointless!

    Overall, decent game. I enjoyed it, despite its shortcomings and lack of length or replayability. Not even going to touch the Multiplayer. Hopefully if they make a sequel they dump QET's, don't bother with Multiplayer (unless they are going to do co-op, which would be freaking amazing) and focus more on the adventure.

    And have Lara cry a bit less after mercilessly killing a hundred guys. Because seriously, the first time was enough.

    Weirdly I find myself agreeing with the negative reviews moreso then the positive ones. The combat isn't great, the puzzles are easy and the QET's are horrible. Yet I'm still giving this a reasonably favourable score. Go figure!    … Expand
  89. The_Reckonist
    Jun 4, 2013
    7
    The game has dragged Lara into this century. Takes A good chunk of the old Lara and adds it to modern action game formula. Its worth it. V.heavy on QTE. Fantastic Graphics. Optional Tomb puzzles for some nostalgia. Good Voice actors. You will fall in love with Lara again.
  90. Necrosis23
    Jun 18, 2013
    6
    Fun enough. Short duration, poor difficulty. Nothing great, but good enough to invest your time to play. The most interesting thing in the game in my opinion is the evolution of the character of Lara.
  91. Areso
    Jul 11, 2013
    6
    Is it game interesting? No, I don't think so. It's enough boring. There are a little choice, if be more correct seen of choice. A lot of cut scenes, scripts and one-way-to-resolve makes this game boring.
    Second one it is perfomance question about. Okay, I understand and agreed, that release the game was promoted ATI Radeon Graphics cards. Okay. But some time later, on sales and after    Is it game interesting? No, I don't think so. It's enough boring. There are a little choice, if be more correct seen of choice. A lot of cut scenes, scripts and one-way-to-resolve makes this game boring.
    Second one it is perfomance question about. Okay, I understand and agreed, that release the game was promoted ATI Radeon Graphics cards. Okay. But some time later, on sales and after some patches, it's still unplayable on mid-level nVidia graphics cards (450-560 series). If select very low settings (exclude native resolution of display, FHD), it looks pretty ugly.
    Summary: if you have a some free time and spare money, you could try this game.    … Expand
  92. Zenfulmind
    Jul 26, 2013
    7
    I almost didn't buy this game due to the stark negative reviews. Complaints about QTE were the biggest gripe I read. Personally, I don't like any of the previous Tomb Raider productions. There are some that I even hate. But I have to say I loved playing this game from beginning to end and I'm glad I bought it. I'm recommending it.

    The characters were all tolerable if not fantastic. The    I almost didn't buy this game due to the stark negative reviews. Complaints about QTE were the biggest gripe I read. Personally, I don't like any of the previous Tomb Raider productions. There are some that I even hate. But I have to say I loved playing this game from beginning to end and I'm glad I bought it. I'm recommending it.

    The characters were all tolerable if not fantastic. The storyline is mature enough for older adults and it's complex and rich enough to enjoy and get sucked into it. Models were done very well. Lara's new image is excellent and appealing and her character is compelling. QTEs were not at all a problem for me. In fact, I think they did an excellent job with them. That's coming from a PC gamer too. There was nothing exhausting about gameplay really. Even tearing open a crate manages to remain satisfying.

    The only negative thing I can point is the 'screen bob' during movement which is slight enough that I can ignore it, but I wonder if it would be a better play without the added effect. I'd like to see more 'bob' in Lara's chest considering she is wearing a camisole shirt. There were also some gameplay elements that seemed like they belonged on an xbox, but they were manageable still.

    I played it through the first time on the hardest setting without too much difficulty. I'm giving it a 7 because it wasn't well polished for the PC release and they still have some room to grow this title into something better.    … Expand
  93. Yalingo
    Jul 15, 2013
    7
    Pros Stunning Visuals, Cinematic experience, Top grade PC port, intuitive controls, engaging story.

    Cons Too many QTEs, Linear, needed more freedom/exploring/tomb raiding.
  94. YardStick
    May 4, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have no experience about previous TR-games, so I can't really say much about how this compares to them. In general I liked this game a lot. In fact so much I played it twice, and may play it even 3rd time sometime in the future. Though there are two things that really bother me.

    1. "Quick time events" or what the heck those consoletardish "Spam this button till your fingers fall off" things are called. Useless, frustrating, and not really bringing anything interesting to the game play. I recall other games having similar stupidities in them lately. Is this some kind of trend now? There's usually only one possible solution to these, these QT-events could be easily replaced with a decent cut scene. That's what they are anyway, only with hard to time button spamming.

    2. At some point all the killing I had to do to make poor Lara survive started to feel a bit disgusting. I mean if she's that young and just finding herself and there's this great survival adventure going on to find away of the island ... and then it suddenly turns into MaxPaynish bloodbath.. It just don't kinda fit to the story I thought this was.. But then I put my brains aside and enjoyed gunning them all down. After all it is quite entertaining to shoot moving targets. I just wish there was a way to play it without murdering everyone.

    3. The ancient-magical-mystical-spiritual evil. It's so evil, sooo freaking eeevil it can't possibly be from this world. I guess this is some sorta legacy from the previous TombRiders. It just has to be some kind of forgotten demigod-queen guarded by a battalion of samurai zombies and a cave troll with a 3 meter sword. Oh, the lame hilariousity. Greedy humans just wouldn't be enough. Right?

    But despite all that, it's a great, beautiful, and enjoyable game. Just don't try to think about it too much.    … Expand
  95. rcruk
    Aug 15, 2013
    7
    Really great reconstruction of the Tomb Raider genre, with gripping game play and a good quality storyline. The world is beautiful and open for limited exploration, the controls are intuitive. I experienced several moments of intense vertigo during the game and a couple of surprise moments.

    The different area stages of the game provide reasonable scope for completing a variety of side    Really great reconstruction of the Tomb Raider genre, with gripping game play and a good quality storyline. The world is beautiful and open for limited exploration, the controls are intuitive. I experienced several moments of intense vertigo during the game and a couple of surprise moments.

    The different area stages of the game provide reasonable scope for completing a variety of side quests which aren't too imaginative, they aren't the boggling puzzles or acrobatic mazes of early Tomb Raider. My main criticism would be the slight repetition of the side quests and a short length of the game overall. Saying this, it may have grown tedious if it went on much further, or the visual quality of the game (which is top notch) may have suffered in exchange for more content.

    Not a huge amount of replay value, the multiplayer I found a bit dull and doesn't really work very well, certainly not the strong point of the game. Non the less a decent game for the initial play through.    … Expand
  96. benjahmeen
    Aug 11, 2013
    6
    Love the Tomb Raider series, this game almost delivers the full experience. My only problem with it was that it was short, I enjoyed finding all the hidden objects and the stories, However the PUZZLES were too EASY. Story was good, graphics were great game play delivered. Puzzles failed. Definitely worth a play through though.
  97. demondred79
    May 24, 2015
    7
    Very high quality game but if you're not a fan of button mashing (QTE gameplay), which I am not, you might want to look elsewhere for entertainment. The exploratory features, easter eggs, fighting elements, voice acting, character depth, etc, etc, etc, were fantastic and just the right level of difficulty.

    Gameplay: There are problems here. Many times I found issues where it was hard    Very high quality game but if you're not a fan of button mashing (QTE gameplay), which I am not, you might want to look elsewhere for entertainment. The exploratory features, easter eggs, fighting elements, voice acting, character depth, etc, etc, etc, were fantastic and just the right level of difficulty.

    Gameplay: There are problems here. Many times I found issues where it was hard to make an obvious leap and grab spot, for reasons unknown. Some of these were wall to wall jumps where you just couldn't connect, or she would jump in a direction you were not facing.
    QTE.....there were MANY frustrating "F THIS!" moments where i just want to get back into the core features and fun of the game and I couldn't until I mashed the crap out of a button or had perfect timing. Maybe some enjoy this, and there are games where it was executed tastefully, but by and large I think this is a game mechanic that just needs to die and blow away.

    BUGS:
    Unfortunately two years later there are bugs, but only two I encountered. One was hilarious and annoying at the same time, which involved NPCs talking while you were hidden, and they would suddenly walk too close to a cliff and fall off screaming. This was good fun except they would either respawn back in their original location (i.e. behind you), or not respawn at all when you might desperately need their loot.
    The final bug is literally the absolute last encounter in the game which involves QTE bullsh*t and it's a doozy. There are multiple forum complaints about this one where people had to go to extreme limits to try and resolve an issue where button mashing would not allow you to progress....resulting in playing that sequence dozens (apparently hundreds for some folks) of times. NOT OK!

    Overall, it's fun and don't regret playing it but the annoying gameplay and QTE nonsense eventually made me want to just B-line my way through the game instead of immerse myself in finding all the goodies.

    -death to QTE    … Expand
  98. Cuecuemore
    Jan 27, 2015
    6
    I suppose I enjoyed this game enough. The visuals are stunning, of course, and the gameplay is fine, BUT! This is not Tomb Raider. This is a cover shooter/adventure game that gives up 75% of the mechanics (and 90% of the puzzles) that made Tomb Raider what it was. For the first half of the game, the QTEs do outnumber the puzzles quite heavily, but even when there are "puzzles" they'reI suppose I enjoyed this game enough. The visuals are stunning, of course, and the gameplay is fine, BUT! This is not Tomb Raider. This is a cover shooter/adventure game that gives up 75% of the mechanics (and 90% of the puzzles) that made Tomb Raider what it was. For the first half of the game, the QTEs do outnumber the puzzles quite heavily, but even when there are "puzzles" they're really quite obvious. The game technically is open-world, but unfortunately there's no meaning to this, as the gameplay itself is almost completely linear.

    Pros:
    Facemelting graphics
    Some semblance of leveling/upgrade system

    Cons:
    QTEs abound
    Even more linear than originals despite open-world facade
    Movement kind of dumbed down, doesn't feel like Tomb Raider

    Meh:
    Combat/cover system
    Story

    The verdict:
    Despite not really having anything to do with the original series, this game did very well commercially and I'm hoping that the devs breathe new life from the old series into the sequel. Buy it on Steam when it's on sale for $5 to make that happen!    … Expand
  99. TheAlgerian
    Jan 12, 2014
    5
    Let's start with what's good about the game:
    -Lara is a better character than ever. She's pretty but she's not a bimbo, she actually has some clothes on, which is sadly rare in videogames nowadays. She's smart, but she's not the nerdy scientist cliché. She's courageous but she's not some kind of dumb female rambo but she's still vulnerable without being the usual annoying damsel in    Let's start with what's good about the game:
    -Lara is a better character than ever. She's pretty but she's not a bimbo, she actually has some clothes on, which is sadly rare in videogames nowadays. She's smart, but she's not the nerdy scientist cliché. She's courageous but she's not some kind of dumb female rambo but she's still vulnerable without being the usual annoying damsel in distress. Overall she's a very likable character.
    - The environnements and overall graphics are pretty nice.
    - The writing is interesting, even though the storyline isn't anything special.

    That being said, here's what I don't like about the game:
    - The gameplay is just downright terrible, Lara's control feels very clunky, there's QTE's all over the place, the combat mechanics are just horrible, the game allows you to take the stealth option only when it's not important to do so, otherwise it throws waves of dumb enemies at you.
    - The camera does a lot of forcing its pre-determined angles on you.
    - The animations are among the worst i've seen, and for some reason, the other animations in this "worst" categories are also from Square Enix games.
    - A lot of Hitman Absolution assets have clearly been re-used in this game. And Absolution itself was already terrible.

    Overall, it's enjoyable at times, but it would have been better off as a movie than as an actual game. And that's actually how the game feels, an interactive movie you actually have very little control over.    … Expand
  100. Ghob
    Dec 21, 2013
    7
    Story: 4/10, the story wasn't that good, it was pretty generic and the characters weren't that interesting, except for Lara herself. I think her transition from innocent girl to cold blooded killer was pretty dull and unrealistic.
    Gameplay: 10/10, this saves the whole game for me. The platforming was fast and fluid and the combat really well done and very satisfying
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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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