Shadow of the Tomb Raider

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1696 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 997 out of 1696
  2. Mixed: 475 out of 1696
  3. Negative: 224 out of 1696
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  1. TheBear
    Apr 23, 2020
    7
    A strangely imbalanced game. Much like the last two, this is stunning to behold with a grit that keeps you playing as Lara once again leaps, climbs and slides across a vast, barren landscape that is just ripe for exploration. I say imbalanced because I think the in game collectible content, which is admittedly large and encourages exploration, hardly matters when the majority of game isA strangely imbalanced game. Much like the last two, this is stunning to behold with a grit that keeps you playing as Lara once again leaps, climbs and slides across a vast, barren landscape that is just ripe for exploration. I say imbalanced because I think the in game collectible content, which is admittedly large and encourages exploration, hardly matters when the majority of game is more about exploration and discovery over combat. The combat itself is varied with a mixture of weapons and custom ammunition and is challenging fun when you actually get some. There is nowhere enough combat content to justify the amount of collectibles and skills which in turn left the game feeling imbalanced. A big shout out though to the couple of playable set pieces that occur throughout the game.

    The biggest let down however is the story here which is simply boring. Compared to the bases and facilities of Trinity in the last game which made them seem like a genuine threat, here we have none of that and all we get is a primitive South American jungle village with no memorable characters. Billed as the moment when Lara Croft finally becomes the Tomb Raider we know and love, frankly I don't see it happen here. It is so focused on the main storyline that anything personal seems to be lost except for a moment at the end. To be honest I thought the ending of 2013's Tomb Raider did a better job at establishing Lara as the Tomb Raider we know her to be.

    The game play is familiar and fun and of course the gorgeous visuals will keep you playing and exploring and collecting all these items. For me however this is a bit of a disappointment and a step down from the outstanding two preceding games.    … Expand
  2. GrumpyReviewer
    Sep 25, 2018
    7
    It's a decent adventure game but it is not the best of this trilogy. Actually, I'd say this is the worst of the 3. The first two games were amazing, had great moments and they were a blast to explore; lots of secrets, tombs, challenges, upgrades, great narratives.

    This third one is just more of the same but it does not taste as good. Campfires to upgrade, locked content until you have a    It's a decent adventure game but it is not the best of this trilogy. Actually, I'd say this is the worst of the 3. The first two games were amazing, had great moments and they were a blast to explore; lots of secrets, tombs, challenges, upgrades, great narratives.

    This third one is just more of the same but it does not taste as good. Campfires to upgrade, locked content until you have a particular gear and/or weapon, exploration, kills, rinse and repeat. It's not bad, it just feels... less inspired. And I also think this new game does not look as good and polished as the first two... it feels kind of rushed to be honest. Some of Lara's facial expressions are atrocious.

    It's a nice game to have some casual, adventure fun for 15/20 hours. And that's it. Kind of a weird end for the trilogy though... thought they would end it with a bang, and I was left with: ok, thanks I guess.

    This Lara reboot lacks soul. Look how amazing the Uncharted series is. Those games have jaw dropping moments. This new Tomb Raider series is just about killing, upgrading stuff and finding caves while avoiding some mysterious threat to destroy the world.    … Expand
  3. Denniro
    Jan 12, 2021
    7
    What I like is that You actually do more exploring than gun-fighting. What I don't: Laura's voice acting and character itself, it's just not her.. and the flashlight is buggy.
  4. RealMuthaF
    Jul 7, 2020
    7
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider, unfortunately, is yet another more-of-the-same type of sequel.

    The game's strengths are, still, its graphics (I even took some screenshots during gameplay) and tomb exploration. Tombs are more numerous this time, and generally well-designed, with better ones reserved for DLCs. Combat and climbing are serviceable, but nothing special. The addition of a rope is    Shadow of the Tomb Raider, unfortunately, is yet another more-of-the-same type of sequel.

    The game's strengths are, still, its graphics (I even took some screenshots during gameplay) and tomb exploration. Tombs are more numerous this time, and generally well-designed, with better ones reserved for DLCs. Combat and climbing are serviceable, but nothing special. The addition of a rope is welcome, but its uses are limited throughout the game, sadly.

    The main weakness is, also still, the game's story, which largely mirrors Rise's, starts out in an intriguing way, but slows down to a halt promptly. Croft mostly acts like a whiny b**ch, her "lost my parents" backstory still doesn't make you care, Jonah is still an annoying friendzone type ("R U OK, LARAH?" constitutes 50+% of his dialogue), Trinity is a lame antagonist, and the aboriginal allies are forgettable cliches. The franchise continues to suffer from an identity crisis, with its gameplay mechanics more honed towards open-world style, while the levels are mostly tight limiting corridors. Plus, there is a strong imbalance in favor of exploration at the expense of combat, so you spend the majority of the game unlocking combat skills only to use them a handful of times. The game tries to stretch itself, as that's what AAA games are expected to do nowadays, unfortunately, so we also get a number of side missions, which are split into alright tomb missions and horrendously boring fetch quests, where only the strongest won't skip through the cringy dialogues and free 4 prisoners / talk to 5 natives / read 3 murals / etc.

    The Tomb Raider reboot started out strong, but took a step back with its sequel, and a new developer studio couldn't shake things up. It's just an alright game worth picking up at a discount with all the DLCs included, which is a shame, as the potential to be something greater is still there.    … Expand
  5. JPG127
    Sep 24, 2018
    7
    This is both a good and terrible franchise. It's good in terms of graphics and sound. But the puzzles are more irritating and action seems less than the last two entries. Plus, it seems a bit cut scene heavy for what it is supposed to be.
  6. Elucidate
    Oct 3, 2019
    7
    I enjoyed this more than ROTTR, although only slightly. As before, the graphics are great and the tombs are even better. By focusing on exploration, stealth, and using the bow and arrow instead of constant gunfights, the game manages to be more unique and memorable instead of just being an inferior Uncharted. There's also less grindy collectable crap, which is a plus.

    The story is    I enjoyed this more than ROTTR, although only slightly. As before, the graphics are great and the tombs are even better. By focusing on exploration, stealth, and using the bow and arrow instead of constant gunfights, the game manages to be more unique and memorable instead of just being an inferior Uncharted. There's also less grindy collectable crap, which is a plus.

    The story is pretty mediocre, but I wasn't too bothered by that. Most side characters are rather lame, but I did appreciate how Jonah was given a bigger role than in Rise. Lara's voice acting is great, even if some of the lines feel cheesy.

    There was also a little too much swimming for my liking.    … Expand
  7. ulizamanje
    Sep 4, 2019
    7
    Its a 6.5 for me and here is why.
    Its not a bad game to kill time and relax your brain waiting for something good to come out.
    Story and game play where fun at start but at the middle to end got predictable and repetitive. Linear if you follow objective markers. Spamming the Lara senses button makes exploring the world for secrets an easy task. And the worst part is you cant stop, every    Its a 6.5 for me and here is why.
    Its not a bad game to kill time and relax your brain waiting for something good to come out.
    Story and game play where fun at start but at the middle to end got predictable and repetitive.
    Linear if you follow objective markers. Spamming the Lara senses button makes exploring the world for secrets an easy task. And the worst part is you cant stop, every few steps hit that key, set your marker, go get stuff, rince and repeat. Tomb puzzles easy, and rewards for them are meaningless. No real boss fights. Ammo everywhere. Graphics and overall look are ok. Some fun shooting action moments. Finished with 91% completion, and not even thinking of doing another play trough, ever.    … Expand
  8. colinsmall34
    Oct 9, 2018
    7
    This isn't a bad game by any means, but there's nothing new in the content. It feels like the developers are just lazily treading water and relying on the formula that's worked for them a dozen times before, without trying to go that little bit further and surprise the player with something new. If you're a TR fan then this is definitely worth a play, but perhaps wait til it's on discount,This isn't a bad game by any means, but there's nothing new in the content. It feels like the developers are just lazily treading water and relying on the formula that's worked for them a dozen times before, without trying to go that little bit further and surprise the player with something new. If you're a TR fan then this is definitely worth a play, but perhaps wait til it's on discount, and don't go expecting to be wowed by anything. You've seen it all before, trust me.… Expand
  9. Tamerlanz
    Sep 24, 2018
    7
    First of all developers should stop releasing games every year. This game was not made but Crystal dynamics and it can be seen at once! This game is like Uncharted the Lost legacy, because it is really short, there is just one map. I really liked the first two Tomb raiders, they had very good narrative, nice shooting, jumping and so on. But this game is completely boring, there is zeroFirst of all developers should stop releasing games every year. This game was not made but Crystal dynamics and it can be seen at once! This game is like Uncharted the Lost legacy, because it is really short, there is just one map. I really liked the first two Tomb raiders, they had very good narrative, nice shooting, jumping and so on. But this game is completely boring, there is zero story, almost no shooting, you just don’t understand, why you are doing all of this. This game looks like developers had very short time to make it, it could be much better if not greedy Square Enix. Ubisoft was punished already for this practice with bad sales of Assassin’s creed, I hope same will happen here. And I will wait for much better Lara made by CD next year.… Expand
  10. inbetween
    Dec 24, 2019
    7
    Nice setting and nice graphic. It's more focused on exploring and adventure than combat so all the levelling up is almost pointless. You may easily walk trough the game with no skill points spent since you never feel it makes a difference. To me this is a huge shortcoming. Also no need to buy other weapons and upgrade them since you hardly get to use them. I did all of these throughout theNice setting and nice graphic. It's more focused on exploring and adventure than combat so all the levelling up is almost pointless. You may easily walk trough the game with no skill points spent since you never feel it makes a difference. To me this is a huge shortcoming. Also no need to buy other weapons and upgrade them since you hardly get to use them. I did all of these throughout the game just for the sake of it but never saw the reason for it. I also find that those thousands of collectibles spread all over the world break the fluidity of the game since you need to stop every ten seconds to collect something. Of course, you can just give up on most of them but with some items they are needed to upgrade the language skills that will open some small sidequests.… Expand
  11. SuperkenGaming
    Oct 27, 2018
    7
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider
    A Shadow of itself
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a 3rd person action adventure game where you play as Lara Croft in search of a hidden city, a dagger, and a silver box.. and you also have to kind stop a mayan apocalypse.. no big deal… If the plot of stopping an apocalypse sounds familiar… don’t worry. .this isn’t the end of things sounding familiar.. Shadow of    Shadow of the Tomb Raider
    A Shadow of itself
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a 3rd person action adventure game where you play as Lara Croft in search of a hidden city, a dagger, and a silver box.. and you also have to kind stop a mayan apocalypse.. no big deal…
    If the plot of stopping an apocalypse sounds familiar… don’t worry. .this isn’t the end of things sounding familiar..
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider is probably one of the most generic and unoriginal aaa games ive played all year…
    There is just no soul here…
    The game is beautiful, the mechanics are great…
    tons of stleath options.. you have your bow and arrow, you have guns that go in and out as this 14 hour story plays out, theres an xp system and skills… there are tombs which are easily the coolest and best part of the game
    But the rest of the game is just so uninspired and boring…
    The scenery never really changes.. its jungle, caves, and under water sections.. which of course, youre in south america .. but nothing is done to make any of the sections feel different… nothing sticks out or is memorable, aside from again the tombs… theyre great…
    But Shadow of the Tomb Raider just makes the mistake of trying to be what it used to be instead of evolve and create something new….
    This feels more like assassins creed and uncharted thrown into a pot, melted, and poured into an action adventure mold…
    A linear feeling third person assassins creed walking simulator almost…
    just climbing through these boring platforming sections over and over, just to hop in some water and do it all over again for 14 hours that just feels like it goes on forever in scenery that never changes…
    Shadow of the tomb raider just tries so hard to be a past version of itself because it thinks that that’s what fans want.. tombs. Puzzles, constant platforming… when just 5 years ago this series was rebooted and that reboot brought tomb raider to near masterpiece level.. it felt real and gritty.. I felt anxiety when I would have to climb, lara felt vulnerable and scared… she felt real…
    In shadow of the tomb raider she feels like an emotionaless mass murderer… just killing everyone in here way not because she has to like I felt in the reboot, but because this is a video game and theyre in the way…
    I feel like shadow and rise of the tomb raider just threw away the magic they created in the reboot.. they cept the semi open world fast traveling, the hunting animals for crafting and upgrades.. but they threw away the emotion..
    Shadow of the tomb raider is a beautiful well polished games, the tombs are amazing, the little towns feel well populated and alive…
    But theres no heart here.. no soul…
    I only felt anything at the end during a touching moment that had nothing to do with this games main story…
    but I didn’t feel for lara, any of her friends or any of this games main characters.
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider is simply forgettable.
    I give Shadow of the Tomb Raider
    a 6.5/10    … Expand
  12. Nerocz1
    Oct 7, 2018
    7
    You know what? Let´s face the fact that iam not the smartest guy under the sun. Iam not the best puzzle solver. But man, this game is a letdown of year 2018. Puzzles are not fun, frustrating. Game is almost only climbing and swimming. Almost no action (end is action heavy, but the rest of the game is almost no action). Stealth is a joke, graphics is ugly and script is dull and boring. VeryYou know what? Let´s face the fact that iam not the smartest guy under the sun. Iam not the best puzzle solver. But man, this game is a letdown of year 2018. Puzzles are not fun, frustrating. Game is almost only climbing and swimming. Almost no action (end is action heavy, but the rest of the game is almost no action). Stealth is a joke, graphics is ugly and script is dull and boring. Very dissappointing game and bad end of the series. Average at best.… Expand
  13. LifeHistory
    Mar 16, 2019
    7
    The environment is incredibly beautiful and alive and combined with the great graphics you just want to enjoy the beauty of its world all day long. So many magical views.

    WHATS GOOD! -incredibly beautiful and alive world. -Good voice acting as always. -Good controls. -Good optimized. WHATS BAD: -Short campaign as always. -Almost non existing side quests that have story or    The environment is incredibly beautiful and alive and combined with the great graphics you just want to enjoy the beauty of its world all day long. So many magical views.

    WHATS GOOD!
    -incredibly beautiful and alive world.
    -Good voice acting as always.
    -Good controls.
    -Good optimized.

    WHATS BAD:
    -Short campaign as always.
    -Almost non existing side quests that have story or anything.
    -Collectibles are boring to collect and have no meaning.
    -Totally useless Upgrade tree and useless weapons that you won't use because lack of fight encounters in the game. Most of the game you are running free and no enemies to be found.
    -Game is very easy and there are hits allover the place.
    -Lack of content.

    It still a good beautiful and enjoyable game but not worth the 60$ because of lack of content and combat with very poor useless upgrading tree. 25$ or less would be worth the pick.

    What I want to see from future TR-Games. I would like a lot of side quests to do here and there instead of brainless collectibles. Also I would like a longer campaign and A LOT more enemys encounters so I can enjoy some action so that the skill tree would mean something.

    They put such hard work in creating one of the most beautiful environment I've seen in a game yet the lack of content is disastrous and makes me sad as hell.    … Expand
  14. scorp332211
    Sep 16, 2018
    7
    Mixed Review- Overall, the game is good. But the tombs are almost impossible to find. I only got 2 notices of tombs nearby in the main campaign. Had to go back & cheat to find the rest. Campaign by itself without tombs only took about 12 hours. It fits well with the previous entries, but feels more like Uncharted- even has some of exact same moves as Nathan Drake. I'll play it again onMixed Review- Overall, the game is good. But the tombs are almost impossible to find. I only got 2 notices of tombs nearby in the main campaign. Had to go back & cheat to find the rest. Campaign by itself without tombs only took about 12 hours. It fits well with the previous entries, but feels more like Uncharted- even has some of exact same moves as Nathan Drake. I'll play it again on Game+. Overall, worth buying if you like action/adventure games.… Expand
  15. SimonExMachina
    Feb 21, 2019
    7
    + solid gameplay mechanics
    + beautiful visual presentation
    + great voice acting + abundance of smartly designed tombs / puzzles - weak story (plot holes, confusing narrative, weak villain) - poor pacing - combat/action is sparse - documents/murals/artifacts are a bit of a letdown - design elements at odds with each other (e.g. extensive combat skill tree/unlocks yet almost no    + solid gameplay mechanics
    + beautiful visual presentation
    + great voice acting
    + abundance of smartly designed tombs / puzzles

    - weak story (plot holes, confusing narrative, weak villain)
    - poor pacing
    - combat/action is sparse
    - documents/murals/artifacts are a bit of a letdown
    - design elements at odds with each other (e.g. extensive combat skill tree/unlocks yet almost no opportunities to use said skills, switching to/buying new weapons is pointless because starting ones are already upgraded and much stronger)

    Overall it's a bit of a let down when compared to the excellent Tomb Raider & Rise of the TR, certainly the weakest of the trilogy.    … Expand
  16. MaxiRE123
    Dec 25, 2018
    7
    I really enjoyed this game, but I still ended up a bit disappointed by it. We are a the third installment of the reboot and the control, while good, still feel clunky from time to time, and the jumping feel even more hand holding to the player than before. It's also very difficult to know whre you can and can't jump as the game decide if you can climb it or not, even if Lara could easilyI really enjoyed this game, but I still ended up a bit disappointed by it. We are a the third installment of the reboot and the control, while good, still feel clunky from time to time, and the jumping feel even more hand holding to the player than before. It's also very difficult to know whre you can and can't jump as the game decide if you can climb it or not, even if Lara could easily climb it in real life. The story is still not so great, with characters barely getting developments, other than Lara. Graphically, It is gorgeous and I love the scenery in general. Overall, I love the fact that the game throw less action at you, and focus more on adventuring, and I love the exploration as I did in the previous one. It is enjoyable and I recommend it if you like the previous one.… Expand
  17. scruffy_77
    Jan 3, 2019
    7
    For me, this is probably the best of the reboot in the series although I cannot help but feel I am playing a version of uncharted. In its own right its a good game there is no doubt but it doesn't have the complete Tomb Raider feel for me as an original 1996 fan. The action outweighs the puzzles, not once was there a time where trying to figure a puzzle proved tricky, and when Lara ends upFor me, this is probably the best of the reboot in the series although I cannot help but feel I am playing a version of uncharted. In its own right its a good game there is no doubt but it doesn't have the complete Tomb Raider feel for me as an original 1996 fan. The action outweighs the puzzles, not once was there a time where trying to figure a puzzle proved tricky, and when Lara ends up once again battling a military helicopter fitted with sub machine guns with waves of enemies pouring in gunning them down I just felt like I was playing a diluted version of the uncharted series. I am not sure why the puzzles and intricacies of working a tomb out are second par when you consider we live in a world where people are locked onto mobile phones with puzzle apps as a primary focus. I hope they one day reboot the original, from memory there was only one other human in most of the original game, a guy called 'Pierre' who was always one step ahead and the enemies were wildlife not military grade Navy Seal teams. Lastly the setting as graphically nice as it was, it was all the same location - not scouting the world for some secret treasure which did become repetitive.… Expand
  18. JSagittarius
    Aug 18, 2019
    7
    Predchozi dily mi prisly lepsi. Tahle hra byla takova..... divna. Porad zabavna to ano ale pusobila "dolepene". Pribeh byl fajn. Vizualne hra take vypada pekne ale celkove cut sceny a jak to bylo za sebou poskladane pusobilo zvlastne.

    Hadanky byly fajn. Průzkum světa také. Co me nebavilo byl combat. Ten mi prisel takovy prkeny. V podstate hodnoceni je takove... 3,6 Not Great Not    Predchozi dily mi prisly lepsi. Tahle hra byla takova..... divna. Porad zabavna to ano ale pusobila "dolepene". Pribeh byl fajn. Vizualne hra take vypada pekne ale celkove cut sceny a jak to bylo za sebou poskladane pusobilo zvlastne.

    Hadanky byly fajn. Průzkum světa také.

    Co me nebavilo byl combat. Ten mi prisel takovy prkeny.

    V podstate hodnoceni je takove... 3,6 Not Great Not Terrible.    … Expand
  19. Mats2468
    Oct 3, 2018
    7
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider was a action filled game that was trhilling at times. The storyline is maybe the worst of the trilogy and could have been improved on the characters. The location was beautiful but repepetive at times. Overall I had fun and that is the most important factor into this game.
  20. wey-yu
    Jan 2, 2019
    7
    Crystal Dynamics created Lara Croft as a great character in the 2010's trilogy but failed to achieve the greatness of Rise Of the Tomb Raider in the latest entry of the series.

    I hope that Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics review Shadow Of The Tomb Raider very carefully and give the franchise the time to develop further.. My final rating is: Almost good but not great. Ask Naughty    Crystal Dynamics created Lara Croft as a great character in the 2010's trilogy but failed to achieve the greatness of Rise Of the Tomb Raider in the latest entry of the series.

    I hope that Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics review Shadow Of The Tomb Raider very carefully and give the franchise the time to develop further..

    My final rating is: Almost good but not great.

    Ask Naughty Dog how they clone Tomb Raider and make the clone better than the original :D    … Expand
  21. Wander22
    Feb 17, 2019
    7
    Gameplay/Mechanics: 8
    Sound/Music: 8
    Graphics/Art: 9
    Story/Atmosphere: 5
    OVERALL: 7.5/10
  22. DRplayer
    Feb 10, 2022
    7
    This game doesn't feel like a proper end or with a story that ends with a bang. First off, the story is fine but feels rather uninteresting. I tried my best to be invested in it, but idk the story just didn't make me care for it. The characters are ok. Lara and Jonah are good, but the villain was just horrendous, boring and so forgettable. The graphics have improved a lot from the RiseThis game doesn't feel like a proper end or with a story that ends with a bang. First off, the story is fine but feels rather uninteresting. I tried my best to be invested in it, but idk the story just didn't make me care for it. The characters are ok. Lara and Jonah are good, but the villain was just horrendous, boring and so forgettable. The graphics have improved a lot from the Rise game. The emphasis on the puzzles were good too, but again the encounters just weren't fun and didn't have proper level design. Overall, it was a fine game but a step down from Rise.… Expand
  23. miccael
    Feb 3, 2021
    7
    Shadow of Tomb Raider, reviewed on PS5 with PS4 edition.
    The Goods:

    Overall animations of looting/playing in general is good. I noticed some subtle animations added to Laura which makes the game feel better. Having 60FPS option is great and so is 4K, but I have to select only one, and 9/10 times I select frame-rate. Sadly I lose amazing 4K graphics that game designers worked on!    Shadow of Tomb Raider, reviewed on PS5 with PS4 edition.
    The Goods:

    Overall animations of looting/playing in general is good. I noticed some subtle animations added to Laura which makes the game feel better.
    Having 60FPS option is great and so is 4K, but I have to select only one, and 9/10 times I select frame-rate. Sadly I lose amazing 4K graphics that game designers worked on!
    Amazing visuals even in cutscenes!
    Crafting improved a lot!

    The Bads:
    Story is by far the weakest, but the setting is SO GOOD! Good side characters but somehow story does not feel well made.
    Character animations aren't great on Lara, this does not feel like 2018 game.
    Hair, mouth animations and quality also could have been better.
    Fire effects are straight up from 20 years ago, have you seen them!?
    Lost of things are added for sake of adding it, like upside down scaling cliff, I think it's a gimmick and does not work well on several occasions where I was doing everything correctly, yet I died.
    Game is heavily inspired by Uncharted series and I can tell. This is good, but when you compare, controls are way better in Uncharted.
    Also game clearly can handle 4K/60 but somehow we have to choose one or another :(

    Would I recommend? YES    … Expand
  24. mbestvina
    Oct 1, 2018
    7
    It's still a good game but it's easily the worst of the trilogy and the things it chooses to focus on actively undermine other parts of the game. Simply put, if you haven't played the first two, there's no reason to play this one. This time, they've chosen to focus on swimming, stealth and realistic villages. All three of these things were present in the last game but I don't think any ofIt's still a good game but it's easily the worst of the trilogy and the things it chooses to focus on actively undermine other parts of the game. Simply put, if you haven't played the first two, there's no reason to play this one. This time, they've chosen to focus on swimming, stealth and realistic villages. All three of these things were present in the last game but I don't think any of them were deserving of expansion.

    The swimming mechanics work far better than I feared but the gameplay it provides still isn't very compelling. Every thirty minutes or so, you'll go underwater for a 3-5 minute segment that'll inevitably poop you out in a new area. There might be some deadly fish but it really doesn't change anything. If you die, just try again and you'll probably make it the second time. They don't present much interesting exploration either, as the swimming areas are usually linear or optional ponds with treasure inside. These sections were just brainless to me, nowhere near as interesting as the core platforming mechanics. More importantly, who thought focusing on water levels was a good idea? Who likes water levels? Rise of the Tomb Raider already got just about all the utility you can get out of swimming mechanics in a Tomb Raider, this was a silly thing to focus on.

    Next is stealth. This was heavily featured in the game's marketing but it really didn't change the game much to me. The main changes are you can cover yourself in mud like in the movie Predator and you can hide in grassy walls. Much like the focus on swimming, this just doesn't change the overall experience in a meaningful way. There are more sections where you're forced into stealth but this, too, is a negative in my view. I cannot understate how little combat this game has. There are almost no shoot-outs, and almost every enemy encounter can be overcome with stealth. This has a couple unintended consequences. Firstly, people like me that prefer the shooting to the stealth are likely to feel left out in the cold. These games' stealth mechanics are fine but I think the shooting is far more enjoyable, being some of my favorite third-person-shooter mechanics. The bigger problem is that this stealth focus massively undermines the upgrade system. You can upgrade your guns as usual and pick from a wide array of ability upgrades but all this is largely pointless in a game that has almost no combat.

    Lastly, is the shift in world design. While the first two Tomb Raiders were focused on making elaborate, vertical, jungle-gyms that were as enjoyable to explore as they were to look at, Shadow of the Tomb Raider takes a more muted approach. Firstly, almost the entire game takes place in a Peruvian jungle. There's lots of jungle, jungle, ruins, and more jungle. The variety on display here pales in comparison to the first two games. Even the game's intro level is just a Mexican jungle instead of a Peruvian jungle. So different... Worse, the game clearly puts a lot of focus into its 3 main village areas, where you can talk with tons of natives, do sidequests, and buy gear. Unfortunately, these areas really drop the ball. All three are incredibly flat, with nothing interesting to climb or explore, offer tedious fetch-quest sidequests, and turn the 100% quest into a grind. I really just didn't care to talk to these NPC's or solve their problems. This was handled far better in Rise and it's undermined by the weak level design. Especially if you're a completionist, you'll come to despise this game's main village, as it contains about 50% of the game's optional content but is the least interesting area to play in the entire series.

    So throw all that together. Shadow of the Tomb Raider doesn't do much new, and what it does do differently usually undermines some other aspect of the game. With this one, it really felt like they were trying to make the game realistic, more like a full open-world sandbox game, and more like Uncharted, all of which are at odds with what I love about this Tomb Raider series. Again, only play this if you've played the first two and want more. I replayed Rise of the Tomb Raider after completing this one and found that it was, in fact, far more enjoyable even the second time through than Shadow is on the first play. It's still a good game overall but pales in comparison to its predecessors. Also, I'd recommend you avoid the game's side content except the tombs. Getting to 100% really eroded this game in my mind.    … Expand
  25. Sagnol
    Jun 28, 2020
    7
    I just finished it and i enjoyed every aspect of the game.
    Yes it is not a huge improvement over their previous games and that's why they did not delay it but still they made some changes here and there which made it an amazing cinematic single player experience!
    ( I don't know if this is right to say it here but i hate seeing people saying that it is like Uncharted... You know that    I just finished it and i enjoyed every aspect of the game.
    Yes it is not a huge improvement over their previous games and that's why they did not delay it but still they made some changes here and there which made it an amazing cinematic single player experience!
    ( I don't know if this is right to say it here but i hate seeing people saying that it is like Uncharted...
    You know that Lara existed before Drake, they are both archaeologists searching for treasures,ruins. Of course they have their similarities and yes i am a fan of both games and i still enjoy them!)

    The only thing that i hated was their decision to make the game kinda short (about 12 hours) and make you purchase the Season Pass if you would like more adventures of Lara... Aside from that it deserves every penny, especially if you have an RTX GPU. And believe me, they made a very good job with the performance which makes it run butter smooth!

    I know they did their best to market this game enough with all those trailers but i still think that it could get a bit more recognition from players that enjoy Single Player games...    … Expand
  26. mpdlord
    Jul 26, 2020
    7
    there's almost no combat. As someone who has completed the first two games, I find this game disappointing.
  27. VirgonoShaka
    Mar 22, 2020
    7
    Having finally the time to finish this trilogy, I can definitely say tha I enjoyed this game, and that I feel glad to have taken the journey beside Lara for all these games. The gameplay is good, the setting looks gorgeaus and the mythology is very interesting. But all in all, I can't give this game more than a Good as an adjective because it really never does anything that surprises me,Having finally the time to finish this trilogy, I can definitely say tha I enjoyed this game, and that I feel glad to have taken the journey beside Lara for all these games. The gameplay is good, the setting looks gorgeaus and the mythology is very interesting. But all in all, I can't give this game more than a Good as an adjective because it really never does anything that surprises me, the mechanics, gameplay, abilities, quests, all of it feels like an expansion of Rise, and not really a new game. It never veers off or does something new. So I recommend for fans of the series or if it is at a sale, but if you are tired of the same action gameplay, maybe its not for you. Good game, but I would have liked for a little more risk than safe.… Expand
  28. tanonero
    Jun 4, 2023
    7
    The game appears to intentionally blend elements from Uncharted 4 and Assassin's Creed Origins, taking inspiration from these titles but falling short in terms of execution. Shadow of the Tomb Raider doesn't excel in any particular aspect, but it still offers an enjoyable experience worth playing, especially if you can overlook the forgettable plot.
  29. Lepumpernic
    Oct 19, 2018
    7
    El juego es bueno. De la trilogía, no es el mejor. Esperaba mas de un Tomb Raider. Buenos gráficos. Pero varios Bugs y glitches se encontraron. La historia es corta, si no fuera por las tumbas extras y las búsquedas de tesoros. En ciertos momentos es repetitivo. No es un mal juego, pero no el mejor. 7/10.
  30. Entertainer
    Sep 2, 2020
    7
    + Some very good graphics, and an ok story, brilliant environments and a lot of different things to explore and enemies to take down in different ways. Climbing that gives you a feel of Uncharted and ok mechanics! Without the puzzles, would have been a 9/10

    - The puzzles. My god the f-cking puzzles. Someone please let me skip them. They ruin some parts of the game completely and lowers    + Some very good graphics, and an ok story, brilliant environments and a lot of different things to explore and enemies to take down in different ways. Climbing that gives you a feel of Uncharted and ok mechanics! Without the puzzles, would have been a 9/10

    - The puzzles. My god the f-cking puzzles. Someone please let me skip them. They ruin some parts of the game completely and lowers the allaround score.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018
25
#25 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 63 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 63
  3. Negative: 2 out of 63
  1. PLAY! Zine
    Mar 11, 2019
    60
    Shallow story aside, Shadow of the Tomb Raider has the best tomb exploration in the series, and that’s what it’s all about.
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  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Dec 31, 2018
    60
    Still very good, but in some ways weaker than the previous game. Still, fans shouldn’t miss it, just because it is the conclusion of the trilogy. [Issue#289]
  3. Gaming Nexus
    Oct 22, 2018
    74
    Shadow of the Tomb Raider should leave us wanting more from the rebooted Lara Croft game, but with some clunky controls and a lazy combat system, what saves the game from being below average are beautiful visuals, fantastic puzzles and tomb layouts along with true adventuring. It’s as mixed up of a bag as one can get.
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