Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Lara Croft made a triumphant return in 2013 when Tomb Raider was rebooted into a more action-adventure game that featured a grittier heroine. The first two games received lots of praise, and while this third and final outing has some flaws...

This may not be Lara’s best adventure, but it’s a solid ending to a rebooted franchise that I would gladly revisit. It’s easily the best-looking game in the series and playing on both an Xbox One X and PS4 Pro shows how much the visuals have evolved. Like Rise, you can choose between a high framerate or high resolution, both which look equally as gorgeous.

We must admit, around an hour or two into Shadow of the Tomb Raider we wondered if it'd end up being the Return of the Jedi of the reboot trilogy – fun, but the weakest of the bunch. We were proved wrong, however.It is a dark game in tone – especially...

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is undoubtedly the biggest, darkest and most enjoyable Tomb Raider game to date. The attention to detail in just about every area of the game is impressive, and the deadly challenge tombs really capture the essence of what Tomb Raider has always been about – solving puzzles, performing death-defying acts and getting hella’ loot in the process. It ties the trilogy up perfectly, and we’re already waiting to hear about what Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix have planned next.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider succeeds in giving Lara the character growth she needed and also brings the reboot trilogy to a satisfying closure. It does so mostly by refining the strong gameplay foundation set with the previous installments while delivering a great action/adventure experience in terms of storytelling and audiovisual spectacle.

With heightened stakes and tension, Shadow of the Tomb Raider will keep you engaged throughout its hours of gameplay. Its limited advancements over previous games should be noted, but the final package is still an unmissable Tomb Raider...

Thankfully, the parts of Tomb Raider that make it really fantastic--uncovering the mystery of ancient ruins, solving impressive challenge tombs, and exploring exotic environments--are still here in Shadow, and they are just as outstanding as they have always been. But the core mechanics that have been with the series for half a decade are starting to show their limitations. Making the journey to Shadow of the Tomb Raider's peaks is certainly an attractive goal, but like the challenging terrain Lara needs to traverse, the path there is getting rougher and more unpredictable.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider offers none of these things, not really. It’s true that for the first part of the game, you’re scrambling to collect equipment in a jungle. But there’s no element of survival. There are two boss fights against jaguars, if they count, and then you are out of the jungle