Game Review: Shadow of the Tomb Raider

I just finished Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018). A worthy conclusion to the Tomb Raider Origin saga, Shadow of the Tomb Raider raises the series to new heights while tying up the loose ends. So here is my review:

Shadow of the Tomb Raider had high expectations to meet. The reboot, Tomb Raider (2013), brought the franchise back from its slumber and developer Crystal Dynamics gave it new life. Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015) then took all of the foundations established in the 2013 reboot and turned it up to 100, with better visuals, audio, story, and more ambitious gameplay systems. Before beginning the game, I was thinking about the review scores for this final entry in the trilogy. A metacritic score of 82 was lower than the 86 both of its predecessors received, and in the game of the year discussion for 2018, Shadow of the Tomb Raider never really got any attention. I was thus quite surprised when I played through Shadow and found it, without a doubt, to be my favourite in the franchise. With a more meaningful story, better visuals, beautiful audio, more complex and refined gameplay systems, and better level design, Shadow of the Tomb Raider joined a list of third entries in a series that stood out (for me) as the finest of its brethren (Bioshock Infinite, Batman Arkham Knight).

Exploring Mesoamerica

Shadow of the Tomb Raider takes place in Latin America. You begin in Mexico and move to Peru, where you spend the next 3/4 of the game. The visuals are absolutely stunning. So many times during my playthrough, I just stopped to look at the rich fauna, colourful vistas, dynamic cities, and breathtaking weather effects. Each location in the story has a distinctive look to it and the colour palette is given an opportunity to show every shade. The audio shared a similar quality of excellence. The audio design, of enemies creeping by, animals lurking in the background, the crash of tides, the thumps of lightning, and the roar of the fire, was all very well done. The score was a perfect mix of orchestral chords and jungle beats. Voice acting is stellar as always, with the villain being a stand out (more on him later). The motion capture is also very well executed, capturing subtle non-verbal cues.

Living with the Alive

Shadow of the Tomb Raider picks up from the events of Rise, with Lara once again set off to find the next great ancient city and uncover the mysteries of her father’s death. The story sheds more light on Lara’s past and relationship with her father. Surprisingly, Lara’s relationship with her mother, who was an afterthought in the last two games, is also explored and given context. The villain is outstanding. This is a character you can sympathize with, whose motivations are understandable and clear, and whose decisions make sense. Lara’s partner in crime, Jonah, makes a return and gets more backstory and airtime. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the dynamic between Jonah and Lara is finally given a proper depiction and you begin to understand why the two complement each other. One gripe I would have is with the exposition heavy dialogue in many scenes in the game. You can easily identify when the developers have set a particular sequence of events up just to explain a piece of backstory or context. There are more subtle ways of fleshing out the backdrop (see Uncharted 4) and Eidos doesn’t quite hit the mark here. Nevertheless, the sub narrative that you involve yourself with in this game, between two warring factions, is also captivating and exciting. You begin to see deeper themes of colonial archaeology, nativism, class struggle, religious fanaticism, and tribal mentality on display. Lara herself is given a more inquisitorial portrayal. The game invites you to ask questions about the consequences of Lara’s uncompromising pursuit for the ancient artifacts and civilizations, and what impact it has on Indigenous peoples. The layered story was a welcome surprise from the more simplistic story beats of Shadow’s previous predecessors.

Full Moon

The gameplay in Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an improvement at almost every corner over its predecessors. The tombs, the highlight of any tomb raider game, are once again thought provoking, visually stunning, and creative. Solving a tomb is by far one of the best and most fun experiences I have had in all of video gaming, and Shadow does not disappoint. Platforming has been improved as well, with a grapple hook to save you from missing a specific ledge, climbing boots to traverse environments three dimensionally, and more precision when making those daring jumps. The swimming in Shadow is a stand out. Much time and effort was put into making this mechanic feel substantive. There are stealth mechanics underwater, there are items and materials to collect beneath the sea, opportunities to perform assassinations, and the ability to dive head first from a cliff leap. Combat has improved as well. Guns feel weightier and more precise. The gun selection has been simplified and this was no issue at all. Each weapon type felt distinct enough. The brunt of the marketing for Shadow focused on the stealth gameplay. This was much appreciated and does provide a lot of value. Covering yourself in mud, walking through bushes, hiding in walls, hanging your enemy from a tree, all feels great. But it does not quite work. Enemies spot you too quickly and their reactions to your movements are very inconsistent. The tools at your disposal to actually be stealthy are not as deep as, for example, the Arkham games, so stealth approaches become repetitive. The actual stealth kill is accompanied by an animation that begs detection. Sound has no effect on your stealth approach either. There is no prone button. There aren’t many ways to distract enemies. The special skills you unlock, of which there are plenty, do help flesh this out and patch up many of the tools lacking, but not nearly enough. Ultimately, Eidos gives it a good try, but they need to go back to the drawing board with their stealth mechanics. The side missions, of which there are also plenty, are repetitious and narrow down to simple fetch quests. I did not pay much attention to these, but this is another area where Eidos seems to want to have stretched the game beyond its natural borders. Moreover, the collectathon mechanics from Rise continue here as well, and there is simply many better ways to encourage RPG mechanics without forcing the player to scavenge these randomly placed items at an excruciating level of repetition. Many of these flaws listed above really show themselves in the final 1/4 of the game.

Conclusion

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a gorgeous game with high production value, a sprawling world, meaningful story, fun puzzle solving, and refined gameplay mechanics. It is held back by aging systems and risky leaps that do not quite stick the landing. Nevertheless, Shadow serves as a great conclusion to the Tomb Raider trilogy and a showcase in blockbuster action adventure. I look forward to Lara’s next adventure on the next generation of consoles.

SCORE: 9.25/10