Nearly a year after Microsoft snagged the exclusive rights to Rise of the Tomb Raider, and caused a huge rift on the Interwebs in regards to how Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics made a huge mistake with putting their beautiful egg in one console basket, the PlayStation 4 version of the same-ish game has arrived. Guess what? You’re going to buy it, you bitter a-holes. Mu-hahahaha, and you’re going to enjoy it.
Rise of the Tomb Raider’s PlayStation 4 version, dubbed the 20 Year Celebration, still has the great adventure that balances out the complaints from us old people, about not having enough actual ‘tomb raiding’, and complaints from young hipsters who don’t enjoy action-packed gaming. Somehow Crystal Dynamics found that perfect place for the gameplay design and brought one of the more complete adventures of Lara Croft to us. Of course, you can read all about the actual main adventure in my review from last year (Click Bait that pays us nothing).
The new stuff here isn’t just mindless add-ons to make you feel special for waiting a year to partake in the good feelings of this game. Yes, you get what basically is the ‘Game of the Year’ edition of the title, featuring all of the DLC that came with it, as you patiently waited on the sidelines trying to figure out how you were going to insult that one XB1 guy online. Seriously, there are idiots who do that out there. It’s truly sad.
Anyway, the new stuff included with this version of Tomb Raider include modes such as Expedition, which features:
Endurance — You can play single player mode or multiplayer mode (friends or matchmaking), where Lara searches out artifacts in different scenarios, such as the Siberian Wilderness, while avoiding contact with Trinity. Small, contained adventures that are more for entertainment rather than adding to the main story. Adding in elements of survival (hunger, warmth, not getting murdered) help to up the ante a bit. Trust me, it’s a good breakaway from the story.
Cold Darkness — You infiltrate a Soviet research base in this one to try and shutdown a chemical weapon. The simple need to stay alive is all you need to know about this one. Just like Endurance, it’s very contained, which makes the challenge entertaining and focused.
Lara’s Nightmares — Lara is thrown in an all-out war inside Croft Manor featuring her nightmares, which are incredibly warped. This game features a set of challenges for Lara to complete to earn some $$. A majority of them are creepy, thus the name ‘nightmares’. Regardless, don’t take this lightly, as it’s quite difficult, at least it was for me, but it’s not to be missed.
Remnant Resistance — Simple missions that you can create or play to earn credits. For example, the first mission I played is to eliminate the giant bear from the Siberian snowy forest stage. That poor bear was eating a deer and I killed it while it was eating. It almost wanted to put up a fight. I earned a lot of credits, though.
Chapter Replay/ Replay Elite — Replaying earlier completed chapters in the game with upgraded skills and equipment. Various difficulty settings reap good rewards.
Score Attack — Just like it says. You can play this mode with completed levels. The more difficult the setting, the better the rewards.
Expedition is one of the bigger value added items with the PlayStation 4 version of the game. For gamers who love contained bursts of entertainment, I could see this being a huge deal. Who wouldn’t think it is? Oh, I’m sure there is someone out there that thinks it because they can.
Besides Expedition, there is also a new story called Blood Ties. Executor of the Croft Estate is trying to snag the Croft Manor away from Lara (more to it, but whatever). This acts as a nice side story to the main storyline and features a VR mode, which I did not try out (too much motion sickness). I have heard folks who have tried it out on the PSVR and have had some yucky feelings in their guilliver (Clockwork Orange reference) and stomach. That said, I bet if those things were not in play, then it would be an amazing experience. Regardless, Blood Ties a welcomed addition to the PS4 package.
With all of the above added to the PlayStation 4 release of Rise of the Tomb Raider, you can’t help but enjoy the package. While there’s not a considerable upgrade in anything else, at least that I can see with my naked eye, I’m still in awe of the game. If Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics released the exact same game they did a year ago, without all the add-ons included, I would have been just as happy. The additional content really does sell it again as something special, but make no mistake it was damn good when it first released on Xbox One.
Anyway, kudos to the duo for reminding us all how fantastic Rise of the Tomb Raider truly is and how much the reboot has improved this beautiful character.
On that sweet note, onto the summary.
