Like its predecessor RiseвЂ™s story is tight and well told with good performances from the cast. Rise is even now one of the best-looking games of all time, with the realistic snow deformation, the towering mountains, and the realistic wildlife making it a beautiful lived-in place. Rise expanded the world but it still feels dense with every inch of the map thought through, all of it was designed for a reason. Where Shadow fell down was in its attempt at making the world bigger but it felt more empty. Tomb Raider is a challenging game, but one that feels rewarding to conquer and on a modern PC, without the horrible save system, itвЂ™s still a fun game to return to.ДЄ more confident Lara, a larger more beautiful world, a bigger emphasis on exploration and platforming the sequel to 2013 Tomb Raider is better experience in almost every way. The controls were stiff and ridged, meaning the platforming tasked the player with precision, lining up jumps perfectly could be the difference between life and death вЂ“ itвЂ™s thrilling. Her oversized proportions were the big talking point, but it should have been her incredible confidence and cheeky wit, Lara was so much more than her looks.Д«efore the advent of the open world game, Tomb RaiderвЂ™s enormous levels, with hidden nooks and crannies, were a world away from the other 2D games of the 90s and the ability to explore them at your leisure was a joy. Lara Croft became an overnight sensation, as one of the first female protagonist in gaming. A game that took the world by storm thanks to its groundbreaking level design, its fiery protagonist, and its chilling atmosphere. The original game, the one that started it all. The combat in the reboot finally reaches a standard worthy of praise, with its third person shooting mechanics being near best in class for the time вЂ“ the bow and arrow providing a satisfying weapon to take on enemies silently. The Japanese influenced island in Tomb Raider is one of the gameвЂ™s greatest strengths this is a thrilling and beautiful land to explore, combining tight linear corridors and open spaces with excellent design choices by Crystal Dynamics. The game goes in a different direction with its structure, choosing a semi-open world Metroidvania style that opens up as Lara obtains the right gear. But this is a fundamentally different Croft, she feels like a woman more grounded in her environment and lacking the wit and charm of the previous Laras. As the game progresses her вЂkill first ask questions laterвЂ™ attitude from the original games begins to come back and itвЂ™s great to see.

Though thereвЂ™s an element of cognitive dissonance with the story, itвЂ™s a minor negative with one of Tomb RaiderвЂ™s most interesting plots. It may have fallen apart had it not been for the interesting story and well-crafted character study Lara is young and uncertain of herself but still fearless and capable. The games takes a big leaf out of the Uncharted playbook, going for grand cinematic storytelling rather than the platforming and puzzling of the original games. The reboot trilogy is a touchy subject for Tomb Raider diehards. Though the game certainly feels rushed and an extra 6-12 months in the oven would have resulted in a far superior product, Angel Of Darkness is worth your time вЂ“ once you get past the gameвЂ™s many quirks. Combining a film noir style of storytelling with a sweeping orchestral score that sets the mood beautifully, along with CoreвЂ™s excellent level design, Angel of Darkness succeeded where it mattered for a Tomb Raider game.

The tank controls from the original PlayStation era returned and were somehow made even more clunky, the game was riddled with bugs, featured bizarre levelling up elements, awful stealth gameplay, and dialogue trees which while good in theory were completely superfluous.Д«ut looking back, many people overlook what Angel Of Darkness did well: a challenging puzzle game, varied locations bought to life with vivid and beautifully realised graphics for the time, along with one of the most accomplished and incredibly tense stories Tomb Raider has ever done.

Coming in at number 10 is the game that is often held responsible for the downfall of original Tomb Raider developer Core Design, and for good reason.

Tomb raider legend