Rise of the Tomb Raider

The Tomb Raider series is one of the most recognizable franchises in the gaming industry. After a few excellent installments and a small crisis, the series came to be loved again by its fans in 2013 with the release of the splendid reboot called simply Tomb Raider. The title sold over 8 million copies worldwide, so Square Enix instructed Crystal Dynamics (the creators of the series as well as Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver) to produce another game. It turned out to be Rise of the Tomb Raider for PC, PS4 and etc.. The production was initially released for Xbox (360/One) in November, 2015, and the PC, PS4 and etc. version came out a few months later. Apart from better graphics than those offered by Xbox, the release date is just about the only difference between the two platforms.

Story

Rise of the Tomb Raider for PC, PS4 and etc. continues the story of its predecessor. The events that took place on the island of Yamatai left their mark on the protagonist, making her a tougher, more ruthless and restless woman. This time around, Lara decided to follow the trail of a mysterious Prophet to Siberia, and her objective are the ruins of the city of Kitezh, that allegedly hides the secret of immortality. The plot is connected to the research conducted by the heroine’s father, and his suicide, as well as the Order of Trinity, the eternal enemies of the Prophet and his people.

Gameplay

As far as gameplay mechanics are concerned, in Rise of the Tomb Raider for PC, PS4 and etc., the developers stayed true to the solutions of the previous installments of the series. Sneaking behind enemies' backs and using such tools as a bow are still of significant importance, although the game does not lack fierce shootouts. Importantly, the locations became, more or less, three times bigger, thanks to which we will spend more time on exploration and searching for various items or crafting materials. The developers expanded on the crafting system by adding the possibility of creating a large variety of useful items (such as bandages, Molotov cocktails, poisoned arrows, and so on) as well as more complex equipment enhancing methods.

Game modes

Rise of the Tomb Raider is meant primarily for solo play. Completionist campaign playthrough can take up to 40 hours, but the developers prepared other modes, as well; these include Endurance; Horde; as well as:

• Score Attack – beating individual levels as fast as possible, tackling the changed rules of play.
• Remnant Resistance – creating your own scenarios with the possibility of setting some of the gameplay elements like mission objectives, enemies, and such (these can be edited with the use of Expedition Cards which are a special gameplay modifiers). Levels created in this way can be shared with our friends and competed on for the best score.
• Chapter Replay – replaying a mission from the story campaign with the use of the previously acquired equipment.

Technicalities

Similarly to its predecessor, Rise of the Tomb Raider provides state-of-the-art graphics. From among the technological novelties, the particularly noteworthy include the introduction of a dynamic day and night cycle, as well as changing weather conditions.

Last updated on February 9, 2016