While Rise of the Tomb Raider is a comparatively safe sequel in that it changes very little of an existing, winning formula, this is an adventure game that takes full advantage of new-gen technology… and it's magnificent. The difficulty may be too high for some, but otherwise this mode is an amazing experience. This finally, finally recaptures that sense of isolation that's been missing since the 1996 original.
Every shot counts and you feel properly alone. Happening upon a pack of wolves when you just used up your wood to build a campfire instead of more arrows is a very scary, but utterly captivating experience. It's a completely different experience, and everything suddenly seems a thousand times more important. And that's where that last difficulty tier comes in.Ĭouple HUD-free Lara with 'Survivor' mode and you've likely got the 'real' Rise of the Tomb Raider. If you want 100% completion, you'll probably never find everything without it, but it will make for a more realistic, naturalistic experience that rewards true exploration. However, you can turn this instinct button off. When you can barely move for tripping over a relic of some description (and if you have any hint of OCD when it comes to collecting everything) the flow of your game will likely suffer because you'll take a few steps, scan around, collect stuff and repeat. Hit R3 and you enter the equivalent of Batman's detective mode. It's overkill.Īdding to this surprising niggle is the Instinct button. Every time you walk anywhere, your first instinct is to turn in the opposite direction because there will be something there 'hidden' (I use the term very loosely). When you've got mushrooms, berries, birds' nests, saplings and ore as well as relics, challenge items, coin caches, fallen adventurers' satchels, fallen enemies to loot, documents and ammo, you're literally always picking stuff up. What a bitch.Įven so, raw materials for crafting are everywhere you go and that starts to become a problem. You sometimes hear enemies talking about their home life, or arguing about some coins they found… then you burn them to a screaming crisp and take the coins for yourself. Even so, she is very much in cold-blooded killer mode here.
The first half of the game is rather conflict-light, just maybe because people complained Lara was too kill-happy last time. It's probably no coincidence that the frequency of combat increases here. That familiar, breathless delivery of set-pieces and revelations from the previous game and the opening of this one starts to flow and all is well again. Even so, Rise definitely stalls for a while here, leaving you to somewhat aimlessly hunt around for relics, run some errands for rather one-dimensional NPCs, and kill a few endangered species (I set a bear on fire)… basically do busywork until the story kicks back in.Īnd it really does. Stretching the new technology in the other direction, some of the outdoor environments are downright massive, in particular the Geothermal Springs hub around a third of the way through the game. Indeed, the interior settings ramp up the detail to render-quality, as vines, skulls and ancient statues are drawn in magnificent 3D, bathing in the light from Lara's glowstick. Rays of light pierce dust-laden air in the devilishly macabre tombs. Pure white snow glistens with sparkling ice crystals in the half-light, and leaves deep footprints when you walk in it. My Xbox hard drive is filling up with screenshots where I just thought 'that is so pretty' I had to take a picture. Big Head Lara is an abomination and is more worthy of being killed with fire than any of her enemies.Īnd that beauty is electrifying. Yes, it's 2015 and there's a big head mode.
RISE OF TOMB RAIDER SERIES
Then there's 'Remnant Resistance', a series of short challenges that run in 'big head mode'. However, since these challenges recycle 5-10 minute chunks of the pre-scripted game – complete with tutorial pop-ups - they don't feel well-suited to speedruns.
Expeditions lets you replay levels with perks and challenges (like a bonus for not getting hit, or all the enemies are on fire), which you unlock via packs of random cards, and there are online leaderboards to chase. There are side modes, but no multiplayer.