Lara Croft gets a reboot
Name: Tomb Raider
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Genre: Action-adventure, platform
Rating: Mature
It’s been four years since Lara Croft embarked on a Tomb Raider expedition. The unenviable task of rebooting the well-known and well-worn series seemed impossible, but with a gritty and focused approach, it’s one that developer Crystal Dynamics got almost completely right with Croft’s latest adventure.
Tomb Raider finds an inexperienced young Croft shipwrecked and separated from her crew on a mysterious island in Japan’s brutal Devil’s Triangle. This isn’t the savvy, sexy and sassy Croft that hunted down relics in the previous eight games. This is a vulnerable Croft, one who’s never had to resort to killing another person.
HEROIC PROGRESS
Over the course of the lengthy single-player experience, Croft must survive the elements, amass an arsenal, rescue her friends and battle a cult of castaways. It’s the tale of her transformation from thrill-seeker to superheroine.
Tomb Raider is mostly a story about survival, so Croft begins with almost nothing, eventually accumulating some firearms, as well as climbing tools like an axe and rope. It’s the first weapon Croft finds, a bow and arrow, that’s the most satisfying to use.
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
The game’s winding trails, claustrophobic caves and perilous cliff-side formations are some of the most imaginative and thrilling platforming elements crafted in recent years. Some tombs that Croft comes across are optional excursions, but they’re all so well done, it shouldn’t be a choice to skip them.
Tomb Raider also sounds as good as it feels. The powerfully tense score and the conversations Croft overhears between many of the island’s all-male goons are so enlightening and humorous, players will want to linger a bit longer to eavesdrop on all the chatter.
WEAK LINKS
Tomb Raider isn’t perfect though. Sometimes it’s sloppy. Croft falls — off cliffs, through roofs, into the ocean — more than those dwarfs in The Hobbit. Surely there must be more creative ways for Croft to get around Yamatai Island.
The weakest link is Croft’s underdeveloped shipmates. Each is a cliché: bespectacled geek, gentle giant, angry black woman, wise old man. It’s difficult to sympathise with Croft for putting herself through hell to save them.
But those complaints are fairly minor in a game that has so much else going for it. The tone is darker, and the levels are less linear. This is not just Uncharted or Assassin’s Creed with Lara Croft — it’s Tomb Raider for a new era.
By Derrik J Lang
AP
Vocabulary
- reboot (n): a movie, video game, etc. that restarts an established series from the beginning
unenviable (adj): that you would not want to have
gritty (adj): showing the courage and determination
savvy (adj): having practical knowledge and understanding
the elements (n): the weather, especially bad weather
arsenal (n): a collection of weapons such as guns and explosives
claustrophobic (adj): giving you an extreme fear of being in a small enclosed place
goon (n): a criminal who is paid to frighten or injure people
cliché (n): a phrase or an idea that has been used so often that it no longer has much meaning and is not interesting
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