Which is not to say the mechanical side of Shadow of the Tomb Raider is without problems.

Even now, I feel drawn to hit 100 percent-hoover up those last few icons, and for what? 86 percent’s way more side content than I’d usually do in an open world game, which tells me Shadow’s doing something right on that front. That’s my long way of saying: I played Shadow of the Tomb Raider for 20 hours and reached credits with an 86 percent completion rate. If there’s a path, chances are there’s something to find at the end of it. Over three games Tomb Raider has become an expert at micro-dosing dopamine. Shadow resembles nothing more than a theme park, the most extravagant log chute ride of your life.

It flows, almost mindless at times as you glide from collectible to collectible. I’d actually argue Shadow of the Tomb Raider is better than Rise in this respect, insofar as Shadow’s map is a lot more cohesive than its predecessor’s mid-game environment change. It isn’t exciting per se, but the formula works.

Shadow of the tomb raider tombs