Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

If you remember Lara Croft as the focal point of a million adolescent fantasies, you haven’t seen her lately. Gone are the skimpy shorts; in their place is a more human, grittier Croft to whom players are expected to relate.

If you've already tackled the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, there's a good chance that this won't be one for you. While there is a bit of spit and polish about the graphics (and that's not an attempt to minimise just what has taken place here), there is little else new to justify buying it again. The story remains essentially the same: Croft must save her friends and escape the island of Yamati, notching up her first kill and creating a harder character. It is showcased in a far prettier box.

The power of the next-gen console is in plain evidence here. Textures in both characters and backgrounds are richer and more realistic, giving the new version a definite advantage over the PS3/Xbox 360 version. Things collapse around you; there’s mud, sweat and probably a few tears.

At times the detail can be a distracting. It’s tough to keep your mind on what you should be doing when you’re marvelling at the physical effect your last skirmish has had on Croft.

It's not all about window dressing, however; this has all the solid gameplay that you'd expect from Tomb Raider , with solid combat.

Kinect has been brought in as well. You can use voice commands to change weapons, or gestures to examine artefacts that Croft picks up along the way. It’s a nice extra, though not really necessary to the gameplay. The downloadable content included with the definitive edition isn’t quite the selling point you’d expect it to be, falling into a similar category as the Kinect features.

Although it doesn't offer anything radically new, the Definitive Edition is the one to go for if you're new to the updated Tomb Raider series, if only for the impact of the updated visuals.