I really appreciated the shift away from combat-heavy gameplay, as it made each of the game’s firefights even sweeter.
The latter two are far more integral and prominently featured, and where the lion’s share of your roughly twelve hours with the game’s campaign are spent. What is so compelling about this title’s moment-to-moment experience was the way that it balanced its three pillars of gameplay: combat, traversal, and puzzle-solving. Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s best aspect is undoubtedly its gameplay. Having now played Lara’s third rebooted outing, I can conclude that the game is thoroughly enjoyable front to back, but it does knock over a few hurdles on its way to the finish line.
But, I did feel that with just one more entry Tomb Raider could be just as good as Naughty Dog’s series. Having played the game right on the back of Uncharted 4, my expectations for that type of game were set incredibly high, which no doubt influenced my feelings towards Rise. I found just about every aspect of Rise good, but lacking just enough to slide in under great. While I did really like aspects of the game, I never found the motivation to finish it. I never played the 2013 reboot, but I did log many hours into Rise of the Tomb Raider.
At risk of sounding corny, I’ve always seen Tomb Raider as a series living in the shadow of Uncharted.
