Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4)

Ein großes Abenteuer, das sich nur noch Größeren beugen muss: Spaßige Action und solide Puzzles in manchmal zu schnellem Wechsel.

In the end, however, the main problem is that Shadow can’t decide what kind of game it wants to be. Had it committed to an open-world structure, with Lara raiding tombs of her choosing between bouts of stealthily killing Trinity goons, I think it could have been quite brilliant. But it’s held back by a need to service a character who, frankly, had run out of narrative steam by halfway through the second game. I expect that if we see Lara again, it’ll be in yet another new form, one less haunted by the shadow of her past.

In this Tomb Raider, Lara Croft again shows signs of renewal, not as the gritty survivor we met in 2013, but as a more complex character who actually talks to the people she meets on her travels and understands the gravity of her actions. Many come to Tomb Raider games for adventure and escape, to visit beautiful places and solve befuddling puzzles.

It’s unsatisfying, is all. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, as I said up top, isn’t a bad game—at least by traditional metrics. It’s just not a good game either. It falls in that weird gray area of okay, like Mad Max or a Shadow of War. There’s not much of substance here, certainly not on the story side and, after two predecessors that play almost exactly the same, not really on the moment-to-moment gameplay side either. The optional Challenge Tombs are great, but they're only one small part of the whole. What should be a victory lap, a stunning denouement that sets up an older and wiser Lara Croft, instead feels like the least vital entry in the trilogy. Maybe it’s time for another reboot—or at least a reinvention.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider looks like the darkest game yet in the rebooted series, and manages to live up to its name. Here's our review, following days of raiding tombs and fighting bad guys in the jungle.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider ends this reboot on much the same note that it began, which for its fans may not be such a bad thing. This is a well-crafted and polished experience, and when the game actually gives you full control and leaves you alone to seek out its quieter mysteries, it can render you wide-eyed with wonder.