Rolling Around in the Mud--Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Ooof!  I just finished my first full playthrough of Shadow of the Tomb Raider and, I've got to say, it is my favorite of the three Tomb Raider re-boots.  I had a great time playing it (barring some technical annoyances that I will get to) and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the series or who is interested in picking it up for the first time.  Being my normal completionist self (*I got 97% completion...so irritating, but I refuse to look up the items I missed!) I did my best to find as many of the collectibles as I could, complete any sidequests, and, of course, to master all the challenge tombs...oh and pet the llamas.  With all these activities my completion of the story clocked in at 31 hours, which I felt was just right.

Pros:

It's a frickin' pirate ship!

+ In true Tomb Raider style, the game is absolutely beautiful.  The story is set in Mexico and South America and involves tombs and settings inspired by Aztec, Maya, and Inca ruins.  The settings vary from lush jungle zones, to ancient stepped pyramids, to small village outposts, to a crumbling mission, to creepy, monster-filled caves.  Each environment is stunningly detailed and it is enjoyable just to spend time walking around and taking in the local flavor.  The Mayan/Incan inspired outfits are gorgeous.

+Movement and camera angles are very good.  It's not perfect, but it has gotten so much better since ye olden days of Lara Croft.  There were almost no frustrating moments where the camera lodged itself into an unhelpful angle and made it difficult to traverse.  Some of the most awkward times with the camera were times when Lara was navigating an overhang--it could be somewhat difficult to figure out exactly where she needed to go.

+Oodles of collectibles.  Each zone is scattered with items that require some added incentive to fully explore.  There are documents, survival caches, relics, murals, and treasure chests.  The items that you collect help to tell stories about the civilizations, characters, and issues related to the story.  In particular, finding murals is useful because each mural helps Lara learn one of the three dialects present in the game and allows her to eventually be able to translate monoliths.  Once translated, monoliths will present Lara with a riddle to solve in order to find a hidden cache of valuable materials.

A very Mayan/Incan flair and feel.

+ Challenge tombs were fun and not overly complex (*disclaimer--I don't mean easy and I had to look up the solution to two of them.  After looking up those solutions I discovered that I missed some very stupidly obvious parts of the puzzle).  Completing these tombs isn't mandatory, but each tomb does unlock specific talents which are tied to chaining talents, so worthwhile.

+ Fast travel system allows you to return to zones that you previously explored.  The nice part about this system is that there are multiple campsites (your fast travel beacons) scattered throughout a zone and it's very convenient to have one located near your objective and not have to repeatedly traverse certain areas.  It's also basically mandatory if you're going for some degree of completion due to the fact that certain items are unlocked by progressing through the main story.

+ Wide variety of craftable gear that provides different perks depending on the set.  Lara can equip a top and a bottom piece of gear.  Some of the items give combat perks and others are more geared toward gathering.  The craftable gear has a cool, Mayan/Incan look and integrates the items that Lara finds in the jungle (like jaguar skins).  Some items are found in crypts; others are rewarded in sidequests or main storyline quests.  If you're in it for more cosmetic reasons, there are also many outfits that Lara can equip--including several skins that revert Lara to her classic look (the very geometric classic look....)

+Stellar action sequences.  I was blown away by the action sequences in the game.  Throughout the story Lara gets swept up in events that require her to absolutely run for her life.  It is extremely intense and will have you on the edge of your seat.  No other game series I've played has managed to convey that feeling of surviving by the very skin of your teeth.

+ Improved stealth mechanics.  Lara can smear herself with mud and hide in special muddy vine patches.  It's the perfect formula for hiding and waiting for Trinity goons to stumble into stabbing range.  Most of the main combat zones are sprinkled with opportunities to be stealthy, however, being completely stealthy is easier said than done.  Mud Lara is an absolute badass.

Pet those llamas.

+ Llama petting.  Every game should include animals to pet.  The end.

+ Herbs provide healing and buffs for a variety of purposes.  Those buffs are handy for combat situations and also for exploration.

+Photographer mode!  I love snapping up some sick screenshots and tweaking my photos to make them just right.

Cons:
- Technical difficulties.  I experienced a somewhat frustrating number of game freezes.  The weird part about these freezes is that they really didn't seem to hit until I reached a particular part of the game.  I tried lowering my graphic settings but still had crashes.  It wasn't until I did some researching on the cause that I read that disabling DirectX12 seems to solve the freezing issue.  Once I disabled DX12 I only had one weird crash.  The game also didn't start off on the right foot due to a strange error message I received upon my first launch--it claimed that the default settings were too high for my GPU (which is an RTX 2070....).  That problem was solved by disabling the Nvidia GeForce overlay.  It's frustrating that a game suffers issues in its default settings.

Lara facing her demons.

- Forgettable story.  I love the gameplay of the Tomb Raider series, but the stories are always something along the same lines--evil organization is hunting for powerful artifact, Lara must stop them, Lara has identity crisis along the way, lots of people die, eventually Lara overcomes issues and solves the problem.  Let's just face facts and say that we play TR for the awesome traversal system, gorgeous environments, and amazeballs action sequences.  Who cares about the plot.

I would heartily recommend Shadow of the Tomb Raider.  It's the most fun I've had with any of the modern TR re-boots.  If you're having any crashing or freezing issues, disable DirectX12 to solve your issues.

Punching, Kicking, Falling and the $999 Half-Life Thought

After giving up on Monster Hunter:  World, I decided to snap up Shadow of the Tomb Raider (which frequently goes on sale).  Weirdly, I also took a brief foray back into the zany world of Bayonetta--I felt a strange urge to punch, kick, and torture my way through the minions of Paradiso.  I would absolutely love it if the other Bayonetta titles made their way to the wonderful, magical world of the PC.

One major piece of gaming news dropped this week--the announcement of a new Half-Life game!  Even though it's not Half-Life 3, Project Alyx is a dose of HL that has long been missing from the gaming scene.  Valve is a tricky, tricky trickster though and decided to make the newest entry into one of my most beloved series a VR exclusive.  Damn you!  Part of me is waving an unhappy finger at Valve but this other part of me wants to say "I see wut u did there."  Fans have long been frothing at the mouth for some HL and this rare opportunity could very possibly see those semi-rabid hordes investing $999 (I don't know how much Oculus cost, but you get Project Alyx free with Valve Index) to get that much needed HL.  I'm not gonna lie; I did click on the Valve Index ad after the trailer dropped--and then I laughed at spending $999 for one title (I mean, of course you could buy other games, but still!).

Currently, I am spending my time falling off of virtually everything as Lara Croft in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.  This newest entry into the series has Lara adventuring in the jungles of South America in an effort to destroy yet another evil plot by Trinity to find and use an ancient artifact to destroy the world.  I'm not a die hard Lara Croft fan, but I have enjoyed the rebooted games.  One of the new features in the game is improved stealth through the use of camouflage in the form of Lara smearing herself with mud.  Once she has adequately covered herself, she can can hide in special mud-covered vine patches and wait for unwitting enemies to creep close enough to be stealthily stabbed.  It's a new, added challenge to sneak through the jungle and not be detected.

If there's one thing that the new TR games have in common it is the fact that Lara Croft is nigh-on indestructible.  Even though she can nimbly navigate a wide variety of narrow ledges, sketchy looking rock outcrops, and dangerously high areas, she is constantly falling off of things.  One of the sequences I completed was a flashback of Lara as a precocious, freckled kid.  Her vibrant imagination had constructed her own special backyard Croft manor adventure.  In true Lara style though, she veers off into dangerous territory as she scales up the side of massive manor house...and, of course she encounters a loose section of gutter and goes tumbling off (but, always managing to fall to safety).  Can poor Lara just have it a little bit easier?  Maybe not fall so much, please?

I constantly find myself holding my breath as I guide Lara through some truly treacherous areas.  SotTR has some sequences that will trigger any mild phobias lurking deep within you--fear of heights as Lara clambers up a precipice; claustrophobia as Lara squeezes herself through excruciatingly narrow passages; aquaphobia as she swims through some truly challenging underwater areas (caves, tunnels, and again, freakishly tight passages)...and so many more that it's truly nerve wracking.  Those things might sound like a negative experience, but I am always astounded by the fact that these fictional experiences are made with such high quality that I am feeling those things while playing.

One of the things that I always forget about with TR is the fact that Lara's deaths are particularly gruesome.  Last night I played through a main storyline tomb that involved Lara suddenly sliding down a slope...but, not just any slope, a slope with strategically located spiky poles sticking out from the wall.  Being completely caught off guard, the first round saw me steering Lara directly into the poles and then grotesquely having a spear impale her.  Poor Lara!

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is particularly gorgeous and I am enjoying the photo mode.  Here are a few screenshots I snapped:

Mayan and Incan ruins feature prominently.

That's not ominous at all, right?

Challenge ahead!

Inside a story tomb.