Shadow of The Tomb Raider is the third game of the Square Enix’ Tomb Raider series. It takes place after the events of the second game Rise of The Tomb Raider. In short and without saying too much, the story centers on Lara Croft’s adventures in South America as she battles, yet again, the military organization Trinity and tries to put a stop to a Mayan apocalypse.
I plunged into The Shadow of Tomb Raider without actually remembering the previous games. For the most part it was fine except for some references to characters here and there that I completely forgot about.
The game stood out the most compared to its counterparts for the following reasons:
- There are more puzzles and less combat
- The puzzles are more complex
- The world itself feels far-ranging than the other two
- The culture (particularly Paititi) portrayed in the game is distinct (although reminded me a lot of Assassins’ Creed Origins
Having said that, there were a few things that I didn’t like. The story, for example, is a bit mundane. The gameplay eventually became predictable too. After mountain climbing there’s definitely a grappling hook. After a cliff jump there’s usually a diving session. After a temple puzzle there’s always combat and then rinse and repeat. Even the combats can be predictable in the number of enemies you get and where they are situated. Another issue I have with the Square Enix Tomb Raider games is the leveling up mechanics. I find myself never too excited or motivated to unlock skills like I am with other games because I find the variety of skills a bit boring and to be honest useless compared to lets say games such as Dying Light, Fallout and Far Cry games. In fact, I pretty much got through the entire game without upgrading any survivor skills and it didn’t feel like I missed anything.
Overall the game isn’t overly bad but it isn’t anything special either. I would probably say that it’s not worth the full price to be honest. I would recommend renting it or borrowing it from a friend instead.
My final score is 3/5 ★★★★
- 4/5 for gameplay
- 2/5 for plot
- 3/5 for puzzles & exploration
- 3/5 for overall experience
Game Platform (played on): Sony Playstation 4
Links: Trailer
Chickpea Chronicles 