Shadow of the Tomb Raider has got to be the most disappointing sequel ever that George Lucas didn’t have a hand in. I loved the previous two. I got about six hours into this one & deleted it.
This isn’t the primary reason why, but it’s part of it: Too many conceptually trivial puzzles that simulate “challenge” by being incredibly fiddly & punishing a mistimed jump with some gruesome death. Like early-90s Sierra meets Saw. wired.com/story/shadow-o…
Especially sad because visually it’s absolutely gorgeous. I mean, really incredible. But the actual game design and the narrative both scream “Fuck it, it’ll sell 10 million either way. Slap some shit together and let’s hit the pub early.”
It’s a very weird combination of an art team that’s poured an enormous amount of love & craft into producing something stunning, while everyone else involved is just palpably utterly bored with the whole thing.
