Square Enix has created a fantastic storyline to go with what by far has to be one of the best looking games yet.  In Tomb Raider, it’s tough to tell game play apart from the cut scenes. The detail that has gone into the characters and the environment has upped the bar of gamers’ expectation when it comes to details.
The game takes place before Lara Croft becomes the world renowned Archaeologist.  Lara Croft is trying to discover the lost island of Yamatai.   She persuades her crew to go in the opposite direction of what all the information that has been gathered says to go, all on a hunch of hers.  Her hunch takes them into the dragon’s triangle where a storm crashes their ship and they find themselves washed up on an island with something that won’t allow anyone to leave the island alive.
Tomb Raider has gone towards more shooting action then puzzle solving like the original Tomb Raider games. Lara Croft gains an arsenal of weapons all of which can be upgraded by finding scrap parts around the island. One of her most used weapons is her bow. Lara learns to use several different arrows, like the fire arrow which allows you to burn nets which will drop crates for her to collect scrap parts.  Lara also uses a rope arrow that you get early in the game which allows you to get to the hard to reach places and eventually allows you to open some doors with it.

The AI in the game is smarter than your average bad guy. Some will throw sticks of dynamite at you to get you out from behind a wall or they will try to go behind you while others are still trying to shoot you from the front.  Some bad guys have more armour then others making them able to take more hits from Lara to break down the armour to finish them off.

Tomb Raider keeps the player interested all the way through the game. It doesn’t matter if you’re going around collecting hidden GPS caches or exploring tombs, you will want to keep playing to find out what comes next.
For the first time in Tomb Raider history, Lara’s world will be introduced to the ever growing multiplayer scene. Multiplayer in Tomb Raider is not something that one would think of as a positive addition, but done properly, it could turn into something really great. However, the addition of multiplayer in Tomb Raider just falls short.

With the usual Team Deathmatch and Free-For-All game modes there is also the addition of Rescue, which places the survivors running for medical supplies while the opposing team tries to prevent them achieving their goal. One other game mode finishes things off which is called Cry F or Help. This mode is somewhat similar to Rescue but in this case your goal is to activate radio transmitters and prevent the Solarii group from capturing your batteries that will keep your transmitters going.

With nice ideas of setting traps and blowing up barrels which if timed properly will collapse a pathway with your enemies walking across or below them seem fun and entertaining, the game mechanic is where this idea falls off the path.  Gun’s flare wildly, targets take bullets like sponges and lag is beyond infuriating. Watching players jump across the screen while trying to aim is at times just unbearable. Aiming can be hit or miss even in small bursts. Rounds are done in 10 minute increments but are played with the best 2 out of 3, which now becomes a 30 minute match you need to play to finish out the game. You may leave after 10 minutes but your team is left a man short until one replaces them.  

The ugly characters in the single player story are the same characters in the multiplayer and with no customization available at all. Sam is Sam and don’t think about adding a scarf to her clothing or changing the color of her jacket either. Something to make each character your own would have been a nice touch. Weapons can be upgrade to help improve aiming, larger ammo capacity and skill points can be spent to take more damage and other perks.

The multiplayer can be fun at times, but there just isn’t the hook that draws me back into the experience I often find with other multiplayer’s. Will I come back to the TR MP? Not likely. With other games already having their hooks into me and more on the way, I find myself forgetting about the multiplayer in Tomb Raider and focusing on the single player experience and why we love Lara Croft in the first place.