Lara Croft has a problem. Well, she has many, but in the 2018 release of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, her biggest issue isn't a secret society or a collapsing cave. It's herself. Most people remember the "Survivor Trilogy" for the 2013 gritty reboot or the snowy vistas of Rise, but Shadow is where Eidos-Montréal actually let Lara be the disaster she was always destined to be.
It’s messy.
The game kicks off in Cozumel, Mexico, during the Day of the Dead. It’s vibrant and loud. Then Lara steals a dagger—the Dagger of Chak Chel—and accidentally triggers a literal Mayan apocalypse. You watch a tsunami level a town. You see a child fall to his death because Lara was too focused on "stopping Trinity" to realize she was the one pulling the pin on the grenade. It’s a heavy start for a game that many critics at the time called "more of the same."
Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the weight of the "White Savior" trope
Let’s be honest. The franchise has always struggled with the optics of a wealthy British woman raiding indigenous graves. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the first time the series actually looks Lara in the face and asks, "What are you even doing?"
The narrative lead, Jill Murray, didn't shy away from making Lara unlikable. There’s a specific scene where Jonah, her long-suffering best friend, finally snaps. He tells her that not everything is about her family or her vendetta. It’s a jarring moment. You’ve spent two games playing as this superhero-adjacent archaeologist, and suddenly the game tells you that you’re being a selfish brat.
This tension defines the middle act in Paititi. Paititi is this massive, hidden city in the Peruvian jungle. It's the largest hub the series has ever seen. Some players hated it because it forces you to slow down. You can’t just sprint through wearing tactical gear; you have to wear local garments and talk to the people. It’s a tonal shift that feels clunky to some but essential to others. If you’re looking for a pure shooter, you’re in the wrong place. This game is about the jungle.
The gameplay shift: Stealth and tombs over gunfights
If you go back and play Rise of the Tomb Raider, there are a lot of forced combat arenas. You enter a room, the doors lock, and you have to kill twenty guys with assault rifles. Shadow of the Tomb Raider pivots hard away from that.
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The jungle is a character. You can cover Lara in mud to hide from thermal goggles. You can string enemies up from trees like a predator. Honestly, it feels more like Metal Gear Solid or Batman: Arkham than a traditional platformer at times. The "Fear" arrows are a highlight—hit a guard with one, and he starts hallucinating, shooting his own allies before dying of a heart attack. It’s dark. It’s arguably the darkest the character has ever been, which fits the "Shadow" title perfectly.
But the tombs? That's where the game shines.
The developers listened to the feedback that the previous games were too easy. In Shadow, you can actually customize the difficulty of the puzzles independently from the combat. If you turn the puzzle difficulty to "Hard," Lara stops talking to herself. She won't give you hints. The white paint on the ledges—the "video game breadcrumbs" we all hate—disappears. You actually have to look at the environment. You have to understand the mechanics of the weights and the pulleys.
Why the Paititi Hub is polarizing
- It's huge. Like, "get lost for three hours" huge.
- The side quests are hit or miss. Some give deep lore about the Inca and Maya, others are "find my lost dice."
- The outfit restriction is annoying. You can't wear your cool DLC outfits in the city for "immersion" reasons.
I’ve spent hours just wandering the markets in Paititi. The sound design is incredible. You hear the hushed whispers of people worried about the cult of Kukulkan. It feels lived-in. However, the disconnect between Lara’s high-tech gear and this ancient civilization is always there, bubbling under the surface. It’s a weird game. It’s a game that wants to be an epic blockbuster but also a quiet character study.
Technical mastery and the Peruvian Jungle
Even years after its release, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a benchmark for PC performance. It was one of the first games to really showcase Ray Traced shadows. If you have a modern GPU, the way light filters through the jungle canopy is breathtaking.
The "Cenotes" level is a masterclass in horror. It’s damp, claustrophobic, and filled with "The Yaaxil"—these terrifying, screeching creatures that aren't quite human. The game shifts from a jungle trek to a survival horror experience in a heartbeat. It’s stressful. My palms were sweating the first time I had to dive into the murky water, knowing something was down there with me.
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The underwater sections are actually good here. Usually, underwater levels are the worst part of any game. But in Shadow, they use them to build tension. You have to hide in seagrass from piranhas. You have to find air pockets. It’s not about swimming fast; it's about not being seen.
What people get wrong about the ending
I won't spoil the literal final button press, but the "end" of Trinity—the shadowy organization that killed Lara's dad—is a bit of a letdown for some. Trinity has been this looming threat for three games, and their resolution feels a bit rushed.
But the game isn't really about Trinity.
It’s about Lara accepting that she can’t fix the past. The whole game is a metaphor for grief. The "Shadow" is the part of her that wants to control everything, to dig up every secret regardless of the cost. By the end, she’s not the "Survivor" anymore. She’s the Tomb Raider. There’s a difference. The Survivor reacts; the Tomb Raider acts with intention.
Actionable insights for your first (or fifth) playthrough
If you're picking this up on a Steam sale or through a subscription service, don't play it like an action game. You'll get bored.
1. Crank the puzzle difficulty to Max.
This is the only way to play. It forces you to actually be an archaeologist. You have to read the murals. You have to look at the architecture. It makes every solved tomb feel like a genuine achievement rather than a checklist item.
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2. Focus on the "Serpent" skill tree first.
The combat in this game is built around stealth. Don't bother with the high-damage rifle skills early on. Get the skills that let you craft lure traps and use the environment. The "Jaguar’s Fear" skill is a game-changer for crowd control.
3. Don't skip the DLC Tombs.
Usually, DLC is just extra fluff. In Shadow, the seven DLC tombs are arguably better than the ones in the main game. They are massive, complex, and have some of the best platforming sequences in the entire trilogy. "The Path Home" and "The Nightmare" are particularly standout.
4. Talk to the NPCs.
Unlike the previous games where NPCs just gave you "go here, kill that" missions, the people in Paititi and Kuwaq Yaku often unlock entire hidden areas or provide context for the murals you’re finding. It fills out the map in a way that feels organic.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a strange, dark, and beautiful conclusion to Lara’s origin story. It’s not as "fun" as Rise, but it’s much more meaningful. It dares to make its protagonist a villain for a few hours just to see if she can climb back out of the hole she dug for herself.
If you want to experience the game at its best, turn off the HUD, put on a pair of high-quality headphones, and get lost in the Peruvian mud. Just watch out for the piranhas. They’re meaner than the guys with the guns.