Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition – Archived review

This is the graphically improved Tomb Raider from 2013, adapted for next-gen consoles like the PS4 (on which I played the game). The only games I can compare this to are the Uncharted series. I know that Lara Croft was killing off enemies when Nathan Drake was still in diapers, but that’s the order in which I played the games.

Tomb Raider is more like an RPG than Uncharted is; Lara’s skills and weaponry improve throughout the game, while Nathan Drake’s are pretty much constant. Tomb Raider is also more “open world” than the Uncharted games are; you can return to previously-explored areas to find goodies that you missed, and optionally explore tombs with treasures hidden by puzzles. Otherwise the structure of the games is similar: a linear storyline, with lots of enemies to kill and platform puzzles to solve.

While I enjoyed Tomb Raider, I think I like the Uncharted games better. The precision timing required of keypresses in Tomb Raider is more punishing than that required in Uncharted (with the exception of that horrible tower jump in Uncharted 1). The minor characters in Uncharted seem more individualistic and a bit less stereotypical than the cannon fodder in Tomb Raider. With that said, I very much liked the story of how Lara grows from a college graduate in archaeology to an adventurer capable of killing enemy hordes with a bow and flaming arrows.

This is definitely worth a try, especially if you do what I did and pick it up for half price.

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