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When, just before Christmas last year, developers from Feral Interactive announced that they would be bringing a port of Crystal Dynamics' computer-console game Tomb Raider to iPhones and iPads in February of this year, I must admit that I was really happy about this news. Tomb Raider is one of my favorite game series, and I really enjoyed the latest installments on the Xbox Series X. I was all the more curious to see how Feral would handle the port of the game, and especially the conversion for touch controls. So, when the developers sent me a review code a few days ago to try the game out in advance, I didn't hesitate for a minute and fully immersed myself in the world of exploring tombs, but also fighting for my life. But was it worth it?
The new Tomb Raider is running on iPhoneiPhone XS and later, or iPad 10th generation and later, mini 6th generation and later, Air 4 and later or Pro 3 and later. I played the game on an iPad 10 and an iPhone 17 Pro, and I could play one storyline on both devices at the same time without any problems, since Feral did not forget about the possibility of synchronizing progress via iCloud. In other words, if you take an hour in the morning on your way to work on your mobile phone, you can continue working on your iPad where you left off on your mobile phone, which is absolutely great for me. Of course, each device can have its own settings that take into account performance, screen size, and so on. So really, only the story is synchronized.
Console-like graphics modes
I have to give a very positive review of the customization options available for the port. You can choose from both performance and graphics modes, which we know from the current generation of consoles, but there is also performance + for the iPad Pro M1 and M2 and even a battery saving mode, which focuses on a smooth gaming experience with the lowest possible energy consumption. As for the controls, of course, in addition to the touch control on the display, there is the option to play the game with a mouse/trackpadwith a keyboard or gamepad.
I primarily played directly on the display, because I found it really enjoyable and intuitive, especially thanks to the ability to customize the individual controls. And when I say intuitive, I mean really intuitive - in the game settings you have the option to move the virtual control buttons exactly as your fingers like, so once you put everything together according to your needs, you are suddenly able to fully enjoy even such a fast-paced and sometimes a bit difficult to control game.
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What really pleased me was the wide range of supported languages. In addition to the classics like francUzbek, German, Spanish, Italian, English, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Czech, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, and traditional Chinese are also available. Of course, many languages are only available in the form of subtitles, but even so, your native language will definitely be a pleasure in such a high-quality game.
Of course, it would be completely stupid of me to describe the game's plot, because you would then enjoy it even less. Rather than insensitively spoiler anything here, I will just write that in terms of the story, this is a rather interesting game, which can sometimes seem a bit repetitive, but thanks to the nice graphics, you can easily forgive the occasional repetitive actions. The gameplay itself is then, for me personally, absolutely fantastic, especially on devices with a larger display, on which the entire game environment is logically easier to see, which you will appreciate especially during various shootouts or chases with enemies. And if you really play with the well-designed controls, then know that you are in for a truly immersive experience that will tear you away from your surroundings for many hours.
Do you play on an iPhone or iPad? Both have their charms
If I were to evaluate playing on an iPad vs. an iPhone, I would evaluate it quite simply – each device has its own and because of that, playing on it is a little different. While on the iPad I enjoyed the game thanks to the large display, which revealed the details of the title to me in all their glory (even on a mere LCD display, which the iPad 10 has), in the case of the iPhone one had to be content with “only” a smaller display (albeit OLED), but there was also haptic feedback available, which added another interesting dimension to the gameplay. The combination of these devices thanks to synchronization via iCloud then shifts the gaming experience to a level of comfort that we could not have imagined some time agochat just dream
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The evaluation of the graphics of the game as such is generally quite a feat, and in this case it is doubly true. First of all, we are talking about a mobile port, which will have to be slightly trimmed, but mainly we are talking about a port of a game that was released at the beginning of 2013 and will celebrate its 13th birthday in a few weeks, which is already a lot of time in the gaming world. However, I dare say that it is not very visible on Lara and despite its advanced age, it is a very graphically successful game that looks really nice. When using the performance mode, the game also runs at 60fps without any major frame rate drops, so smoothness is guaranteed.
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The summary is clear – go for it!
I also evaluate the game from the perspective of a player who already played it completely on the Xbox Series X in combination with a 65" OLED TV a few years ago, and I'm not afraid to say that I now enjoy it more or less the same on the iPhone or iPad. In terms of gameplay, it's a really good piece, the title is also good in terms of graphics, and when I add to all that an interesting story with twists that you wouldn't expect, I get a title that certainly deserves its attention. So if you like adventure, then definitely give the mobile port of Tomb Raider a try.anci.
Tomb Raider is coming out on iOS and iPadOS on February 12th for a price of 359 CZK.
It was a great episode on Xbox, I definitely recommend it =)