RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER - review

Lara Croft is indeed significant character of video gaming industry.Female lurking and gunning around. One of the first games I played on Sony Playstation in 90’s.She was also involved in movie industry,as well, as we recall Angelina Jolie jumping around.Well,PC player now can play newest game in the series,couple months after XboX users (Tomb Raider was released in november 2015)already started playing.

trailer:

Lara’s latest adventure opens in Siberia,so you start the game surrounded by snow, and—aside from an early sojourn in Syria—that’s where it stays. Lara is on the hunt for the Divine Source, an artifact that her father had obsessed over before his death. There’s an important difference in the plots of RotTR and its predecessor. Here, Lara has initiated her quest. While things quickly spiral out of control, particularly after the appearance of militaristic cult Trinity, she’s no longer an unwilling participant in events.

Lara has access to a small selection of weapon types—pistol, rifle and shotgun—with a variety of styles available in each category. Most feel good to fire, the panicked inaccuracy of the automatic rifle being the only real exception. Pistols feel lightweight and clinical, while the pump-action shotgun is a chunky and gratifyingly deadly option. Once again, though, the bow is star of the show. Having to draw back and charge shots provides a nice rhythm to the combat, especially in conjunction with some of the skill upgrades available as Lara levels up. I especially enjoy the feel of the rapid fire skills, which let you instantly fire off fully charged follow up arrows after your initial shot. Aimed correctly, and you can down even heavily armed guards with a single salvo.

New for this outing is Lara’s ability to craft combat tools on-the-fly. Arrows and special ammo can be created at any point, but you can also make use of things found around enemy camps. A bottle can be turned into a molotov cocktail; an empty can an IED. Doing so costs resources found out in the world, but I was never so low on them that I was unable to set light to a clustered group of soldiers. You craft combat tools by holding the middle-mouse button, thus keeping your keyboard hand free to control Lara’s movements. As a result, scrabbling between cover while grabbing and arming a can is a frictionless process. It gives combat a welcome feeling of fluidity.

When you’re not fighting for your life—be it against soldiers or the crumbling ruins of an action set piece—you’re exploring one of a handful of large, open hub areas. These are sprawling, intricate environments, and, for the most part, you can leisurely pick through them—the only distractions coming from the occasional wolf, bear or big cat that’s taken a disliking to your continued existence. Platforming in Rise of the Tomb Raider follows a standard set of interactions, thrown together in a variety of combinations. Jump, swing, grab, attach—each action requiring a specific button press. It’s a simple, streamlined system, and with the correct taps of space, E and F, you’ll seldom run into any problems. It’s a shame there’s not more danger, but the presentation does a lot of the heavy lifting. Scaling giant buildings or huge cliff faces still feels risky, even as the interactions involved are slim.

Each area is packed with things to find, and the rewards for hunting out collectibles often makes their presence worthwhile. Ancient documents fill out the story of the region, and level up your proficiency in one of the three languages you’ll encounter. With a high enough language level, Lara can decode monoliths that mark down the location of coin caches on the map. Collect enough coins, and you can purchase special upgrades. Elsewhere, you’ll find optional challenge tombs that boast some of the game’s most intricate puzzle design. Each is short, but they repurpose some of the standard interactions in new and interesting ways. They’re always worth seeking out, not least because they reward useful new skills.

If there’s a downside to the game’s exploration, it’s that—as in Tomb Raider before it—collectibles feel like the end goal rather than a bonus along the way. The route Lara must take through an area is rarely in question, especially when you’re only ever a button press away from Survival Instinct—an optional view mode that highlights your next objective, any pertinent puzzle pieces, and any resources or collectibles for Lara to snaffle up. I miss the puzzle aspect of pre-reboot Tomb Raider games, where tombs felt like cavernous brain teasers. Lara visits plenty of ruins on this adventure, but all of them are solved through familiar and comfortable interactions. With only a few notable exception, surprise comes through spectacle rather than design.

This is certainly a pinnacle in design.A lots of additional systems.Core action and exploration are something where this game really does shine.Despite arriving months after the Xbox One version, the PC release of Rise of the Tomb Raider is a quality product—Square Enix’s ongoing relationship with Nixxes again paying dividends. The graphics options are plentiful, with a variety of ways to tweak and customise the experience. While my 970 GTX couldn’t keep up with the demands of running every option at maximum—dropping to a stutter during cutscenes and set pieces—a few sensible reductions had it running smoothly and consistently at 60 frames per second.Very competent action platformer is in front of you,dear PC players,explore and enjoy.