These nu-Lara games are, for whatever reason, right up my alley. I played a ton of Rise on Xbox One and enjoyed pretty much every minute of it, and I like them a lot more than Uncharted. For this game, Square handed off the reins to nu-Deus Ex developers Eidos Montreal. First thing first, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a stunning game. The move from the icy waste of Siberia to the brilliant jungles of Latin America are very welcome, and the devs use the jungles to play with shadow and light in a very convincing way. It's really incredible looking.

The first two nu-Lara games were big, AAA, tentpole releases, and even though S-E positioned Shadow in this way, it generally doesn't feel like that. For one thing, the platforming and controls feel a bit looser and less polished than they do in the other games - I found myself weirdly failing to grab ledges and things of that sort. Also, the pacing feels off, in part because there seems to be much less of an emphasis on combat. A lot of people knocked the combat in these games, but the set pieces were huge and awesome and moved the story through nicely. The mechanics were also really solid and it was actually a lot of fun to play. Here there's not just less combat, but more of a focus on stealth. They give you some new tools, like hiding in muddy walls, but I'd rather have the old set pieces.

In every other way, this game is very similar to Rise. The crafting system, collecting junk, unlocking base camps, solving crypts and tombs, learning languages, you've seen this all before. Oh, and it's a bit weird that so much of Shadow's game systems are in service to the combat system (the skill trees and weapon upgrades) when there is seemingly so little of it.

I liked TR2013 and I liked Rise, so I like this and recommend it, but I would honestly recommend starting with TR2013 if you haven't as it is still a very good and beautiful game that nails this formula pretty well.

These nu-Lara games are, for whatever reason, right up my alley. I played a ton of Rise on Xbox One and enjoyed pretty much every minute of it, and I like them a lot more than Uncharted. For this game, Square handed off the reins to nu-Deus Ex developers Eidos Montreal. First thing first, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a stunning game. The move from the icy waste of Siberia to the brilliant jungles of Latin America are very welcome, and the devs use the jungles to play with shadow and light in a very convincing way. It's really incredible looking. The first two nu-Lara games were big, AAA, tentpole releases, and even though S-E positioned Shadow in this way, it generally doesn't feel like that. For one thing, the platforming and controls feel a bit looser and less polished than they do in the other games - I found myself weirdly failing to grab ledges and things of that sort. Also, the pacing feels off, in part because there seems to be much less of an emphasis on combat. A lot of people knocked the combat in these games, but the set pieces were huge and awesome and moved the story through nicely. The mechanics were also really solid and it was actually a lot of fun to play. Here there's not just less combat, but more of a focus on stealth. They give you some new tools, like hiding in muddy walls, but I'd rather have the old set pieces. In every other way, this game is very similar to Rise. The crafting system, collecting junk, unlocking base camps, solving crypts and tombs, learning languages, you've seen this all before. Oh, and it's a bit weird that so much of Shadow's game systems are in service to the combat system (the skill trees and weapon upgrades) when there is seemingly so little of it. I liked TR2013 and I liked Rise, so I like this and recommend it, but I would honestly recommend starting with TR2013 if you haven't as it is still a very good and beautiful game that nails this formula pretty well.