NEW Tomb Raider sequel In Development

In light of a sequel, here are some of my thoughts on Tomb Raider

I can't explain to you how much I have come to enjoy the simplistic game design of the Tomb Raider franchise. I originally started playing Tomb Raider on the PSOne, but only in the form of a demo for the second game in the series, and I did not enjoy the tank controls nor did I-- at a young age-- care for the evolution in gaming that was the start of the series. Yes, Tomb Raider 1 was an evolution in gaming, its full 3D environments left nothing to the imagination. The game was a full on pseudo-puzzle exploration game.

Fast forward some years to the release of the Tomb Raider Trilogy, featuring remastered versions of Tomb Raider: Legend; Tomb Raider: Anniversary and a copy of Tomb Raider: Underworld (which was the first fore-ray into HD for the series). I picked up a copy of this Trilogy after doing some digging on the ventures of the series and its merits. Lets just say, I was not disappointed. Tomb Raider-- which had already, by this point, been taken over by developer Crystal Dynamics--welcomed me to a reconfigured control scheme and basic mechanics that felt just right. The mechanics for jumping and grabbing ledges are manually controlled and are fantastically engrossing. Traversing the games semi-open environments and experiencing the global exploits of series protagonist Lara Croft, is nothing short of a breath of fresh air, in the wake of shoot-all-games with little in the way of room to explore. 


Well fast-forward a couple years more and we have the daunting journey to maturity/ "warriordom"--Tomb Raider 2013. A reboot, or second rebooting, if you account for the PS2 era Angel Of Darkness, or the debut of Legend. Any how, Tomb Raider 2013, the latest entry in the series--not counting this news of a sequel-- is a very good game. It takes the past ideas of the series and goes full-throttle with an emotionally draining, if sometimes jarring, experience. The mechanics are, once again, solid. The shooting, which is a bit heavier of an aspect than it should be, is fairly standard. The sense of desperation and exploration are tuned adequately. As there are hidden tombs to be found and caches of data or relics to bolster the sense of discovery. The problems lie where the game breaks with ultra-traditional fanfare. While there are hidden mini tombs to plunder the game does not make the traversal and tomb raiding a priority. Traversal, when it is required feels great--but again does not feel like necessarily the main focus. Combat. This feels like the main focus, and does have a few wrinkles that shake it up, but, in my opinion, there is too much of it. Though, I will say Lara doesn't feel like she is mowing down an army of bullet sponges like in, say,the Uncharted  series.

The jarring moments are also a result of a shift to an origin story of a much younger Lara. Noting the fact that Lara has been depicted as a young girl before. This particular origin gets to the heart of the matter, how did she become so fearless and instinctual in her previous iterations. The game, in an attempt to both rend itself free from a lack of narrative coherence( naturally present in video games)  and please the action oriented gamer, cuts short the true horrors and shock of Lara's predicament, and quickly infuses a striking contrast of character-- with little to no narrative explanation or incubation period. With the more action heavy gameplay there may be some detractors, but overall-- minus the throw away plot and forgettable cast of characters--the game lends itself to a solid sense of adventure, detail in environments, intuitive and exploratory puzzles, and an attempt at some form of narrative justification for ones actions. 

I say bring on another game in the series. I finished Tom Raider, having taken part in all of its hidden tombs and finding most of its hidden items. I will say the pacing of the games narrative was brisk, and easy going, this kept things somewhat interesting, and didn't allow for one to question too much of its inconsistencies. This is not a bad thing, the game is a good 16 or so hour experience that demands your attention. I will say this wasn't meant to be a review, and I did not approach it as one. Though I can recommend those interested in the series to give it a try. You get environmental puzzles, a sense of adventure--in detailed environments, solid mechanics(automated cover for the win--cues you of enemy presence without the need of on screen prompts) and all the third person combat you want. So as has been reported by Gamespot a new Tomb Raider is in development and I am excited. This is all in the wake of doubts about the franchises future, after under-performing sales( due to unreasonably set sales expectations) when the new Tomb Raider fell short of publisher Square Enix expected 5million unit mark, having sold "only" 3.4 million units in its first month alone.

Check out Gamespot's coverage of the news.

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