Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration Pack Review

"Blood Ties"

Campaign

Lara Croft has been around a long time at this point and to celebrate they've done a special release for Rise of the Tomb Raider on Playstation 4. That version comes bundled with everything, though Xbox and PC users need to grab this extra content separately.

That's what I'll be going over in this 20 Year Celebration Pack that adds a brief episode called Blood Ties and a new zombie themed expedition. Continuing the main story you start in Croft Manor which has been set to be lost to Lara's relative and she's determined to prove that this estate belongs to her. This will require you to venture through a small portion of the manor in what's more of a story based campaign instead of offering any puzzles or combat positions.

I found this to be mostly fine as I love the story of the Tomb Raider games and it was nice to see it getting fleshed out further in this episode. While it wasn't particularly complex or long there are many items to collect with most of them actually directly adding to the story and giving Lara's family a proper conclusion.

The other part of the this pack is the Lara's Nightmare Expedition which takes the Croft Manor and has it invaded by mystical zombie like creatures. It was quite creepy in design though not at all what I had hoped for being ultimately disappointing.

You basically just walk around looking for three skulls, grabbing weapons along the way and battling a large skull at the end. I was expecting a more survival based mode and the short little expedition was not even worth it. It's also difficult as well with the tight corners and the many closely packed zombies.

The Conclusion

The 20 Year Celebration Pack was a welcomed conclusion to what was an amazing Tomb Raider game. It's not particularly long though it does help build Lara's story and we finally get to see the Croft manor.

Many will also find this pack to be considerably different from the main game as it doesn't pack the same adventure you're used to as it's more focused on expanding the story. I found the Lara's Nightmare Expedition to be somewhat useless though a small adventure for you to partake in.

There was certainly great premise there for a fun survival mode though it just wasn't executed in an exciting way. The Blood Ties episode was well done adding a different side of Lara Croft though it was short and not as exciting as many will be used to.

Rise of the Tomb Raider Review on Xbox One

Rating Overall: 7.0