Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) (PC) (Crystal Dynamics)
0Crystal Dynamics' action-packed Tomb Raider reboot was a satisfyingly spectacular rollercoaster of a game which nonetheless completely (although perhaps also intentionally) misunderstood the fundamental nature of Core Design's classic third-person adventure of the same name. TR 2013 featured large and densely detailed environments which the player was encouraged to roam around freely in search of shiny collectibles and RPG-like upgrades. By contrast, the very first Lara Croft game from 1996 achieved its status as a true classic with a much more focused and less stressful gameplay loop dominated by environmental puzzle solving in various remote and mysterious locales (which also truly felt isolated from the rest of the world and not just inadequately facilitated). Much like Jonathan Blow's recent Myst-a-like The Witness, exploration was its own reward and didn't need to be artificially sweetened with endlessly distracting open world busywork. I happened to try out the old Tomb Raider Anniversary remake shortly after having finished the reboot, and the former truly felt like a breath of fresh air after having been stuck in an Uncharted-esque shooting gallery for 15 hours.
That being said, TR 2013 *was* a fun game in its own right and I've been impatiently looking forward to the sequel since its (thankfully brief) period of Xbox One exclusivity begun late last year. I don't expect to change my opinion about the direction Crystal D is taking the series in, but Rise of the Tomb Raider's terrific visuals and pseudo-historical veneer is enough to whet my appetite for some more trespassing of ancient burial grounds...