Rise of the Tomb Raider: Cold Darkness Awakened (DLC) Review

Stay quiet, stay alive.

Rise of the Tomb Raider has seen its final bit of DLC released, and I’m not exactly sure how I feel about the entire season pass worth of content. It’s not to say it isn’t fun nor interesting, as each one does something different. One is about survival, another story driven, and now this one a bit more waves based with zombie-like creatures attacking Lara in the dark. So it’s not to say there isn’t variation, but it just simply isn’t enough.

Cold Darkness isn’t a story driven extra campaign as the Baba Yaga. As in it’s not integrated into the core single player game, here we see it under the expeditions mode. Yet it has story elements while you play, a bit confusing I must admit. That what sort of gives me the wrong feeling about both this and the previous DLC. It feels as if these are stripped out DLC or missions that were perhaps at one point in time side missions in the core campaign. Nothing here feels like it is significant DLC.

colddarkness

MSRP: $9.99
Platform: PC
Price I’d Pay: $2
Multiplayer: N/A
How long to beat: 1 hour

It’s completely fine as far as gameplay goes, and if players really enjoyed Rise of the Tomb Raider’s core gameplay mechanics, those still shine. This time Lara is in the dark mostly, armed with a flash light, set to do some minor radio/lever puzzles and rescue hostages. It works and gives the game a completely different feel due to the crazy and zombie like nature of the enemies this time. They are wild and rabid, and something has turned them into these crazy beasts. It feels like an extension or side effect of the problems that occurred in Baba Yaga, but it’s negated to this extra mode.

I will admit, Lara having to be quiet, sneak around and avoiding creating extra nose is thrilling and tense at times. When the tension gets high and the bullets go flying, expect the zombie-like enemies to storm Lara, sometimes relentlessly. It’s these wild moments that give me the biggest satisfaction of gameplay. The puzzles are simple enough, but if players fail and the alarms go off, it’s time to stand ground and defend.

Cold Darkness is another fun DLC release, but again it’s one that won’t last players long. If you prefer to play these extra modes over and over again, it’s considerably worth checking out. Yet that’s the problem; these feel as if they should have been in the core game or in an extra menu or bonus mode at launch. The combat in Tomb Raider is thrilling and engaging, but it’s not ultimately what people seem to play Tomb Raider for. It’s a combination of exploration, fighting, puzzles, and atmosphere. All the DLC offer these in bites size chunks, but it’s simply too little, too late.

Review copy of game provided by publisher. Primary play on PC.

Good
  • Retains fun combat
  • New zombie like enemies
Bad
  • Lacking longevity
  • DLC that feels tacked on
6
Decent
Written by
Justin is a long time passionate fan of games, not gaming drama. He loves anything horror related, archaeology inspired adventures, RPG goodness, Dr Pepper, and of course his family. When it comes to crunch time, he is a beast, yet rabies free we promise.