Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Tomb Raider starts by making you feel underpowered and uncomfortable, which is exactly why its first stretch works. You pick through a hostile island as Lara learns to hunt, climb, and survive, and each small upgrade gives the next encounter a little more confidence. It is a smart way to make an origin story playable rather than merely telling you that its hero has become tougher.

Before long, the game settles into a fast third-person action rhythm: explore a stretch of ruins or wilderness, scramble up a dangerous route, collect useful salvage, and fight through the next hostile group. The bow is the star early on, rewarding patience and a clean shot, while later weapons make battles much louder and more direct. That escalation is exciting, though it also means the survival mood of the opening gives way to a much more combat-heavy adventure.

The optional tombs are welcome breaks from the shooting, asking you to look around and solve contained environmental puzzles instead of simply following the next waypoint. Tomb of the Lost Adventurer is therefore a worthwhile inclusion in this edition. The bundled Agility Skill, Animal Instinct, Headshot Reticule, Pistol Burst, Pistol Silencer, and Combat Strike Pack add more to experiment with, but the campaign’s core flow is already strong enough that none of them feels essential.

Graphics

The island remains a striking place to roam, shifting between battered wreckage, dense outdoor paths, old ruins, and imposing cliffside spaces. Lara’s battered appearance and the harsh weather help sell the danger early on, while the close third-person camera keeps every climb and narrow escape immediate.

Its cinematic framing is often at its best when you are crossing a precarious structure or looking out over a large section of the island. During crowded fights, the camera can feel tighter and less helpful, but it rarely loses the sense that Lara is pushing through a place built to hurt her.

Story

This is Lara Croft before the assured globe-trotting persona many fans know. A shipwreck strands her on Yamatai, and the story follows her desperate effort to survive, find her friends, and understand the island’s dangerous inhabitants. That simple setup gives the game a strong forward pull, especially in its first half.

The best story beat is the gradual change in Lara herself. She begins frightened and overwhelmed, then becomes more decisive because the island leaves her no other choice. You can feel that shift in the way she moves through the world and handles escalating danger, which makes the action feel tied to the character rather than pasted onto an unrelated plot.

The supporting cast and the island’s mysteries do not land with the same force as Lara’s personal journey, and the story occasionally rushes from one major danger to the next. Still, it delivers an effective, propulsive adventure. If you want the older, more solitary puzzle-raiding side of the series, this reboot’s emphasis on survival and spectacle may take adjustment; if you want a strong modern action origin story, it is easy to get swept along.

Overall Experience

Tomb Raider is a confident reboot because it understands how to make progress feel good. The first hour gives you tension, the middle lets you enjoy growing stronger, and the later chapters cash that growth in through large action sequences. Some of the quieter atmosphere gets buried beneath the mounting gunfire, but the campaign rarely loses its momentum.

This Benelux Limited Edition makes the most sense if you are buying the game fresh and want the included Explorer Pack, Tomb of the Lost Adventurer, and the other add-ons in a single regional release. Treat the extras as bonuses around an already worthwhile campaign, rather than as a radically different edition of Tomb Raider.

It is an easy recommendation for anyone who likes cinematic action-adventures with climbing, exploration, and a character arc you can feel in your hands. Collectors comparing the series’ special releases may also want to look at Tomb Raider: Underworld (Limited Edition), but this is the more energetic, accessible place to start for a modern Lara Croft adventure.

Retro Replay Score

8/10