Tomb Raider (2013): The Review
Overview
Tomb Raider (2013) is the time when Lara goes fully into survival mode leaving "tomb raiding" to take a backseat, however, that isn't a bad thing. It’s an emotionally intense and cinematic adventure that breaks the format we've been getting from the franchise with a more real and grounded story. It's Tomb Raider in one of its finest iterations ever.
Score: 8.5 out of 10
The Positives ✅
Tomb Raider (2013) goes hard, like, way harder than it had any right to. Lara’s journey from a normal girl to full-on badass is actually exciting to watch, and you feel every inch of the problems (there's LOADS of them) that Lara has to face. She’s not the confident badass yet, she’s just trying to make it out alive, and that makes every bow shot, every close call, and every “holy shit” moment worth more.
The island is a wild (and somehow chaotic) location. Jungle, snow, ruins, cults, caves — it’s like ten different games crashed into each other and somehow, they made it work. You’re constantly thrown into one ridiculous situation after another, and it never really lets you down.
The combat is more real and has real weight behind it. The bow is the best weapon by far, but the guns are also super fun to use, making combat feel real and responsive. Plus, the game gives you an actual reason to go exploring: hidden tombs, collectibles, gear upgrades… it all feels rewarding without being a chore.
Also, Camilla Luddington does a spectacular performance as Lara. The sound design backs her up too — moody when it needs to be, loud and messy when things go sideways (which is often).
If you’re here for that old Tomb Raider gameplay, you ain’t gonna find that. But if you want a Lara Croft story with grit, blood, and chaos? This is it.
The Negatives ⚠️
Let’s be real, the game does very little actual tomb raiding... It takes a backseat here. There are optional tombs scattered around, but they’re short, pretty simple, and don’t come close to the more complex, brain-twisting stuff from the older games.
Some of the combat encounters are a bit... overwhelming with how much stuff the game decides to send your way. There are moments where you're just enjoying the story and doing some very normal stuff and then BAM: wave after wave of enemies, like it’s Call of Duty: Lara Warfare. It’s not bad, but it definitely feels dragged out at times.
The game also has a thing for quick-time events, and not in a subtle way. Some of the biggest (and most interesting) moments turn into “press X now or die” segments. You’re watching something epic happen, but you’re barely doing anything. A little more control would’ve gone a long way.
The Experience 🎮
It took us around 12 hours to get through Tomb Raider (2013), and honestly? We could’ve easily kept going. Between the chaos, the upgrades, and all the “how-the-hell-is-she-still-alive” moments, the game just grabs you and doesn’t let go. We didn’t go full 100% this time, but the idea of jumping back in to clean up the tombs and collectibles? Kinda tempting. It’s wild how this reboot hit so hard and still holds up. If there’s one thing this game proved, it’s that Lara Croft was so back, and she wasn’t messing this time around.
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