When a game from a generation or two ago unexpectedly drops without warning, a common reaction from the gaming public tends to be, “How strange” or “Why would they do that?”, when the real response should be one of positivity. It doesn’t matter the period the game originally released in or what people’s opinions of it are; game preservation is important, and random drops should be encouraged. On this occasion, it is the 2013 reboot of Lara Croft that prompts this discussion, with Aspyr bringing Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.
The first in the so-called “Survivor” trilogy is an unusual concoction. First launched on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, the simply titled Tomb Raider was an attempt to rewrite Lara Croft’s origin story, moving away from the obvious sexualisation prevalent throughout the series and reestablishing Lara’s personality to that of an inexperienced and untested woman with barely any combat experience. It is a huge departure from the confident adventurer that everyone has come to know since her 1996 debut title, and while the goal to retell her story isn’t bad in itself, it is executed poorly.
Tomb Raider sees a 21-year-old Lara setting sail for the island of Yamatai, a supposed kingdom once ruled by her friend Sam’s shamanistic ancestor, Sun Queen Himiko. After shipwrecking, Lara tries to track down her crewmates, but finds herself captured by island residents, putting her on a deadly path of survival while simultaneously uncovering the truth behind the myths of Himiko and the island.
Unfortunately, sacrificing the typical Tomb Raider formula for story doesn’t pay off. Characters are all just as uninteresting as each other, and you will hardly raise an eyebrow when one of them gets killed off – and quite possibly will be hoping some of them will be. The script is bad and Camilla Luddington’s American twang creeps into her dialogue so often that it barely feels like this is Lara Croft at all.
Worse yet, eyes will roll at the diary entries found all over the island. Rather than the world design relaying background story, players are expected to sit and listen to the cringey ramblings of characters including the antagonist as they lay out every thought and plan in their head. It leaves no room for wonder or discovery, and revelations lack any intended surprise.
There is a huge disconnect in attempting to portray Lara as a scared and broken mess in cutscenes, with the story making it a big deal after she is forced to kill someone, only for gameplay two seconds later requiring her to mow down dozens of inhabitants. Her kill count by the end of the game is easily in the hundreds. Gameplay-narrative mismatches are common in most games, but it is even more apparent here due to how dramatic story segments are made out to be. Thankfully, one of those aspects is good enough that the story can be overlooked.
As a third-person action shooter, Tomb Raider delivers enough of a hook that the bulk of the game will still want to be pushed through. Combat provides satisfying feedback and a variety of options by upgrading weapons and unlocking abilities, with stealth mechanics offering alternative ways to approach groups of enemies. Platforming involves scaling cliffs and creating rope bridges for fun means of traversal, and the island isn’t so vast to the point of being overwhelming, being a respectable size that connects in a fulfilling way through natural progression.
The lack of major tombs to explore is a shame – an issue that was addressed in subsequent entries – but what is here provides optional puzzle-platforming portions that series fans will find some enjoyment in searching for and completing. The many treasures to collect and simple challenges to tackle in each area supply incentive to explore Yamatai to its fullest, with plenty of bonus material unlockable in the form of art galleries and videos. A full prequel comic that sets up the game’s events, as well as snippets from the official artbook, are readily accessible from the main menu, too.
However, Tomb Raider is very much a product of its time. By the point of its original launch, four Uncharted titles had released (including the PS Vita game), with Nathan Drake’s games defining the cinematic action-adventure platformer. That means set pieces are aplenty, as well as outdated carryovers like annoying quick-time events and button mashing that results in instant fails if miscued.
It doesn’t help that the Nintendo Switch prompts cannot be altered to PlayStation style symbols like many other games are implementing these days, so instinctively hitting Y instead of X and vice versa is common. Unusually, there is also no option to remedy this by automating QTEs or simply allowing the user to hold a button for mashing sequences.
Interestingly enough, alongside touch screen menu controls (very welcome) and the option for gyroscope aiming (which didn’t seem to work at all), Joy-Con mouse support for the Switch 2 version is implemented. Despite sensitivity modifiers, mouse aiming doesn’t feel as accurate as it should be, where the reticle can be seen to move in small juddery squares rather than smooth motions. There is potential for it to be a great additional control method but coupled with the slight uncomfortableness of using the Joy-Con itself in this way, it didn’t take long before switching back to traditional controller input.
Tomb Raider runs perfectly well on Switch 2, though. It is a steady 60fps on the TV and seems almost as smooth during handheld play, although it is a very dark game with a grey sheen that makes it difficult to see even on higher brightness settings. There is also a lot of noticeable dithering going on for vegetation in close proximity to Lara that is extremely hard to ignore. It has been so long since the same game was played on PS4 that it is personally difficult to remember if that version had the same issues, but more is expected of an almost 13-year-old game running on this hardware.
An additional disappointment is the absence of the TressFX technology that was used in previous Definitive Editions and on PC to render Lara’s hair in a more realistic way. At the very least, the Switch 2 version should be incorporating such graphical enhancements as options. Fingers crossed a patch down the line can address these concerns.
A final surprising inclusion is online multiplayer. Unfortunately, not a single game could be found during playtests, so it is clear where early purchasers’ priorities are at this moment in time – and rightly so, since Tomb Raider’s single-player adventure is far from terrible. That said, there was always an appeal to third-person deathmatch and capture-style multiplayer romps during the PS3 era that this reviewer has fond memories of. Although Uncharted 2’s online mode was where most time was spent back in those days, Tomb Raider wasn’t far behind – even if unlocking Lara Croft herself required far too much effort.
Seeing the Tomb Raider franchise getting re-released on modern systems over the last few years has been really pleasing. It is, of course, hoped that the rest of the series is in the process of being ported with necessary upgrades. The Survivor trilogy may not be as highly anticipated by some as the remaining mainline entries, but there is still plenty to like about Rise and Shadow of the Tomb Raider that Nintendo fans deserve the chance to experience them. Hopefully, Tomb Raider’s sudden Switch release is a sign that those games are on the cards for next year.
