After two successful opuses in 2013 and 2015, we can say that Lara Croft has had a hell of a time: going on an adventure with a piece of wood as a bow, preventing planetary mystical catastrophes and fighting against entire militias all the way. days, yes, our charming Englishwoman is starting to get used to her daredevil profession. However, it's time for a final lap, that of culmination and maturity for a trilogy in which the archaeologist experiences a crescendo. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it will no longer be a question of facing hordes of enemies and running in the middle of inexplicable explosions as its predecessors had sometimes accustomed us, it is above all a question of restoring the pure DNA of the exploration game. And, in that, the new title of Eidos Montreal does it brilliantly to the detriment of an action that has precisely become much more precious.
TIME IS COUNTED
The Order of the Trinity, a powerful and mysterious organization in search of ancient artifacts and with overbearing motivations, had been introduced in Rise of the Tomb Raider and suffice it to say that its countless henchmen had caused Lara harm. No luck, they will be more than ever at the center of the scenario of Shadow of the Tomb Raider which, this time, will first sink in Mexico. In search of a mysterious object and above all launched in a race against the clock towards Trinity, Lara Croft will make her first big and very heavy blunder. Some spill their coffee on their internship report, others forget to apply the handbrake after the slot: Lara will trigger the advent of a Mayan apocalypse. Calm. The game's introduction sets the tone and it is resolutely dramatic with a monstrous tsunami, the first stage in the destruction of the world where the local town is engulfed and where innocent deaths follow one another. Our heroine and her faithful companion Jonah are somewhat embarrassed and, faced with the extent of the chaos, decide to prevent this programmed destruction by embarking on a dangerous journey that will take them straight… to Peru.
We remain generally confined to a rather classic but well-constructed treasure hunt, taking us one thing leading to another to our goal after many discoveries and some predictable jostling.
This is actually where most of the adventure will take place and, more specifically, in the dozens of abandoned Mayan cities. The South American country will also be home to many human cities, more or less modern, which will serve as a HUB for these two protagonists who will walk in the footsteps of an entire ancient civilization to prevent the end of the world and get rid of the tentacles of a Trinity. determined. To be honest, the pitch is frankly attractive and it likes to offer intelligent dialogues at the start of the game, touching on the themes of responsibility or loneliness, the rest unfortunately remains quite flat. We remain generally confined to a rather classic but well-constructed treasure hunt, taking us one thing leading to another to our goal after many discoveries and some predictable jostling. Despite everything, the software offers good narrative ideas, especially in the power of certain human exchanges where the dubbing in the hair and the refined facial animations convey real emotions. Namely that there is even an “immersion” mode in which each of the characters speaks in their native language for more realism. Original, even if you will definitely be advised the VO. Despite everything, the heart of Shadow of the Tomb Raider does not lie there: this common thread that is the story is above all an excellent pretext to make us burst in our faces a sublime universe which certainly turns out to be one of the most successful of this gargantuan year 2018.
THIS TOMB WILL BE YOUR TOMB
To tell the truth, this Tomb Raider will never have deserved its name so well. Like its two big brothers, this new opus will revolve around several open areas, each offering many challenges to achieve. And it's an almost constant slap! The Peruvian jungle offers many completely abandoned cities, with prescribed entrances and dozens of collectibles to unearth with the help of either found maps or by solving the puzzles inscribed on forgotten totems. The crypts and the tombs, two essential components of the game design, are clearly the strong point of this intoxicating adventure. In both cases, these are essentially tests that will make your brain work with elaborate problems - based on the physics of water, the cogs to combine or even the juggling of elements such as fire or wind. to unlock passages – or directly your nerves with deadly and demanding platforming phases.
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, you spend most of your time solving puzzles, sinking into a vault to open a chest or crossing wobbly footbridges on the jagged floor. Death is also not foreign and we often end up impaled, drowned or crushed by a rolling post. It's part of the game. That said, we regret a certain imprecision in the jumps and movements, as well as several collision and interface bugs that do not help to keep our heroine alive. The little extra is that the different tombs in the game remain optional and you will sometimes have to retrace your steps after having unlocked a specific tool in the main story to access them: an excellent way to ensure a certain replayability, and this even after completing the campaign. And, above all, these tombs offer absolutely insane visual surprises that remind us of the extent to which the developers at Eidos Montreal, who worked in collaboration with Crystal Dynamics, went all out on the artistic direction. Don't play the game in a straight line: walk around, take your time and go to the four corners of the maps, in search of all the secrets and treasures. And make some popcorn.
THE PERUVIAN SLAP
Whether through its tombs, its crypts or simply the different narrative stages of the main quest, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is beautiful to tears and offers panoramas to take off the retina. Very often, we are surprised not to touch the controller and to carefully scrutinize each detail of these ultra-finished frames: the best thing is that almost everything is displayed in real time by placing buildings that it is possible to visit without loading any. The first approaches to a temple, before actually entering it, are breathtaking and give undeniable artistic credibility to Canadian designers. The same goes for the interiors, designed to perfection and above all enhanced by flawless technical execution. Very clearly, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the most beautiful games of this end of generation, even without 4K! And yet, when it is activated on compatible consoles, the rendering is even more striking.
Very clearly, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the most beautiful games of this end of generation, even without 4K!
No, really, we can only tip our hats and this is a main artery for this software which is so keen to plant a credible, mysterious and ultra-immersive world. A graphic but also sonic delight since the OST is just as successful: directed by Brian D'Oliveira, the multiple themes adapted to tombs, the jungle, action scenes, those of fear (because there are and they are effective) or in the villages are sumptuous and absorbing. All use local and more traditional instruments for a really very relevant atmosphere depending on the situation. Apart from the animations of our beautiful heroine, surprisingly arcadey and surprisingly contrasting with this rendering so realistic (to quote that he, an Uncharted gains a lot by working more on the movements of his characters), there is not much -thing to complain about. Broom.
MILLIONAIRE AND MURDERER: THE PERFECT WOMAN?
Shadow of the Tomb Raider therefore seduces with its fascinating virtual world that we will have to explore mainly but remains an action game: here, Lara is no longer as feverish as before. She's older, more experienced...and much more accomplished in the art of assassination. For information, according to the developers, this is the last episode before our aristocrat becomes the seasoned Tomb Raider presented on PlayStation in 1996! He is therefore no longer subject to being prey for his enemies but, on the contrary, to being their first predator. Although the fights are ultimately quite rare in favor of the autonomous mop in the middle of nature – in other words that we are the first surprised by this choice given the pace of the old chapters – these are intense and rather enjoyable . Lara can move through tall grass, hide in wall vegetation, cover herself in mud to camouflage herself or quietly wait for her prey posted from a branch. All with a multitude of strings to his bow. Almost literally, in fact. The latter still remains the main tool of our adventurer with which she can shoot up to three arrows at the same time, drive her enemies crazy by poisoning the points, attract individuals to the right and left by throwing decoys or strangle then hang his opponents to trees. No pressure, girl.
Add to that the possibility of using different firearms (handguns, assault rifles and shotguns with different types of ammo) according to your type of approach or if things go wrong and you have a good idea of the appreciable opening of the phases of action. Of course, all of Lara's faculties can be unlocked via a skill tree divided into three branches and it will naturally be necessary to advance in the game to recover and craft various elements. Where the shoe pinches is that the fights are ultimately so precious that the game offers almost too many possibilities of confrontation, to the point where we ultimately only use a few faculties and that we see them. evil the true usefulness. After having finished the game and all the secondary quests, we are therefore surprised to have never really been able to use such and such possibilities; similarly, many firearms can be bought and upgraded, without much interest since the basic ones, upgraded (which already takes time to be done) are already clearly effective for the little that we use them. Shadow of the Tomb Raider actually makes a point of favoring infiltration, which is smarter and more savage than brutal gunfire. The game does not cut short a few devastating chases strewn with explosions, but these are rarer and above all more justified than before, with Mayan apocalypses in support... A much less explosive rhythm, therefore, which does not is not to displease us despite the poorly exploited performance of all combative features.
LARA CRAFT
Let's face it, Shadow of the Tomb Raider borrows a lot from Uncharted, especially from its fourth episode released in 2016. In its level design particularly, where Lara also has a rope that she can use to swing from a mountainside to another or to get out of a desperate situation after a last chance jump. The possibilities of camouflage in tall grass and its eliminations are also not insignificant: despite everything, if the game does not invent anything, it oils its mechanisms very well and exploits them in depth. For example, crafting remains once again at the heart of the gameplay with hundreds of elements to recover for various purposes: to make a new outfit with its own properties, to upgrade its blasters, to prepare first aid kits, to concoct potions of hunting or simply carving arrows of all kinds, the universe is full of items to collect to improve your various talents and maintain your arsenal. Perhaps even a little too much since we quickly arrive at the maximum authorized reserve capacities, making obtaining resources a little futile at an advanced stage of the adventure.
...despite everything, if the game does not invent anything, it greases its mechanisms very well and exploits them in depth.
Like combat skills, the game takes on another dimension in NewGame+ and in a higher difficulty, the latter being available once the main quest is completed. Besides, you will need free time since Shadow of the Tomb Raider is far from short with around twenty hours in a straight line, and much more by playing the game and going to search the nooks and crannies. It is important to note the presence of some rather nice secondary quests without breaking three legs of a llama but which add a little video game added value. A tasty epic, not without flaws but which proves that the license still has very beautiful atmospheric experiences to offer.
