‘Shadow of the Tomb Raider’ a fiery finish for Croft’s origin: Review

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is world-ending in more ways than one. 

Yes, it chronicles series hero Lara Croft and her attempts to stop a Mayan apocalypse. But, it also teaches the ultimate lesson in going out with a bang. 

Croft’s final rise to tomb raider status (something I assume she’ll get a badge for or something?) involves another fight against the mysterious Trinity, a hidden civilization within an already hidden city, multiple religious cults/prayer groups/get togethers/what-have-yous, and a Raiders of the Lost Ark style domino effect that could end life on Earth as we know it. 

With all of that going on, Shadow of the Tomb Raider suffers from many of the same narrative shortcomings its predecessors and other Tomb Raider stories have faced. But, it also uses the complicated plot line as framework for one of the most experientially compelling games I have played all year.

Far more good than bad, here’s what you can expect from Shadow of the Tomb Raider‘s September 14 release.

The cataclysm scenes are spectacular.

I imagine any brainstorming conversation that involves a writer requesting multiple large-scale natural disasters from a game developer could be a bit tense. From tsunamis and hail storms to volcanoes and mud slides, the apocalyptic events of Shadow are dazzlingly detailed—a feat that I imagine took an unreal amount of work from the Eidos Montréal and Crystal Dynamics development teams.

The first disaster to hit gameplay is a Day of the Dead tsunami that quickly sweeps away festivities and anything else it can get a current under. Lara goes speeding through the waterway, grabbing onto passing light poles and debris in an effort to slow herself down. The subsequent obstacle dodging gameplay is familiar territory for the series. However, the improved visual quality of the experiences makes it feel more original than rehashed. (Lara swimming through a flooded super market filled with suspended drowning victims is as spooky and surreal as it sounds.)

Similarly breathtaking sequences take place within a variety of other natural disasters throughout the game, albeit there is no snow. (But, let’s be honest, we got more than enough of that in Siberia.) While the story seems to have trouble weaving each disaster into its plot, the events’ accompanying mayhem is more than worth the plot pauses.

The combat is fluid, artful, and kind of gross.

Ever since she side-flipped her way through the 1996 classic, Lara Croft has had some killer moves. (Get it? Because of all those murders!) 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider takes Croft’s history of badassery and turns it way up. With plenty of new fighting techniques (including the ability to stealth kill enemies while swinging from vines like a demonic Tarzan) and exciting new weapons (like a poisonous arrow that hypnotizes your enemies into killing each other), Shadow features the most intense combat of the series. 

It stands to reason that the body count is consequently very high. Think of a big number. Now double it. Okay, that’s probably still too low a body count for this game. Not all of the deaths are thanks to Lara, but overall the landscape is pretty grim and makes for some disturbing set dressing.

Side note: Lara gets to fight not one, but two jaguars in a Peruvian jungle. It’s so awesome.

Exploration goes way beyond the main narrative.

Square Enix’s rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy has a history of constructing incredible sets. In Shadow, it’s a carefully crafted, fully-realized universe. 

After a complete playthrough, my save slot tells me I only played 55.3% of this game—a fact I still can’t totally believe. In addition to the aforementioned act of God scenes, Shadow features tons of detailed tombs, side missions, and massive hubs where Lara can interact (and barter) with game characters. I ran into plenty of these on my way through the main storyline, but clearly that accounted for less of the game’s content than I thought.

New ways of getting around like rappelling and wall running as well as the addition of full under-water exploration make meandering through these spaces all that much more immersive and gripping. Plus, if you’re feeling touristy, there are also lots of beautifully rendered animals to see throughout the game. (Including a pit of snakes I almost fell into… but that’s neither here nor there.)

The puzzles are very light.

Which, considering I hate puzzles, is great! But, if you’re into Tomb Raider for the brain busters, it could be bad news.

I imagine more puzzles lurk within hidden temples/side missions—but, as far as the main story goes, puzzles are not very frequent and the ones you do run into are not very difficult. (Admittedly, I did get stuck on one pattern-matching trial. But I think that was in large part due to its super messed up surroundings. You’ll know it when you see it.)

That being said, Shadow did introduce new accessibility features that could potentially solve the puzzle drought. Rather than picking a one-size-fits-all skill setting, players can customize the difficulty level of combat, exploration, and puzzle solving independently of each other e.g. if you don’t want to fight people, but you do want to solve a butter-covered Rubik’s cube while blindfolded and eating fire… you can make that happen. Metaphorically speaking. But, also, maybe expansion pack?

Lara Croft still isn’t a real person and Trinity still isn’t a good villain.

It’s clear Shadow‘s creators know how to build an incredible world. They just can’t seem to quite figure out how to put real people in it.

Across the board, Lara Croft doesn’t have a history of being particularly relatable or charismatic. Heck, not even the Oscar-winning Alicia Vikander could find this explorer’s personality.  

Typically, that doesn’t bother me in Tomb Raider narratives. I love a good one-note protagonist focused on artifact recovery as much as the next gal. (Plus, the delightful ways Lara says “shit” and “jaguar” are enough shallow personality for any action hero.)

However, Shadow rests a lot of its narrative and emotional weight on Lara coming into her own throughout the game’s story arc. And, unless I’m really missing something, that doesn’t seem to actually happen?

We have a lot of sequences that indicate Lara should be experiencing some kind of massive philosophy overhaul, including one in which she looks startlingly like an Episode 10 Khaleesi. But Lara’s dialogue and accompanying actions don’t seem to actually change at any point. She just kind of keeps on keeping on—which, again, wouldn’t bother me if the story wasn’t so aggressively pushing her evolution as a theme.

Similarly, Trinity remains a monotonous, baffling enigma to the very end. Without getting into spoiler city, chief villain Dr. Dominguez has a backstory that made me question a lot of why Trinity was involved in the whole kerfuffle in the first place and may have poked some plot holes in the series’ first two installments. 

At this point, I don’t even think of Trinity as an organization, more just a synonym for “bad guys.” Here’s hoping that if Square Enix goes beyond the origin story of Lara they start down the episodic Bond villain route and ditch the Trinity conspiracy altogether.

Side note: The Yaaxil are so incredibly great. That is what I call (admittedly super creepy) character development. Meet me on the message boards when you’re ready to fan girl it out.

Whenever you think it’s almost over, it’s not.

“All that for another riddle.” Lara, you are preaching to the choir. 

Although Shadow isn’t a particularly long game, it is a testament to the story’s confusing narrative and regularly climax-worthy graphics that I could never sort out when it was going to end. Not unlike the last 30 seconds of a fireworks show, the routine bouts of overwhelming spectacle that screamed “we left it all out on the field” throughout the game regularly gave me false starts on credits anticipation. 

This phenomenon is both good and bad. On one hand, the more incredibly impressive stuff, the better. On the other hand, entertainment should rarely have you asking, “When is this going to be over?” 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the fiery finale we’ve been waiting for.

Capitalizing on the franchise’s best assets and tiptoeing around its flaws, Shadow of the Tomb Raider takes the latest imagining of our girl Lara out in style. From incredible graphics to artfully designed gameplay, Shadow of the Tomb Raider does not disappoint.

Although this is Square Enix’s last scheduled Tomb Raider foray, the trilogy’s financial success and Shadow‘s warm reception at E3 could have the studio considering a move beyond the origin story. 

But, for now, it’s lights out on our shadowy hero. Until next time, Lara.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is available September 14 on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.