Game Review: Rise of the Tomb Raider – Video game potpourri

It took me a little under 20 hours to finish Rise of the Tomb Raider on the game's "normal" difficulty level. I achieved an 85% completion rate in that time.

In addition to playing on a harder difficulty or collecting every single item, you've also got some replaybility through a Score Attack mode. There's also two other replay modes that throw specific challenges at you, such as finishing a level without dying, killing a certain number of enemies with headshots, or collecting every item. You can tweak these further with modifier cards that mix up the experience with additions like big head mode, a bow that fires chicken, and a half health option. Using can increase or decrease the amount of credits you win for finish a mission, which are in turn used to buy extra packs of cards. The sheer variety in weaponry and tactics available to you mean missions can still feel fresh even when you’ve already finished them.

Despite pulling inspiration from numerous titles across the action adventure genre, Rise of the Tomb Raider is a cohesive experience that's greater than the sum of its parts. While a mediocre story takes away from the overall experience, Rise of the Tomb Raider's fantastic gameplay, rewarding exploration, and great atmosphere more than make up for it.

Rise of the Tomb Raider was reviewed on Xbox One. It is also available on Xbox 360. It will be released on Windows and PlayStation 4 next year.