At the end of TR, just as you're about to win, there's a sequence that brought back something iconic from the previous Tomb Raider games and it made me smile…I should have expected it but didn’t and it just made me smile when it happened. These are the moments I always want in games but seldom experience…when Gordon picked up the super gravity gun and went OFF…when Commander Shepard walked the line at the end of ME2…when Shoeless Joe Jackson tells Ray Kinsella “Build it and HE will come” (sorry…not a game). At some point half-way through I really started to care about Lara Croft. I stopped analyzing the game for its merits and started playing it enthusiastically. So much so that when I knew I was on the last quest I stopped and went back to all my previous locations to pick up any remaining things because I wanted to prolong the experience…not “level up”. That should tell you something.

The game really isn’t that hard, the puzzles are not complicated, the side missions and searches for "stuff" are not totally integral to the story...but I was having so much fun I finished all the core mission’s w/100% of the non-essential stuff I had to find. I spent hours looking for mushrooms, flags, and Buddha’s. It really was that good (far better than mining planets in ME2). I identified with the physical locations in the game (remote island w/lots of Japanese WW2 stuff in it), I identified with the hero in a way I haven't since Portal 2 and Mass Effect 2, and I thought the voice acting was excellent. Even though your compatriots don’t do much but die (in solid QT sequences), they add to the sense that Lara is in way over her head and maybe somewhat out of her head. Tomb Raider was the most enjoyable game I've played in a long time. Although technically a reboot, this is an entirely original game that should appeal to anyone. The level design was original and very vertical, some of the QT sequences are totally implausible but incredibly fun, there’s a LOT of gore early on (and in some of the later missions), and although the story is only slightly above average…it’s told exceptionally well.

In a nutshell…best gaming experience for me since Mass Effect 2 and Portal 2.

Notes: Most if not all the technical issues at start have been corrected with updates and new video drivers. The much vautned TRESSFX hair effect is, more or less, a foo-foo add to get you to run their benchmark...but it is a cool mini-benchmark and you owe it to yourself to try it (if for anything else than to see your gaming rig crawl to 16fps or slower at max settings).

At the end of TR, just as you're about to win, there's a sequence that brought back something iconic from the previous Tomb Raider games and it made me smile…I should have expected it but didn’t and it just made me smile when it happened. These are the moments I always want in games but seldom experience…when Gordon picked up the super gravity gun and went OFF…when Commander Shepard walked the line at the end of ME2…when Shoeless Joe Jackson tells Ray Kinsella “Build it and HE will come” (sorry…not a game). At some point half-way through I really started to care about Lara Croft. I stopped analyzing the game for its merits and started playing it enthusiastically. So much so that when I knew I was on the last quest I stopped and went back to all my previous locations to pick up any remaining things because I wanted to prolong the experience…not “level up”. That should tell you something. The game really isn’t that hard, the puzzles are not complicated, the side missions and searches for "stuff" are not totally integral to the story...but I was having so much fun I finished all the core mission’s w/100% of the non-essential stuff I had to find. I spent hours looking for mushrooms, flags, and Buddha’s. It really was that good (far better than mining planets in ME2). I identified with the physical locations in the game (remote island w/lots of Japanese WW2 stuff in it), I identified with the hero in a way I haven't since Portal 2 and Mass Effect 2, and I thought the voice acting was excellent. Even though your compatriots don’t do much but die (in solid QT sequences), they add to the sense that Lara is in way over her head and maybe somewhat out of her head. Tomb Raider was the most enjoyable game I've played in a long time. Although technically a reboot, this is an entirely original game that should appeal to anyone. The level design was original and very vertical, some of the QT sequences are totally implausible but incredibly fun, there’s a LOT of gore early on (and in some of the later missions), and although the story is only slightly above average…it’s told exceptionally well. In a nutshell…best gaming experience for me since Mass Effect 2 and Portal 2. Notes: Most if not all the technical issues at start have been corrected with updates and new video drivers. The much vautned TRESSFX hair effect is, more or less, a foo-foo add to get you to run their benchmark...but it is a cool mini-benchmark and you owe it to yourself to try it (if for anything else than to see your gaming rig crawl to 16fps or slower at max settings).