Whenever you hear about and then end up getting the chance to try a franchise that's had ups and downs and seen better days be reborn, it feels like you have seen the cycle come full circle.

Tomb Raider of yesteryear is gone and the shift to a narrative with real grit shines through; Lara Croft isn't the character we once knew; She's this girl who has to fend for her life on this island she's stuck on with danger all around her.

The multiplayer really should have been left out; The game works well enough as a sole single player experience

The Tomb Raider franchise and the character of Lara Croft have gone through some changes over the years. Development studio Core Design have handled most of the games in the series until it was handed over to Crystal Dynamics, who have been toiling away ever since to revitalize the story of the...

Great narrative pacing; a new character is born and we like her; great music; some gorgeous locations and well-animated characters on display; fun combat and action

Too much emphasis on action and too little on puzzles and exploration; QuickTime Events are overused as well; multiplayer seems a bit obsolete

It has taken a long time, but Tomb Raider has finally grown up. The series has made a name for itself in the past by flaunting its juvenile male fantasies, and decent gameplay was always marred by main character Lara Croft's disproportionate appearance and focus on her form over function.

Excellent storytelling; Lara is more interesting than ever before; Great visuals; Open world is great; if a bit too quiet

First act is too hand-holdey; Multiplayer is average

There's a moment about midway through the new Tomb Raider where heroine Lara Croft lands in the clutches of a gaggle of male heavies - gross, grimy, near-feral Scavengers who want nothing more than to exact revenge for her killing their brethren.

+ Incredibly polished production values and super-responsive controls make playing a treat; + Great; well-paced progression and character development make Lara believable

? Hey

Adventurer Lara Croft has encountered and defeated a variety of foes in her two decades of tomb raiding, but her biggest challenge yet is the dreaded reboot.  Simultaneously hated and loved, reboots give developers a chance to take familiar characters in new directions, but at the risk of alienating...

Impressive graphics and game world; A far more human Lara Croft; Incredibly cinematic action sequences.

Forgettable secondary characters; Occasionally weak dialogue; Upgrade menu may prove confusing to some

Lara Croft returns to the scene as Crystal Dynamics attempts to reboot the series. Was their effort successful?

+ Lara's character is great; + Visuals are amazing; + Mechanics are near perfection; + Pacing is stellar

The rest of the cast; Most collectibles are worthless

When adventurer extraordinaire Lara Croft raided her first tomb back in 1996, she brought with her an exhilarating feeling of isolation and discovery. Over the years, Lara has continued to venture into parts unknown, taking dark turns and frequently tangling with the supernatural as the series...

Story believably builds Lara up from unsure academic to confident adventurer; Fascinating setting with a rich sense of history; Intense combat that offers a good deal of flexibility; Controls make physically overcoming the island's terrain a pleasure; Good assortment of tombs to raid; relics to...

Forgettable multiplayer component; Outside of Lara's character arc; story is predictable

A whole new Lara Croft, a beautiful new world to explore and so much more excitement to be had.

Progressive difficulty makes it easy to keep up; beautiful environments; awesome musical accompaniment; nonstop action sequences; excellent checkpoint system; manageable puzzles; an actual in game reason to collect the collectibles; great story that just doesn't stop; awesomely gory death scenes...

Glitches that caused unnecessary deaths; somewhat inconsistent AI; skills that are almost useless unless taken early in the game; some fights more frustrating than they should be; Tomb Raider themed dreams every night I've played it

I was extremely skeptical of the new Tomb Raider reboot. As a massive fan of the earlier entries in the series, it would be hard to top the magic of Tomb Raider II , especially since everything we had seen of Tomb Raider so far made it look like an Uncharted knock off.

Visually spectacular, affecting and brutal, Tomb Raider pulls no punches in rejuvenating the character. Strictly from a gameplay perspective, this is the culmination of much of what this generation had to offer; the cover system and stealth, the climbing and even the gunplay have been yanked from...