Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics. It is the sequel to the 2013 video game Tomb Raider and the eleventh entry in the Tomb Raider series. The game was released as a timed exclusive by Microsoft Studios for Xbox One and Xbox 360 in 2015. Square Enix later released the game for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in 2016 and Google Stadia on November 19, 2019, as a launch title for the latter. Feral Interactive released the game for macOS and Linux in April 2018.

Plot
Lara Croft ventures into Siberia in search of the legendary city of Kitezh while battling the paramilitary organization Trinity, which intends to uncover the city's promise of immortality.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) This game improves many aspects of its predecessor.
 * 2) * The game has improved difficulty with it being more balanced and challenging compared to the first game. Although, this is only in the form of Survivor difficulty, which makes the game more fun and intense and actually has you needing to come more prepared when going into battles.
 * 3) * Survival instincts has been improved as when you acquire an upgrade from one of the tombs allows materials you can acquire to glow.
 * 4) ** Along with this, you can turn off glows and beacons for people who don't want to use survival instincts, this shows that the developers learned their lesson from the previous game.
 * 5) Decent story that has Lara looking for the legendary city of Kitezh to clear her father's name.
 * 6) The puzzles are very complex and are way better than its predecessor's puzzles.
 * 7) Awesome and beautiful graphics, especially in the PlayStation 4 version.
 * 8) Instead of having just one kind of weapon that you upgrade throughout the game like in the previous game, there are now a large variety of different kinds of guns at your dispose.
 * 9) There are now outfits that aren't just there for cosmetic purposes like in previous TR games, but instead give Lara perks.
 * 10) There are characters in the world that can give Lara side missions and upon completing them can give you new gun parts, outfits, and so on.
 * 11) Good voice acting.
 * 12) The AI is great and much like in F.E.A.R. as they will try to flank and rush you.
 * 13) There are now more tombs in the world that are very fun to explore.
 * 14) Decent antagonist.
 * 15) The DLCs are really nice additions. There are 5 DLCs:
 * 16) *Endurance Mode: A survival mode where the player must explore a randomly generated wilderness, for artifacts and crypts. Later made playable in Co-op.
 * 17) *Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch: A story expansion. Lara must investigate the mysterious Wicked Vale and uncover the secrets of the witch, Baba Yaga.
 * 18) *Cold Darkness Awakened: An expedition/zombie mode. Lara must shutdown an aging Soviet Chemical Weapon plant which was reactivated by Trinity.
 * 19) *Blood Ties: A story expansion set in Croft Manor. Lara searches for her father's will to prove her ownership of Croft Manor.
 * 20) *Lara's Nightmare: A zombie horde mode. Lara must clear Croft Manor of a never ending wave of undead enemies.
 * 21) The skill system returns and is better implemented.
 * 22) The stealth is much improved from the first game.
 * 23) You can now acquire materials from the world to craft medkits, arrows, Molotov cocktails, poisonous arrows, and many more.
 * 24) Many collectibles to be found along with the new addition of challenges in its semi-open-world.
 * 25) There is now currency, Byzantine coins, which can be used to buy guns.
 * 26) Achieving 100% unlocks the Thunderclap, a gilded break-action shotgun that can kill almost anything with one shot.
 * 27) Unlike the predecessor, you can choose which chapter you want to replay with any weapons you acquired past said chapter.
 * 1) Unlike the predecessor, you can choose which chapter you want to replay with any weapons you acquired past said chapter.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some of the outfits have the same perk which just feels like a way to bloat the number of outfits.
 * 2) The game being played on anything below Survivor isn't all that challenging.
 * 3) Ass Pull: This entry turns Trinity into an entity that is much closer to Abstergo from the Assassin's Creed series as it's revealed that Trinity is responsible for everything. From strange, almost supernatural discoveries in history to even Lara's father's death (it turns out they murdered him). This feels like a hackney way to try to make Trinity out to be more powerful than they actually are. Especially when you consider that they didn't exist nor were they mentioned until this very entry.
 * 4) The tomb perk 'Inner Strength' ruins the difficulty of the game, making it much easier than it should especially on 'Survivor' difficulty.
 * 5) There are some minor technical in some areas like textures not loading in and t-posing NPCs.
 * 6) Missed Opportunity: The game has logs telling that Lara is going to a therapist due to suffering from PTSD after the events of the previous game, but this isn't expanded upon in the game, which would've been an interesting character dynamic.
 * 7) Recycling: A common criticism some people have of the game is that it hasn't innovated much from 2013, and follows the same gameplay pattern: Uncharted-style QTEs and setpieces, cover-based combat, and platforming. The plot elements are also suspiciously similar. There are religious remnants, an undead army guarding the final dungeon, and all of Lara's personal issues being recycled as well. What makes it all worse is Lara's characterisation going nowhere, with almost no lessons learned from the previous game, with her acting just as rash and irrational as in the previous game.
 * 8) Jonah doesn't really have much importance and is barely in the game. When he is participating, all he does is something that gives Trinity an advantage due to his stupidity.
 * 9) * He holds onto the Atlas as a Trinity soldier kidnaps him instead of dropping it, thus allowing Trinity to know where the Source is.
 * 10) * Jonah decides not to shoot Konstantin when he has the chance, despite Lara screaming at him to do so.
 * 11) The story is rather generic. It kinda feels like Indiana Jones combined with Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Avatar. It also has generic "You knew my father?" "You betrayed my father!" banters.
 * 12) The story is on the forgettable side. The cliffhanger makes it feel like a filler sequel to make a trilogy.

Reception
Rise of the Tomb Raider received "generally positive reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.

Videos
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