This game is the very definition of a 3/5. Every part of the game is polished to a sheen and technically functional, but the experience on the whole is a tepid affair.
GOOD:
It has an okay campaign by virtue of lifting the previous game's story beat for beat. It plays it safe so while there are no real high-points, it never truly drags.
BAD:
The game is a linear action-romp that pretends to be Far Cry by including all the trappings of an open-world game. There are so many useless skills, irrelevant weapon-mods, and irritating collectibles to find. Backtracking is a chore because the zones meant to be one-and-done levels and not suited for this half-hearted Metroid crap. The two "open-world" zones are laughable for how sterile they are.
The story is dull, the Siberian setting is dull, and this version of Lara is probably the most unlikable game protagonist that isn't the guy from YIIK. A posh colonial treasure-hunter who bemoans her daddy-issues while gutting two-hundred dudes does not merit my sympathy or my interest. Kassandra from AC:Odyssey she is not.
The game has a really low opinion of the player's intelligence because the UI will flash basic hints ad-nauseum even up the finale.
There are many cases of Cutscene Incompetence, the worst example is the final boss who somehow strips you of the weapons you've spent hours upgrading and then forcing you to fight him with a goddamn tin-can.
CONCLUSION:
Hit 100% exploration on Normal difficulty after 20 hours. Didn't touch the DLC and don't intend to. Can scarcely summarize the game's merits because it evaporated from the memory soon after completion.
So middling that one playthrough took three years to beat.
This game is the very definition of a 3/5. Every part of the game is polished to a sheen and technically functional, but the experience on the whole is a tepid affair.
GOOD:
It has an okay campaign by virtue of lifting the previous game's story beat for beat. It plays it safe so while there are no real high-points, it never truly drags.
BAD:
The game is a linear action-romp that pretends to be Far Cry by including all the trappings of an open-world game. There are so many useless skills, irrelevant weapon-mods, and irritating collectibles to find. Backtracking is a chore because the zones meant to be one-and-done levels and not suited for this half-hearted Metroid crap. The two "open-world" zones are laughable for how sterile they are.
The story is dull, the Siberian setting is dull, and this version of Lara is probably the most unlikable game protagonist that isn't the guy from YIIK. A posh colonial treasure-hunter who bemoans her daddy-issues while gutting two-hundred dudes does not merit my sympathy or my interest. Kassandra from AC:Odyssey she is not.
The game has a really low opinion of the player's intelligence because the UI will flash basic hints ad-nauseum even up the finale.
There are many cases of Cutscene Incompetence, the worst example is the final boss who somehow strips you of the weapons you've spent hours upgrading and then forcing you to fight him with a goddamn tin-can.
CONCLUSION:
Hit 100% exploration on Normal difficulty after 20 hours. Didn't touch the DLC and don't intend to. Can scarcely summarize the game's merits because it evaporated from the memory soon after completion.