Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an adventure game from Eidos Montréal and publisher Square Enix, released on September 14, 2018, for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
This game is the final part of the reboot trilogy narrating the transformation of Lara Croft into a brave and daring tomb raider. After surviving life-threatening adventures on the island of Yamatai and in Siberia, Lara now travels to South America. This time, she is driven not by the desire to prove her father's scientific hypotheses, but by revenge. She is pursuing the chief leader of the "Trinity" – an ancient order involved in the death of Lord Richard Croft. For a certain period, luck is on Lara’s side, but then everything begins to go wrong. Our heroine is once again forced to fight for her life and face not only the wild nature but also heavily armed opponents alone. She simply cannot afford to give up or retreat, as not only the memory of her father is at stake, but also the fates of other people for whom Lara finds herself responsible.
Gameplay-wise, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a direct continuation of the previous game in the series – Rise of the Tomb Raider. The differences between the sequel and the threequel in terms of gameplay are extremely limited. A few new types of ammunition with new effects, new active abilities of the heroine that enhance her combat, defensive, and exploration characteristics, and more refined stealth and diving systems – these are perhaps all the innovations that the third part of the reboot can boast.
Another difference of Shadow of the Tomb Raider from its predecessors is the reduced share of combat encounters and a greater emphasis on exploring the world and solving puzzles. The tombs in SoTR are definitely well-designed and can be confidently called one of the most interesting elements of the gameplay. Another merit of the game is the side quests. The authors have tried to move away from primitive missions like "go – find – kill/bring" and made each side mission unique and memorable.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the main storyline. It is linear and, in several places, repeats the plot of Rise of the Tomb Raider. The promised development of the main character's image did not come to fruition. The key non-playable characters, both allies and antagonists, also fell short, resembling talking dolls rather than living people with their motivations, opinions, and the right to make mistakes.