Shadow of the Tomb Raider Review (Enfys)
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is pretty much bang on average for what you could expect from a modern AAA blockbuster, which is why I'm happy to recommend it on sale. I believe that it is a huge step up in quality from Rise of the Tomb Raider, its predecessor in the series, but benefits when you have played Rise first.
From an aesthetics standpoint, this game presents itself beautifully. Graphics are crisp and the foliage of the jungle is beautiful. Sounds are realistic and immerse you into the environment. The UI is stylised well and the game does well to integrate mechanics without breaking immersion. Overall, the game feels like a whole experience much more so than Rise did, which felt like a 3D environment first and a game second.
The soundtrack surprised me with it's quality, and really compliments the savage feel of the jungle and ancient bloodthirsty temples. The story is middling and struggles enormously with pacing, giving high highs but also low lows. Compared to Rise, this game has found a sense of humour (which is sorely needed with all the doom and gloom), and has far less combat sections, instead focusing on exploration.
The bulk of exploration is climbing, and whilst it has a few new tricks involving ropes and swinging, it does get old pretty quick, and tends to feel like a chore as the game goes on. Where the game does shine is the limited sections where you can engage in stealth combat, which are usually one and done and never reoccur in the open world.
Stealth feels fantastic in this game, you have so many tools at your disposal, both environmentally and within Lara's very deep pockets. The best component is the enemies, which show genuine intelligence and talk like real human beings. Stealth sections feel like a thrilling challenge to puzzle out, as enemies move in packs, track down missing patrols, force Lara to stay on the move, and sound out their tactics and emotions as you hunt them down. It's absolutely my highlight of the game.
When it comes to traditional puzzles, such as those found in challenge tombs and key points in the story, the game falls victim to the same issues as Rise. Puzzles in the main story are generally too easy and often guide you to the solution, whilst optional puzzles feel like a contrived game of discovering unexplained mechanics, usually with an unsatisfactory and pointless reward at the end.
My main gripe with the game is that it's very obvious where development time was spent, and where it was spared. Almost everything to do with Lara, especially in the animation and graphical department is very high quality, but when you look to other NPCs it's always a large reduction in quality, even for important story characters. Set pieces and main quests usually look good and flow well, but everything optional feels uninspired, boring, and half arsed. The more you play the game, the more you start to notice the cracks in the armour. Tiny little bugs, missing sounds and lighting errors start to add up and pull you out of the experience over time, and you find yourself wishing that the devs had given love to all parts of the game equally.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is very much a case of: Worth it for the main story, but the rest is a bit of a bore and not necessary for experiencing the game. DLC is mostly pointless, offering weapon/outfit unlocks and some additional challenge tombs if that's your jam. The game is dirt cheap on sale, so it doesn't hurt to pick up the DLC. Some of the outfits are pretty cool.