Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition Review (PS4)
Story
This game is a reboot. Lara Croft embarks on a journey with a crew on the ship called Endurance. Upon journey however, the Endurance ship crashed into an unknown ship that has mysteries of the lost kingdom Yamatai. Lara needs to do whatever it takes to survive and get out of the island.
The story is well-paced, with many likable characters. Unlike the previous trilogy of Tomb Raider games, this game's story is much more darker and mature, which is also reflected in the game's environment and atmosphere. Lara Croft has an incredible character development here, and other supporting characters have good exposure as well. Documents can be also found in the game to find out more of their thoughts as well as the island's previous and current inhabitants, making the game's lore worth studying further.
Gameplay
This game is the definitive edition of the original release of Tomb Raider reboot. This version has all of the DLCs, 1080p and 60 FPS support, and remastered graphics as well as updated Lara Croft character model.
The game plays like an action adventure game with platforming and third person shooter combat like Uncharted games. Lara can climb ledges, jump on objects, use weapons to defeat enemies, and others. There are also a number of QTEs in this game during progression, such as during escape sequences.
What makes this game unique compared to Uncharted games is that you can Skill Points to learn new skills. There are two category of Skills. Weapon Skills allow you to use weapon-related skills in combat, such as using a handgun finisher to earn extra XP. Survivor Skills include skills that allow you to gain extra XP by looting from enemies or animals as well as many other survivor Skills. Skill Points can be obtained by gaining enough XP. You can learn new Skills by resting at Camps. Upgrading weapons require you to spend Salvage Points, which can be obtained by opening crates or completing Tomb challenges.
The game's exploration and progress is pretty straightforward, as you can use your Survival Instinct or your GPS to find out your next objective or destination. You may feel free to explore when you get past certain areas in the game for collectibles or completing Tomb challenges. You may also Fast Travel from any camp that you have unlocked.
Many of the game's puzzle include the use of your gear, common sense, and Survival Instinct. Survival Instinct is an ability that may highlights the puzzle's hints, and you need to use your current gear to unlock new paths to proceed in the game, such as using a torch. None of the puzzles are too difficult, but some of optional Tombs' puzzles can be creative or difficult to different players. Platforming sections remain similar to previous Tomb Raider games or Uncharted games, where you can scale on mountain walls, climb ledges, or etc.
In this game, you can take two approaches in combat. You may go to combat with your guns blazing, or you can take stealth approach. In Hard difficulty, it is recommended to play stealth as the enemies in the game can kill you easily with their weapons. Your bow will be your most useful weapon in the game due to it's versatility and for being silent, but you need to switch weapons such as handgun or shotgun in case you have run out of arrows or you are in intense gunfights. Every weapon in this game have it's own advantages or disadvantages, so practice using each weapon effectively.
The multiplayer mode plays like a standard third person shooter multiplayer game, such as standard Team Deathmatch, Private Rescue and etc. Unfortunately, the game's multiplayer mode is not as interesting as the singleplayer mode, and I think this game would do well without the multiplayer mode and instead the developer should include more singleplayer mode content such as boss fights, more optional Tombs, and other sidequests.
Other than the multiplayer mode, this game's gameplay is really good. Refined from previous Tomb Raider games' gameplay, this game has both weapons and skills upgrades to make it better than the previous Tomb Raider games. Unfortunately, there are no actual boss fights in this game and the Tomb challenges are too short, causing the game's replay value and challenge to drop slightly.
Graphics
Like the trailers shown for the game, this game has amazing graphics. Great looking characters, incredible and realistic environments designs, nice weather effects, and others. This game's graphics is simply one of the best looking games in 2013.
Sound
This game has great soundtrack, composed by the Dead Space series composer Jason Graves. The main theme of this game is simple good, as well as other themes. The soundtrack is simply fitting in the game.
The voice acting is also great, with every voice actor in the game voicing their characters perfectly. My personal highlights would be Lara's voice actor (Camilla Luddington), Roth's voice actor (Robin Atkin Downes), and others.
Replay Value
There is not much replay value in this game. You can attempt on playing this game on Hard mode, collect all collectibles, complete Challenges or try out multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, there are no New Game Plus mode for this game,. and the online multiplayer community is fairly low even now.
Conclusion
Despite the mediocre multiplayer mode, I think the game's singleplayer mode make it a worthy purchase, thanks to the great story, incredible lore, good character development of Lara, good gameplay, amazing graphics and music. The game has other few shortcomings, such as not many sidequests to be done, short Tomb challenges as well as no boss fights. The definitive edition is one of the best looking games on PS4, but it is only advised for new buyers or hardcore Tomb Raider fans, since there are not many new things included in the game except for the better graphics, and the DLCs are nothing to shout about as they don't impact much on the gameplay. One of the best games on PS4.
Score
Story: 9/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 9/10
Final Score: 9.0/10
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Incredible new story of Lara Croft.
- Well-like characters.
- Good game pacing.
- Nice upgrade progression of skills and weapons.
- Good combat.
- Nicely designed puzzles.
- Open-world design increases the game's depth and challenge.
- Good amount of collectibles.
- Incredible graphics, with nicely designed characters and areas.
- Good voice acting.
- Nice soundtrack.
Cons
- No actual boss fights.
- Tomb challenges are way too short.
- Boring or mediocre multiplayer mode.
- Low to moderate replay value.
**Images are from official PlayStation site and Square Enix site.
Control a less experienced Lara Croft in a reboot game.
The story is well-paced, with many likable characters. Unlike the previous trilogy of Tomb Raider games, this game's story is much more darker and mature, which is also reflected in the game's environment and atmosphere. Lara Croft has an incredible character development here, and other supporting characters have good exposure as well. Documents can be also found in the game to find out more of their thoughts as well as the island's previous and current inhabitants, making the game's lore worth studying further.
Gameplay
Use your weapons wisely.
This game is the definitive edition of the original release of Tomb Raider reboot. This version has all of the DLCs, 1080p and 60 FPS support, and remastered graphics as well as updated Lara Croft character model.
The game plays like an action adventure game with platforming and third person shooter combat like Uncharted games. Lara can climb ledges, jump on objects, use weapons to defeat enemies, and others. There are also a number of QTEs in this game during progression, such as during escape sequences.
What makes this game unique compared to Uncharted games is that you can Skill Points to learn new skills. There are two category of Skills. Weapon Skills allow you to use weapon-related skills in combat, such as using a handgun finisher to earn extra XP. Survivor Skills include skills that allow you to gain extra XP by looting from enemies or animals as well as many other survivor Skills. Skill Points can be obtained by gaining enough XP. You can learn new Skills by resting at Camps. Upgrading weapons require you to spend Salvage Points, which can be obtained by opening crates or completing Tomb challenges.
The game's exploration and progress is pretty straightforward, as you can use your Survival Instinct or your GPS to find out your next objective or destination. You may feel free to explore when you get past certain areas in the game for collectibles or completing Tomb challenges. You may also Fast Travel from any camp that you have unlocked.
Many of the game's puzzle include the use of your gear, common sense, and Survival Instinct. Survival Instinct is an ability that may highlights the puzzle's hints, and you need to use your current gear to unlock new paths to proceed in the game, such as using a torch. None of the puzzles are too difficult, but some of optional Tombs' puzzles can be creative or difficult to different players. Platforming sections remain similar to previous Tomb Raider games or Uncharted games, where you can scale on mountain walls, climb ledges, or etc.
In this game, you can take two approaches in combat. You may go to combat with your guns blazing, or you can take stealth approach. In Hard difficulty, it is recommended to play stealth as the enemies in the game can kill you easily with their weapons. Your bow will be your most useful weapon in the game due to it's versatility and for being silent, but you need to switch weapons such as handgun or shotgun in case you have run out of arrows or you are in intense gunfights. Every weapon in this game have it's own advantages or disadvantages, so practice using each weapon effectively.
The multiplayer mode plays like a standard third person shooter multiplayer game, such as standard Team Deathmatch, Private Rescue and etc. Unfortunately, the game's multiplayer mode is not as interesting as the singleplayer mode, and I think this game would do well without the multiplayer mode and instead the developer should include more singleplayer mode content such as boss fights, more optional Tombs, and other sidequests.
Other than the multiplayer mode, this game's gameplay is really good. Refined from previous Tomb Raider games' gameplay, this game has both weapons and skills upgrades to make it better than the previous Tomb Raider games. Unfortunately, there are no actual boss fights in this game and the Tomb challenges are too short, causing the game's replay value and challenge to drop slightly.
Graphics
Incredible graphics.
Like the trailers shown for the game, this game has amazing graphics. Great looking characters, incredible and realistic environments designs, nice weather effects, and others. This game's graphics is simply one of the best looking games in 2013.
Sound
Great and suitable soundtrack, as well as great voice acting.
This game has great soundtrack, composed by the Dead Space series composer Jason Graves. The main theme of this game is simple good, as well as other themes. The soundtrack is simply fitting in the game.
The voice acting is also great, with every voice actor in the game voicing their characters perfectly. My personal highlights would be Lara's voice actor (Camilla Luddington), Roth's voice actor (Robin Atkin Downes), and others.
Replay Value
Low to moderate replay value.
There is not much replay value in this game. You can attempt on playing this game on Hard mode, collect all collectibles, complete Challenges or try out multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, there are no New Game Plus mode for this game,. and the online multiplayer community is fairly low even now.
Conclusion
Incredible single-player mode makes this game worth buying.
Despite the mediocre multiplayer mode, I think the game's singleplayer mode make it a worthy purchase, thanks to the great story, incredible lore, good character development of Lara, good gameplay, amazing graphics and music. The game has other few shortcomings, such as not many sidequests to be done, short Tomb challenges as well as no boss fights. The definitive edition is one of the best looking games on PS4, but it is only advised for new buyers or hardcore Tomb Raider fans, since there are not many new things included in the game except for the better graphics, and the DLCs are nothing to shout about as they don't impact much on the gameplay. One of the best games on PS4.
Score
Story: 9/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 9/10
Final Score: 9.0/10
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Incredible new story of Lara Croft.
- Well-like characters.
- Good game pacing.
- Nice upgrade progression of skills and weapons.
- Good combat.
- Nicely designed puzzles.
- Open-world design increases the game's depth and challenge.
- Good amount of collectibles.
- Incredible graphics, with nicely designed characters and areas.
- Good voice acting.
- Nice soundtrack.
Cons
- No actual boss fights.
- Tomb challenges are way too short.
- Boring or mediocre multiplayer mode.
- Low to moderate replay value.
**Images are from official PlayStation site and Square Enix site.
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