Brad Fixes Tomb Raider: Part 1

Some people seem to think that Tomb Raider is broken. If a series needs to be "fixed" or as everyone says this one does, then yeah... it has to be broken. Well, let's pretend it is. And I am here to fix it.

So Tomb Raider is not perfect. Yeah I know... "What is?" right? Well sure, but maybe Tomb Raider is a little less perfect than other games out there. I've never felt more weird sticking up for a game I like more than Tomb Raider. People tell me there are other games out there that "do Tomb Raider better", but they are wrong. Uncharted is a shooter and Prince of Persia is a baby game. Neither are heavy on puzzles or environment exploration, and neither do what little of these elements they do have, better than Tomb Raider.

Ico is by far the best modern example of what a Tomb Raider game was and is, as it is a linear tactile platforming game heavy on puzzle solving. And while Ico benefited from the twist of being a very loving escort experience, Tomb Raider is not without its "twist" on the genre that it created.

Tomb Raider is an action adventure game centered around exploration and puzzle solving. And while It does those things fairly well, they could be a lot better. But I will fix those in Part 2. So why do I love Tomb Raider? What is this "magic" or "twist" that many people don't see when they look at the back of the box or watch the Lara Croft model dance around a studio?

Scale, isolation, and forbidden.