Crypt Leaper

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider Is A Thrilling Conclusion To Laras Origin Trilogy.

- Andy Kelly

It’s in the moments of quiet spectacle where Shadow of the Tomb Raider is most compelling. Emerging from a dark, claustrophobic cavern into a grand Mayan temple glittering with gold and jade. The immense stone face of some forgotten deity looming ominously over you. A village resting in the shadow of a vast, dormant volcano. Ancient mechanisms whirring to life as you awaken a slumbering tomb. It’s a world that aches to be explored.

Normally when Lara Croft finds an artefact it’s a reward for surviving a treacherous, knife-edge journey through a trap-ridden tomb. But the ornate dagger she plucks from a stone pedestal early on in this game is an entirely different story. It triggers a series of devastating cataclysms, including a flash flood that destroys a whole city, and she travels to the jungles of Peru to try and stop the apocalyptic prophecy she unwittingly helped fulfil.

And it’s here where she finds those incredible tombs, temples and towering tributes to the gods. The sense of place and scale in Shadow of the Tomb Raider is frequently astonishing. The places that Lara visits feel genuinely ancient, mysterious and dangerous. Every crypt, chamber and corridor is decorated with detailed murals and elaborate carvings. These exaggerated, dramatic structures could never exist or stay hidden in reality, of course, but their size, complexity, and theatricality give the game the feel of a pulpy adventure story. It’s ancient history as taught by Indiana Jones, not Simon Schama.