Tomb Raider (2013): More Than Just A Female Indiana Jones

Nearly every action setpiece ends with some sort of dramatic finish, be it jumping to a helicopter or running from a plane. 

I rarely play as women in video games, though it's mostly due to the fact that when I play roleplaying games I prefer to play as or be a variation of myself. Jalbert the Captain, Iago the Ranger, Lawrence the Cleric, the list goes on. Even when there is only visual differences (like in Prey, the review coming after this one), I identify with male avatars time and time again. Thus, the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider was an exercise in leaving my comfort zone, and despite the uncomfortable connotations of that statement, I had an enormously fun time stepping into the shoes of Lara Croft for the first time. The gameplay is snappy, cinematic, and engaging; the story, while not the deepest, is full of emotion and everything you'd love to see in an adventure film; and the game itself remains quite beautiful at times about six years after its release, so let's get down to brass tacks.

Alex got the least screen time of all of Lara's group, but his death still felt important, like this is a band of equals instead of a hero and some sheep.

In terms of plot, Tomb Raider's is rather unremarkable at first glance, being essentially what amounts to her first 'adventure', but otherwise a story of hunting for treasure that quickly turns to one of escape. There's also no small amount of mystical events that occur throughout the plot, but aside from the final chapter the majority of the events are relatively grounded in the realms of possibility. Usually if we're at this point, I'd call the plot a wash and unworthy of note. However, the saving graces of the game's story comes from two similar vectors: Lara herself as a character and those of her friends. However, it would be impossible to talk about Lara and her friends without first covering the atmosphere of the game, and it's pretty grim. It's a reserved sort of bleakness that permeates the game's story, and actions have realistic consequences, but there's still light. Playing the hero is not a particularly safe option, and the wounds and losses of her and her friends show it, but they also show that the suffering is worth it. There's a very present feeling of friendship between the group, and even characters that have really no screen time still feel like they're important to each other, and they act nobly and bravely because they are important to each other. Lara herself is all the more striking to me here because I grew up hearing that she was some sort of badass, but she's really not here, at least at the outset. Much of the first act she spends alone and terrified, on the verge of panic in addition to her injuries, but with the support, counsel and (often) sacrifice of her friends she hardens her resolve and grows as a person and in her conviction for her and her friends to survive. In the latter parts of the game I frequently heard her taunting or bantering with her foes, responding to insults of "I'll crush you, rat!" with "And I'll show you what this little rat can do!". It's not only visible character growth, it also feels truly earned, and I really liked this aspect of her story being communicated to us without something as clunky as a montage, cinematic, or narration. Her friends, while not even close to being as fleshed out as Lara, do feel important to the story, and not just as 'fellow survivors'. Some of them have a vague backstory, and most of them do not, but the interactions between them and Lara sells the history and relationships between them. All but one of course, and of course it's the guy with the same name as me: Dr. James Whitman. Whereas the other members of Lara's group act with skepticism or practicality to every new turn of fortune, not James, he hedges his bets against the group at every possible opportunity without a moment's hesitation. One would think that the group had kidnapped him to help explain his predictability, but he's their goddamn benefactor. Why? We don't get a proper explanation besides that he wants to become famous from this expedition, but how exactly would he accomplish this without the help of his mechanically-inclined employees? It just doesn't make much sense. He dies right before the end with absolutely no fanfare, and his death made an impact to match how much I cared about him, meaning none. Note also how I haven't mentioned the antagonist yet, he exists, don't worry, but he's essentially just a generic bad guy zealot without any memorable presence besides seemingly being able to materialize out of nowhere. It's strange how Tomb Raider's story can be simultaneously awesome and mediocre at the same, but I'd say that the characters (that you interact the most with) definitely carry the story, and are probably the best I've seen in a good long while (especially Lara).

Even if it's on-rails, sequences like this still felt thrilling from beginning to end because this is your chance to do an Indiana Jones!

Moving on to the gameplay of Tomb Raider, it was not what I expected, not even close. I remember the advertising and promotional material that was making the circuits of gaming magazines when I was younger. It described a brutal fight for survival where you'd not only be fighting hostiles, but the elements themselves, and nowhere was this sold more than in the first area. Lara was cold, so you needed to find shelter. Okay, now she has a basecamp, but now she's hungry. Look she found a bow and hunted a deer, animals don't just die outright, so there's that somber and advertised scene. Neat. After this segment though, the game veers into third person action-stealth (your choice). In the end you're not a hunter and you're not trying to survive against the elements, only against people and platforming. The bow becomes less a primary and more a tool for traversing the environment or setting up chain reactions to kill enemies. It probably sounds like I dislike this game for how different the gameplay was than what was advertised, but to be honest I think it's better than what was advertised. There are trappings of the promised game here and there, like having to light your torch at a brasier, but this grows tedious and frustrating within all of five minutes. Much of your progress through the game can be mapped with you being given additional tools or modifications that enable you to bypass these tedious elements. Just as I was about to tear my hair out from having to find another braiser to light my torch, I found a striking rod to do it myself. Combat is fast and cover-based, with Lara having regenerating health, which does keep up this cinematic feeling that permeates the gameplay (despite my personal bias against the system). There are the standard three or so enemy types to be seen here and in every game of this type, with each being somewhat predictable. Later on you'll encounter armored variants whose armor you'll have to break in order to murder them, but their armor acts in a realistic way from its piecemeal construction (meaning it breaks super easily). Just shoot them enough with your upgraded weapons and you'll annihilate them. Weapon upgrades however, are a massive misstep, mostly in terms of how they are obtained. You upgrade weapons by finding various weapon parts (each unique to the specific weapon), however, as opposed to collectables, finding these are a roll of the dice by opening crates and chests for salvage, which act as money for upgrades, so sometimes you'll find a ton of parts for a weapon you barely use (sorry assault rifle and shotgun). Your best chance at finding these weapon parts though are in the loot the various tombs found throughout the game, which are all optional and act as concentrated puzzle-solving arenas (though admittedly basic). Each weapon is useful in no few situations, but at the end of the day the pistol was my weapon of choice, mostly due to its high damage, fire rate, and personal preference. There's also a good deal of exploration you can do in this game, and it's a pleasure to go back to different areas with my new tools to reach the spots I couldn't before as a way to further actualize my progress. There's also a good number of collectables and a remarkable number of them are voiced, which is an extra bonus I don't notice in too many games. My largest complaint with the gameplay though is the reliance on quicktime events. So many of them are just tacked on "tap or mash 'e' to avoid death", and above all they offer nothing to justify their inclusion. It is important to understand that at this point in gaming bows and quicktime events were in fashion, but it still doesn't excuse its inclusion. On the whole though, the gameplay works surprisingly well, helping to create a movie-like experience as you're playing. Were it not for the presence of QTE's, Tomb Raider would feature minimal input indicators, and that's the goal that these games should aspire to.

Just some gal climbing a mountain with no HUD in sight, just living in the moment.

Visually and audibly, Tomb Raider has aged pretty well, mostly through focusing on the overall atmosphere than on any single part. It shows some age with some characters looking bland or unexpressive and with some ugly textures (looking at you rusty metal and corpse piles), but take as a whole the presentation looks really good, and I think it's through the focus on using particle and weather effects. Trees sway in the wind, dust blows, rain pours, and so on; it's not groundbreaking or spectacular, but it is both interesting and helps the game overall look better. Cinematics remain stunning, giving both a nice break from the action and occasionally something really pretty to look at. The best example of this is the radio tower scene, where even though it is by and large pointless in the grand scheme of things it is both a beautiful shot and leads into the best of the 'cinematic gameplay' sequences (even if they're pretty janky in this entry it was worth a shot). Character models seem to follow the same trend as with the story, with Lara's (obviously) having the most detail, followed by her party and ending with the enemies. Lara's outfit undergoes a lot through her frantic adventure, and you can chart your progress through the story by looking at the wear on her clothes in addition to the number of gadgets she has carried on her. Her friends are also each visually distinct and clue us a bit into their personalities and backstory. Your foes unfortunately, look quite bland. As we all know, nothing makes a character look appealing like grey, brown, and green. The voice acting in this game is pretty good, with each major character having a distinct and recognizable speech pattern to help you set them apart. For such a cinematic game, it's a little strange then that the music would be so...forgettable at points? There are a number of spectacle sequences that let the music be known, and do so to great effect, but for much of the game it's just there in the background, providing ambiance and atmosphere to the scene at hand.

Probably the most beautiful cinematic in the game, it almost felt like a concluding shot, but that would be too easy...

And those are my thoughts on the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider, and in all honesty it was quite a surprise to me. It may not be what was advertised, but the result was really something fantastic despite my lack of expectations. Sure, aspects of it are to be found wanting, and parts have aged as gracefully as old edgy comments on social media, but on the whole it remains a blast to play. I had so much fun that I somehow completed the game (by that I mean the story) in a single day, a first for me, and that might be an endorsement on it's own. A strong recommendation from me, especially for the characters (and my new favorite adventurer). I can't wait to play the sequel.