Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Review

 The end of the beginning.

Console: PlayStation 4 game played on a PlayStation 5.

Closing out the most recent set of Tomb Raider games, dubbed the 'Survivor Trilogy, is 2018's Shadow of the Tomb Raider. It capped off this 'origin story' for Lara sending her into the jungles of Peru and focusing on bringing her character closer to that of her original incarnation. Since Crystal Dynamics was busy working on Marvel's Avengers, the games' developer this time around is Eidos-Montréal with Crystal Dynamics only acting as a support studio.

Reception to this last game isn't as great as the rest of the trilogy with people pointing towards this studio change as the reason why. That they just didn't do that great of a job. Didn't 'get' Tomb Raider as Crystal Dynamics does. More recently though, I've seen the sentiment pop up that people didn't take to this game as they did the others because it was the 3rd Tomb Raider game in this style in 5 years.

Now that I've played the game myself, I've landed somewhere in-between these two sentiments. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a good and fun game marred by a lack of innovation, repetitiveness and the game lacks the same type of polish as its predecessors from its developer. 

Let's dive in.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider sees Lara's conflict with Trinity, the centuries-old shadow organization responsible for killing her father and basically all the other big events in the trilogy, enter its final stages. After she and her best friend and fellow Yamatai survivor Jonah spent the last few months (the time between this game and 'Rise of the Tomb Raider', hunting down Trinity cells they finally come face to face with its leader: Dr Dominguez in Cozumel, Mexico.

They learn Dominguez is after some sort of relic hidden in a ruin Trinity found and Lara scrambles to get it before they do. She succeeds but shortly after Dominguez confronts her and steals the relic, a dagger, away from her. He's surprised to learn that Lara isn't in possession of the dagger's other half, the 'Silver Box' that is needed to stop the curse that will 'destroy the world' if the dagger is ever found.

A claim seemingly backed up by the earthquake that happened the moment and the tidal wave that tears into Cozumel only moments after Dominguez leaves in a helicopter intend on finding the box and use its power to 'reshape the world'.

It's a race against the clock to find the 'Silver Box', whispered to be hidden in a secret city in Peru, and stop these natural disasters from tearing the world apart before Trinity can use it for their own ends.

The narrative of Shadow of the Tomb Raider is weak. It´s not outright bad but it has a lot of issues. The biggest are pacing issues and a lack of depth. The game starts strong with the opening action set piece you´d expect that introduces us to the main threat, our physical obstacle, as well as setting up the growth Lara needs to do as a character. The problem is that it fails to bring both to a satisfying conclusion. Dr Dominguez is absent for most of the game, only checking in once or twice before the final stand against him begins. Lara's personal growth feels unearned because the game doesn't do the work to make it feel earned. It doesn't feel like Lara becomes less selfish and more considerate of the consequences of her actions because of personal growth but more because that's simply what the plot demands of her.

This makes the final battle, which isn´t Laura fighting against an undead army this time around, fall flat. A cool spectacle that lacks weight. That the middle part of the game can drag doesn't help either. After the opening, it took until the halfway point for me to become invested again. To get that drive back. That's not something you want in your game.

I will say that the game has some very strong moments in the story, especially in the 2nd half. They look cool, are well performed and are well ´shot´ and with the context of the 2013 Tomb Raider and 'Rise' they really hit home.

I know this isn´t the games most striking visual, that one I won´t show because it´s best enjoyed in the moment, but I still found this visual striking. It´s the moment the game finally truly ´hooked´ me which is why I wanted to inlcude it.

What the game also nails is the atmosphere. Not just that of the Jungle, the differences in settlements or the like. What I'm talking about is its eerieness. The survivor trilogy hasn't shied away from that 'mature' rating with blood, violence and some twisted imagery. Shadow focuses more on this aspect, sprinkling in some more horror elements here and there. It's not as claustrophobic as the 2013 outing but it's a lot eerier and it works in establishing a more distinct identity, something it does need.

The gameplay of 'Shadow' has remained unchanged from 'Rise'. For the combat, it’s the standard 3rd-person aiming with a bow and guns with the option to hide behind obstacles, dodge and attack enemies. You can go in guns blazing or use environmental elements such as exploding barrels and try to sneak around and take down enemies using stealth techniques. This combat system is fine if still shallow. Fun, but without any really meaningfull changes it's just as repetitive as before. There’s a skill system for you to tinker with but the combat-focused ones have minimal effect. Basic shooting is enough to take down your enemies most of the time and that gets, again, repetitive. The game missed a real opportunity here to evolve its combat and skill system.

It’s good, then, that ‘Shadow’ chooses to downplay combat encounters and focus its energy on other departments: stealth and puzzle-solving. By giving you a lot more options when it comes to sneaking your way around enemy encounters like hiding in overgrowth on buildings, placing explosives on enemies take down and using mud to make you harder to see and cover up your heat signature, you now have a lot more tools at your disposable to tackle enemy encounters the way you want. Clearing sections without ever getting spotted is a puzzle in and of itself bringing that aspect out more prominently beyond the tombs.

Your survival senses, which highlight interesting markers, are still an unmissable tool and still overused. The next Tomb Raider game could really use more environmental storytelling and clues. I rely on survival sense so much because it´s difficult to find secrets and clues without it. Crafting with gathered resources is still a thing but I didn´t engage in it much this time around. Since it mostly gives you combat bonuses and Vestige outfits, outfit attachment that gives you a variety of perks, that aren´t really needed, I didn´t feel like my time was well spent there. 

Exploration is also still a big focus. Yes, the game features really only three big areas that you can freely explore (all others are smaller, linear sections for action set pieces) but it doesn’t feel limiting since each has plenty for you to do. It’s safe to say that with Shadows we’ve entered the ‘puzzles are more prominent than combat’. Like the old Tomb Raider games. The focus is even more on the Tombs and puzzle solving than even Rise did. There are more Tombs, crypts, artefacts and side-quests than there ever were in the Survivor Trilogy.

Said Tombs are great. They strike a good balance in length, complexity and fun. They are larger and more complex but without feeling like they are overly complex or punishing. Some are your expected ‘dark and damp underground places’ while others put a more unique spin on their design like one that’s a big tower up in a mountain you have to get to the top of.  With the DLCs, which also include some fun side-quests and rewards, you have 16 to dig your teeth into. You can even replay these Tombs and put your end score (based on speed) up on online leaderboards.

Staying in the ‘Metroidvania’ course of offering upgrades that you can use to open up new areas and paths in older areas, there is a ton of stuff for you to discover. From simple things like resources and healing herbs to story-related tidbits to lore about Mayan culture and mythology to finding the remains of an old expedition and learning its story there’s a lot to find.

Or just to see: the ruins you can find are just as much a reward as the actual rewards themselves. They can be awe-inspiring. The team did an excellent job creating these environments. From the more play-by-play jungle itself to the beautiful, larger-than-life, temples, statues etc.

One of my favourite Tombs. Not very difficult at all, but well designed and fun nonetheless.

That brings us to the final portion of this review: the graphics. In this department, it’s hands down the best entry in the survivor trilogy. Releasing well into the PS4's and Xbox One's life mean that developers were much more familiar with these consoles. Knew the tricks to get things looking and running very well. Well, for the former. In the latter department, there are a few hiccups here and there like some janky movement of Lara when interacting with certain obstacles. Nothing big or game-breaking but if you’ve played the other two instalments, Shadow is noticeably less polished in this and basically ever aspect.

Conclusion

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a very good game. It has the best graphics, environment and Tombs of the trilogy and is just a fun game to play. As you've probably already guessed though, it's not the greatest game. To circle back to the opening: now that I've played it I think that the game's more muted reception is a result of both Eidos not being as strong as a Tomb Raider developer and the lack of innovation on the formula making it grow stale. Still, a good pickup, especially these days were it is permanently on sale, but if you want a more balanced and polished Tomb Raider outing or want to play the 'best' game in this trilogy I'd go with 'Rise of the Tomb Raider' and 'Tomb Raider (2013)' respectively over this one.