Tomb Raider

Just rounded the story of Tomb Raider, and thought I should let you know what I think of it. I'm not calling this a review, cause that sounds so formal and consuming, so this is more of sharing opinions. Anyway, let the reviewing begin!

Tomb Raider is a combination of Uncharted and GTA, with lots of climbing and firefights, but also an island to freely explore. I this the game handled the combination perfectly, with a good mix of fighting and climbing, cutscenes and gameplay, free-roam and quick-time events.

The control-system is one of the best I've experienced, letting  you easily traverse the landscape. The cover system is also better than anything I have previously engaged. Instead of locking you to a wall, Lara Croft will simply crouch when there are enemies nearby, and all you have to do is walk up to an object, and Lara will hide behind it. There is one problem, however, and that is that you can't hip-fire. Although it is reasonable with the bow, spraying your enemies while running for cover is often useful.

The game also have a bit of Red Dead Redemption, more specifically, the looting system, and here Tomb Raider is objectively and unarguable better, for the sole reason that it is quicker. In both these games, you can kill and skin animals, smash crates to obtain its contains, and use camps for fast travel. But in RDR, each of these actions have a small cutscene, which I started to hate so much that I'd just leave the animals dead on the ground. In Tomb Raider, Lara will simply stab a dead deer, and magically obtain salvage as if it were a Lego game.

One of the reasons I love Tomb Raider, is that it gives you the option to stealth kill, and it does so better that any game I have played so far. In Uncharted, the only way of stealthkilling is going up behind your enemy and chocking him, which is usually close to impossible, and in Batman: Arkham, the game decides for you wether you are to stealth or close-combat. In Tomb Raider, you have the bow, which is silent, efficient, and can even be used to drag people of edges and into the abyss. I would like to have the ability to drag dead people around, so that no one would see them, preferable with the bow, from a distance, but it issn't a big flaw, as the enemies aren't that attentional.

One of the problems I had with this game was the melee. First of all, it takes you well over an hour before you learn it, meaning Lara Croft have been rolling of the floor to get far enough from the enemy so she can take out her gun, aim (no hip-fire, remember), and shoot the bastart, without the idea of using her climbing-axe (or a freaking arrow) to stab the fucker in the face crosses her mind once for over a day. And when you first learn it, it is mostly useless, because you will only get in a single hit before he punches you back. I learned that a better tactic was to stand in front of them and counter their attacks.

The story of the game is fantastic, it's up there with Uncharted and [insert game with good story]. There  is two issues I would like to adress, the first being Lara weeping over killing a man, then proceeding to kill another twenty or so. This issn't a big issue, and I know it is necessary for the gameplay, so I let it slide. The second problem, one that I am not so forgiving about, is how stupid Lara is. She is on an island with cursed storms, where some survivors have started worshipping some sun god, and halfway through the story, she makes the shocking revelation that, dudes, they might, dude, listen, that they might be connected. Seriously Lara, what took you so long. This happens on several occasions, but I will refrain from spoiling anything, so play the game yourself, and you will see.

Once you complete the storymode, there is no reason to keep playing, other than to replay it. That is a very serious thing about a free-roam game, where exploring the world should keep you happy for as long as the storymode itself. But not in Tomb Raider. There are lots to find, and the world is big, but it stops being fun, for many reasons:

1. There are almost no enemies. Once I completed the story, I was looking forward to kill off five or six guys without them noticing me. Problem is, there are so few of them, you will hardly get the chance.
2. You can't roam the island. Just over half the island is open for you to run acros. That leaves about forty persent of territory left that you can't enter. And what is worse is, that every area is visited and explored in the story, meaning there are no exiting new places to go.
3. YOU CAN'T ROAM THE ISLAND. The island is split up in fifteen or so areas, each have a distinctive look of its own, along with its own progress bar. This is nice and all, except that you can't walk from one area to another. You have to use fast travel. Don't get me wrong, the fast travel is superb, but I want to speedrun across the island, why won't you let me, gad dangit.

So yeah, after the game ends, and the credits roll, there is no point anymore. Sure there is a multiplayer, but keep in mind that this is an action adventure game focused on quick time events, you didn't honestly think it would be good, did you?