It may be surrounded in controversy amongst the industry with its timed exclusivity, but that doesn’t stop Rise of the Tomb Raider being one of the most anticipated games of 2015. Within seconds of getting underway with a playable vertical slice of Rise of the Tomb Raider, it gets the biggest thing right and has actual tombs making up part of the main narrative.
The 2013 reboot of the series certainly did a lot of things right in terms of updating the series’ presentation, to bring it up to speed with the likes of Uncharted and other modern blockbusters, but it was much more of an action-heavy romp across a mysterious island. Lara was turned from being an archeologist into an action hero, with running gun battles and set pieces, with any actual tomb raiding an optional side mission that you had to actively look for.
Titled ‘The Prophet’s Tomb’, the Rise of the Tomb Raider demo sets that right straight away, as it begins with a cinematic depicting how Lara made her way to a temple in North-western Syria. Gaining control of Lara as she enters the tomb itself, things are a little cramped and full of spooky skeletons. However, the first short room she breaks into demonstrates just how dangerous the tombs themselves should be, by having a swinging trap nearly hit you. Given how the tombs in the Tomb Raider reboot were relegated to being areas with just one or two puzzles that you could complete in a few minutes, these ones are out to kill Lara with traps and collapsible floors.
Emerging from this short tutorial area, the grand scale of The Prophet’s Tomb is revealed in all its majesty. That first shot is truly breathtaking; waterfalls fill the area with life, while the ruined structures give the location a feeling that the place is truly ancient and untouched by more modern hands. Researching the area via pickups and murals depicts a short skirmish in ancient times that is fascinating enough to make me want to believe it’s based on historical records.
Lara’s controls are as solid as they were in the Tomb Raider remake, but she appears to simply have the gear she had accumulated in her previous adventure. Hopefully they were holding back the appearance of any new equipment for the full release, as I’d be a little disappointed if it was simply going to be a retread of the same items.
The actual puzzles centre around the manipulation of water levels in order to reach higher points in the area – though thankfully there’s nothing quite as mind-bending as the Water Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Shooting certain points would cause platforms to fall to the water, creating a small avenue for you to be able to reach the next area. Nothing was particularly difficult, as befits a public demo, but there were moments where trial and error were required to overcome the challenges.
What made the demo so special to me was how Lara moved and reacted to the most minor of details. Yes, her character model looks great on the Xbox One, but things like emerging from water for example may have her coughing up a bit of water, or simply wringing out her hair. There was a more human element to Lara, so that she didn’t feel like a computer game character, but like a believable avatar. When she reacts to traps, the panic she expresses is convincing enough that you can feel just how perilous her situation is at that time. It’s refreshing and I’d love to see more.
By the end of my time with the demo, I was making Lara run through hordes of armed enemies associated with Trinity as the tomb collapses around her, showing that the game has lost none of the potential for action that was shown in the reboot. She would encourage herself and her abilities to escape, before finally succumbing to exhaustion after evading death. As the demo zoomed out, I wanted it to continue, genuinely excited about what the full game has in store.
Avenger
Sounds fantastic, I much more enjoy the idea of actual tomb raiding rather than just the generic third person action I’ve seen in a recent video.
zb100
Though it opens a bit “First Blood”, this looks amazing.
Robothamster
I hate that I have to wait another year for this on PS4. Looks brilliant like the last one, but I’m not buying an XB1 for it.
JR.
I know what you mean. I DID buy an XB1 for Tomb Raider (plus Sunset OD) and for me personally it wasn’t worth it. It’s not that the XB1 is a bad console but I’m not really into the big Xbox exclusives like Halo, Forza (Haven’t tried Gears yet) and I don’t really have time to play them both as much as I’d like to.
I tend to stick with the PS4 for all third party games, PS exclusives and watching/streaming movies etc. and I only fire up the XB1 when there’s an XB exclusive I really want to play. I haven’t played on it in a while. I completed Ryse in May I think, which was actually very good.
It’s the first Xbox console I’ve ever owned though and because I don’t use it very often, I still find it ‘odd’ navigating menus/using the XB1 pad etc. Whereas using the PS4 is second nature to me now.
Really glad I get to play Tomb Raider in a couple of months but I wish I was playing it on the PS4 instead.
Starman
Sounds like they’ve nailed the balance of tomb raiding and murdering this time.
TSBonyman
Now that looks and sounds more like a Tomb Raider game.
TSBonyman
Btw, demo for Nathan Drake collection has gone live, 6.9GB, chapter 5 of UC2.
JR.
Thanks, will check it out later. 6.9GB seems big for one chapter. Do you have to download the whole game or something?
JR.
Just finished it. Forgot how much I love the opening theme music. They’ve done a great job with the remaster. It looks and plays great. Thought I might struggle with the controls but I picked them up in no time. Really looking forward to the Collection now.
JR.
Sounds good. It does seem to be righting some of the wrongs from the reboot.
Do you know if you can actually swim in this one? I know it says there are water puzzles but are you just floating on the surface or can you dive down into the water and swim through narrow tunnels or caves? I really missed that in the reboot.
Dave Irwin
You can swim, dive, and there is a section where you swim through a tunnel with the risk of drowning, though it seemed scripted at that point. Potential for more though I would hope!
MOVE
Well, that’s a description of what I have seen in the latest youtube demos, and I am not impressed. The puzzle clip looked too easy and too easy going, and the other clips displays what she has become; a Rambo (First Blood like) Until proven otherwise, Tomb Raider is DEAD for me. And that pisses me off.