Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsWhat a mess - Shame on Crystal Dynamics
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2018
In a poorly structured effort to claim money and prestige, Crystal Dynamics handed their top devs to Disney while dropping the electric rebirth of the Tomb Raider franchise like a bad habit. Eidos Montreal made a game that is so frustratingly hit-or-miss, I had to laugh out loud several times just to finish the game with my sanity intact. This game should serve a blight on Crystal Dynamics for their poor decision making, especially following Rise. After so many years fighting for this franchise, I am shocked to see how carelessly CD tossed it aside. Gone is the grand cinematic momentum that pushed players along in previous games. Shadow is a watered down, C-movie, version of what came before it. The writing is awful. Lara is disturbingly less human as she ignorantly bumbles from village to village, getting everything she wants, while totally disregarding the people around her until she has no choice but to work with them. Her characterization is so head-strong, it unabashedly careens into the realm of the ridiculous. This Lara is a colonialist in a millennial get-up - selfish, violent and ignorant of the lasting impact her actions create. Shadow's Lara is a bipolar murderess with no clear thread as to why exactly she needs to brutalize everyone and everything in her path to stop the abstract terror known as "Trinity". She's just soul searchin' y'all! Her enemies are even less fleshed out than Rise. The story and its characters feel haphazard and like they were made to fit into the game as opposed to the game being built around something concrete. More puzzles? WRONG. I did not find the puzzles to be more plentiful or better integrated into the world. I found the structure of the game to be so unoriginal, that I felt I might be playing DLC for Rise, but with a seriously compromised development. This is still a game about "tomb" raiding where most of the tombs are "optional", however that works. You wanted less combat? GREAT! Eidos wants you to spend skill points upgrading weapons you will never use since you never actually fight human beings or animals at great length. If you want to explore lush environments, I will give props to this game for its gorgeous worlds. The underwater gameplay was a welcome return. Unfortunately, these environment are a nightmare to navigate. I felt I spent more time transitioning from area to area in tiny crawlspaces or mud than I did actually traversing. I would crawl into a tunnel, jump across a chasm, and then wade through mud for 20 seconds only to repeat the process moments later - talk about a buzz kill. The tutorial only shuts off right near the end of the game and I played on hard mode. The stealth mechanics were an upgrade and I wish I could have used them more. The stealth sections were way too easy and sparse. The cut-scenes and animations are atrocious and a downgrade from previous games. I feel awful for Camilla Luddington for having to go out like this. She tried to bring new life into Lara Croft, only to have the studio completely undercut her effort with this bad game. Hell, Eidos couldn't even hire an audio director who knew how to pronounce 'Lara' correctly. Hearing NPC's mispronounce the title characters' name repeatedly was the cherry on top of this horrible sundae. I have played every tomb raider since the original ps1 game. Shadow was a massive disappointment, haphazardly constructed with the dirty remnants of former glory.
