One of the best adventure games on console, with a fantastic blend of action and exploration. The Definitive Edition really is definitive, but isn't worth a repeat buy for those who've already experienced Lara's story.

Lara Croft is a believable badass; Wonderful; varied setting; An excellent sense of pacing

Side characters are dull stereotypes; Has a slow start; Definitive Edition offers few upgrades

omb Raider 2013 is… well, the game you played back in 1996, but Tomb Raider is also the title of the latest installment in the series which is intended to take you not only back to the beginning of Lara's adventures, but prior to that, as we see her going from amateur to a hardened survivor.

And yes, it does have its own handful of genuine Tomb Raider moments - not many, perhaps, and none of which I need to spoil here, but they add up to a chunk of game that's coherent, pretty, and skilfully assembled.

This is what it is to raid a tomb in Tomb Raider : Series lead Lara Croft finds her way into a likely cave or building and is confronted with an environmental platforming puzzle. It's never difficult, but if the player gets hung up, Lara will helpfully supply a clue anyway.

Climbing the Queen's sanctum as it shatters in a storm

Spending 20 minutes trying to glitch my way past a showstopping bug

A Pacific island with history from World War Two and ancient cultures. Old tombs and ruins to explore. Skills and weapon upgrading system. Wild animals to hunt. Fast travel between camps. Am I talking about Far Cry 3 ?

Lara's had more than a few turbulent years since an ‘accidental mouse slip' brought her to prominence almost two decades ago. Championed first by Core Designs, then shipped off to Crystal Dynamics, she's undergone rewrites, retcons and ever-changing personal tragedies.

The reboot has become something of an abused trend in the past couple years, as I've mentioned before . At the time I wrote that column, Splatterhouse and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow had both launched to reboot their respective franchises, and since then we've seen reboots of Devil May Cry , XCOM...

After nearly two decades, Crystal Dynamics finally gets it right. Tomb Raider is an action-packed thrill ride full of amazing set-pieces, sharp writing, a fun science fiction story and tons of enemies to gun down. Tomb Raider is a game worthy of the Croft name!

There is a platform here for Crystal Dynamics to take Lara's shenanigans to a new level, but a reliance on fairly bog standard shooter mechanics just doesn't do the franchise any justice and as a result, means Tomb Raider falls short of being a truly great game.