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Tomb Raider Game Of The Year Edition 2014 PC Game Download

Rating: "Mature"

Score: 3.5 stars (out of 4)

IGN rating 9.1 star ( out of 10 )

Winner Of Over 40 E3 Award

In case you missed last year's return of Tomb Raider – the much-hyped reboot of the successful franchise – you can pick up an enhanced version of the adventure for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC.

At $60, the price might be steep for a year-old game with better visuals and a bit of extra content, but if you overlooked this underrated 2013 thriller, it's definitely worth playing today.

Developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition serves as a prequel, of sorts. A young and inexperienced Lara Croft evolves into a hardened warrior as she fights to stay alive on a deadly island. In fact, the game begins with Croft tied up and hanging upside-down in a cave, left for dead. You must find a way to break free, make your way by torchlight in darkened caverns, outrun falling boulders and jump across huge chasms – all within the first 10 minutes of gameplay.

Though fun, much of the action at the beginning of the game involves "quick time events," where you're tasked with pressing a button rapidly or pushing an analog stick in a given direction at a precise time for the animated sequence to play out. Like many gamers, I'm not a fan of these as it's not exactly interactive – rather, it has all been scripted for you and simply requires the right triggers. Fortunately, the gameplay picks up significantly about an hour in, after the shipwrecked Lara begins to master her bow and pistol skills (against man and beast alike), as well as acrobatically navigating the island and discovering secret tombs.

As in previous Tomb Raider games, there's plenty of combat, many environmental puzzles and characters to interact with. The plot is good, too, and takes some twists and turns, which give your actions some meaning and purpose. The developer did a great job setting up Lara as a curious and daring archaeologist.

Just like the 2013 version, multiplayer is the game's weakest link, with uninspiring maps and modes. But the Definitive Edition does include last year's optional downloadable content (DLC) already bundled on the disc (or in the digital download), which includes a few more multiplayer options, weapons and new characters to play as. At the very least, it's something to play with your online friends after you've finished the gripping single-player campaign.

Along with the added DLC, this remixed Tomb Raider includes digital versions of the Dark Horse comic, a Brady Games mini-art book and the Final Hours developer videos.

The new game's 1080p HD visuals are, in a word, gorgeous. Played on an Xbox One, you can really see the graphical improvement over the Xbox 360 version. According to Square Enix, the Definitive Edition includes an all-new Lara model, including TRESS FX technology that delivers flowing hair motion, and reworked lighting and shading to showcase Lara's brutal fight for survival – including realistic-looking blood, sweat and mud on her face and body. The environment has also undergone a makeover, including better-looking weather, cloth and trees; all textures have been created at four times the resolution for added detail.

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Window PC

Genre: Action/Adventure

Developer: Crystal Dynamics

Publisher: Square Enix

Website: tombraider.com

System Req

OS: Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista, 7,8 (32bit/64bit)

Processor: Dual core CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 2.1 Ghz (4050 +), Intel Core2 Duo 1.86 Ghz (E6300)

Memory: 1GB Memory (2GB on Vista)

Graphics: DirectX 9 graphics card with 512Mb RAM Video: AMD Radeon HD the 2600th XT, nVidia 8600

DirectX ®: 9.0c