Rise of the Tomb Raider Xbox One Review
| Game Info |
| Box Fine art N/A |
| Platform 360, Win, PS4, Xbox I |
| Publisher Microsoft Studios |
| Developer Crystal Dynamics |
| Release Date Nov 10, 2015 |
Ascension of the Tomb Raider reads like an answer to the question, "What if we made an open up-world game but removed all the mundane bullshit from information technology?"
Even if yous don't consider Ascension of the Tomb Raider'south large, explorable hubs as comprising a true open-globe game, there'south no denying that developer Crystal Dynamics has built something bigger and denser than 2013's Tomb Raider reboot. And withal, Ascent simultaneously maintains the tight design that made its predecessor so entertaining.
There are some crude edges to Rise of the Tomb Raider — weaknesses in its writing, goofiness in its animation then on. But these never add upwardly to much of concern in a game then certain of its goals and confident in its execution.
Rise of the Tomb Raider begins at full speed, with protagonist Lara Croft and Jonah, one of her companions from the last game, journeying into the frigid mountains of Siberia. Through some flashbacks — both in cutscene and playable form — nosotros learn that Lara is on the trail of an artifact and a lost metropolis, two myths that her father swore were existent before a tragic decease. As the take chances progresses, Lara finds herself up against Trinity, a shadowy organisation looking for the same historical discoveries for more malevolent purposes.
If at that place's ane spot where Rise of the Tomb Raider is noticeably worse than its predecessor, it'due south the overarching narrative. 2013'southward Tomb Raider chronicled Lara's transformation from a regular young adult female into a "survivor" — aka someone able and unafraid of taking down an ground forces of paramilitary thugs. It was a little cliche, and information technology required some suspension of disbelief, but it made for an appealing tale, especially when coupled with the mysteries of the island of Yamatai.
The lost city of Kitezh brings its ain points of intrigue to Rising of the Tomb Raider, simply they feel like a retread; where the previous game'southward story kept me on my toes until the last act, I knew where Rise was headed within the commencement few hours. On summit of that, Lara's motivation for the adventure can, more often than not, be summed up every bit, "My dad was interested in this, then I am also interested in it." What small-scale growth she sees by the finish of the story comes across as forced and, frankly, not terribly interesting.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is saved past 2 important facts
Rise of the Tomb Raider is saved by two important facts: Showtime, the moment-to-moment dialogue is sharp, and moves chop-chop. I may non take understood why Lara was involved in this situation in the first place, simply damned if I didn't smiling at the fashion she refused to accept shit from anyone once she was there.
Trinity and its lead bad guy, Konstantin, deserve special marks every bit well. Tomb Raider 2013'south adversary wasn't memorable at all. Literally, I tin can't remember annihilation about him. Konstantin, on the other manus, is psychologically broken and religiously motivated in a way that stood out to me. There'due south an edge to his choices and his reason for trying to find Kitezh, with some fun twists to his backstory that you lot tin can notice along the way. As goofy as information technology is, I beloved the thought of an evil organization racing Lara Croft to hunt downwards aboriginal secrets. Information technology'southward a great concept that serves the series as a whole, fifty-fifty beyond this single entry.
The 2nd grace that saves Ascent of the Tomb Raider from an otherwise shallow story is that, well, it just doesn't depend on that story much. Bated from a couple of big plot moments, cutscenes in Rise are blessedly brusk, and you're generally immune to go along moving during dialogue between characters. The gameplay comes showtime here, and it's that gameplay that makes Rising of the Tomb Raider so great.
Rise of the Tomb Raider's foundation is the same as it was in 2013: Lara crawls, climbs, shoots and swings her way through a serial of outrageous environments, from a ship frozen vertically into the side of a glacier to an abandoned gulag repurposed by Trinity. The combat nevertheless emphasizes careful aim and smart use of resources in the surroundings. The platforming is still damn nigh perfect, giving the thespian control to a higher place all else, even when it leads to some hilariously awkward animations. None of this has changed, and none of it really needed to.
What has changed is the environments these things accept place in. 2013's Tomb Raider got a lot of mileage out of a unmarried island, just Rise finds even more than diverseness in the nooks and crannies of Siberia. And since Lara isn't stranded this fourth dimension effectually, there's even the opportunity for a cursory just fun trip to another region.
It'due south non merely that Rise of the Tomb Raider has a greater diversity of environments, but those environments offering more than things to do. In that location are narrative collectibles — diary entries and artifacts that piece together the history of the region — plus hidden environmental challenges, boxes containing pieces to put together new weapons and coin caches that allow yous to purchase other upgrades. At that place's even a full side quest system, with NPCs who give you tasks to complete in the surrounding area with rewards for pulling through.
There's much to do in Rise of the Tomb Raider'south expansive hub areas, but they're also small enough that I never got exhausted journeying across the map to hit a new objective. The optional content never felt like more of a burden than a boon. I finished the game with over 80 percent completion despite playing at a pretty fast prune for review, and I take every intention of going back to mop up that last xx percent.
The best parts of Ascent of the Tomb Raider's optional content are the tombs themselves. Some fans were bothered by how the 2013 reboot featured very few tombs, temples and other similar archaeological discoveries, and how it forced them into side areas. That latter effect hasn't inverse, but there must be over a dozen of these optional tombs at present. They're some of the best-looking areas in a cute game, and the puzzles they task y'all with solving are wonderfully designed. I was often left scratching my head for an hour or longer earlier reaching a solution, only that time never felt wasted.
On height of increasing the size of the areas, Rise of the Tomb Raider has also greatly expanded the crafting organisation from the previous game. Lara can now arts and crafts a number of different types of ammunition on the fly, while choosing from bigger upgrades to her arsenal of weapons at base camps. The resource system feels a little loosely implemented — I establish myself inexplicably "total" on resources for most of the game, despite feeling like I was crafting at every opportunity — but it provides another layer of motivation for carefully exploring environments rather than simply rushing headfirst into the next story beat.
Wrap Up:
Rise of the Tomb Raider executes the franchise formula with confidence
In many means, Rise of the Tomb Raider could be viewed as a adequately pocket-size sequel. Information technology successfully builds off Crystal Dynamics' excellent reboot, but it doesn't innovate any massive changes; the telescopic is greater only yet in spitting distance of the previous game. But successfully regaining the feeling created in an extremely expert game is no pocket-size feat. This is the inauguration of Tomb Raider equally a formula once more, but for now, information technology'south a formula I'chiliad happy revisiting.
Rise of the Tomb Raider was reviewed using a retail Xbox 1 copy provided by Square Enix. Y'all can find boosted information about Polygon'due south ethics policy here.
About Polygon'due south ReviewsSource: https://www.polygon.com/2015/11/9/9633858/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-review-xbox-one-crystal-dynamics-square-enix
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