Explore your inner tomb raider

Rise Of The Tomb Raider didn’t have the best of receptions when it was announced as a timed Xbox One exclusive and many suspected the console emphasis would hurt the overall game. After spending over a dozen hours scouring through tombs across Syria and Siberia, I can attest to the fact that the game is quite brilliant.

Rise Of The Tomb Raider builds on the foundation set by the 2013 reboot as Lara sets out to find The Divine Source to restore her father’s lost reputation. While there isn’t much to fill in the gaps between the events of the last game and the new one, a lot of the backstory is explained via flashbacks. While the game is enjoyable, the story is a bit of a let-down as major characters don’t really undergo much growth and crucial backstory and information is hidden across the map in tombs and on cliffs. While this is perfect for the crazy Tomb Raider in me, I doubt most gamers would have the patience to spend an extra 10 hours collecting audiologs and manuscripts to learn about the present-day characters and the history of the remenants.

The gameplay is as strong as ever with little change from the previous game; if it isn’t broken why fix it, right? There have been a few key additions in terms of equipment available to Lara, which are integrated into the tombs and story progression and feel quite fluid. While it will take players quite a while to amass all the weapons and upgrades as one playthrough is almost definitely not enough, there is certainly scope for some decent replay value with tons of secrets, challenges and of course, the tombs. Rise Of The Tomb Raiders’ tombs are more challenging than its predecessor, however, they end up focussing on one mechanic each, rather than mixing things up.

The combat hasn’t undergone much change, but enemies are more varied and slightly stronger with their armour. However, Lara’s stealth takedowns and makeshift explosives usually make quick work of most groups.

There is a also new expeditions mode which allows players to re-run chapters for speed and skill with various modifiers to test their skill against the community. This is where the new ‘packs’ come into play, a rather dubious feature I’m not quite sold on. These packs contain single player currency and outfits, or expedition mode modifiers and are quite expensive for in game credits.

The presentation is beyond beautiful with amazingly detailed character models and Lara’s hair effects are stunning, despite being a console game. Even though the main plot falls through towards the end, Rise Of The Tomb Raider was quite enjoyable.
 

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