First things first: Get
Excited!
Watch this awesome trailer:
Music while you read?
The Plot:
Lara is sweet young girl whose fresh out of college, and is embarking on her
first expedition, alongside her best friend, her father's dear friend and a
few other shipmates.
During the trip, the ship gets right in the middle of a nasty storm, which
eventually destroys the "Endurance"
Lara and her crew, wash up on a mysterious island, inhabited by strange and
violent savages
Lara is taken when she first arrives on the island and now
she must escape and deal with these inhabitants, she will have to look deep
inside her to find the warrior and survivor we all know and love. and does so
with style and grace.
She must embrace what she is. she must fight for her very survival.
In this game you will find that Lara is fast,
bold, brutal, agile, tough, daring, courageous, dangerous, strong, She is Lara
Croft, and there's no doubt about it!
The outfit:
Click to view
Although some of us might miss the shorts and dual guns, we understand that this
is just the beginning , character development takes time and you can't argue
with her badass look right now.
Overall Impression: Boy are we glad we hung in there!!! for two years we've waited and
now it's everything we hoped for!
Lara's character is carved out and fleshed out the more you advance in the game,
every experience creates a long lasting impression in her that drives her to go
forward that much harder ...from the young scared girl to the brazen Lara we
love, you will make her stronger, more agile, daring and fearless...and suddenly
you will find yourself with Lara again.
Relying only on her instincts and physical strength to survive the island, Lara
is portrayed as a never giving up hero that will just about do anything for her
survival and her friend's survival!
This
game is intense, inspired, amazing, made us drop jaw about 10 times!
We can't tell you too much about the storyline because we don't want to ruin it, so
please! purchase it and play through it, you will NOT be disappointed, it
delivers an original and beautiful story of the beginning of Lara Croft's
history and her transformation from a naive young girl and archeologist to the
ultimate warrior and Tomb Raider.
Crystal Dynamics truly and definitely made
Lara their own, while
keeping true to the character, they started her off at young age, so there is
more room for future developments and stories, so the foundation they
built will last a long time. They did her justice that was long overdue.
Tomb Raider:
A survivor is born...
The Environment:
The games scale in levels is quite impressive, you will find
many directions to go with added offers of raiding actual tombs! Every level is
breathtakingly enormous with all sorts of explorations to be made, the greatest
added bonus is the feature to admire relics and treasures in a log book as Lara
finds more through out the game, you can also find diaries and stories that will
make the games storyline that much richer.
The lapse of time....your environment will be constantly changing, you will find
yourself leaping running and scaling walls to keep Lara safe, it also helps to
know that you will find yourself in levels night and day! This game truly
captures the essence of passing time and history
The Tombs:
I hear you screaming! "ARE THERE ANY TOMBS TO RAID???"
yes! there are tombs scattered all around the island, you just have to get close
enough so they show up on your map, so explore every corner! the
puzzles are short and sweet , but not any less challenging, this admin hates to
admit it but a couple tombs made me scratch my head and then felt like a
smartypants for figuring them out :-)
Lara's controls and moves:
Really fluid, flawless motion and melding with the environment, she scales walls
effortlessly, jumps, runs, crawls and so much more. The engine is a lot like
Legend and Underworld, except much better!
We especially love the automatic crawling and squeezing in between rocks, you
only had to advance to them , not press a button to go in.
The way Lara interacts with her environment and enemies is really impressive as
she ducks and gets behind cover when danger is near, giving you a chance to plan
your assault on the savages of the island!
Combat system:
One of the best we've ever encountered, there are so many
possibilities of how to take down your enemies.
You can shoot them, impale them, blind them with dirt, trip them, charge them,
send them flying over a cliff, sneak shoot them with your bow, stealth attack
them at close range, use your bow, or your arrow as a final blow or counter
attack, you can do so much when fighting, it's awesome! it really opens up
creativity of how to finish off foes.
Not to mention you can dodge their attacks after which, you can
deliver devastating counter attacks especially towards the end of the game.
Stealth is huge part of fighting and outsmarting foes, the artificial
intelligence in enemies is so great, you can shoot an arrow into a near by wall,
making them split up and engage them on your terms
Special features: Base Camp:
This is the most important feature in the game as far as developing skills and
honing Lara's talents, there you can place skill points as you level up and
upgrade weapons, making Lara all the more deadlier.
You can also fast travel from base camps:
Fast travel is an awesome feature, whenever you visit a base camp, you
automatically have that destination added to your fast travel options, so you
can return later and make sure you have everything you might have missed such as
relics, journals etc.
Weapons:
Bow:
can be used in so many ways, as a weapon, with or without fire arrows, or as a
tool, with rope, to help you explore parts of the island that are otherwise
inaccessible
Axe:
Is a weapon and a tool, you can melee enemies with it, use it to pry open doors
and containers, then use it to climb a Cliffside, truly indispensible and
versatile part of Lara's inventory
Handgun:
Comes with many upgrades and found it to be very useful with a silencer
on
Assault Rifle/ shotgun:
Very fun, also will have alternate firing modes, the shotgun can be used for
long range, and the rifle will be able to launch grenades
The Music:
The composer Mr. Jason Graves, has done a phenomenal
job.
The music was so powerful, so fitting and made you feel us feel so much emotion,
For us it was unlike anything we ever heard, It could take over your mind, and
make you want to go dress up in Lara's gear and running or hiking!
Yes it was that good :)
Photo on the right is Jason Graves Composer of the Tomb
Raider score
Lara and Roth! we love you Conrad!
Overall Score:
10/10
Game Flaws:
We really did not find any flaws or bugs
(maybe we lucked out with PS3) ,
but the one thing we didn't like, was how graphic Lara's deaths were when she
died. that's our only complaint :) we just don't like seeing our girl get hurt
:)
Voice Actress: Camilla Luddington, has a
youthful and mature voice at the same time, whenever she experienced sorrow in
the game, she made you feel what Lara is feeling, making you so sympathetic.
If you skipped all the way to the bottom, Know
this:
"this is truly how Lara Croft should have been done, she needed a back story to
match her great character and personality, who we knew back in the days, is who she became in
this epic soon to be classic game, just give it a chance, and keep your mind
open for this wonderful story"
