Gorgeous visuals, still an amazing adventure game whether you've played it already or not
Paying full whack for a visually-improved game one already owns may rightly disgruntle fans
We scored 2013's Tomb Raider nine out of ten on its release under a year ago. Now, a version for next-gen games consoles has landed. So is it worth the cash?
In short: yes, but only if you absolutely adored or haven't played the original release and are staring at your expensive new PS4 or Xbox One thinking, "why aren't there more games out for you yet?"
Everything and more is here from the first version: a lengthy single-player campaign; a cracking plot and fun, well-acted characters; lush environments; and just enough old Tomb Raider thinking blended with present-day action-adventure expectations to make the game feel on-trend and current, yet familiar.
Haven't read the original game review? Do so right now, then come back, yes?
What has been added in this Definitive Edition are lashings of technological improvements. The game runs at 1080p now instead of 720p, which alone helps deliver increased visual fidelity. But the framerate (on PS4, not Xbox One for some reason) has been doubled as well, from 30 fps to 60, and textures in the game -- skin, eyeballs, foliage, birds, water, massive temples and background detail -- have all been upgraded. Overall, it's the gaming equivalent of not wearing glasses then putting a cracking set of prescriptions over your eyes.
Playing through the game there are a few moments the increased textures really become noticeable, and it's often during close-ups of characters: pores, scuff marks and dirt on skin are more visible, which in hand with the game's admirable motion capturing and actor performances does give a greater feeling of realism.
Otherwise the rich and well-drawn world just feels nicer to explore. It's not a quantifiable benefit, but it's a benefit all the same.
In fact it's a weird trope of next-gen bragging rights. When
Call of Duty: Ghosts was being previewed at E3 2013, we were told to "look at the fingernails -- you can actually see the dirt!" as if looking at the filth on a man's hands was some sort of justification of a console purchase. Here we are again discussing dirt, although admittedly this time on a woman, and on a face. But still...
Where the problems arise is when it comes to recommendation.
Increase the framerate, increase the texture detail, increase the picture resolution... increase the price. These appear to be the factors driving the re-release, and it's hard to shy away from that. Downloadable content, which you had to buy separately with the original, has been factored in. But given that this version costs fifty quid and the original -- which is still a nine-out-of-ten game in our books -- costs little over a tenner, a real question of value has to be asked.
Conclusion
We would boil it down to this: we're in the quiet part of the release cycle for next-gen console games -- the launch titles shipped to help sell the new systems have been out for a while, but the bulk are still awaiting release.
Enter Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, a remastered, high-resolution upgrade to the excellent original, with ramped up graphics that benefits owners of a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, and those people alone. It's a gorgeous and compelling stop-gap purchase that benefits impatient hardcore fans of the original, or newbies to the game entirely. But we'd predict bitterness from existing owners spending fifty quid expecting more than just visual improvements over the copy they already own.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
