Shadow of the Tomb Raider New Gameplay
I was kindly invited by Community Manger of Tomb Raider Meagan Marie to play the lasted gameplay. We re-traced our steps from the reveal event back in May following Lara from her disastrous trip in Mexico.
Lara must wonder the jungle in search of Jonah and gather her resources to find an exit and trace Trinities next move. After finding her missing companion the two trek the jungle to source any kinds of civilisation.
Jonah plays a key role within the game, previously he would stand to the side instructing Lara and providing re-assurance. Whereas now there are times she need a helping hand. Jonah (For this part of the game) aides her by hinting how to solve puzzles. He also teams with her to lift heavy objects and trails alongside discuss their next move. He is not a playable character but it felt comforting to have a friend, and mourn the loss of those from 2013's reboot.
There are key moments Lara will either voluntary explore or become separated where she will develop new skills such as sensing enemies. Similar to The Last of us (Naughty Dog 2013) Lara can now sense enemies even when in cover.
When hiding for a few minutes she can see close by enemies, animals, or salvage which will now featured a chalked white outline. This is limited to 3 actions so the player must be savvy in using this unless they know of any close by sources.
Tombs are a crucial implication to get bonus salvage but the steaks are high and far more dangerous. Trip switches welcome you upon entry as you are surrounded by the constant fear of spikes scattered across the walls. Tombs are no longer straight forward of solving a puzzle and have a reward.
They can now offer bonus points and salvage (as expected), you may be lucky to find new outfits for Lara. Outfits can be selected at any base camp and can be customised. To which you can select one piece of clothing that could help Lara underwater, or improve her stealth.
Compared to 2013's reboot searching the tomb is no walk in the park. Previous a calm wind-chime would alert you to the entrance. Whereas now you can't depend on just exploration and sometimes need certain equipment or hints from people in the area.
Local villagers will help you on your quest so it's a good opportunity to talk to as many people as you can. These conversations can help you source Tombs, Basecamps, or hidden areas that are not presented on your map.
I found out the hard way by talking to one person who mentioned a potential Tomb located underwater. The game provided me with an indication on the map of its nearby location. Lara's survival instinct lead me close to the destination. But it never pinpointed 'Enter here' so I was aimless swimming collection salvage to get nowhere.
Speaking to people will not always lead you to clues, so Lara must take time to research old pillars and environments. The pillars adapt Lara's knowledge of language, by becoming further educated she can start to get a better understanding of the native language. She can then accept side quests and obtain new items. Once again the quests lead you to more massive rewards that will help you along your journey.
In the settings, players have the additional option of difficulty where they can speak to your chose language or native. Which was a concern I had from the first gameplay as she was walking around Mexico fluently talking English to them all. This setting can challenge the player and again source the correct material to communicate in their native tongue.
Villagers will offer Lara bonus items which can be traded with items she has found along the way. The key is to resource what you find and choose carefully what you buy or what skill you select as there could be someone down the line with better opportunities.
The game has had one big upgrade since its preview and that's the controversial white paint on surface areas. Fans felt divided so you can now have the chance to play as you would like. Like any game, there are 3 modes to play, but players can pick and mix their choice within combat, exploration, and puzzles. Meaning that when climbing areas you can have the choice of the white paint fully visible, slightly or completely gone.
While in connection to Tombs Lara can either give obvious hints of where to go or what to move, give a subtle idea of what needs to be done, or just silent. This will collaborate to her survival instinct, so she either can visibility see a mechanism glow yellow or she won't see anything and you must fend for yourself. The option of gameplay is down to your choice but can always be reverted back on the settings menu.
Lara adapts from her environment and the animals that lurk in the forest. She acknowledges the skills Jaguars take and can cover herself in mud, where she can blend into walls and surrounding elements. Then prey on her enemy.
She can lure predators with dead animals draped across treetops to go for the kill. The problem with the skill is due to the camera position she is not able to poke her head around the corner to see who is coming, its sometimes a guess game.
Although contradicted to that she is able to run a distance from the designated area and re-position to hide and try again. If injured the controls have changed a little. When injured you are suffocated with red around the screen, It's not going to disappear unless you heal, and even then you must salvage the area if you don't have anything.
From the overall experience Lara has certainly been developed into a strong determined female. She still has that bit of naive as focused around Rise of the Tomb Raider. But it's comforting that she sometimes has a helping hand from Jonah.
Environmentally there's a huge contrast between the different areas and I praise all the team for their hard work to develop such a claustrophobic and enticing game. Thank you once again to Crystal Dynamics for the opportunity.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is out 14th September on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
[Images: Square Enix/Game Informer]
