Tomb Raider was always one of those games that I knew about for the longest time ever, but had just never played. I understood a little bit about what the games were about and I knew that Lara Croft was the female heartthrob of many gamers for countless years: despite her very polygonal design during the early PlayStation era. While my limited knowledge of the games made me skip them, I knew that the gun-wielding Lara Craft was a pioneer of one of the most beloved game franchises under PlayStation.
However, something about the 2013 version of Tomb Raider just vividly caught my attention. Maybe it was the graphics? Maybe it was the fact that Square Enix developed the game? Maybe it was the awesome new bow that Lara Croft wielded in this title! I am going to go ahead and say that it was the bow.
Serving as a reboot of the series, Tomb Raider introduces many new elements while keeping a lot of the things that fans loved from the original games. The story is interesting as Lara tries to save her friends after they crash land on a mysterious island populated with a malevolent cult. The various artifacts and treasures you can find as you explore this island greatly add to the lore of the game, and are actually historically accurate for the most part. I always love it when games have some sort of deep lore because it can make the story and fictional setting realistic.
While the story and graphics are great, the gameplay is what establishes the game as a must-play. As I mentioned before, this time Lara Croft mainly wields a bow. However, she also wields a variety of guns so don’t be scared if that is your weapon of choice. The reason I love the bow so much is because it adds an element of stealth to the game that is similar to another great franchise, Metal Gear Solid. Where as you can run-and-gun, you can also sneak around and use your bow to quietly kill enemies without attracting much attention. There is nothing more satisfying than making a head-shot with your bow from a long distance away. If stealth isn’t your style, then as aforementioned you can use your guns and explosives to fell your foes.
Tomb Raider is a spectacular reboot of an already spectacular franchise. If you haven’t already, give this title a go, especially since you can buy the remastered version on current-gen consoles.
