7/10

Having never played the original Tomb Raider games, I approached this title without nostalgia or prior knowledge of the franchise. It had been sitting in my backlog for a couple of years, and I decided to give it a shot recently.

I’m in an era of gaming where I’ve been gravitating towards titles with less traditional linear storylines, Tomb Raider managed to reignite my interest. Nowadays, I struggle to connect with a game’s narrative, often due to interruptions, lack of immersion, or a boring story, leading me to abandon many story-driven games I’ve attempted in the past year or two.

I played this on my Steam Deck with a mixture of normal-high settings at 60FPS.

Story: 3/5

The narrative in Tomb Raider struck a balance that worked for me. I wasn’t looking for an intricate web of character arcs and complex relationships. Instead, I wanted a storyline that would provide motivation and feature likable characters who contributed to the overall objective, and the game delivered on those fronts, with a bit extra.

Lara Croft, in particular, stood out as a likable protagonist. She possessed her share of flaws, but her actions and motivations were relatable. Her sense of guilt and her unwavering determination for her and her team’s survival drove the narrative forward, making it engaging enough to keep me invested.

Mechanics: 3/5

Tomb Raider’s combat mechanics played it safe with a standard approach (Arkham style combat with regular 3rd person cover-shooter stuff), and the weapon upgrades were straightforward, and they didn’t particularly excite me. The allure of reaching the next campfire for upgrades didn’t quite grab me. Additionally, the available skills for upgrading at these campfires didn’t feel essential to me. Maybe I’m just a god gamer, but I never found myself needing more skills or upgrades.

While stealth was an option, it didn’t feel particularly useful, given that you were likely to be discovered regardless of your efforts. Nevertheless, there was enjoyment in picking off a few guards before the inevitable reveal. The game seemed to have the foundation for capable stealth mechanic, but it didn’t delve deeply enough into this aspect. I wished for more emphasis on stealth since it was a rewarding.

On a positive note, the parkour mechanics in the game were impressively smooth. I encountered no issues, and every movement felt fluid and intuitive.

Feel Like Lara Croft: 4/5

The controls in Tomb Raider were solid, but I wished for slightly more responsiveness. The controls were straightforward and easy to remember. I never missed jumps or had other similar issues, like in Assassin’s Creed. I was never taken out of the immersion because of the controls and movement.

Visuals: 4/5

Visually, Tomb Raider was great. The game’s portrayal of caves, tombs, and the decaying villages was stunning, despite a lack of details. The island setting itself was a highlight, with developers effectively conveying the ongoing struggle between Lara and the island. Progress always seemed to trigger a response from the island, sometimes hindering Lara, and surprisingly even aiding her at times. The relentless and ever-changing weather served as a constant reminder of the challenges and goals at hand, creating a sense of constant tension and danger. It wasn’t until the end that I truly felt safe.

The cinematic action sequences were great as well. Action movie-like sequences were always excited, but I wish there were more of them. Additionally, the game’s shift towards a horror ambiance in certain areas added depth to the experience. While I wasn’t exactly scared, some parts of the game managed to create an eerie atmosphere.

The death animations in the game, although at times gruesome, added to the stakes and made me more reluctant to die. Paradoxically, they also piqued my curiosity, I would sometimes die on purpose to see if I would unlock a new animation haha

Considering that Tomb Raider is from 2013, its visual quality has held up well. This era of games, marked by the need to rely on style due to limited processing power for realistic graphics (compared to today), has aged gracefully. While it may not be the best-looking game by today’s standards, it features awe-inspiring settings that contributed to my overall enjoyment of the game. I was always excited to see what the next zone would look like.

Accessibility 5/5

I appreciate Tomb Raider not for its groundbreaking innovation but for its comforting familiarity. It’s a game that provides all the visual and audio cues you could ask for – red means explosion, white means climbable, green and yellow signify ammo, and so on. Some might argue that this simplicity makes the game too easy, but for me, at this moment, it strikes the perfect balance

After long days filled with work, gym, cooking, and chores, there are moments when I simply don’t have the energy to dive into a challenging game that demands my full attention.

It’s challenging to put into words, but Tomb Raider feels like a pure, unadulterated game. Many of the titles I’ve been playing lately often come off as templates that require a lot of effort on my part. How much fun I have with the game heavily relies on how much effort I’m willing to put into the game. Multiplayer games demand practice, games like Stardew Valley and Enter the Gungeon require constant wiki searches, open-world titles like Breath of the Wild need hours of thorough exploration, and complex RPGs demand deep immersion in the story.

Tomb Raider, in contrast, feels like a fully-formed experience ready to be enjoyed from the get-go. It offers a frictionless and barrier-free journey that requires no additional effort on my part. I understand that many games are like this, but this one served as a reminder of how much fun such straightforward, immersive experiences can be to me.

Overview

Overall, Tomb Raider is an enjoyable experience. I enjoyed everything enough to keep playing and motivate me to buy the next game in the series. I know to most this might not be the most exciting game, but to me it has has changed the directions of the next couple games that I will play.

Favorite Part

This next paragraph will have a couple spoilers.

I think my favorite part was the end. Everything starts to hit Lara like a train. Even the villain tells her that she isn’t actually a hero despite everyone praising her throughout the game. She has also killed a bunch of people who were just trying to escape the the island. I think it can even be argued that she’s worse than anyone on the island. She is not the hero, she is just another survivor. Maybe she could have worked with them so they would all escape together, but how successful would she have been negotiating with borderline feral, stranded survivors? I felt satisfied with the end and look forward to more from the series.

  • jsdz@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    A good review but from what I remember of the game I would add that the “quick-time events” can be annoying. Do not play if you can’t handle scenes of gratuitous button mashing.

    • limeaide@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      They definitely weren’t a highlight, but they weren’t common enough to be annoying to me tbh.

      But yeah I can see it being annoying to some people

      • WarmSoda@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I turned the game off on the beginning because of the QuickTime nonsense. Needing to do it while climbing a ladder was the last straw for me.

  • WhoRoger@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I feel like that’s a game that needs a big screen to be enjoyed, can’t imagine playing on a handheld.

    It’s one of the few games where I went to collect all the collectibles, because I loved the exploration, environment, atmosphere and mostly the controls too.

    It also looked incredible for the time - I first played it on PC when it came out, later on PS3 where it was only fine if quite downgraded. Yea the presentation and sense of wonder are very important for that feel.

    Some of the action is way over the top, especially in later parts, and the amount of abuse Lara survives is just stupid. It’s one of those “ludonarrative dissonance” games for sure.

    • limeaide@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      It wasn’t bad on a handheld if I’m being honest. My standards might be a little lower just because of how used to playing on a small screen now

      • WhoRoger@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Not saying it’s bad, I’m sure it holds up okay as it’s a good game, I just think you can’t enjoy the environment and atmosphere as much.

  • HidingCat@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    All I can say is fuck me, the reboot came out in 2013? It felt like it was 6 years ago, not 10. T_T

  • technopagan
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    1 year ago

    Having JUST finished replaying it myself last week, I wholeheartedly enjoyed your review. Thank you!

    I had the exact same thought regarding the ending: the girl that in this game is so often depicted as vulnerable and caring (she loves her friends) is at the same time a ruthless serial killer who doesn’t seem to hesitate for a second about setting dozens of stranded survivors on fire who “just” want to escape the island as desperately as she does. When the final outro cutscene was playing and she ends with "I’m not going home…" I couldn’t help but fear for the next group of people she’ll encounter. ;)

    Non-sequitur: OMG did I hate the quick-time events, though! Felt like I needed to fail at least 3x for EACH quick-time event before I got it right. /o\

  • kid4today@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    I played the trilogy a couple of years ago. I’m a big fan of the original games and was mostly happy with the reboot.

    For me the second instalment was the best of the reboot (rise of the tomb raider). The stealth is improved making it actually viable to clear whole areas using just stealth. I also loved the environments of the second one.

    Overall I really enjoyed the 3 games but the balance between combat and puzzle solving was too far towards combat to make them feel truly like tomb raider games. The puzzle solving should have been a bit harder as well to truly make them feel like tomb raider games.

    • limeaide@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      In Tomb Raider 2013, I felt like they had the mechanics for stealth, but they didn’t quite have the AI and mission structure right for it to be viable. I’m excited to be able to play more stealth in the next game.

      I would have definitely liked more puzzles that were difficult. They were a highlight of the game, but not present enough

      • th_in_gs@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        It seems like it’s generally accepted that game 3 is the best of this trilogy, and game 2 the worst, but I’m in agreement with @kid4today@feddit.uk - there’s something about the balance of ‘Rise’ that made me like it a bit more than the rest. I hope you like it!

        • kid4today@feddit.uk
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          1 year ago

          Ppl think 2 is the worst? Huh, I wasn’t aware of that.

          Thing is, I don’t really remember much about 3. I played the first one through twice and the second one I played through 3 times and all the dlc. By the time I got around to the third game I think I’d just kinda had enough of tomb raider and rushed through it and never replayed it.

          I think I might actually go back and play the third instalment again now that it’s been a while since I last played it.

  • Deconceptualist@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I probably only played 1/3 of it but this mostly matches my experience. The deaths really were gruesome and that kinda turned me off (even as a dude who likes death metal; I don’t want to see a woman die horribly). And yeah the game did play it safe in terms of mechanics and upgrades. But the environments were gorgeous and it felt like playing through a classic action movie. I should give it another shot.

    I did test it on Deck and it ran better than probably any comparable game. 900p resolution with FSR seemed to be the sweet spot, but that was 10 months ago so maybe it can push a little more now. Looked and felt fantastic in a short trial though.

    • limeaide@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      I’ve been reading about this game and I’m surprised how divisive the death scenes were! I understand tho, they were pretty brutal

      I still think it’s worth another try though!

  • It certainly was in my top games for that year.
    I think The Last Of Us came out around that time too, which is also up my list.

    2013 was a pretty good year back then tbh…
    Those two and Metro Last Light, Starcraft HotS, Battlefield 4? One of the Bioshocks?

    You’re right though, Tomb Raider 2013 isn’t shy of being a game. You review explains it better, but the pacing just worked for me.
    A few things could have been better, but it also didn’t overstay its welcome too much, which is something I’ve come to appreciate a lot amidst unending open worlds and living games with their metas and whatnot.
    I didn’t need to minmax, nor felt the need to.
    Never felt the need to save scum.
    It doesn’t need a wiki, isn’t bloated with too much filler.
    It’s a bit linear, which contributes to its success in pacing. It doesn’t have too many distractions, whereas some other games are kinda ADHD factory.
    Sometimes it’s nice to just… play, and it’s a great title for just that.

    • limeaide@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      I agree! Especially that it didn’t overstay its welcome. I’m glad it wasn’t bloated with a bunch of side mission stuff, and the side content was mostly exploration.

      Not the most complex game, but it was enjoyable

      Edit: I forgot to add this, but the PS3/Xbox 360 era of games is my favorite in terms of AAA titles. I hold a lot of nostalgia for those titles.

  • UnPassive@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Recently played Uncharted Legacy of the Thieves on my steam deck and loved it. Picked up the tomb raider games this week (on sale) in hopes that they have a similar feel (single player story adventure)

    • rattboi@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      I love the Uncharted games, and Tomb Raider 2013 feels pretty similar. I haven’t played the sequels yet, but I plan to.

    • limeaide@lemmy.mlOP
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      1 year ago

      I think I’m going to do the opposite of you haha. I’m thinking about playing all of the Tomb Raider games before I get to Uncharted

      How was the performance of Uncharted on the Steam Deck?

      • UnPassive@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Performed great! Played the whole game docked. Really hoping they port the other uncharted games to PC

        • limeaide@lemmy.mlOP
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          1 year ago

          Honestly a port of the older uncharted games is what i’ve been waiting for. I think I’m just going to end up playing them on an emulator on my PC