Ten years ago in 2014 I played and completed the 2013 game called Tomb Raider, which is different from the 1996 game called Tomb Raider which I completed in 1998. I’ve done this joke before. I enjoyed the last game in the series, and picked up the sequel in a sale quite soon after its 2015 launch on Xbox 360. I didn’t play it. I then bought it for the PS4 in a sale a couple of years later, when they announced a free DLC which enabled a limited VR mode. I then also didn’t play that. In 2020 Sony gave the game away on PS Plus, which I claimed, and downloaded, and again didn’t play. I can’t recall if I have it on the Xbox One as well, but that wouldn’t surprise me.
I’ve played some of it now. It’s good.
The beginning of the game is a little clichéd, in that you start in the midst of an action-packed sequence, climbing up a mountain during a blizzard and storm, and then the game resets to a few weeks earlier to explain how you got into that situation. This start acts as an introduction to the movement controls, with ice picks making a welcome return from the first game (where they were introduced half way through to allow new areas to open up). It’s nice enough, but the setting doesn’t really show off the game’s main draws. Those don’t come until a little later, when you realise that – although there is a resemblance to the Uncharted games in terms of story progression, platform puzzles, and general story – this game is a lot less linear and allows for greater exploration.
For a while you are pushed through a linear path, exposing the story of Trinity and the prophet they were chasing. Lara’s dad had tracked this down to Syria, but when you get to the tomb it’s empty. Of course, bad guys arrive at the same time and blow everything up. While fleeing, you find a clue which leads you to Siberia – and back to the opening sequence.
After climbing the icy peak, leaving companions behind, you see hidden settlements in the distance but the weather is worsening, leaving you to find shelter and explore. It is here that the open world really shows itself; you must find supplies, set up a campfire, craft a bow and arrows, and hunt for food. I explored the entire area provided, finding a few soldiers who had been left to protect the area, and quickly dispatched them and the deer that they were sitting among. Got to get some meat.
I remember a complaint about the first game (that is, the first game of the modern set) was the number of people that Lara killed, which was quite at odds to the stories of the original Tomb Raider games. This seems to be a little more restrained so far, although that may be because I have only just reached significant numbers of people. Up until now, the main violence has been against animals, and in particular, a bear who was guarding the exit to the area in which I’d been hunting and exploring.
Let’s just say I’m not yet fully used to the controls.
After escaping the bear once, I found some poisonous mushrooms, made up an incapacitating concoction to add to my arrows, and then went back to dispatch him. It still took a couple of attempts. I hope my general competence with the controls improves soon.
Tim's Gaming Diary 