It's kind of funny how when Uncharted was first revealed in the early days of the PS3, the public deemed it "Dude Raider" and an obvious rip-off of Lara Croft's many adventures. But once Tomb Raider returned it took a lot of clear inspiration from Naughty Dog's flagship series and, in turn, itself could be considered a rip-off. And while that isn't entirely unfounded, Tomb Raider (2013) does set itself apart from the former in a few key areas. While it still retains the high-octane, cinematic platforming sequences and 3rd-person shooting mechanics, it incorporates more RPG elements to keep things relatively fresh. Lara can upgrade skills and weapons through salvaging parts and she can fast travel to previously-explored areas. While the story will take the player down a linear path (not unlike Uncharted), the game does provide more wiggle room to explore and invoke that classic Tomb Raider style. I'm no veteran of this franchise but the exploration and puzzle variety was very much welcomed. Combat is also far less about keeping behind cover and taking pot-shots and more about staying on your toes and adapting to each encounter.
My main gripe with this game has to be the story. While not terrible, it's certainly not memorable either. Lara herself is not the most interesting protagonist and her supporting cast is nothing to write home about. They're all a bunch of disposable archetypes, save for Jonah who is thankfully the only person who sticks around for the sequels. One of the reasons why Uncharted has stuck with me all these years was because, despite the series' fairly basic gameplay, the writing was consistently entertaining and the cast of characters was always a joy to follow. I hate having to compare these two franchises over and over but when you play this game it's really hard not to.
I enjoyed my time with the Tomb Raider reboot but it never exceeded my average expectations. It's a relatively short, solid adventure but not one I'll ever insist people need to play. I got the whole trilogy for like $25 on Series X so I can't really complain.
My main gripe with this game has to be the story. While not terrible, it's certainly not memorable either. Lara herself is not the most interesting protagonist and her supporting cast is nothing to write home about. They're all a bunch of disposable archetypes, save for Jonah who is thankfully the only person who sticks around for the sequels. One of the reasons why Uncharted has stuck with me all these years was because, despite the series' fairly basic gameplay, the writing was consistently entertaining and the cast of characters was always a joy to follow. I hate having to compare these two franchises over and over but when you play this game it's really hard not to.
I enjoyed my time with the Tomb Raider reboot but it never exceeded my average expectations. It's a relatively short, solid adventure but not one I'll ever insist people need to play. I got the whole trilogy for like $25 on Series X so I can't really complain.