Shadow of the Tomb Raider | PS4 Review

It’s of little secret how much Tomb Raider means to me, as listeners and readers of The Gaming Outsider already know full well. Crystal Dynamics were handed the reigns of the franchise after the much-maligned Angel of Darkness (a game not as bad as people think), and have absolutely nailed every entry in the franchise they’ve delivered. So it was with much trepidation that I started Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

A lot was stacked up against the game: the departure of writer Rhianna Pratchett, the handover to developer Eidos Montréal, and Square Enix’s seeming refusal to properly market the game. Well, I can confidently say that any qualms you had about Shadow of the Tomb Raider should be washed away. It keeps the series right at the top of the action-adventure genre, and you’ll be hard-pressed to put it down.

That Kind Of Croft

Lara Croft travels to Cozumel, and later Peru, to put a cap on her origin trilogy. My fears that the new writing staff might not understand what made Lara so compelling in the past two games were quickly put to rest. Immediately Lara proves herself to be kind of a terrible person by jump-starting the Mayan apocalypse. She shows that she’s more interested in her own goals than helping people when she refuses to accept the responsibility of her actions. It’s honestly brave of this trilogy to make its protagonist struggle with being a good person, whereas most games wouldn’t dare make their leads potentially unlikable.

Jonah tags along once again to balance Lara out. He finds more spotlight here in the past two games, and the friendship between the duo is refreshing. There’s not a hint of romance between the pair, instead being maybe the only platonic male-female best friends in video games. There’s more banter and heart in Shadow of the Tomb Raider than past entries, and it’s all the better for it. The game makes it certain that future Tomb Raider games wouldn’t feel complete without these two together.

Not The Conclusion We Hoped

Unfortunately, Lara and Jonah are the only standout characters. The main villain of the game, Dominguez, doesn’t get the screen time he needs to justify his position within Trinity. This is particularly disappointing because of how great Konstantin and Ana were in the previous game. The other major character of the game, Unuratu, more often comes across as a walking cliché than an interesting character.

The plot itself doesn’t hold the allure of discovery you want from this genre. The Dagger and The Box provide a mystery about as interesting as their name would suggest. The story still works for the most part because of Lara’s many character moments, although Shadow of the Tomb Raider sets up a redemptive arc for her that fails to earn its payoff. The narrative does get the job done, but it wasn’t quite the finale I had hoped for the trilogy. That said, Eidos Montréal proves through those character moments that they do understand Lara. I would love to see the studio build their own Croft adventure, rather than finishing someone else’s.

Gaming’s Greatest Cover System Returns

As for the gameplay; it’s positively sublime. Few games nail their individual mechanics as excellently as the rebooted Tomb Raider series, and Shadow is no slouch. In fact, the pacing has been improved to such a degree you’ll wonder why it took them three games to figure it out.

No longer does combat drag on as it did in the past two games. Finally true to the name of the series, most of your time is actually spent raiding tombs. There are still plenty of shootouts for Lara to contend with, but they’re spread out so well you’ll actually be looking forward to them. Combat is similar to the previous two entries (complete with the best cover system in gaming), keeping Lara on the move and the action tense.

The Perfect Predator

Though in truth, you may find yourself in those shootouts a lot less this time around. Stealth has been played up in Shadow, and it is a hell of a lot of fun. As the marketing suggests, Lara really does become “One with the Jungle.” She jumps from the tree to tree with grace, and can maneuver into many different hiding spots. There are a lot of options presented to Lara on how to deal with enemies. You could use a hallucinogen to turn an enemy on his comrades, or fire a rope arrow into a man and hang him from a tree. Nothing puts the fear into enemies quite like that one.

Then, of course, there are the puzzles. Now this is where I want to preface some information. Shadow of the Tomb Raider presents difficulty sliders to the player. One each for combat, exploration, and puzzles. This is far more than a gimmick. I bumped the sliders up to hard, and for the first time since 1999’s Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation I felt like I was putting forth actual effort to solve puzzles and find my way around. This isn’t to disparage the previous games in the series, it’s just that Shadow allows players to cater their experience in a clever way.

Danger Returns To Tomb Raider

There was a thrill with no highlighted handhold to guide my way. It actually felt as though Lara was putting her life on the line when I wasn’t guaranteed a safe landing. And that’s to say nothing of the puzzles. Rise of the Tomb Raider had some good puzzles, but it often felt like we were helping Lara go through the motions. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it manages to make you feel like you solved the puzzle. It’s not a feeling you often get in modern action-adventure games, and in this one it happens over and over again.

Finally The Adventurer We Know

The amount of content is staggering in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. It has the requisite collectibles of modern video games, but it also spends time on side missions and challenge tombs. The side missions are more than simple fetch quests, really displaying the RPG pedigree of Eidos Montréal. They may start with simple demands, but it could snowball into exploring unique areas or fighting one-of-a-kind animals. It really took me by surprise and struck me as something that got more attention that I would’ve thought.

The challenge tombs are the real star of the game. Tomb Raider had simplistic challenge tombs often consisting of one puzzle in a single room. Rise of the Tomb Raider stepped it up by having tombs that would intermingle traversal with puzzles. Shadow of the Tomb Raider manages to make these optional tombs feel like mainline content. These levels are staggering in their size, and no two feel alike. One may see Lara hunted by supernatural enemies, while another could have her dodging ancient traps. These tombs use the interplay between the different facets of gameplay in smart ways, and frankly I was blown away by how great every single one was.

Under The Sea

A quick aside must be made for water in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Not only does it look great, but underwater travel is everywhere in this game. For the past two entries fans have been clamoring for the return of underwater sections. It’s here in spades. Puzzle-solving, explorations, and even bombastic set pieces all use the new underwater mechanics. Thanks to simple controls, Lara controls better under the water than most video game protagonists, and it’s pleasing to see its return to the franchise.

Obviously you’ve seen how gorgeous the game is. It looks and animates a whole lot like Rise of the Tomb Raider, but that engine in no less impressive in 2018 than it was in 2015. I stopped moving several times because the game looked like a doctored screenshot even in motion. It was breathtaking to look at. The animation work on the characters in cutscenes is of particular note, especially the eyes. This is a far cry from the “uncanny valley” of yesteryear.

Lara’s Journey Is Over…For Now

There are other minor quibbles I have with the game. Collectibles abandon the inspired choice of previous games to narrate the journals with unique voices. Instead Lara reads them to the player. It makes it a whole lot more difficult to get invested in the mini-stories the journals provide. Also, the outfit system has been changed in such a way to make it feel unrewarding and unengaging. Instead of unlocking cool new looks for Lara, the majority of them simply provide small alterations to her base outfit. For longtime Tomb Raider fans, this borders on a cardinal sin.

Overall, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is easy to recommend. It provides the pinnacle of a Lara Croft adventure in its gameplay. The plot may falter, but Lara and Jonah are such compelling characters you’ll want to see it through. Though it may not stick the landing, it will leave you with several moments worth remembering. Lara proves herself a Croft in this game, and anybody owes it to themselves to see her journey through.

This review is based off of a PS4 review copy provided by Fifty CC, on behalf of the publisher Square Enix, for coverage purposes.