Geek Citadel Reviews: Tomb Raider

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Lara Croft felt that graduating college and getting a day to day was too mundane for her life. She could feel the call of adventure boil in her blood and set out to grab it by the hand. It held her tightly in its grip but her own slipped away as if it was all too much for her. They say that those that want their dreams fulfilled have to work the hardest to prove it. For Lara her dream is a night terror that she will have to take control over and turn to her favor in order to survive.  It is just fates way of giving Lara everything she wanted while yelling, “Put up or Shut up!”

Lara leads a group on an expedition to find the “Sun Queen”. The journey takes a detour when the boat they were traveling in capsizes due to a wild storm. They unexpectedly wash up on the island they were looking for, only to find vicious cultists inhabiting it. Lara is captured for a brief moment but is able to free herself and escape to the freedom of the island. She is completely outside of what one would call normalcy, and her only way to save her friends and get off the island is to become a survivor.

Mystery surrounds the evolving of Lara from humble student to Tomb Raider. Not everything is about this courageous girl turning into a survivalist. The island and the secrets within have much of a story to tell as well, and Lara will discover that escaping the island alive will not be good enough. Lara’s petite figure and admirable features are not the strength of the title. It’s her will to overcome all of the obstacles in front of her while never losing her ethical code that’s remarkable. In a way, I almost feel sorry that she may one day grow into the hardened and unflinching person in previous titles.

A different coat of paint washes over the Tomb Raider series. Lara no longer bounds around like an action goddess who is totally in control of the situation. She is young and has no experience outside of what she has read in books. It’s kill or be killed, and lucky for us – she has all the tools needed to do just that. Adapting the modern run, jump, and cover mechanics of the current generation of  Action-Adventure gaming was a step in the right direction. The remake takes it a notch higher with weapon upgrades, skills, and open-ended gameplay.

Surviving on the island means a lot more than hiding in a cave while waiting for help. People are out to hunting her and her friends, the only option available is to fight back. Lara must learn to survive through practice. She’ll have to climb to the greatest heights, learn to tend to her own wounds, and kill both animal and man. Doing so will net her experience points that can be used on a three skill trees. Divvying points between these talents will slowly start to morph Lara into Bear Grylls.

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Investing enough points in the Hunter, Brawler, and Survival trees will increase Lara’s chance against her foes. She’ll start off as a rookie and gradually grow to a specialist through experience. The difference from start to finish is as different as night and day. She will start with a rudimentary knowledge of how to use her weapons, and by the end of her journey, she’ll blast someone to pieces at point blank range.

Lara will be able to stalk not only humanoid enemies, but the creatures roaming about in the jungle as well. The “Survival Mode” highlights nearby adversaries and collectibles. Her skills will come in handy for taking on enemies and fauna alike. Slaughtering an animal adds to her experience meter in a minor way. In fact, after she has killed enough of the wildlife in one area – Lara will receive diminished experience points from hunting. The penalty is fine since hunting does nothing special after it is initially introduced. If Lara were forced to hunt to eat to survive, it would be more appealing. As it is presented in its current form, it’s unnecessary and optional due to low experience gains.

Lara will also learn how to become a weapon-smith during her pilgrimage. Since the entire island is one combination of history washed ashore. She can find different weapon parts and tie them together into a better version. For example, the bow originates as a piece of wood tied together by two big branches. Later on in the title, it becomes a sleek compound bow with a scope and explosive arrows. Upgrades are only possible by scavenging items from chests and enemies. Each weapon has an alternate fire mode, and gain upgrades such as scopes and silencers.

Weapons are not the extent of the upgrades in Lara’s arsenal. As time goes by, traversing the world will become exceedingly difficult. Scaling protruding handholds will not always be an option. Lara will have to make due with the items she finds by chance and turn them into something worthwhile. Sites out of reach are easier to get to with the climbing axe or with the rope. This extends to pretty much anything, since Lara will do a ton of backtracking after receiving an upgrade. In a way, it gives the adventure a bit of Metroid’s playstyle.

Tomb Raider is in fact a departure from the original games in the series. It focuses more on telling the story of Lara’s survival as opposed to searching for a Tomb. You do not have to hang your head in disappointment; the Tombs’ are still a welcome but optional part of the series. In each new location, Lara will be able to venture into the depths of Chinese history and unearth lost relics. The mechanics focus more on puzzle elements and plat forming during these subterranean missions. The puzzles are far from brain scrambling and a tad simplistic in comparison to series tradition. The payoff in raiding a Tomb shows itself as a heavy experience boost and nothing more.

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I’ve spoken about how well Lara holds up against the opposition, but not much about how they use their skills to take her down. The highly aggressive cultists will scream out her position and take cover appropriately. They keep swarm tactics heavily in mind as they toss out Molotov’s to draw Lara out – just as another brute closes in for a melee kill or fires off at her with a shot. They generally keep Lara scrambling for cover and attempt to overwhelm her with superior strength and numbers.

The island that this young woman has to overcome is a wealth of gorgeous foliage and weather effects. The weather changes depending on which part of the island the characters currently inhabit. The sun shines in from the distance, the snow clouds the screen, and the rain bustles through the surrounding trees. Our hero and the people trying to slay her are acceptable, but nothing pops-out as particularly impressive about the models. The sound clambers with orchestral thumping, and the voice-acting works out for the main cast. The voice-over for the documents dispersed around the island is — unfortunately, not nearly as appealing.

Be happy that all things are great on the single-player front, because the Multi-player has quite a few issues. You will instantly notice the downright grotesque downgrade of the visuals. I found myself squinting through the pixels to focus on drably textured character models to shoot down. That is if you can actually get a bead on some with the amount of lag attributed to each bout. Let me reiterate that it is not connection lag, at least not on the Playstation 3 version. It will take 1.5 seconds to connect with the character on screen, unless the player on the other team has figured out that bounding around like an idiot totally breaks this chance. I literally shut the game off after my character lost functionality after rolling into a building. Do yourself a favor and wait for a mound of patches before you waste any time on the MP.

Tomb Raider has had some harsh up’s and downs. Its attempts to claw its way back from mediocrity has been a tough trial. The reinvention of Lara Croft as an inexperienced pup is just the kick in the pants the title needed. Despite the stomach turning multiplayer experience, this new coat of paint is an absolute hoot of a time. Tomb Raider receives an A- from Geek Citadel. Lara’s life and death fight is a harsh and revitalizing experience that the series deserved.