Lara Croft emerges from a murky pond and mercilessly murders a mercenary with his knife. The fear he felt during the events of 2013 Tomb Raider and its sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider has been replaced with deadly confidence, and his name is now spoken as the things of the legend She has completed her transformation into the greatest adventurous, warrior archaeologist, and and even the collective efforts of a secret society bent on altering the entire planet can not stop it.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is not interested in replacing the training wheels in Lara Croft. That means you're on a hellish ride.
Finishing what we started
Returning after the events of the previous game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider finds Lara and her fellow adventurer Jonah Maiava in search of Trinity, the organization against which Lara fought from the first game. Initially looking for a relic capable of "remodeling" the world in Mexico, Lara soon discovers that removing him from his resting place has unleashed a Mayan Apocalypse. Only with a second relic can he hope to save the planet from destruction, and his mission takes her to the jungles of Peru in search of answers.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider does not waste time presenting its characters, or the events of previous games, instead of pushing that into brochures and optional cards. With so many plot lines to follow, the story can be overwhelming, but the alternative would have been to retell the original story of Lara again and with two games focused on her growing pains, the decision of the Start-up was very smart.
You must decide if you want to continue or take a break to solve any puzzle the grave has.
Even if you're not familiar with Shadow of the Tomb Raider characters their personalities make them quickly distinguishable. The huge frame of Jonah helps him to knock down several enemies at once, but mostly acts as a logical flaw in Croft's aggressive tendencies. It is a relationship that has evolved throughout the trilogy and offers the opportunity to cut a meaningless dialogue.
We already know that Jonah is cautious, and that Lara will do whatever he plans to do regardless of his evaluation, so the game does not hit him in the player's head with redundant jokes. There is only enough to clarify the point, and nothing more.
Hidden Secrets
We reviewed the game on an Xbox One X with 4K resolution and HDR enabled, and the results were impressive. The game makes excellent use of motion capture technology, which ensures that quiet moments have an adequate emotional weight. However, when talking to random passers-by in the central areas of the game, some less advanced animations fail to impress.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider The most important character, however, is the world itself. Peru and the city of Paititi are full of secrets, hidden tombs, rare animals and treasures, most of which will provoke you as you travel the critical path. In the middle of a mission, Lara may stumble upon the entrance of a grave. You must decide if you want to continue or take a break of 30 minutes to solve any puzzle that contains the tomb.
In one minute you're solving a slow water wheel puzzle, and the next you're jumping from crumbling buildings in an earthquake.
Most of the tombs are optional, so you can beat the game without making many inroads into the tomb, but you will miss an important part of the game. Eidos Montreal has devoted a lot of time and attention to each puzzle and obstacle. The tombs often become huge, multi-stage levels, despite resembling holes in the cave wall from the outside. They give you the opportunity to demonstrate your skill, since Croft must use his axes, zip lines and ropes to cross seemingly impossible obstacles.
With few exceptions, completing the challenges is a reward in itself, since they use an emerging game to teach you techniques to solve them without you noticing. Even the swimming puzzles are not tedious, since Shadow of the Tomb Raider soon takes the action to the mainland. Some riddles had solutions that left us scratching our heads, but we only stumbled a handful of times during the whole game.
Doom raider
The danger Lara faces goes beyond the pitted traps and the endless pits of death. With Trinity hot on her way, Lara must defend herself using firearms, homemade explosives and her faithful bow. The fight of the franchise has never felt better.
You can easily aim and fire a burst of bullets, or put an arrow in an enemy's skull. Using resources and tricky skills, you can improve your performance even more, even by throwing three arrows in the heads of your enemies with a single shot of your bow. It makes little sense, but it fits with the biggest tone that the series has completely adopted.
Exciting from the title screen to the closing credits, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a tremendous thrill to ride.
Alternately, you can use stealth tactics provides Shadow of the Tomb Raider . Lara is an efficient predator that rivals Agent 47 or Sam Fisher, able to quickly jump out of cover to perform sneaky killings of multiple enemies, or hang an innocent suspect from a tree branch without his friends, just a few steps later, noticing his disappearance. You can decide if you want to go unnoticed, or if you want to establish a brutal ambush that eliminates each target with a Molotov cocktail.
These moments of pure adrenaline become more frequent as the game progresses towards its conclusion, although they are divided by escape sequences full of disasters that see Shadow of the Tomb Raider in its best version. In one minute you are solving a slow water wheel puzzle, and the next you are jumping from collapsed buildings in an earthquake. These segments have scripts, but they test your ability to think on your feet and, if you fail, they lead to the gray death of the series.
It's impossible to talk Shadow of the Tomb Raider & # 39; s The best elements without mentioning their predecessors, because Lara's latest adventure feels very similar. Interlocking in porous rock with a climbing ax feels just like Rise of the Tomb Raider as does the basic flow of movement between smaller cube areas and the surrounding desert. Lara's latest adventure was a phenomenal game, so it's still great, but do not expect too many surprises.
Pay more, explore more
For those interested in Shadow of the Tomb Raider & # 39; s graves, you can gain access to additional content by buying the season pass, which also comes with the "Croft" edition of the game. However, you do not have to worry about the microtransactions that stain the experience.
Our take
Exciting from the title screen to the closing credits, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a fast-paced attraction. It is the last definitive chapter for the threads of the story that we have followed since the game of 2013, but it also leaves the door open for more adventures in the future. We have crossed our fingers so that this is not Lara's last hurray. It does not matter where you travel. Lara is going to be involved in some precarious predicament, and we want to be there with her.
Is there a better alternative?
No. Games by Tomb Raider have perfected a hybrid stealth-puzzle action that has become less popular as open-world games rose to dominate the games, so not many competitors have the same problem. However, those who have not played the 2013 restart or Rise of the Tomb Raider will want to pick it up first.
How long will it last?
After completing the main story, the multiple side quests and challenging tombs, our time came at 3:00 p.m. A New Game Plus mode is also available, and finding all the secrets could double that time.
Should you buy it?
Yes Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a best-selling game done well.
