That’s one freaky temple
Rise of The Tomb Raider‘s main campaign, while lengthy, tries to keep its gameplay grounded for the most part in realistic threats. The game’s first story DLC, Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch, turns that on its head, replacing human enemies with ghosts, monsters, and spooky skeletons.
Like the idea of supernatural elements, more difficult challenges and some interesting character development? This DLC is probably going to be a welcome addition to Tomb Raider‘s core plotline.
Rise of the Tomb Raider – Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One [reviewed])
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Square Enix
MSRP: $9.99
Released: January 26, 2016
Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch is a short, story focused piece of Tomb Raider DLC that focuses on creepy supernatural elements, tough environmental puzzles, and exploring the complex relationship between Lara Croft and her father.
Set in the Wicked Vale, a new region exclusive to the DLC, Baba Yaga tasks Lara with hunting down Baba Yaga, a witch who has allegedly terrorised locals for generations. Gone are the enemies that make sense, replaced by ethereal tormentors. While these foes and obstacles may be mechanically very similar to enemies in the base game, they feel very tonally different in practice and work well to emphasise the game’s narrative themes. Oh, and the fact the DLC culminates in an over the top awesome supernatural boss battle, which provides satisfying amounts of conclusion to the plot, is fairly impressive.
While most of the DLC is set in the Wicked Vale, an environment that was fascinating to explore, one section does throw you back into a combat arena from the main game. With the DLC only clocking in at two hours long, it’s disappointing that any of it was retreading old ground.
While the gameplay in Baba Yaga is unchanged from the main game, the difficulty of environmental puzzles is nicely ramped up, paced for progression from the end of the base game. Completing it unlocks a new weapon that fits nicely with the themes of the DLC as a bonus, but the lack of any new post game challenge tombs meant I had very little incentive to try my new weapon out.
So, here’s the deal with Rise of the Tomb Raider‘s newest DLC. If you’re looking for several hours of story content that’s supernatural in nature, yet offers very little additional content post story? Well, Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch is probably your thing. Just be aware it reuses some assets in that two hour length and offers very little in the way of options for using your weapon once the story is over.
[This review is based on a retail build of the game purchased by the reviewer.]
