The Tomb Raider reboot is most often remembered as an example of human-narrative dissonance and terrible writing from Rihanna Pratchet. This is due to the impressions from the first two parts. The third part is remembered much less often. And very much in vain.
Point of view
The game was made by the team behind the latest deus ex. They know how to create exciting worlds. And this time it worked too. But the perception of the game is greatly influenced by the background from previous parts. In the first two games, Lara is perceived as a rather weak girl who is used to being overpowered, but who understands exactly what she wants. At least the player doesn’t have questions about Lara’s motivation. In this part it’s the other way around. Here they show Lara, who can get out of absolutely any scrape, who will be afraid of a whole squad of armed mercenaries, but who very vaguely understands what motivates her in general. Either the desire to take revenge on Trinity, or the desire to save the world once again, or simple adventurism. But overall, Lara’s story in this game is about her trying to find peace. Everything is as it should be for the last part of an adventure trilogy.
Game problems
However, although the main storyline https://mintbingocasino.uk/login/ has a logical development and conclusion, there are a lot of holes in the plot. This is most felt when you try to understand the motivation of the characters. There is always a feeling of some kind of script conventions. Why does the archaeologist girl in the first settlement say that she knows a safe passage into the tomb at the very moment when Lara is locked in a dangerous passage and separated from the rest of the squad?? Why does the main villain say something that he shouldn’t know (about the fact that researcher Lopez took the silver casket)? In general, it is not very clear how Trinity feels about Pedro Dominguez’s intentions to destroy the world. Throughout the game you will ask similar questions, but most likely you will never get an answer.
The rhythm of the story doesn’t always work right either. The game is still a bit reminiscent of survival. They tell you about collecting resources and hunting. At the same time, they almost immediately give you a pistol, a machine gun and a bow. You begin to think that there will be a lot of skirmishes with enemies, otherwise why such an arsenal?. But in the first half of the game there are very few clashes with enemies. But exploring the surrounding area and collecting resources can take a very long time. If you are used to vacuuming levels completely, here you will find something to do. There are a lot of activities on the map. Pile of containers, animals, ore, plants, etc. n. From time to time you come across tombs, but about them later.
What to do with loot?
It’s interesting to collect resources, but when you come to the camp and try to figure out what to do with all the collected goods, you find yourself disappointed. In the camp you can craft clothes, improve Lara’s weapons and skills. But apparently due to the fact that I have some special edition of the game, at the very beginning I was given a machine gun, a pistol and a bow, which in terms of characteristics were so much better than anything else that improving weapons almost until the very end of the game seemed completely pointless. There are very few clothes for crafting in the game. In general, all that remained was to sell the resources. Leveling up Lara herself is mainly aimed at combat, and, as mentioned above, there are very few clashes with enemies in the first half of the game. In general, for the first 25 hours I went into the camp menu and left there without doing anything.
Strange technical solutions
There are also problems with voice acting. The game has a setting that enables voice acting for all characters in their native language. Overall it really adds some life to the game. But there are nuances. Lara answers everyone in English. This looks weird. Because everyone still understands each other. And secondly, it works very poorly for the people of Paititi. I don’t know what language the inhabitants of the lost city of the Incas speak. But it’s unlikely that anyone has found people who speak the same language. It turns out that the voice actors didn’t understand what they were saying when they voiced the characters. And it’s very audible. The speech of the residents of Paititi is absolutely devoid of any expression or emphasis in sentences. She’s completely unemotional. It’s hard to listen to and it really breaks the immersion in the game. It might be better to disable this setting altogether.
And now for the good stuff. I think there’s more good in the game.
Strengths
I liked the local movement system much more than in Uncharted. In the latter it is too rail-like, it is very difficult to make a mistake. The character is attracted to all triggers and ledges a kilometer away. It’s much easier to make a mistake. If you rush and play carelessly, the game will punish. However, there is still no significant discomfort. I think it works this way because of good interactive design. You always see where you can get hooked and where you can’t. Where you can jump from and where you can’t. And your deaths will occur, in most cases, through your fault. Therefore, you will humbly accept and go through the level again more carefully. In addition, the movement is quite varied. There are several types of surfaces that you can climb on, different types of ledges, a hook that you can hook on and swing on. And besides, there is a good level design. Therefore, I didn’t get tired of climbing ledges, jumping over rocks, diving from rocks into the water and clinging to ledges with a cat until the very end of the game.