Reception
Sales
The game had sold more than 1 million copies in less than forty-eight hours of its release. In the United Kingdom, Tomb Raider debuted at number one on the charts, and became the biggest UK title launch in 2013, surpassing the sales of Aliens: Colonial Marines, before being overtaken by Grand Theft Auto V. Tomb Raider set a new record for the franchise, more than doubling the debut sales of Tomb Raider: Legend. Furthermore, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Tomb Raider set new week one records as the fastest-selling individual formats of any Tomb Raider title so far, a record which was previously held by Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. Tomb Raider also topped the charts in France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United States. In the United States, Tomb Raider was the second best-selling title of March, excluding digital download sales, only behind BioShock Infinite. In Japan, Tomb Raider debuted at number four with 35,250 units sold. On 26 March 2013, Square Enix announced that the game sold 3.4 million copies worldwide at retail, but has failed to reach predicted sales targets. However, on 29 March 2013, Crystal Dynamics defended Tomb Raider's sales, stating the reboot had the "most successful launch" of any game this year in addition to setting a new record for highest sales in the franchise's history. On 22 August 2013, Darrell Gallagher, head of product development and studios for Square Enix, announced on Gamasutra that the game sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. On 17 January 2014, Scot Amos, executive producer of Tomb Raider, revealed that at the end of 2013 the game achieved profitability. On 3 February 2014, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, a re-release for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, debuted atop of the UK charts.
Reviews
Tomb Raider received critical acclaim upon release, with most critics agreeing that it was a solid and long-overdue reboot for the franchise. In a 'world exclusive' review, GamesMaster magazine gave the game a score of 90%, as well as the "GamesMaster Gold award" (awarded to games that manage a score of 90% or above). The editor regarded the quality of the visuals, the length and depth of the gameplay, and the "spectacular" last third of the game as the highlights. The summary said "sitting back exhausted we were left with just one question dribbling forth from our gaping jaws. How on earth are they going to top this in the sequel? Because of one thing there can be no doubt. Lara is back." IGN's Keza MacDonald also spoke extremely positively, stating that they felt the game was "exciting" and "beautifully presented", included "great characterization" and "more depth than you would expect". They gave the game an overall score of 9.1 out of 10, the highest score they have given a game in the series since Tomb Raider, describing it as "amazing" and concluding that the game "did justice" to both the character and franchise. Ryan Taljonick of GamesRadar lauded the location's setting and environment, and expressed that "not one area ever feels like a rehash of another". Taljonick also felt that the game had great pacing, and that it is "unrivaled by any other game in the genre". Furthermore, the reviewer considered Lara's character development as "an integral part" of the whole game's experience, and concluded that Tomb Raider "is a fantastic game and an excellent origin story for one of gaming's original treasure seekers". Australian TV show Good Game praised the game: both hosts rated it 10/10. It was the eighth game to receive perfect scores in the show's seven-year run. Giant Bomb gave the game four stars out of five, stating that "Tomb Raider's tone is somewhat at odds with its action, but the reborn Lara Croft seems primed for a successful new adventuring career".
One of the major criticisms of the game stemmed from a disparity between the emotional thrust of the story and the actions of the player, with GameTrailers' Justin Speer pointing out that while the story attempted to characterise Lara Croft as vulnerable and uncomfortable with killing, the player was encouraged to engage enemies aggressively and use brutal tactics to earn more experience points. Speer felt that this paradoxical approach ultimately let the game down as it undermined Lara's character to the point where he found it difficult to identify with her at all. IGN's Keza MacDonald also highlighted the issue, but was less critical of it than Speer, pointing out that both Lara and the player had to adapt quickly to killing in order to survive. However, Game Informer's Matt Miller noted that the game offered the player several options for progressing through its combat situations, and that the player could avoid open conflict entirely if they chose to do so.[106] He also praised the behaviour and presence of the enemies for the way they felt like they had actual tasks to perform on the island, rather than being clusters of polygons whose only function was to be killed by the player in order for them to progress. While on the subject of character development, GamesRadar's Ryan Taljonick expressed that the supporting characters were underdeveloped relative to Lara Croft, describing them as "pretty generic characters who, while rarely annoying, just aren't memorable".
While many reviews applauded the single-player campaign, the multiplayer mode bore the brunt of the game's criticism, with MacDonald, Speer and Miller all finding fault with it, describing it as lackluster and stating that the difference between the developer's vision for the game mode and the finished product made it difficult to enjoy.
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, the game's port to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, were also well received. Review aggregate website Metacritic assigned a score of 85/100 and 86/100 to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, respectively. Game Informer's Matt Helgeson considered the updated graphics at native 1080p resolution as a good addition to the core Tomb Raider experience. He cited mostly negligible differences between the two versions, but noted a smoother frame-rate on the PS4 version. The Escapist's Jim Sterling was less receptive to the Definitive Edition; he praised the visual improvements, but felt that nominal content additions to the single-player experience and the game's price point made it difficult to recommend to players outside of those who had not played the original version. GameZone's Matt Liebl gave Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition a 9/10, stating "Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition was my first time playing Crystal Dynamics' reboot, so I can definitely recommend it for newcomers. As for whether or not it's worth paying full price for the same game with upgraded graphics, well that's something you need to decide."
Controversy
During an interview with Kotaku, executive producer Ron Rosenberg stated that during the game, Lara Croft "gets taken prisoner by scavengers on the island. They try to rape her, and- [...] She's literally turned into a cornered animal. And that's a huge step in her evolution: she's either forced to fight back or die and that's what we're showing today." The suggestion of a possible 'attempted rape' in the game soon caused outrage and controversy.
Studio manager Darrell Gallagher later denied the 'attempted rape' suggestions, stating that one of "the character defining moments for Lara in the game, which has incorrectly been referred to as an 'attempted rape' scene is the content we showed" where "Lara is forced to kill another human for the first time. In this particular selection, while there is a threatening undertone in the sequence and surrounding drama, it never goes any further than the scenes that we have already shown publicly. Sexual assault of any kind is categorically not a theme that we cover in this game." The creative director Noah Hughes later further clarified that they "wanted to create an emotional investment, to draw people into Lara and her point of view [...] We wanted to draw you in, make you care, put you in Lara's shoes and have this be an intense moment you were experiencing with Lara, not from an outsider looking in perspective."
In an interview with story writer Rhianna Pratchett, she explained that the scene wanted to show Lara's reactions, rather than her assailant's actions. Pratchett was critical of the way the game's trailer cut out Lara's reactions to focus on the attack rather than the aftermath, and that when seen out of context, the scene took on an entirely different meaning that was originally intended. Pratchett also expressed dismay that, as a female protagonist, Lara had been misrepresented as a victim of a sexual assault.
Gameplay • Synopsis • Development • Music • Release • Reception • Sequel