Overall it's a nice game. Linear plot, fast paced gameplay with good action presented as cinematic set pieces. I never played the original Tomb Raider and always thought Lara was just an eye candy but my god is she a badass in addition to being hot. The moment when she yells, "I am still here, still alive," after defeating hordes of armed enemies, was easily my favorite.

As for the criticism, the characters except for Lara were poorly developed. They felt more like plot devices, and could not make me care about them at all. The same goes for the mystery and paranormal elements on the island—they weren’t properly built up or explored. The pacing was a bit off too. At the halfway point, the queen’s guards are introduced as these scary mythical monsters who are killing people left, right, and center, and you don’t even get to fight them but just have to run away. Then you meet them again straight at the ending, and this time you are taking on and killing entire armies of the queen's guards. Also, the final fight kind of sucked; it never really felt like there was any tension.