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Game Information
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Developers: Nixxes Software, United Front Games
Publishers: Square Enix
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One,
Genre: Action-adventure
Players: 1-8

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Synopsis
Armed with only the raw instincts and physical ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Tomb Raider delivers an intense and gritty story into the origins of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor.

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Plot
Starting off aboard the ship Endurance, Lara Croft and a few of her ship mates had set off towards the coast of Japan. Days pass, Lara and her crew mates are startled by an abrupt and dangerous storm. The violent storm causes them to be shipwrecked on an island unbeknownst to their knowledge as to what or who inhabits the island. After awaking from her unconscious slumber, Lara wakes up, finding herself isolated from the rest of her crew mates. Lara then sets out on a quest to get back and regroup with her ship mates while avoiding an imminent threat that they will all have to endure until they can establish a way off the island.

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Gameplay
Players will able to perform many different actions throughout the campaign. Players will encounter pathways that will have the player balance on a log to use as a bridge to get across. Players will also use the axe as a climbing axe to scale up the sides of many cliffs and ravines. Players will also be able to use a select array of weaponry to fight off against enemies that will try and kill them. Each weapon base can be upgraded only when all 3 parts for that particular weapon class have been found. Each weapon class can be upgraded twice which are the handgun, machine gun, and shotgun. the crossbow can be upgraded three times with two being upgraded then the third upgrade will be the competition bow which is awarded to the player by progressing further into the game. To upgrade weapons, players will need to scavenge for salvage which could be found off of dead enemies, animals, and crates scattered throughout the island. Apart from upgrading weapons, players can enhance Lara's skill tree with upgrades that increase her durability and survival. Other upgrades for Lara's survivability include: retrieve back arrows that were previously shot, increased agility to scale cliffs faster as well as falling damage. Players can also hunt down animals to gain experience points to rank up to earn skill points to upgrade Lara. As players progress into different areas, players will stumble upon tomb entrances that lead to a tomb that can only be reached by performing a certain feat to get and open up the tomb for rewards. Players will also stumble rare relics, documents, and GPS caches. When viewing a relic or document, Lara reads a brief description of the artifact, sometimes there are hidden features on the relic that the player can find by looking around on the relic. There are also base camps scattered throughout the island in which players can use to fast travel to other parts of the island they had previously been in quicker.

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Graphics
The graphics in the Definitive Edition of Tomb Raider were really fascinating and appealing in the eye. From scaling the surfaces off the sides of mountains, being able to see the bits of rubble fall from each grasp was an amazing detail to notice. The overall layout of each location had its own unique look to it. The huts and buildings located around the island did have that aspiring "native" look to them so that it fitted in well with the tale of the island. The ocean waves splashing against the rocky shore and cliffs, giving it that watery texture was also nice, as if Lara could possibly slip off. Compared to the original version, the faces on all the characters in the game had been totally enhanced and have more of a real human appearance. Compared to the original, the hair on most of the characters is more darken and has greater fluidity as it flairs when moving. The player's character would have dirt and mud all around the character's attire as well as on the face and hair which is really noticeable and clear. The weather conditions in the game really made the game look harsh and deadly as if it were a reality to experience being secluded on an island with hardly anything to use as aid. The high winds blowing back the player, as well as causing items to be blown away and having dirt fly around, obscuring the player's vision really showed that realistic effect. The cinematics in the game were really the most superb aspect of the game. The quality of the cinematics were perfect, it had that realistic feature to it. Overall, the graphics were superb and greatly executed to perfection from my perspective.

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Controls
The controls for this game were really simple to perform. Like many adventure games, the button layout for the most basic actions are the typical setup. During gameplay, a button appears to notify the player to perform a certain action by pressing the annotated button on screen. The controls aren't really anything new to the average player so the difficulty for the controls shouldn't be a problem.

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Ratings
Gameplay: 9.8/10
Graphics: 10/10
Controls: 10/10
Overall: 9.8/10