1 
0 Lara’s back and better than ever in the latest release in Tomb Raider Remastered, developed and published by Aspyr. Revisit Tomb Raider 1, 2 and 3 with updated graphics and a whole new lease of life for modern consoles.
Welcome back to her humble abode.
Grab your pistols and your medpacks and prepare to rediscover the legend of Atlantis, the Dagger of Xian, and the Polynesian artefacts as our aerobic adventurer makes her way through the stories that defined a generation of PlayStation games back in the 90s.
Tomb Raider Remastered is available on PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch.
Check out some of our other PlayStation reviews here!
Gameplay
One of the most memorable things about Tomb Raider, for me, was the control system. On Playstation, it wasn’t bad once you realised you had to hold down square if you were doing a running jump. On the PC, it was an odd mixture of arrow keys, alt to jump – just not a fun time.
Despite its shortcomings, when I loaded up Tomb Raider Remastered for the first time, I was hit with a wave on nostalgia when the game was the same as it used to be. For newer fans, however, Aspyr introduced a more modern take on the controls, making things easier for brand new players.
The games themselves are exactly the same. You go to the same places, fight the same enemies and interact with the same characters, they’re just looking shiny and new.
As a long-time fan of the franchise, it was easy for me to get straight back into the game. It still faces many of the same issues that the original games did, such as the collision with enemies (I was ready to break my controller when playing through the Lost Valley whilst keeping the T-Rex alive.
Bugs & Glitches
Given that the remaster is the same code as the 1996 game, I expected more issues than I had. There were minor things that annoyed me such as surviving every insta-kill trap in Tomb Raider 3 however there was nothing that felt game-breaking.
The camera is still the biggest issue with the games. It has a tendency to wait until you are in the smallest room imaginable and then swings wildly so you can’t see anything. It was brutal in the Atlantis chapter of the first game and was one of the few changes that I hoped Aspyr would make before launch.
Overall, I didn’t experience anything that felt broken or ignored. The devs did an amazing job of staying true to the original games.
Graphics & Audio
The dev team has taken a completely different approach to this remaster than Crystal Dynamic’s Tomb Raider Anniversary released in 2007. Where CD built the game from the ground up, Aspyr have used the exact same code, now they just look a lot nicer.
With upgraded graphics and better resolution, Tomb Raider Remastered adds a new level of ambiance that was missing. If you’re not a fan of the new look that Lara has then don’t worry. You can shift between the new graphics and the old graphics with a press of a button.
As pretty as the game now looks, there were a few issues with the graphics. My biggest issue was that some important items were so easy to miss due to the new graphics. Keys went from being big and obvious in the old graphics to tiny and easy to miss. This has been fixed in the latest game patch.
It wasn’t the only issue, though. It’s clear that Aspyr has put a lot of effort into giving each level it’s own tone but there were times where it felt almost impossible to play with the new graphics. Dark areas felt ten times darker so it was almost impossible to see anything. It would have been nice to see a brightness setting implemented so there was no need to switch between the old and new graphics for anything other than nostalgia.
The audio was one of my favourite parts of Tomb Raider Remastered. The lack of changes to the soundtrack is one of the best things about it.
Hearing the original menu themes and sounds as I went between the start game passport to the Croft Manor polaroid made me so happy. The iconic Venice violins were one of the things that I was most looking forward to, and Aspyr did not disappoint.
Longevity
With new consoles comes the introduction of trophies… and there’s a fair few of them as well. The collection has 269 trophies to collect with the main games having 60-67 trophies with DLCs having 20-30. The first Tomb Raider game can take 5 or 6 playthroughs to get every trophy. If you’re not like me and you’re smart about it, you can get a good chunk of trophies in one run such as all artefacts, all enemies, only using your pistols and not using any health packs. My first run through was just enjoying the game and reliving the first time I played it.
Some of the trophies are quite annoying – I’m still having nightmares about the “Raid not Kill” trophy. However, if you enjoy the games then there’s nothing to stop you going for them as there isn’t a single trophy that feels impossible to achieve.
Even with a very linear story there has always been replayability in the Tomb Raider franchise. Long time fans will love switching between old and new graphics, reliving the first time they ever played the games. New fans will get the chance to discover iconic moments from the series for the first time. I recommend taking a trip down to get that final secret in Tomb Raider 2’s Great Wall level.
Final Thoughts
The way that you feel towards Tomb Raider Remastered will depend on the history that you have with the game. As a long time fan of the franchise, being able to play the original games on a newer console was enough for me to love it. Aspyr have managed to give the game a much needed upgrade whilst remaining true to the source material.
I’m holding out hope that the reception of this game will mean we also get a Tomb Raider 4 remaster because that was always my favourite despite it being longer than the Iliad.
I may be a little biased giving Tomb Raider Remastered the Thumb Culture Platinum Award may seem a little too much but this game deserves it. It has been enjoyable from the moment that I loaded it up for the first time and continues to be amazing 70 hours into playing it.
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My fav games ever