Shadow of the Tomb Raider, guide to the Nine Tombs of the Challenge

Page 1: Shadow of the Tomb Raider, guide to the Nine Tombs of the Challenge

• Page 1: Shadow of the Tomb Raider, guide to the Nine Tombs of Challenge
• Page 2: TOMB OF THE CHALLENGE 1: THE JUDGE'S LOOK
• Page 3: TOMB OF CHALLENGE 2: GATE OF HELL
• Page 4: CHALLENGE TOMB 3: HOWLING CAVES
• Page 5: TOMB OF CHALLENGE 4: TEMPLE OF THE SUN
• Page 6: TOMB OF CHALLENGE 5: SAN CORDOBA
• Page 7: TOMB OF CHALLENGE 6: ANCIENT AQUEDUCT
• Page 8: TOMB OF CHALLENGE 7: PATH OF WAR
• Page 9: TOMB OF CHALLENGE 8: THIRSTY GODS
• Page 10: TOMB OF CHALLENGE 9: TREE OF LIFE

Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the awaited final chapter of the trilogy that tells of a young Lara Croft committed to finding her way and facing the ghosts of the past, is now available for everyone and after being satisfied with it in the review phase we are ready to give you some useful advice on one of the most interesting aspects that Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics have decided to implement - and the one they are, with good reason, most proud of. The Tombs of the Challenge.

Going to rummage among the dead is certainly nothing new for Lara and even in the reboot it is no exception, but if until now the level of challenge has been set very low without being able to involve at a deeper level than simple exploration, this time is significantly different: thanks to the fact that Shadow of the Tomb Raider represents the definitive passage of the young Lara towards the tomb predator that she has always been, the bar has risen not only from an artistic point of view but also from an intellectual point of view.

This time, if you want to aspire to the hidden treasure, you will have to work hard… or skip the process and read the guide we offer you. Before sharing the details, however, a few observations are in order about the fantastic improvement work done by the developers.

If in the two previous titles the tombs were not only simple to solve but even uninspired and, in the long run, monotonous if there was no need to steal their secrets, in Shadow of the Tomb Raider we are witnessing a real change that goes hand in hand with that of Lara. The hopeful and beautiful spaces dedicated to the discovery that they made a great show of themselves in Rise of the Tomb Raider they have been caught and twisted in claustrophobic tunnels, underwater sessions so full of anxiety that you take your breath away as if you were at Lara's poto, caves in which the disturbing echoes of cries that have nothing of human resound, incredible verticality where only by looking down - once you reach the top - you realize how much the game world has expanded.

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Furthermore, this time they will not act as a passive element but will try to kill you whenever the opportunity arises: whether it is by the hand of strange creatures lurking in the dark, structural failures or other, the fact is that there is no really safe place in that. of South America, because when they are not enemies in flesh and blood, nature itself slows down your (and Lara's) greed: pain, death.

From temples buried in the jungle to immense caves, passing through a suggestive and disturbing Spanish sailing ship stranded in a bay surrounded only by the silence of its own dead, the first thing to catch the eye is undoubtedly the quality of the image - which for some particular elements has been treated to perfection, such as water. Having become a fundamental component of the experience thanks to underwater sections and to give a greater sense of realism, the developers have made some changes to the reflections (no longer mirror but deriving from the properties of the liquid themselves) and to the ripples, which generate a very wave effect. convincing when Lara is swimming.

Beyond the more technical aspects, however, as we said it is the artistic level in general to have made incredible progress: following its own title, Shadow of the Tomb Raider brings to the screen a darker and strongly shadow-based experience, showing itself almost more subdued than the previous ones, and perhaps for this reason it strikes.

Everything is more nuanced, lavishly illuminated and shaded; the global lighting follows the previous Rise but overall it is more pleasant and less harsh. Not to mention the sound design, incredibly immersive when it comes to environments so suffocating even in their vastness: creaks, rustles, occasional animal noises but, even worse, a similar sound due to human beings are the icing on the cake of an experience. engaging and well designed also in terms of level design - as you will understand shortly from the guide.

The Tombs of the Challenge represent one of the greatest added values ​​of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, getting as close as possible to the idea of ​​what made the game memorable in the 90s. Their difficulty varies according to the level of progression in the game but they all manage to make you think about the right time, this considering playing Rite of Passage (normal): the possibility of managing the tripartite level of difficulty between exploration, fighting and puzzles is tantalizing enough to motivate you to seek a more complex challenge right from the start.

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