Tomb Raider

I guess they are rebooting Tomb Raider again? I really liked the last two games in the series and I don’t really think this is a franchise that needed to get dark and gritty. But, there you go. These days, f-bombs and blood are what the kids want in their action platformers.

That said, Tomb Raider is a great game and the focus on Lara’s character development during the first quarter of the game is satisfying (despite the frightened heavy breathing and constant utterances of, “I can do this!” by Lara). Eventually the tone shifts to the more familiar bad guys wanting a relic story cliche. But unlike its predecessors, there is a much greater emphasis on combat over puzzle rooms. There are still some optional tombs to raid that feel like Tomb Raider of old, but for the most part you are exploring the map looking for collectibles and shooting mercenaries. And you know what, that’s okay by me.