It is a grand story in concept, but I typically enjoy more isolated stories. The fate of the world is on the line, and Lara Croft is the only one that can save everyone. A revenge tale that follows the events at the end of the last game. Shadow of the Tomb Raider presents a much darker story and in result everything feels much more substantial. Making you feel much more like the hardened hunter than the frightened prey. This Tomb Raider story has a much darker tone this time around, but also features a more seasoned Lara Croft completely comfortable in her trade. It features a semi-open world that feels grand but not overwhelming, colorful characters that I cared about, and a story that had me hooked from start to finish. There are better platform games out there, but none have the same feel as Tomb Raider or the same satisfaction derived from achieving a goal in Tomb Raider.Shadow of the Tomb Raider improves on the successful formula that made Rise of the Tomb Raider such a hit. If you never played a Tomb Raider game or you just want to feel a little nostalgic, then I would recommend this to you. You are essentially on your own in a world devoid of life except for the occasional beasty that wants to kill you! Very few games have managed to capture that feeling of isolation so well. The feeling of claustrophobia is still one of the most impressive things here. The enemy AI is about as clever as a lemming and some of the jumps will just make you want to set fire to your TV. At times the camera is just plain rubbish. I loved the new abilities and this plays really, really well, but it is not with out flaws. The trouble is game play has moved on a lot in the last 10 years and it really does feel a bit dated now. The new graphics engine makes it far more playable than the original. Tomb Raider Anniversary is a nice idea that has been well executed. Some are pretty straight forward, other will have you chewing the controller, especially when you are being attacked at the same time as trying to work out the puzzle! It is all about the puzzles and there are plenty of them. Not really the most interesting to shoot at and not all that prolific in the game!īut like the original, this is not about the fights. Sadly, with this being a remake of the original all the original baddies are back. You do get a matrix like slow down in some battles as well, which is nice. The ability to do wall runs, 45 degree jumps and the like help to make life a little easier also.Ĭombat is similarly smoother, although essentially the same. The jumps in places are incredibly difficult to hit accurately, but generally things have been improved. Lara moves the way I would want her to, with grappling hooks and flips and somersaults that are incredibly easy to pull off. It looks a little rough when compared to the likes of God of War, but the graphics work for it. The new graphics give the game a much nicer scale. The game was a slow trudging walk through boring caves with pixel perfect jumps that made the old 8 bit platformers look easy. I hated the fact that nothing really happened in it. Tomb Raider was really a game that I could never get on with. To that end the levels have been made bigger and more interesting to accommodate the new more agile Lara. The graphics engine from Legends has been used, giving Lara new abilities that the original Tomb Raider was really missing. The basic game is the same, the same set and plot, but the game as a whole has been updated to make it more ‘ next gen’. However, to call it a remake is something of an injustice, more a re-imagining. Essentially it is a remake of the 1996 original. Tomb Raider Anniversary is something of a return to the beginning for the series.
Very few games have managed to capture that feeling of isolation so well Since then she has seen numerous incarnations which has taken her from games to comics into films and back again. A generation used to blue hedgehogs and short fat plumbers suddenly had a busty, flexible brunet to control! Mmm Mario or Lara…let me think! To top it all off she was in 3D, oh and the game was pretty good as well! When Lara first hit the humble Sega Saturn back in 1996, with the classic Tomb Raider, it was a revelation to hormonal teenage boys all over the world. Eidos has the pneumatically impressive Lara Croft.
#TOMB RAIDER 2 REMAKE DEMO REVIEW SOFTWARE#
Old school platforming for the next generationĮvery major software house tends to have a mascot, a game character that is unique to them.