2013's Tomb Raider was a remarkable reboot of Lara's iconic franchise, drawing inspiration from the beloved Uncharted series while crafting an original adventure that, at times, even rivaled its source of inspiration. It's a shame though that this massive sequel, while widely beloved by many, failed to evoke the same level of excitement for me.
Rise of the Tomb Raider introduced a plethora of new gameplay elements while refining certain aspects from its predecessor. Among the notable inclusions, the grapple stood out as a particularly impressive addition. The introduction of sprint also contributed to a more refined pacing in exploration, although curiously, its impact did not extend to the platforming aspects.
The skill tree has also been expanded, although it never really felt like any of the available skills provided any changes to the gameplay. In fact, some of it was quite needless as the difficulty was thrown out of the window for this installment. The many stealth sections didn't even need to be there as there's frequently only 2-3 enemies in a single area.
One thing I did noticed while playing through its first few hours was that it seemed heavily reminiscent of Uncharted 2. This resemblance persisted throughout the experience, reaching a point where the game appeared to draw excessively from its inspiration, ultimately diluting the unique qualities that had made its predecessor exceptional. Notably, there was a perceptible shift away from the emphasis on spectacle and explosions, replaced by lackluster shootouts. Furthermore, the sequel abandoned the unsettling horror aspect that had added a distinctive layer to the first installment—a departure that I personally found disappointing.
But the aspect which I hated the most and ruined my enjoyment was the abundant amount of notes scattered around the game. It was like every single room that you went in, there's always a new note to read, significantly slowing down the pacing.
While Rise of the Tomb Raider made an effort in mixing up its gameplay, I think that many of the changes that it did brought only served to hamper the experience, resulting in a disappointingly weak sequel to an otherwise amazing game.
Rise of the Tomb Raider introduced a plethora of new gameplay elements while refining certain aspects from its predecessor. Among the notable inclusions, the grapple stood out as a particularly impressive addition. The introduction of sprint also contributed to a more refined pacing in exploration, although curiously, its impact did not extend to the platforming aspects.
The skill tree has also been expanded, although it never really felt like any of the available skills provided any changes to the gameplay. In fact, some of it was quite needless as the difficulty was thrown out of the window for this installment. The many stealth sections didn't even need to be there as there's frequently only 2-3 enemies in a single area.
One thing I did noticed while playing through its first few hours was that it seemed heavily reminiscent of Uncharted 2. This resemblance persisted throughout the experience, reaching a point where the game appeared to draw excessively from its inspiration, ultimately diluting the unique qualities that had made its predecessor exceptional. Notably, there was a perceptible shift away from the emphasis on spectacle and explosions, replaced by lackluster shootouts. Furthermore, the sequel abandoned the unsettling horror aspect that had added a distinctive layer to the first installment—a departure that I personally found disappointing.
But the aspect which I hated the most and ruined my enjoyment was the abundant amount of notes scattered around the game. It was like every single room that you went in, there's always a new note to read, significantly slowing down the pacing.
While Rise of the Tomb Raider made an effort in mixing up its gameplay, I think that many of the changes that it did brought only served to hamper the experience, resulting in a disappointingly weak sequel to an otherwise amazing game.