At E3 2012 we saw the first trailer for Tomb Raider than calling the game a reboot, the developers said that it would be an origin story, which would tell the tale of a young, slightly naïve Lara who would become the Tomb Raider that we have fallen in love with over the past 17 years. Put simply this origin story is quite awesome Lara looks great with the only downside being that she is so battered and bruised from the beginning of the game, it’s hard to look at her as the sexy icon gamers have come to love. You feel rather sympathetic towards her situation this time around.
Since its inception in 1996, the Tomb Raider games have been acclaimed as being one of the best third-person action-adventure games around. This reboot is no exception as it borrows elements from some of the most successful third-person action games of the decade. Lara’s entire journey is very cinematic and reminiscent of the uncharted franchise. You have an open map with areas you can revisit once you have upgraded certain abilities so as to access new areas – very Batman Arkham City. There is also an instinct vision, which gives Lara a view of intractable environmental objects, which is very reminiscent of Batman’s Detective Vision or Assassin’s Creed’s Eagle vision. Combining the best elements of some of the most memorable games in the action-adventure genre, we have a game that is thoroughly enjoyable. The voice acting is great and the orchestral score for the sound is mind-blowing. The combat in the game too is fantastic with the addition of a bow and arrow as a stealth-killing tool. What we do miss is Lara’s traditional dual-pistols. Lara has a shotgun, machine gun, and a single pistol rounding up her arsenal. The enemy AI in the game too is adaptive. They won’t let you hide behind a single piece of cover for too long. They will flank you with grenades, dynamite, and Molotov cocktails. The variation in enemies to is nice, as some will come close to you for a melee attack whereas others will shoot you with a bow and arrow. There is also an upgrade system, where Lara can upgrade her abilities as well as her weapons. The upgrade system is very simple and can be accessed through base camps scattered throughout the map. But Lara wasn’t always this vulnerable. From her first game, Lara was a kickass Tomb Raider trotting the globe in search of adventure. Here is a brief look at the history of the franchise.
Tomb Raiding through the ages Those of you that weren’t gamers in the mid 90’s should know that Lara was originally planned as a video game equivalent to Indiana jones (which in today’s date in donned by Nathan Drake of the Uncharted franchise), but was changed to a female character. The reason she looked so well endowed in the first game is because of a design accident that was deliberately overlooked. 
The first Tomb Raider was released in 1996 and the rest as they say is history. Even though subsequent sequels brought with them little innovation and more incremental upgrades, the franchise was very successful. For those that don’t know, in 1999, Lara Croft was killed off in the fourth game, Tomb Raider Revelations, but the character was brought back to life in the Tomb Raider movie that hit theaters in 2001. Tomb Raider Chronicles (game), released in 2000 played on the role of the female protagonist once again. But staying true to her death in the previous game, this time around the story was.
