Tomb Raider GOTY

boomaloom Lara is the queen of surviving men

I was never really a fan of the original game back in the 90’s because the controls were atrocious. So, when a friend of mine was raving about this one, I was hesitant to try it out. This 2013 reboot is a great entry-point for those like me who want to give the franchise a chance without having to go through the obsolete game mechanics of the original. Besides that there’s some great third-person shooter gameplay here too. I didn’t expect it to be immersive but I did find myself becoming invested in the events of the story and the environment. Tomb Raider offers some exhilarating platforming that puts me at the edge of my seat with its ziplines, mountain climbing, and river slides among other features. Some light puzzles are thrown in the mix as well. Having said all of these, the treasure hunting (or, tomb raiding) didn’t interest me. As much as I wanted to know what was happening in the story, the game failed to compel me to dig deeper and unearth more about the secrets of the main plot. There were times that I stumbled upon an optional tomb, that I ended up finishing because I unintentionally started it. Furthermore, the weapon upgrades are quite underwhelming, where you can make do most of the time with the necessary enhancements. What I’m trying to say is, the general treasure hunting aspect seeks to offer replayability but it doesn’t do it for me. Tomb Raider offers variety, but only to a certain extent. After that, that’s pretty much it. Still, the game is fun and its plot is interesting enough for you to stick it out to the end.

A good chunk of achievements wont unlock for me due to some bug so now I can never 100% the game.

The 1990s introduced two classic game series at around the same time: Tomb Raider (1996) and X-COM: UFO Defense (1994). I had played and tried the very first games of both classics a long time ago, and I HATED both of them. I have never completed either of the original games. I have never bothered with any of the sequels to the original classics. Coincidentally, both series received remakes in the 2010s: Tomb Raider in 2013 and X-COM: Enemy Unknown in 2012. Given that how much I hated the originals, I did not play or even pay much attention to the remakes when they first came out. I bought both remakes a few years after their releases, when they were on sales and heavily discounted. Also coincidentally, I bought and played both remakes in the same year. I really enjoyed both remakes. I wished I had played them much earlier. This remake is nothing like the original, which is exactly the reason why I love it. I know a lot of the fans of the "classic Tomb Raider" hated this remake, because it is so different from the old series. The remake and old series are in different genres. Fans of the old games have been demanding Tomb Raider to "return to its original root", but I hope Tomb Raider will NEVER return to its root. I hated the old Tomb Raider, and I love the new Tomb Raider. The point I am making here: if you had tried and hated the old classic Tomb Raider games like me, do not write off this remake because you assume it is same as the old classics.

There is lots of bugs to this game, a lot of them in many aspects of the game. I got this game on Gog because they removed the online/multiplayer achievements so I though I could 100% complete the game, but guess what? The achievements have bugs. 100% the game and a lot still missing. For the third time ever I played a game were I fall from the map, it happened when I grabbed a enemy near elevated ground and was enough to fall from the map. Once you complete the game, enemies dissapear, so I think they don't want you doing anything but exploring post game, and exploration it's bad, there is nothing really interesting to find, the story is mediocre. Even with all this, I completed this game multiple times in different platforms, so there must be something good in here, I just can't understand it.