Yes, this is a Tomb Raider game, but maybe not of the kind you’ve seen before.
Lara Croft GO takes the dusty tombs, puzzles and combat you’d expect and reconfigures it all into a brilliant puzzle game.
You move Lara by swiping to move from point-to-point, avoiding enemies and dodging obstacles. You’ll often need to turn traps and scenery into weapons, or pick up spears and other projectiles that have been dropped strategically onto the field of play.
Swipe by swipe, you must plan Lara’s movements carefully – it gets tough quickly. In fact, after the first batch of tutorial-style stages, it’s rare that you’ll run through a level on your first attempt.
Experimenting with different ways to navigate these trap-laden tombs is what this game is all about – and it leads to some hugely satisfying ‘Eureka!’ moments.
It looks lovely, too. As Lara and her enemies move around the clean isometric stages, GO looks like a board game come to life. And there’s a huge amount to enjoy here – over 115 puzzles split across seven chapters, in fact.
Lara Croft GO is a masterful retooling of what makes Tomb Raider games great, executed perfectly on iPhone and iPad. Essential stuff.