Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Forge review – Forging forward

Shadow of the Tomb Raider‘s first DLC, The Forge, is short but packs a lot of potential for future DLC.

Title: Shadow of the Tomb Raider – The Forge
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Square Enix
Platforms: Xbox One (version reviewed), PC, PS4
Release Date: November 13, 2018

It has been more than two months since Shadow of the Tomb Raider has released and it has just received its first DLC. The Forge is the first of seven monthly content drops and it gives us a great preview at what we can expect from the remaining six. The Forge adds a brand new challenge tomb, a few new outfits and weapons, and a new side mission. Even though the new content doesn’t provide several more hours of gameplay, it sure does inject a lot more fun into the already amazing Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

First off, the new side mission strikes a spark of interest into a side character within the main game. Abigaile Ortiz serves as a supporting character and a love interest of Jonah. Abigaile and Laura team up in this side mission to tackle a secret message Abigaile’s grandmother has left her. I found this side mission compelling. It gave a greater look into a character I craved more of within the main story so I was excited to see her come to the forefront.

What makes Abigaile even better within this new story is she is playable. The new challenge tomb not only spices things up with lava but cooperative play too. You and another friend can team up to tackle this difficult tomb which I recommend. This challenge tomb served to be one of the more difficult tombs in the game. Playing with a friend was beneficial and fun as we coordinated one what to do next. Getting to the tomb also provides two different paths for both us to try out giving each of us a unique experience.

When playing alone, I found myself clunkily trying to progress throughout when another person would have significantly helped my progression. Nonetheless, the challenge tomb serves to be a challenge as it should. The lava doesn’t necessarily play into the tomb directly but serves as more of a backdrop. I would have liked to interact with it more than just falling to my death in it, but it was still pretty to look at.

The new weapons and outfits are great additions to the already expansive collection. However, if you have already completed the game’s main story then these new sets of equipment will serve as only collectibles to look at. The Forge DLC doesn’t add any new enemies and there is only a small sequence of combat so I was barely able to use the new weapons. The outfits do provide great boosts and would serve very beneficial in the main storyline.

A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.