Tomb Raider series. Does Shadow of the Tomb Raider bring a new light to the series, or

is it a shadow of its former past? And for us toxophiles, is archery still cool?

As with the previous two Tomb Raider games, Lara has to do everything from the beginning.

Her journey to Peru comes crashing down to earth, and she's left with her trusty recurve

bow. In fact, the bow is the most prominent weapon, with segments of the game locking

Lara into fighting in traditional style, with the bow as her primary weapon, though of course

she has access to her usual arsenal in other segments.

In what is definitely a cornerstone of the series, Lara has to use her bow to hunt animals

for resources and defend against hostile predators. Doing this in the South American rainforest

adds an exotic edge, and it really feels like you are fighting for survival.

Once you encounter the hired guns, the bow becomes your go-to weapon for stealth, important

as your suppressor options for guns are harder and more expensive to come by. Several unlockable

abilities give you familiar skills – shoot arrows in rapid succession, and the overpowered

multi-headshot skill that can instantaneously take out up three enemies. Though, in this

instalment, the less frequent combat sequences and slower shooting speeds tone down Lara's

archery prowess.

Initially, the bow's silent ranged kills kind of make the whole stealth mechanics redundant,

but in later sections enemies have more armour and health, making them more difficult to

take down and triggering an active fight. As mentioned earlier, the flow of combat feels

different. Enemies are more inclined to get up close and personal, forcing you to take

evasive action. The bow feels slower, and with the auto-headshot skill requiring you

to be zoomed in, it's more awkward to fiddle around with, forcing you to take faster body

shots or switch to alternative weapons. I actually don't mind this, as it does balance

out the other items, though this is the first time in the series where I felt that it was

genuinely easier to pull out your assault rifle.

Shadow offers the largest selection of bows yet. While previous games went with a recurve

and compound balance, Lara can obtain numerous recurve bows through missions and merchants.

Weapons are more distinctly specialised in damage and speed, giving players some more

flexibility in how they want to approach combat. Upgrades are back too – by gathering resources,

Lara can improve the stats of each weapon.

Honestly, these traditional bows look really, really nice. I'd collect these in real life

if they were made.

As far as tools and function go, things seemed…toned down. Lara has the usual ability to make ziplines

and use rope arrows to solve puzzles, though few areas require creative use of the bow

to progress, which is a bit disappointing. That's...actually it for environmental interaction.

Lara has three specialised arrows. Fire arrows return, though there's really no point in

the game when you want to use it apart from burning the occasional barrier. Poison arrows

have been upgraded to lure arrows – the target is dispatched and nearby enemies are

drawn in by obnoxious beeper, causing the arrow to detonate its poison cloud, making

this a very useful option for stealth sections since you can defeat armoured enemies with little effort.

The newest tool is the Fear arrow, which causes the target to shoot at other enemies. This

is my favourite arrow to use, not just because it's useful in neutralising patrols, but

because it's funny to watch.

Lara also gains the ability to use arrows to hang enemies from trees, which really adds

to the "Predator" edge that the game portrays Lara to be. With a wide range of abilities

and tools, Lara has all she needs to survive in this jungle paradise. Except…

Normally I don't go into detail about reviewing the game itself and focus instead on the archery

specific elements, but there are a few things about Shadow that flatten the experience.

The focus has clearly shifted to exploration and, well, tomb raiding. This also means much

less emphasis on combat, and the stealth sequences are paced out…but perhaps a bit too much.

One of the common complaints is that the game doesn't feature much combat, and with that

in mind, the bows don't really feel that useful. Craft a few arrows, and the stealth

sections are too easy. But the pacing also means you forget that you can use the tools

you have. The tree-hanging ability seems useful, but it's the last thing you think of, since

you can usually snipe the lone sentry from the ground or use a special arrow.

Combat is clumsier with more melee-focused fighters, so your bow isn't very useful

and you end up scurrying away until you unlock the dodge kill ability – which we've learned

twice already in previous games.

Ironically, despite the traditional setting, it's almost always better to use firearms,

even if you have to go loud. Again, the claustrophobic environments and in-your-face arrow sponges

don't feel rewarding to play.

This isn't to say that Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a bad game. It's very appealing

and many fans will like the new setting, though I personally didn't enjoy the exploration

focus and pacing as much. The archer side of me didn't really enjoy this particular

instalment compared to the previous two games. Despite a rainforest being an ideal environment

for a rogue archer, Shadow doesn't quite hit the mark.

Anyway, this is NUSensei. As usual, shoot straight and aim for your best.