PPP1 Research: Tomb Raider

At the moment I seem to be Tomb Raider crazy - after buying every game on the Steam sale for a beautiful £22. Recently I have mostly playing the newest one and I can honestly say it is one of the best games that I have ever played.

When looking at the graphics they are stunning and top of the range meaning that it will be a while before this game ages. When watching the first cut scene it was like watching a film the graphics where that incredible. Along with this the whole game is based on the mythical Dragon Island located off the coast of Japan which is the most amazing location. As it is a spiritual island as well it is littered with temples and shrines between beautiful cliff sides and spooky ritual caves as the whole island is filled with murderous raving lunitics.

The general storyline is also brilliant and stays true to traditional Tomb Raider style which is good to see as I am a massive fan of the older games by Core Design, as well as the newer Crystal Dynamics series. The story is a mixture of gameplay and cut scenes that follows Lara as she tries to re-group and save her friends whilst getting them all off the island; but not without a few sacrifices along the way, and one of the saddest gaming death I have ever seen - followed by me quoting Family Guy's "You've just been Tomahawked'. Apart from the main story there are also side stories to the game and these are figured out by collecting documents that are scattered around the island. These are brilliant to get involved in as they give additional background information to the Endurance Crew survivors and also the Island's inhabitants.

Another area to this game is the wonders that is exploration. Again staying true to the original Tomb Raider games, exploration and problem solving are a huge part to this game - and combining this with the fact that there is a goal to the game and you can complete it 100% is fantastic, including Steam Achievements as well, and my kind of game down to a T. The sounds in this game are all very typically Tomb Raider as well, having little music in there and it only appearing in crucial places or at times when Lara is in trouble and about to die, linking it clearly with the original series, but also links in with a lot of un-timed jump scares on my behalf. Besides from this the overall experience of playing this game if wonderful and a joy to play, which is a rare find.