The Tomb Raider Times (#1) - English version

S H A D O W O F T H E T O M B R A I D E R D E M O V E R S I O N
We continue with the descent to the jungle, Lara sheds away her poncho and we get the first look at her
outfit – a combination of the default reboot outfit and the beloved classic outfit. Long cargo pants with
reinforced protection for knees in black and a blue sport tank top. The restricted controls are gone and
we are fully in charge. All weapons were available – bow, pistol, shotgun, rifle, axes and knife.
Right away we face the first enemies, the first one almost asking to be taken down in stealth kill - this time
with a knife and axe. The second baddie caught an arrow to his head and the way was cleared. This
first encounter was accompanied by a handy tutorial for the new comers; however, the different colour
scheme of the Xbox buttons compared to PlayStation did not really help my performance, haha. Poor Lara
died in the first shoot out, well...I mastered on the second try. Lara freed a hostage archeologist, who
revealed to her the location of the tomb – beneath the cliffs.
We head further in, encountering more mercenaries with nets on their faces. No one likes mosquitoes.
Lara hiding in the vines hanging from trees and walls picks them one by one, using the extended stealth
mechanics. Enemy AI seemed great, even though I heard from fellow players some complaints...the game
development is still in progress, so we are not worried at all. We also found out that there are a lot of
collectibles and resources to pick up on the way, in order to craft weapons or heal ourselves. Apparently,
this is even more crucial to do than in Rise. I am the type of player that has collecting in his blood, so I
progressed carefully exploring every nook and cranny around, and it sure paid off. The classic Tomb
Raider know-how “the one who searches, finds” is well represented, so keep it on your mind.
We are climbing trough the jungle to the cliffs (and Lara is dead once again, half because I am dumb, half
that I was curious about the death animation). I must admit that Lara is now "more mature" even in that
unfortunate occasion - no more frightened moaning. I heard a scream of a person that knows very well
that this one step was the fatal mistake, leading to her ultimate end. And then there is time to descend.
There is no way forward it seems, but a new element is coming: AT THE END OF THE CRAGGY-ROCK ROCK WALL
LARA ATTACHED HER CLIMBING AXE AND RAPPELED DOWN THE ROPE. AT THE VERY LOWEST PART WHE-
RE HER LEGS WERE SUPPORTED YET, SHE PERFORMED A WALL-RUN (yes, this element makes its return)
AND LEAPT ACROSS TO THE NEAREST ROCK. A ROPE DESCENT AGAIN, TIME TO
SWING, JUMPING AT THE RIGHT MOMENT, CRACKING A CLIFF… and the wrong
button. Eerrr... three times :-D
When we passed through the segment successfully on the fourth try and I muted
my celebratory YES!, we entered the cave, in which Lara herself stated
that it is certainly located underwater.