Tomb Raider (2013) “I hate tombs…” – Lara Croft. THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU RAIDING THEM?! It’s actually really good, that monologue just annoyed me.

More like Lara Soft HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Don’t hurt me, Miss. Croft.

Recently produced games and films (especially the latter) seem to be prequels, sequels or reboots. So when I heard of a new Tomb Raider I wasn’t very surprised. Even less surprising was the time period it was to be set – a direct prequel of the original Lara Croft series. But it’s clear they’ve taken it seriously, dropping both the Lara Croft title and the hot pants…by which I mean they’ve been replaced with trousers, sorry guys.

However, the problem with them taking it seriously is that they may put far too much thought into it. As many will know, video games can be overthought, cases in point, Gears of War and Call of Duty, two franchises that started off incredibly and (arguably) went downhill. Tomb Raider has been over thought a bit too much, so much so that it doesn’t really know its place. In the opening scenes it tries to scare you not once, but twice, instantly setting up to be a horror. But then we’re made to solve several puzzles, suggesting it will be more of an adventure game. So, putting two and two together, we work out that this is going to be a horror survival set in the jungle. Not very original seeing as that’s the plot of Predator.

So originality isn’t Tomb Raider’s strong point. But what it lacks in that department it more than makes up for in gameplay. For me, it’s the little things that matter. For example, being a 3rd person-shooter-action-adventure-horror-survival-thing, I expected cover shooting. But this cover system works so much better than its rivals’, and it does so with a very subtle change. The cover is automatic. None of this “Press A” crap that takes an age to actually become available (looking at you Spec Ops), you simply walk up to a chest-high wall and it makes you crouch and have the ability to blind fire. Genius! Another little thing that I really enjoyed was the almost seamless linearity. Despite looking like you have the entire world to explore, the story is very linear, and that’s something I enjoy. However, in doing so, it does not sacrifice exploration. Sure, relics and documents are easy to find once you’ve unlocked the perk allowing you to see almost all of them on your mini-map, but the sheer amount and difficulty of reaching them provides you with hours of gameplay.

Whether you can take hours of gameplay is another matter. This game is great in short bursts, but after playing it for3 hours straight, it becomes not only tedious, but annoying. Lara’s VERY British accent, for example, is at first liberating and rather comforting seeing as a Japanese company produced it, but after a while it becomes grating and patronising. Seeing as half the time spent playing is either climbing or falling (that is not an exaggeration) her moany whines become really, really annoying. In fact, in my notes I have put “Sick of her fucking screaming and moaning.” Another thing in my notes is “Being impaled through the throat was rather awesome,” something which I stand by. It was awesome. I was falling in a river and strayed to far to the right and got stabbed. Cool, huh?

I thought the multiplayer would be the main cause for replayability, but sadly it didn’t live up to my expectations. Shoddy controls and a lack of customisation are at fault whilst the rare arrow to the face from distance doesn’t really match in awesomeness. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun and simple, which I like, but its core fundamentals are poor, especially the servers. It shouldn’t be hard to find a lag-free game with three people but somehow it is. Oh well, online was never Square Enix’s strong point.

The story itself, however, is very interesting. Sticking with the typical modern-archaism that makes so little sense that you believe everything just because you can’t be arsed pointing out all the flaws, such as finding a machine-gun part in a 1000 year-old tomb., the story takes us on a journey through a Japanese island that is filled with crash sites, boats and planes alike. This is how Lara Croft and her crew become stranded on the island themselves, a mysterious storm bringing their ship aground. Lara then makes it her own prerogative to find out why these storms are happening and stop them so her and her crew can escape. Along the way we learn about the history of the island and its inhabitants, the Solarii cult and its leader Mathias. The deeper the story goes, the more complex and mystic it becomes, eventually leading us to a final showdown between Lara and Mathias whilst one of Lara’s friends is getting turned into a Sun-God. As Ron Burgundy said, “That escalated quickly.” However, this escalation works wonders for the story. It is paced so well that we feel exactly what Lara is feeling, allowing us to sympathise with her. Sudden tension turns and nerve-wracking quick-time events fill us with jittery excitement whilst all out war brings out the best in our creativity. Shooting a dynamite stick mid-air next to a red barrel which then exploded sending three enemies flying off a cliff did make me feel rather smug, only to be interrupted by me not paying attention and getting kicked of the same cliff.

I think that’s what made this game really rather special. We all have those moments that just make us stop and admire during video games. Whether it be an absolute screamer on FIFA or 5 starring Dragonforce on Guitar Hero (happy to say I’ve done both…the latter is more rewarding), we savour these moments and hang on to them like children. Tomb Raider had so many of these moments. From ziplining from the top of a radio antennae miles in the sky to parachuting through a pine forest, it’s all as thrilling as knock and run when we were 10. The exceptional environments, brilliant voice acting and consuming story make this a modern classic worthy of its predecessors.