3/5 ★ – peacebrendanp's review of Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration.

I really like the first Tomb Raider game, specifically in concept. It establishes scenarios that ask Lara Croft to become battle-hardened, and challenges her to survive in the most dire of circumstances. This game improves upon every facet of the first game, including the survival mechanics that were introduced in the first game. However, the circumstances do not feel as dire here, despite them maybe looking that way on paper. The game looks more beautiful than it's predecessor, and it feels more snappy as well. You can definitely tell this game runs on the same engine as the first one, and utilizes the same mechanics and systems that the first game introduced. However, everything is elevated to the next level, given that this entry was developed for the next generation of consoles (Xbox One, and eventually ported to the PS4). The survival mechanics have been evolved to include crafting, there are even more ways to traverse the world/platform, and even combat is flashier. The upgrades are more substantial, both to character and weapons. The game just feels better to play, and you are given more agency. There are still some upgrades that still feel a bit useless, and were frustrating to see make a return from the previous game (essentially just executions that are locked behind a skill-point upgrade). The combat itself, specifically when engaging in hand-to-hand combat, still can feel a bit stiff, but it definitely feels better than the last entry. There are definitely still way too many firefights, but thankfully there are more puzzles to balance it out. The game returns to the semi-open-world formula here, and there is a lot more to find, this time around. The flow of traversing from area to area makes more sense here. However, it was still frustrating that you couldn't back-track to certain areas without fast-traveling. Even more-so confusing was that there was only one location for a specific vendor. So, to return to him, it really only made sense to fast-travel, which I don't love in an immersive story game. At least give the player an option. There are some changes that this game makes that I didn't love, despite them not being big deals. For one, I didn't like that the game just hands you all these weapon unlocks from the get-go. To boot up a game, and have all these special weapons that are unlocked because I have the "20 Year Celebration" version of the game, takes away some agency from the player. It also undercuts an important aspect of the game, which is that Lara is mostly stranded in the Siberian wilderness. It's an odd choice, but one that a lot of games sometimes make. It makes me feel like an important aspect of the game is already partly done for me. Despite that, upgrading weapons is still a fun goal to achieve. I love that every upgrade you make to Lara is visible on her character and weapons. Another change that was made, was the addition of outfits. This is great for player choice, but it undercuts the details of Lara's outfit getting more worn as she progresses through the story, which existed in the first game. Thankfully, there are still plenty of texture shaders that are added to Lara's character model as she slides down dirt ramps, and gets caught in snow storms. There's plenty of side activities here, but the one that steals the show is the optional tombs. These are actual tombs, that provide puzzles to solve, which grant skills. Some of these skills are essential, like faster climbing. Some of these skills are throw-aways, like being able to see animal's hearts, which feels pretty pointless by the end of the game given you can two-shot most animals with enough weapon upgrades. The open areas of the game feel big enough to be interesting, but not overly so to make the game feel bigger than it needs to be. There are of course plenty of treasures and documents to collect, which provide backstory to the world that you are exploring. There is almost too many documents to read, and while they provide some interesting backdrop to the mythos of the world, by the end they start to feel pretty skippable. The story this time is much more engaging. Lara is driven to uncover the secrets of "The Prophet," which is essentially a Jesus-like figure. It's pretty interesting at some points, and there is through-line for her motivation given to her by her late-father's drive for the same expedition. Her competition is a secret organization known as Trinity, that has existed for centuries. The story ultimately culminates in some pretty interesting moments and discoveries, but fails to keep that intrigue moving throughout the whole story. You never really know what the "Divine Source" is, until the final act of the game. The Divine Source is the artifact that she is searching for, and it feels pretty ridiculous for her to be so gung-ho about finding it, when she doesn't really even know what it is. Regardless, the story feels more cohesive and coherent this time around. There is a re-attempt at the supernatural element here, and it works better than the first time around. It does feel like they are re-treading some familiar ground, but like I said, it is utilized better here. By the end of the story, I appreciated where the characters ended up, and there is even a little twist at the end, though I am unsure what it means for Lara in the final entry in this origin/survival trilogy. The set-pieces here are better, and feel more bombastic. They still feel static in some ways, but there is definitely more objects on screen when they are occurring. The final area actually feels like a successful action set-piece, with multiple sequences that occur one after another that create a cohesive finale. Not to continue to compare this series to the Uncharted games, but it definitely pales in comparison. When Lara jumps to a ledge, and every object connected to the handhold falls, except for the actual handhold, it's hard not to see through the illusion the game attempts to create. Whereas, in the Uncharted games, Nathan would probably fall, and grab onto something else. There is a DLC side-mission (Baba Yaga), that adds a more mythical element to some combat, but I ultimately didn't love this mission. That's all. Then there is the Blood Ties DLC. This gives the player an opportunity to explore the Croft Manor, with Lara attempting to save her manor from repossession by her evil uncle. Laughing my ass off. It's cool to explore the manor, but this whole level is just a collection of documents that uncover more information about Lara and her family. I started to just skip these documents, because they are boring. The story ultimately goes no where interesting, and resolves in such a level of quickness that I, aside from being able to explore a dilapidated Croft Manor, this level is an easy throw-away. A couple of final notes about the base-game: the first game introduced "survival vision," which is exactly what it sounds like, a detective vision that is ripped straight from the Arkham series. You can easily play the first game without this mechanic. But, this time around, it feels much harder not to lean on it to discover different aspects within the world. I found this mechanic annoying, as I do with almost every game that has a detective vision. It would maybe be different if it was a toggle, but you have to constantly press the R3-button to activate it. Lame. Also, the first game teased and danced around the dual-wielded pistols that has become so iconic for the character. They are very absent in this entry. This is both a pro and a con. On one hand, I was glad that they didn't just lean into it, as Lara is still young in her journey with these origin games. It would maybe be a bit silly and fan-service to just give them to her. On the other hand, it would have made for a cool moment to receive the iconic weapon loadout. Hopefully, there is a moment in the next game that warrants her use of them. When I started this game playthrough, I couldn't remember if I had played it before. I swore that I had, but I couldn't remember anything. I checked, and it turns out I did play it. Which, given I couldn't remember a single thing about the story, I wouldn't necessarily say that was a good thing. This sums up my feelings about this game. It's mostly fun, and mostly engaging. But, I wouldn't say that the game is super memorable. After 15-to-17-hours to complete the base-game and the Blood Ties DLC, I would say this is a fine game, and one that improves upon it's predecessor. However, it's not significant enough of an experience to truly stand out, or leave you wanting more. I am hoping that the third, and final entry in this reboot series leaves a stronger impression. Console Played On: PS5 (PS4 Version) Game Played: 05/2024 - 05/2024 Review Written and Published: 05/29/2025