It’s now time for another Retro Ad Replay article! This is the series where we take a trip back in time to reminisce and celebrate the anniversary of some of the most significant moments in gaming. If you find yourself hungry for more content like this, be sure to visit Mandatory.com.
In this March 5 edition of Retro Ad Replay, we’re traveling back seven years to when the Tomb Raider reboot first launched on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. The game was eventually remastered for current-gen consoles (PS4 and Xbox One) with the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, which launched on January 28, 2014.
Developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix, the 2013 Tomb Raider game introduced players to a reimagined Lara Croft. This Croft protagonist proved resilient against brutal odds, pitting her against many physical challenges as she searched to discover the lost kingdom of Yamatai. The game’s gore was unlike anything we’d seen in a Tomb Raider game before, with some nasty death sequences for Lara if the player failed a quick-time event or mistimed a dodge.
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The GameRevolution Tomb Raider review awarded the game a very impressive 4.5/5, speaking highly of the “platforming and traversal gameplay,” “tight third-person shooting and combat,” the hidden tomb sections, the “stories discovered in collectibles,” as well as the “pacing and variation in gameplay.”
Here’s a snippet from the GR review:
In the end, Lara is more measured and relatable, but any sense of feminism starts and stops with a gunshot. Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix had an undeniably heavy burden in modernizing a character born from an immature, male-oriented fantasy, but no matter your gender, if you’re a gamer, you should play TOMB RAIDER. It combines high-levels of interactivity, excellent pacing, and a true bond between the player and the character on screen.
Check out the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition PS4 trailer embedded below:
