A brief lapse through the thunder opens, the silence shattered by a single gunshot, then another and another in rapid succession. A young woman's scream is barely heard above the howling, shearing wind.

Brutal combat; stunning audio; lighting; particle effects; excellent reboot

Hand holding icon hints a pain; multiplayer is instantly forgettable

Violent, scary, ambitious, inventive: a lack of tombs and unconvincing characters can't mar a blockbuster return to form for Tomb Raider.

The island is the star of the show; Lara's world feels brutal; dangerous and frightening; Smooth combat married to DIY gadgets; Inventive tombs that recall the original game..

..; it's just a shame there's not enough of them, The occasional unwelcome QTE, Clichéd characters, flat dialogue

Lara Croft has always been seen as a tough female icon for the games industry. People everywhere loved her, so much so that she spawned two mediocre Hollywood films and even starred in a Lucozade advert in the mid '90s.

Of all the series of games that may have needed a reboot, Tomb Raider was definitely near the top of the list. Okay, yes, we did have the surprisingly good Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light a couple of years back, but that was rather different to the games we had before.

Welcome back, Lara; the survivalist hero we always wanted you to be. Tomb Raider is a resounding success and one of the best reboots this generation. It starts off slow, but once it hits its stride, Tomb Raider evolves into an emotionally rich adrenaline-fuelled quest for survival.

+ Great origins story; + Lara is a strong protagonist; + Engaging combat; + Plenty of tombs to raid

- Supporting characters are bland; - Slow start with too many quicktime events; - Enemies are way too good at tossing dynamite behind cover

In 1998, my mother and I went to Cash Converters to look for PlayStation games my father might like for his birthday. She was ultimately convinced by a man with a disturbing glint in his eye that my Dad would appreciate the platformer stylings of the original Tomb Raider.

Whenever a beloved gaming franchise gets the reboot treatment, it's always a tentative time for the diehard fans. Sometimes the payoff is entirely worth it; you only need to look at great games like Fallout 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow to know that putting a modern spin on...

If there was ever a heroine in desperate need of a reboot it would have to be Lara Croft. The once quintessential female adventurer has found herself on a precipice by way of her last few incarnations and their failure to capture a significant audience.

Going in to this game we weren't really sure that the Tomb Raider series really needed to be rebooted - we thought and were pretty good, after all - but after giving the new Tomb Raider a go there is no doubt that it was the right direction to take the series.

There aren't many games I've played where I have to pause and remember to breathe, yet on the other hand I have also experienced some gaming shocks that have reduced me to tears or fits of anger.

Playing as a newly polished Lara is a breath of fresh air; Beautiful graphics and a stunning soundtrack pull you into the nightmare Lara has found herself in

Multiplayer isn't needed and doesn't enhance the plot; Seems to have been added because this is the norm now for new games