I can't tell if this is the worst game in the remake trilogy or if I've just forgotten how basic the prior two were.
If memory serves, Tomb Raider (2013) as a "gritty reboot" for the series humanizing Lara Croft and giving context to her development as the titular grave robber/action badass mostly works! Rise of the Tomb Raider was Uncharted 2 with some minor open world stuff which mostly works! Which leaves Shadow of the Tomb Raider as... Uncharted 1 but with... less charm? It feels like a strange step backwards for the series that seemingly had some renewed momentum in the 2010s.
The game is gorgeous. The 15ish-hour adventure features some staggering environmental scale and especially impressive use of lighting to highlight beautiful overlooks of the Amazon. The production value of this game is the main sell. Unfortunately that admittedly impressive veneer is thin and frail. The beautiful world feels far from realized.
There are effectively four characters: Lara, her extremely patient sidekick Jonah, a proxy for the indigenous people that I wished was more interesting, and a very generic villain who kind of makes Lara look like a villain by comparison. None of the characters develop in a meaningful sense. Lara and Jonah are the only two who have anything close to a personality in the first place. It's a bummer because the game's opening section presents this tension of Lara getting in too deep--losing herself to her mission of hunting insert evil group. She's pushing so hard that she's hurting herself and those fighting to love and care for her. Neat! Make your invincible protagonist painfully aware of the toll of being an action-adventure murder machine. There's opportunity for growth here.
That doesn't go anywhere. lol There's a moment in the late game that seemingly implies that Lara was right all along, she's the only one capable of enacting meaningful change in this world, and the civilians around her need to deal with that fact or get out of the way.
I don't hate this game but it's really disappointing because it comes from a fun franchise, has a ton of polish, and stands as one of the latest steps in this style of blockbuster adventure game. It manages to feel like the most dull take on the genre at this scale in some time.
I'm open to critique here. If you liked this game, tell me what I'm missing!
If memory serves, Tomb Raider (2013) as a "gritty reboot" for the series humanizing Lara Croft and giving context to her development as the titular grave robber/action badass mostly works! Rise of the Tomb Raider was Uncharted 2 with some minor open world stuff which mostly works! Which leaves Shadow of the Tomb Raider as... Uncharted 1 but with... less charm? It feels like a strange step backwards for the series that seemingly had some renewed momentum in the 2010s.
The game is gorgeous. The 15ish-hour adventure features some staggering environmental scale and especially impressive use of lighting to highlight beautiful overlooks of the Amazon. The production value of this game is the main sell. Unfortunately that admittedly impressive veneer is thin and frail. The beautiful world feels far from realized.
There are effectively four characters: Lara, her extremely patient sidekick Jonah, a proxy for the indigenous people that I wished was more interesting, and a very generic villain who kind of makes Lara look like a villain by comparison. None of the characters develop in a meaningful sense. Lara and Jonah are the only two who have anything close to a personality in the first place. It's a bummer because the game's opening section presents this tension of Lara getting in too deep--losing herself to her mission of hunting insert evil group. She's pushing so hard that she's hurting herself and those fighting to love and care for her. Neat! Make your invincible protagonist painfully aware of the toll of being an action-adventure murder machine. There's opportunity for growth here.
That doesn't go anywhere. lol There's a moment in the late game that seemingly implies that Lara was right all along, she's the only one capable of enacting meaningful change in this world, and the civilians around her need to deal with that fact or get out of the way.
I don't hate this game but it's really disappointing because it comes from a fun franchise, has a ton of polish, and stands as one of the latest steps in this style of blockbuster adventure game. It manages to feel like the most dull take on the genre at this scale in some time.
I'm open to critique here. If you liked this game, tell me what I'm missing!