Rise of the Tomb Raider review

Reboot. Given its computing connotations, it's surprising that Hollywood coined the phrase before gaming. It's the same deal either way, though. If you have a valuable bit of intellectual property, and you've flogged it to death through numerous sequels, then don't let it die, simply reboot it for 'a new generation'.

With its famous protagonist, similar-sounding name and grittier ambitions, Rise of the Tomb Raider feels like gaming's riff on the biggest reboot of them all, Chris Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. In design, it's moved away from the complex puzzles of the original series to stand closer to its nearest competitor, Uncharted, with a greater emphasis on shooting. The similarities made it logical for Microsoft to jump in and snap up an exclusive deal (for now at least, as it's also coming to PC and PS4 at various points next year) and get the jump on Nathan Drake's fourth adventure, which is out early next year.

Unlike Uncharted, Lara didn't need the first game to get into her stride. Lara was reborn with the gameplay polish of a long-running series. It was so slick, in fact, that it was difficult to see where the series might go next. And so it's not surprising to discover this new game largely follows the same template as the old one, as it features plenty of fighting, climbing and puzzling.

Core design

Lara is once again portrayed as a young and inexperienced adventurer, but she's also something of a lethal killing machine. I hate to think what putting an arrow through someone's eye at 50 yards is doing to her overall mental state, but it certainly gets the job done. Thankfully, there's a greater emphasis on stealth here compared to her last expedition, and you can often clear out large groups of myopic, idiotic enemies with just a few well-placed arrows.

On top of that Lara has taken lessons from Naughty Dog's other big hitter, The Last of Us, and can now throw together a variety of improvised explosives on the fly. If you see a bottle or can, you can quickly build a molotov or grenade to fling at your opponents - at the cost of resources you carry. You can't store such items to use as you will, though, which cleverly allows the developer to keep a rein on their use; even if it doesn't make much sense.

It's worth noting that there's no auto-aim system on the default difficulty level, which can make lining up shots with the bow rather tricky under pressure. The Xbox One controller has excellent analogue sticks but I still found that survival in some encounters was down to luck rather than skill. Personally, I'd prefer a slightly stickier aim and tougher opponents. That said, if you master the controller, then Lara is more lethal than Katniss Everdeen and twice as brutal when it comes to melee finishers.

Between the fighting there's a healthy dose of exploration with lots of opportunities to climb about on trees, roofs and rock faces. The vast majority of this is utterly unchallenging, but one tricky platforming section, with jumps that need actual timing, proved that the game could have got a lot more mileage out of Lara's athleticism. Swimming is back as well, albeit only in the form of ducking just underneath the surface rather than swim freely beneath the water.

It's a shame that the climbing and shooting sections don't quite gel together, as it's largely one and then the other, rather than hanging of a cliff face popping off bullets one-handed. From what we've seen of the new Uncharted, Nathan Drake will mixing it up more and to greater effect.

There are some cracking little puzzles in the game, the best involving both water and Lara's expanded ability to fire rope arrows and attach them to various objects - as well as cut them free again using a knife. Unfortunately, most are generally restricted to single large rooms which aren't woven into the plot itself, instead forming extra bonus missions that dole out additional practical abilities - learnt somewhat curiously from ancient illuminated texts.

Because you're worth it

It's hard to know if the strong similarities between this game and the last are partly due to it being available on the Xbox 360 as well, and whether a purely current-gen title could have spread its wings a little wider in terms of scale and depth. That said the Xbox One's extra horsepower has been put to good use in the visuals. This is a beautiful game from the outset, with an opening mountain-top sequence exhibiting epic backdrops, dense driving snow, and individual footprints that are left behind as your trudge up through the snow drifts. Ice glistens and cracks just how you'd expect, and Lara's shiny, luxuriant hair slips and slides over her shoulder in an uncannily realistic way, almost warranting its own Pantene advert.

The RPG elements of the game return, with skills to upgrade and natural resources to find and craft into useful items. I made no particular effort to look for these or hunt animals other than those that stumbled across my path, but still found the game largely manageable bar a couple of difficulty spikes in certain fights. On harder difficulty levels, these systems no doubt come into their own as you scramble around for resources, but for your average adventurer it's rather disappointing that you're not required to engage with them more effectively.  

Despite having learnt numerous survival skills in the last game, Lara is once again starting out with a branch for a bow and very little in the way of abilities. It works well practically-speaking, but was a much better thematic fit in the first game than in this sequel, and I hope Crystal Dynamics thinks long-and-hard about returning to this mechanic in the game's inevitable sequel.

Thankfully, Lara's finally learnt not to destroy every pot she happens to walk past, and she even comments on items of interest, making her feel more authentic as a budding archaeologist. There's language skills to upgrade, too, even if it is a bit daft that you can "level up" your ancient Greek. 

The plot is a bit so-so with an ancient artifact to find, or protect, and a hidden valley where war is being waged between interested factions, but the game's pacing is superb. Narrow spaces and short cutscenes disguise any loading times, so each level flows beautifully from one to the other, and when the action just keeps coming, you don't really mind that the narrative is rather unsatisfying.

In good company

From Batman and The Hunger Games to Assassin's Creed and Uncharted, Tomb Raider borrows many traits from a lot of the biggest franchises around. Despite that, though, Lara does have her own distinct take on the all-action adventure genre. Like the biggest movie blockbusters, it's unlikely to impact on you emotionally, or blow your mind with incredible innovation, but it's an incredibly slick, immensely enjoyable, thrill-packed ride and one that any Xbox One owner will enjoy.

That said, this latest outing fails to build upon its predecessor in any significant way. It retreads a lot of old ground and while some of its newer additions, such as the makeshift grenades, are welcome evolutions of Lara's arsenal, more work should have been to blend the three key aspects of shooting, climbing and puzzling into a single satisfying whole.