You Need To Play The First Two "Tomb Raider" Games Before You Play "Tomb Raider: Shadow of the Tomb"

If you haven't been keeping up with the remake for "Tomb Raider", then you are missing out!

Watch out for a few spoilers.

Generally, I am not the type to tell others that they have to play the other games so you can play the newest, but, these games are worth playing both games before the third. It's like when there's a really great movie out, but you can't appreciate it as much if you haven't seen the ones that come before it.

There are a few reasons for this, but the biggest one is the consistency. In the first game, Lara goes from a naive girl who doesn't know what she is doing to a total badass who kicks ass and takes names. In the second game, Lara has already learned to shoot first and ask questions later. She knows how to hold her breath longer so she can take more precise shots, something that in the first game you would have to buy it in the skill section.

When I realized that they were keeping everything this tightly connected, I screamed with joy. Often games will have moments wherein the first game the characters feel one way then do a 180 to the other side. Looking at you "Uncharted", which has characters like Elena who on the one hand is excited about the adventure, then in the next game thinks it's too dangerous. It's not just her, Nathan Drake, the main character, is the same. That's so annoying.

However, the "Tomb Raider" games don't do this. It is one consistent series. And I believe they will continue it with the third game. There is no proper way to explain how great it feels to know how to blow past the tutorial since you got this. All video games should be that way - for the sake of die-hard fans.

The story is also another reason that I am so excited for the continuation. Something that the movie did extremely poorly, which no one was really surprised by, was the plot. Lara grew up in the game - in both games - but in the film, there was no character development. None. Whats more frustrating is that there were like three characters besides Lara. Especially concerning the whole movie. I wouldn't have minded if the film changed characters or added new ones, but what made the second game so great was the nods to the last game and the characters. After all, it is the characters who make the story. They are the one thing we absolutely want to be consistent.

I hope the third game continues this, and that they don't forget the best part of the game wasn't kicking ass and taking names, although to be honest, I loved it, it was watching Lara grow into the badass from the original games.

The newest game comes out on September 11, 2018, so there is definitely enough time to play the games yourself or watch someone else play it! I recommend you do!