This is the 2013 game by Crystal Dynamics rather than the 1996 original by Core Design. I loved the original game on the PS1, and although this one shares the same name, it’s not a remake. This is an origin story of Lara Croft that’s more focused on characters and feels more grounded in reality—although not too much, as it still has mythological creatures coming to life.
I liked the approach they took in making Lara more of a human being and less of a comic book character, though it is pretty jarring that you spend so much time murdering people. Significantly more than in the original game. In fact, there isn’t that much in the way of tomb raiding here. There are some small dungeons along the way, but you’re mostly making your way across an island shooting people.
This is a very different game than the original. It’s clearly influenced by the Uncharted series by having a lot more combat and a lot of action set-piece clambering. Uncharted itself was obviously influenced by Tomb Raider, so I guess that’s fair. I do miss the tone of the original game though. When I think back to that, I remember spending time alone in giant caverns trying to work out how to make my way around. When I think back to this one, it’s likely I’ll be remembering the number of people I shot along the way.