A nagging thought persisted throughout my 25 hours with “Shadow of the Tomb Raider.” Haven’t I done this before?
I shrugged it off at the time because the game is undeniably fun, but make no mistake — Lara Croft’s latest installment seems doomed to live in the shadows of its predecessors. At least there’s more tomb raiding this time around.
Max Rothenberg | Argonaut
After the events of 2015’s “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” Lara and her close friend Jonah travel to Mexico to take down the shady organization Trinity. When she finds a dagger in a temple riddled with murals depicting “the Cleansing,” a Mayan apocalypse, she makes the only logical decision. Yes, she takes the dagger and triggers the apocalypse — of course she does.
It’s an interesting, nontraditional approach to the character, making her atone for her actions. “Shadow” and its prequels have done a great job humanizing a traditionally one-dimensional character, layering Lara with guilt, conflict and wounded pride throughout each entry. Due to some uneven pacing though, at times the story beats feel out of place.
Lara finally facing the consequences of her brash decisions is an interesting thread, until it’s suddenly abandoned about 10 hours into the story.
From this point on, the topic is essentially left in the dark until the game’s conclusion, where it’s neatly tied up in a bow. A little too neatly.
The game starts off with a great mix of stealth, platforming, puzzle solving and action sequences, even introducing a few new mechanics into the fray. Most notably, Lara can cover herself in mud and back into walls, pulling a page straight out of “Rambo.” It’s a great addition that unfortunately becomes underutilized as the game progresses.
“Shadow” was touted as having an open world hub much larger than that of “Rise.” The problem is that larger does not always equal better. The game simply grinds to a halt when Lara arrives at Paititi, the game’s central area.
I’m not playing a Tomb Raider game just so I can run errands for villagers and embark on other pointless fetch quests. Although, I will say I enjoyed petting the various llamas.
I play Tomb Raider for the exploration, the puzzles and the fast-paced combat — and for the most part, the game delivers on these fronts. There is much less combat than in previous games, and more time spent climbing around the environment and solving grandiose, albeit sometimes head scratching puzzles.
There’s just too much fluff. Developers often come under fire because consumers see linear, streamlined games as “too short” and not worth the money. As a result, more and more games are becoming pointlessly large, open-world affairs taking up 50 hours someone likely doesn’t have.
Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. When playing Tomb Raider though, I don’t want two hours of nonsense distracting me from my goal — getting from point A to point B. There’s a phenomenal, 10-hour game here. It’s just wrapped up in a 25-hour disguise.
Environments and set pieces are simply stunning. The colors pop off the screen, and the dense foliage, particularly in jungle settings, visibly sways in the wind.
Yet, there’s no denying that character animations and facial models have taken a noticeable step back, and there’s a clear cut reason why.
While Crystal Dynamics developed the previous two games, Eidos Montreal took the reins for the final entry in Croft’s origin trilogy.
It seems like, in an effort to appeal to series fans and establish credibility, the company played it far too safe. There just isn’t anything interesting enough to stand out from the pack.
A majority of the assets are clearly recycled from 2013’s “Tomb Raider,” resulting in what feels like a lack of polish. These are largely the exact same animations from five years ago, and that should be unacceptable.
Despite what it may seem, there’s an enjoyable, familiar tomb raiding adventure to be had. This isn’t a bad game. “Shadow” certainly won’t win any awards. Upon reflection the total package just seems perfectly average.
Lara’s character arc over the trilogy has been a joy to experience, and I hope there is more in store for her later down the line. Perhaps it’s a better idea to focus solely on the main story and avoid the bloated side content. It’s simply disappointing that the third and final game in the rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy feels more like Tomb Raider 1.5.
Max Rothenberg can be reached at [email protected]