Rise of the Tomb Raider
Alex the Kidd, Gamers of the Round Table

Lara Croft has returned to PlayStation with her 20 Year Celebration edition of Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix’s Rise of the Tomb Raider. The follow up to 2013’s Tomb Raider, fans have been eagerly awaiting the next installment of the rebooted franchise, and now after a year-long wait, PS4 owners can experience Lara’s next adventure; does Rise of the Tomb Raider live up to the twenty year legacy of this award winning franchise, or is it a failed expedition that could derail the progress its predecessor set?
The Good
Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration is packaged with concept art from the creators and fan art submitted in celebration of twenty years of Lara Croft. Along with this collection of art, the game comes with every add-on available during the first year of its release, and new content as well. This includes VR support for “Blood Ties”, new “Ultimate Survivor” difficulty mode, new outfit and gun inspired by Tomb Raider III, 5 classic Lara skins, Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch, Endurance Mode, Cold Darkness Awakened, 12 outfits, 7 weapons, and 35 Expedition cards. With all of the additional content offered, players can feel good about paying full price for a game that is technically a year old; in the end you actually save money compared to those who bought the Xbox 1 copy last year and then purchased all of the subsequent DLC afterwards.
The story in this game is a proper continuation from where we last left off. Players see the aftermath of the previous adventure where a survivor was born, and the ripples it created in Lara’s life. The adventure progresses at a steady pace, and no plot-point is left unresolved.
The emphasis on resource gathering is a welcome addition, forcing players to hunt, forage, and look for supplies to upgrade their weapons and gear. Players must also gather collectables to increase their knowledge of ancient languages in order to find valuable artifacts. This game keeps the player from having anything handed to them, forcing them to earn the valuables they seek.
The Bad
The inability to blind-fire from behind cover becomes a problem as the amount of combat Lara is subjected to increases; when enemies are both running to your position and firing from a distance, the battles can feel aggravating, especially for those playing on survivor or ultimate survivor mode. The brutality seems toned down compared to the last installment, and while many may enjoy the lack of graphic visuals, it was a major component of the rebooted franchise – this isn’t your old Tomb Raider game, and this isn’t Lara Croft as you’ve experienced her before.
Lack of dual-wielding pistols; at the conclusion of Tomb Raider, Lara defeats the final boss by firing two pistols simultaneously as an homage to the classic weapons of choice that have populated the series since the first game. While this is about the beginnings of Lara Crofts journey, this installment didn’t even offer a nudge to the classic weapons. The end of the last game insinuated that we would see a development in Lara’s arsenal, but players are left with more of the same from the previous installment.
Rating
10 – Rise of the Tomb Raider is a welcome addition to an already amazing franchise, not only continuing the journey set out from the 2013 reboot, but standing on its own as an excellent Tomb Raider game. This Lara Croft is a very human character, and while she isn’t the dual-wielding badass she was in previous years, it’s clear to see that she is well on her way. The 20 Year Celebration Edition for PS4 is the complete experience and then some, providing everything a gamer could want and more in a full-priced game. This game is the reason for owning a PS4.

Hangar 13 brings us the next installment of the Mafia franchise with Mafia 3: does this third installment become the Don, or does it get buried with the fishes?
Mafia 3 takes place in 1968 in the southern United States city of New Bordeaux, a re-creation of New Orleans. You play as Lincoln Clay, a bi-racial Vietnam veteran and orphan who never felt like he belonged anywhere. Returning from the war you fall back in with the only family you’ve ever known (the black mob), and find out that your family is in debt to the Italian mob and it has to be repaid. When you pull off a job with the Italians to repay the debt they betray you and leave you for dead. Clay sets out on a revenge mission to take down Sal Marcano, his family, and his empire.
Mafia 3 is an open world third-person shooter that does some things well and others not so much. In Mafia 3 you will recruit three different capos: Cassandra, the leader of the Haitian gang, Vito Scaletta, an exiled member of the Italian Mafia from empire bay, and Burke, leader of the Irish mob who also lost his son because of the Marcanos.
There are a total of ten districts to control and each district has a certain crime syndicate that you must take over; you can destroy their supplies, interrogate the informants, or kill the leaders and enforcers. By the 5th district it becomes a bit tedious as you do the same thing over and over again, and going the extra mile more than you need to just to get more money. Taking over rackets allows you to assign one of your capos to run the racket and will allow a bigger kickback to you. Once an entire district is taken over and the boss is killed, you then have a sit down with your capos and assign one of them to the district which will unlock a new perk for you.
The driving in this game feels smooth, with the muscle cars pulling tight corners with a nice drift. Unfortunately, the cars in the game are not licensed.
Mafia 3 is good, but does not keep you interested for more than 20 hours. The soundtrack is fantastic, filled with classic rock and roll, jazz and country from the 50’s and 60’s. The unfortunate thing about the game is that it becomes very repetitive with each district, the collectibles are a bit tedious, and the world that was so alive during the time of the 60’s seems a bit dull. However, you can’t help but continue to see how the story unfolds as you attempt to collect as much money as possible.
Pros: story, time period, character development, writing, soundtrack
Cons: glitches, mechanics, repetitive, lifeless environment and collectibles.
Mafia 3: 8/10
Reviewed by ICE at Gamers of the Round Table

To rent or purchase Mafia 3 go to Gameaccess.ca Canadas number one video game rental service

Gears of War 4
It’s time for a review on a large game that everyone (err… most people) have had their eyes on – it’s time to get gruesome with the newest installment of the Gears series. Let’s find out if it’s worthy of that name or if it puts the series to shame.
Story: now admittedly, I am brand new to the series so many aspects of this game or throwbacks are either brand new to me or go over my head. But I think I get the main idea of the story, many people are getting snatched away by creatures being called “The Swarm”. You play as Marcus Fenix’s son James, who is trying to rescue some of the crew. Later on you learn that these “Swarm” have some sort of connection with the old enemies called “The Locust”, however we don’t learn a whole lot in this game as it feels the developers are setting up for the story to really take place in a future installment.
Gameplay: this game handles extremely well. It strongly urges the use of using cover as often as possible and the weapons while varied all feel incredibly satisfying to use. Whether killing an enemy by filling them with bullets or ripping them in half with a chainsaw, you’ll be right at home no matter the weapon you enjoy using.
Conclusion: this game is really enjoyable. It was well worth the price and I am always eager to get in and try out the multiplayer modes in the game. The story mode while not being short didn’t feel like it dragged on too long, nor did I feel like it was ever a chore playing the game.
That being said I personally didn’t personally enjoy the three Fabricator segments in the story which are essentially wave survival modes.
Score: while this game does do a lot of things right, it is not without its flaws. The Fabricator sections feel like they breakup the story a bit too much and at times just feel forced on the player. As for the story, while being amazing, feels a bit like filler to prepare for a future game. I give this game a score of 7/10 (note: this score is purely personal opinion and you should try the game for yourself before passing judgement)