And it looks like Microsoft’s gamble with Rise of the Tomb Raider has paid off, as the game has released to critical acclaim. Be sure to read Game Rant’s Rise of the Tomb Raider review as well to get our take on Lara Croft’s latest adventure, but in the meantime, this is what other critics are saying from around the web:
Game Rant (Riley Little)
Destructoid (Steven Hansen)
Score: 7.5/10
Game Informer (Kimberly Wallace)
Score: 9.5/10
GameSpot (Mike Mahardy)
Score: 9/10
GamesRadar+ (Matthew Castle)
Score: 4.5/5
IGN (Lucy O’Brien)
Score: 9.3/10
The reviews lack a general consensus regarding Rise of the Tomb Raider’s shortcomings. One of the lowest scoring reviews for the game, the one from Destructoid, criticizes it for being far too similar to the 2013 entry, whereas GameSpot took issue with the game’s boring resource gathering, and IGN disliked its combat. Interestingly enough, Rise of the Tomb Raider’s controversial use of microtransactions managed to avoid too much criticism, and seem to be considered non-intrusive overall.
As for what publications seemed to enjoy about Rise of the Tomb Raider, that would be pretty much everything else. It seems as though the actual tomb raiding has been vastly improved compared to the reboot, so those that complained about the so-called “Tomb Raider” not raiding enough tombs should be pleased with this sequel. Furthermore, the writing is being praised for being as sharp as ever, which is good news for those that enjoyed Lara Croft’s harrowing adventure in the 2013 reboot.
Microsoft is counting on Rise of the Tomb Raider to be one of the strong holiday exclusives for Xbox One, and they’ve shown their confidence in the game by purchasing timed-exclusivity rights while also releasing it in an Xbox One holiday bundle. Rise of the Tomb Raider’s critical acclaim will certainly help it along, but stiff competition from Fallout 4 tomorrow (read our Fallout 4 review) could derail potentially derail its momentum.
Rise of the Tomb Raider will be available on November 10th as a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. A PC release is expected in spring of 2016, and it will be available on PlayStation 4 next holiday season.
