Furthermore, there's an added degree of verticality to the game, which allows you to sidestep combat altogether by ziplining across rooftops or climbing trees. You can also use debris scattered around the environment, throwing bottles and cans to distract guards, or using them to craft makeshift bombs and Molotov cocktails. You can hide in the bushes, sneaking up on guards from behind, and then finishing them off with a press of a button. Stealth is a viable option, as is using the environment. Looks aside, the combat is a lot more entertaining. It doesn't look drastically different from Tomb Raider Definitive Edition, which isn't a bad thing, but we can't help but wonder how it would perform on more powerful hardware. There was obvious slowdown in some of its busier sections, and a few of environments seemed to lack anti-aliasing, with jagged edges marring the experience. There were a couple of occasions towards the finale, when the game went well below 30 frames per second. From ancient ruins to decrepit military installations, Rise of the Tomb Raider is great to look at for the most part. (Also see: Need for Speed, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Fallout 4, and Other Games Releasing This November )Įqually impressive is the presentation of the game.

And while it does fall apart a little towards the end, with a predictable outcome and familiar twists, the narrative is one of the high points of this game. The game makes us question Croft's motives and at one point even makes us sympathise with the villains. There's very little to fault in the way the game is presented, complete with nuanced characters who have their own personal motivations, instead of a straight battle between heroes and villains. Along the way, you'll bear witness to an engrossing narrative involving the Remnant - local settlers - in conflict with a sinister organisation known as Trinity.įor most part, Rise of the Tomb Raider's plot is good enough to keep you playing till the end. Set a year after the events of 2013's Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider puts you in the role of Lara Croft, as you explore and shoot your way through Siberia, searching for the lost city of Kitezh which holds the key to immortality. The game is a sequel to 2013's Tomb Raider reboot, and it's an impressive game, but is it a good enough reason to buy an Xbox One right now?

That's perhaps why Microsoft decided to pay for Rise of the Tomb Raider to be a timed-exclusive on the Xbox One.

While the Xbox One might have Gears of War and Halo, Microsoft doesn't have an answer to Uncharted. They're a fantastic set of action-adventure games in the spirit of Indiana Jones movies and pulp action comics, as well being inspired by the Tomb Raider titles. One of the biggest reasons to own a PlayStation 3, or even a PlayStation 4, is the Uncharted series.

Rise of the tomb raider review