The new version of Tomb Raider was one of last year’s highlights.
Crystal Dynamics gave us Lara Croft’s origin story with an engaging new style of gameplay, stunning graphics and enough references to the original to keep old-schoolers such as me happy.
They did it with fluid gameplay, varied challenges, a tightly scripted storyline with scope for open-world exploration, some edge-of-the-seat surprises, intriguing puzzles, tough combats and a sense of what makes a game epic.
Since then we have had extra downloadable content (DLC), special editions, releases on PC, had the game repackaged with its predecessors on Steam.
The re-release for PS4 and Xbox One is billed as the Definitive Edition — and I guess it is. You get all the DLC released for Tomb Raider so far (though much of it is concept art and new ways to dress up Lara).
You get improved graphics — though it’s hard to say the game actually needed that, as gorgeous as the last-generation version was. Still, the 1080 HD adds a fair bit of detail, and the PS4’s graphics processors are able to render lights beautifully — I assume the same is true for the Xbox One.
What you don’t get, of course, is anything really new in the gameplay, though there is a little difference in the controls to take advantage of the PS4’s controller speakers and so on. There are no new exclusive levels or content.
That pretty much means that if you have played Tomb Raider already, it’s not really worth buying it again, unless you are an obsessive fan with cash burning a hole in your pocket.
But if you have a PS4 or an Xbox One and you haven’t yet played it, it belongs at the top of your must-buy list. It’s a great game, and the extra graphical pizzazz of the new generation consoles just serves to highlight how beautiful it is.
Box
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Genre: Action-adventure
Platforms: Xbox One, PS4
Version tested: PS4
Star Rating: 4.5/5 (if not played before); 3/5 (if played before)
