K-SCORE: 71
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Square Enix
“shove down any morbid fascination you might have with watching the brutal mutilation of a girl so young and pretty”
Starring: Camilla Luddington
Spoiler Level: Minor
So… in a game where Lara has to hunt to survive, build camps, fix radio towers, and become an expert in field triage to deal with her numerous raw injuries, she also has to contend with a cult that lives in secret ancient tombs trying to summon a goddess called The Sun Queen by sacrificing the body of a young Asian girl? It’s a truly bizarre blend of realism and fantasy. Slipshod plotting, outrageous set piece moments taking you out of control of the character too often, and a lot of uninteresting characters (basically everyone except for Lara), but I find that I don’t really care. The length of the linear story matches the staying power of the gameplay, and both are engaging enough to ensure it’s fun the whole way through.
The one element I did especially like was how routinely Lara got beat-up, shot, stabbed, burned, fell from massive heights, and nearly drowned, always to rise again, shake it off, and take the next step on her survival mission, never complaining or bragging about what she’d been through. It gave her a charm of sorts. Also there is a really nice iconic Tomb Raider double handgun moment at the end that is not game-breaking but thoroughly rewarding and satisfying.
Crystal Dynamics claimed they’d created a thoroughly reimagined and entirely new direction for this series reboot complete with a gritty and emotional Lara and a smart and more realistic story. Yeah… not so much. This is Uncharted with Lara Croft, starring quick-time action, too many cutscenes and an equally unsophisticated story. Also, I seem to remember some weird outrage about a redesigned Lara without her signature ponytail and Crystal Dynamics holding their ground thereby creating a little controversy and hype. The Lara character design: a hot, pony-tailed brunette wearing impractical attire for her settings, so I wouldn’t say it’s edgy. It is fantastic art though. Look at that.
Games have come a long way since this, and even when we had this, people were modding the coding so that she ran around without clothes in every level.
Her deaths are intense though. Yikes. Don’t die (which isn’t that hard to accomplish). Or, if you do, shove down any morbid fascination you might have with watching the brutal mutilation of a girl so young and pretty.