Tomb Raider

pro

Tomb Raider is a well written, nicely paced and a very exciting adventure. It keeps pushing you into cinematic set pieces and breathtaking action sequences with just enough time between them to take in the sights. Lara controls great and her arsenal is perfect for surviving the island with the bow as a highlight. The weapon and skill upgrades are pretty darn cool and significant, adding more layers to a tight combat scheme.

pro

The game looks amazing. It animates beautifully and contains enough gorgeous surroundings to fill up your gazing quota. The way Lara moves and reacts to the environment is only a fraction of the details that has been poured into the game. She might not be a 14 hour walking shampoo ad like its PC counterpart, but the PS3 version holds up impressively well.

pro

Lara Croft feels like a real person, and there is genuine interest in seeing her through her adventure safe and sound. Her development as a character through dialogue and action is noticeable and at the end of the game you are left with the notion that she has changed and evolved. Not a small achievement for a Tomb Raider game.

pro

A striking score and well made sound effects is sure to keep your attention. Lara's theme has been dressed and redressed for various occasions so there is always a feeling of familiarity in the unknown. Together with great graphics and good gameplay the total package you get with Tomb Raider is pretty amazing.

pro

Collectibles make sense in this game. The story of the island is further explored through documents and relics, and each area holds its own unique set of collectibles you can search for.

con

To properly convey the evolution from an innocent inexperienced person to what is basically a killing machine is something Far Cry 3 attempted and somewhat failed at. Tomb Raider is sadly no better at this. The dissonance between the storytelling and your actions is jarring, which in turn is due to ...

con

... too many battles. Tomb Raider is an origin story and I understand that instantly jumping into a tomb, running around and solving puzzles is not what this is about, but an emphasis on the island, the mysteries surrounding it and more exploration could easily have replaced half of the battles you encounter and still be exciting, exhilarating and tie better into the narrative.

con

While Lara gets a proper character treatment, there is a bit left to be desired for the rest of the cast. When they are put into tough situations there isn't enough there to make you invest emotions into it. In such a character driven game like this that's a missed opportunity.

con

I tried playing the multiplayer but had to admit defeat to a horrible framerate and less than responsive controls. The framerate issues were particularly noticeable when aiming and shooting and that is just gamebreaking.