Reviews

• 

  𝐎𝐌𝐍𝟏𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐍

  Jan 11, 2022

  [hr][/hr] [table] [tr] [th][b]MY RATING:[/b][/th] [th][b] 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ✘ [/b][/th] [th][b]9 / 10[/b][/th] [/tr] [/table] The new story mode "Blood Ties" takes place in the Croft mansion, where you can explore the house from your childhood and uncover the family secret. As a [b]relatively short story[/b], the focus is solely on exploring and solving puzzles, and I found the story to be a successful change from the main game. [b]And now I know that Lara can't draw tigers 👍[/b] Personally, I didn't find “Lara's nightmare” quite as, how should I put it, tingling. Well done, also the idea behind it and it's [b]not really bad[/b] either, but I still don't really know. The classic Lara outfits that you get are funny. [hr][/hr][b] PLAYED WITH: 🎮 📺[/b] [hr][/hr] [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/omn1cron/recommended/][b] ⮩ CHECK OUT ALL OF MY REVIEWS [/b][/url] [hr][/hr] [url]https://store.steampowered.com/app/505540/ [/url]
• 

  Marmik Emp37

  Mar 20, 2022

  Blood Ties is actually enjoyable. It allows you to explore The Croft Manor & only contributes more to the story. Love the new outfits & extreme difficulty mode.
• 

  Theoran

  May 30, 2022

  The 20 Year Celebration Pack DLC adds a lot to the game. Cosmetics like outfits and weapons, a new difficulty in Extreme Survivor, Lara’s Nightmare (a zombie horde game mode), and Blood Ties (a non-combat point and click story). Blood Ties takes about 90 minutes to complete and really fills in the details into Lord Croft and Amelia’s first meeting, courtship, birth of Lara, and eventual tragedy. It is a touching and narrative driven story that will pull at your heartstrings as Lara searches the run-down Croft manor for clues to her right of inheritance. My favorite part of the story was exploring the Egyptian themed treasure hunt in the basement that Richard Croft created for Lara’s birthday. I also enjoyed the relationship of the butler, Winston, and a young Lara. All the relics and documents scattered about the manor provide a greater background of Lara’s family and her character/motivations. As much as I enjoyed Blood Ties, I did not enjoy Lara’s Nightmare. You basically run around your haunted manor looking for floating skulls to shoot before you fight the big floating skull. It’s OK for what it is, its not something I particularly care for or will come back to. The new difficulty provides a new level of challenge in that you can only save at campfires. Its cool if you want another level of difficulty. All in all, this is a very nice DLC with a lot to offer. I enjoyed the story, the added outfits and weapons, and the new game mode is an added challenge to tackle.
• 

  FateLein

  Aug 27, 2022

  If you like to know what happened after the intense Battle with Trinity, this will show you some of it since this game was focus on exploring Croft Manor with bits of puzzles and reminiscing. We're kinda amazed how big their manor was and even secret passages too. Also this game has another game mode which you will kill zombies instead. Tho we're not satisfied with it since it's just another normal Zombie Game. Another thing is, you need cards to play it so make sure you have enough points when you played the main game of Rise of the Tomb Raider. Outfits included will take you back to the old times. Quite funny to wear it while exploring haha.
• 

  tombull89

  Oct 12, 2016

  Blood Ties is an unexpected feels trip - following both the family story and exploring Croft Manor in such a decriped, disused state. It's about 90-120 minutes of gameplay which fills in a lot of the backstory with some puzzles and code breaking. Exploring Croft Manor is a very welcome addition to the "HD Gen (Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider)" even though in the poor state it is. It ended very suddently, however, and I can't help but think I've missed something (given the item you recieve at the end - spoiler: [spoiler] the compass - given the blank areas on the map I thought you could access them.[/spoiler] Lara's Nightmare is essentially a wave-based survival game using Croft Manor as a base. Starting with a pistol you fight your way through waves of subhuman enemies (standard, helmet, shield, suicide, etc) while picking up ammo and better weapons along the way, finding and destroying skulls. Very creepy enviroment and a bit of a challenge. All in all one of the better DLCs for ROTTR - ran superbly well (as the Tomb Raider games have done) and definately reccomended.
• 

  Roy-ARJ

  Oct 12, 2016

  This DLC is a true gem, after exploring Croft Manor i will have to say it was a unique experience, reminded me of Anniversary & Legend though the Nightmare mode wouldv'e been better anyways i loved exploring Croft Manor & the fact that Lara can explore her Manor anytime she wants, all in all it's worth the money, a must buy.
• 

  AJ Nguyen

  Oct 12, 2016

  Blood Ties dlc is mainly a story dlc, you go around the mansion pick up relics and clue to solve the puzzle of the Croft Manor. The zombie mode however is very easy since the zombies move really slow you can basically headshot them all, boss fight is meh not challenging as the other bosses in the game. Coop endurance mode is pretty fun if you have a friend to play with, otherwise just use the matchmaking. Overall if you enjoy the extra story ties to the main game then buy it, the zombie mode is too easy but you can still have fun with it.
• 

  Carm3D

  Oct 14, 2016

  Aside from some new cards / skins, this DLC is split up into two parts: [b]Blood Ties[/b] and [b]Lara's Nightmare[/b]. [b]Blood Ties[/b] is basically a point-and-click adventure that takes place in Croft Manor. At first I was feeling it was "Audiologs: The Game" but some light puzzle elements were tossed in. The story is Lara learning what happened to her mother and it gets quite touching at the end. I didn't shed any polygonal tears but I had the feels. I finished it in a couple of hours and that includes finding every single relic. [b]Lara's Nightmare[/b] is zombie horde mode in the same Croft Manor map. This one is a bit frustrating for me because it seems like around 30% of the zombie attacks are glitched. Their attacks deal damage at the BEGINNING of their attack animation. These glitched attacks are impossible to dodge / counter if you let them get close to you. The other (non-glitched) attacks can be dodged / countered just fine. Maybe this was intentional to make it seem more "nightmarish." It makes the difficulty feel cheap to me. [b]Blood Ties[/b] = good but not your typical Lara Croft adventure. [b]Lara's Nightmare[/b] = frustrating / disappointing unless they can patch this. Maybe wait for it to be on sale before purchasing.
• 

  Rich Brown Man

  Oct 14, 2016

  Not sure if the people that reviewed this are playing the same DLC? I only bought this because of all the positive reviews. This is literally just walking around the manor clicking on items and hearing stories. That would be fine if there was some exploration, puzzle solving or strategy invovled, there is none. Oh sorry there is a single puzzle where you combine some clues but its spelled out for you like everything else. There is no real exploration, you see a big glowing light that has a massive blue X next to it, you click it... It's just way to dumbed down.
• 

  Kondorr

  Oct 16, 2016

  [H1]Rise of Tomb Raider: Blood Ties: 8/10 [/H1]– RECOMMENED BUY FOR FANS [b]REVIEW [/b] Blood Ties is in many aspects a stellar DLC. It does not feature any combat, of which we have more than enough in the two games already, especially in both their endings. Instead it focuses on backstory and on puzzles. While they are not that difficult, they required me to get a pen and paper and note the basic info found in some clues. I found that refreshing even if in the end not really demanding. (I am someone who solves problems buy watching them on paper, not in my mind). The mansion itself is also great, full of details and truly full of ghosts of a long gone live. What was a problem for me, was the fact that this DLC was supposed to be emotional, and while reading and listening to the notes found around the house was kind of emotional, Crystal did not do enough of cut scenes to enforce the emotional feedback. Laras face is so amazing in this game I would love to see her face react to some of the revelations hidden in the mansion. Obviously they went cheap on the facials here but the voice work is stellar. It might not be perfect, but I think it is a perfect interlude between the first and second game, as both are heavy on combat and light on character development. So I would recommend to treat it like a kind of prequel to "Rise". And yes, I do recommend it whole heartily (and I have not even touched the other stuff in this DLC). In the end it took me exactly 2 hours to find everything save for one document in the mansion.
• 

  kaiyouske

  Oct 18, 2016

  The attention to detail alone was worth the price of admission here. Really wish more DLCs were handled with more care and passion such as this.
• 

  Johashes

  Nov 28, 2016

  Could've been better... This Tomb Raider's Croft Manor is stiff and very limited... In the previous Croft Manors you could enter any rooms, gather weapons such as Pistols and so on.. You could change outfits, Swim in the swimming pool ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), and there were alot of secrets and passeages... I enjoyed the old Croft Manors more... The story in this DLC is not bad but it could've been better with more rooms to enter...
• 

  Thrawn«¦

  Mar 28, 2017

  I got the entire game with all of the DLC included for a fair price. In that case its neat little bonus to a great game, but nothing more. [b][i]However[/i][/b], as a standalone purchase I would not recommend this. Why? Because its way too expensive for what it has to offer. [list] [*]Blood Ties is a very short, purely narrative driven expansion that lets you run around Croft manor and listen to tons of audio logs. It's fine for what it is and gives some background to the motivations of Lara's father. [*] Lara's Nightmare is a zombie mode in said manor with the objective of finding and destroying three skulls randomly scattered around the level. This mode is quite bad frankly. Zombies pose no thread whatsoever and are nothing more than an annoyance. Which kinda defeats the point, right? [/list] [h1][b]Verdict[/b][/h1] If you got it together in a package with the main game it's fine I guess (the extreme survivor difficulty might be the best thing about this DLC). But not for 9.99€. No way. You can get much more value for your money elsewhere. Either get the game of the year edition of Rise of the Tomb Raider or wait for a discounted price during a sale.
• 

  JEMcG

  Sep 27, 2017

  This DLC is mostly for those who wants to play the "gone home" style story mission. This is a short puzzle based mission where you go through croft manor collecting items and experiencing the story of Lara's parents past. It's fun but only an hour or two long which may impact your decision. I got all the DLC's with the game in a deal, if you like the story of the main game and want more (without combat etc..) maybe do the same.
• 

  Tricks 🎃R Treats VR

  May 5, 2018

  [h1]Reviewed using HTC Vive Pro[/h1] VR Blood Ties DLC is an hour-long story-driven exploration 🔍🗺️ adventure of Croft Manor, with full room scale, motion controller tracking and free locomotion👣 ✔️ Great Graphics and Sounds I enjoyed this vary much in VR, hoping for more in the future!
• 

  Boone

  Jul 4, 2018

  Blood Ties is awesome, you are really solving a mystery with a few clues and only using your knowledge. I quite liked it and I wish there was more of this stuff in the game itself.
• 

  comp9

  Jul 8, 2018

  Do you like Life is Strange? If so, this [b]Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration Pack DLC[/b] adds the separate Blood Ties 2-4hr game mode to the Main Menu, among other things. The Blood Ties game mode is a lot like Life is Strange. You can play this mode at anytime without affecting your main game progress. This 20 Year Celebration is also the best way to get the great Baba Yaga DLC if you don't already have it.
• 

  CorvusCorax

  Jul 30, 2018

  This pack includes a lot of cosmetics such as new outfits or a new difficulty setting that I have no reason to play. When it comes to the outfits the addition of the ones from the classic TR games is a nice touch - I often completed Endurance mode sessions in Lara's Tomb Raider 2 skin. Now, there is one interesting story mode which has the title of [i]Blood Ties[/i] and it sees Lara going through the Croft mansion to look for documents and relics. The mansion has long been abandoned so it isn't exactly in a very good state. This DLC focuses on story-telling so that we can find out more of Lara's childhood and the uncle she was never really fond of. This extra content is all about exploration - there is not one single fighting sequence. Once Blood Ties is completed we can look at its combat-focused version titled [i]Lara's Nightmare[/i]. As the title suggests it is actually a nightmare Lara has. We are back in the mansion and supernatural beings keep attacking us. They are very similar to the infested soldiers in Cold Darkness - the glowing eyes do not make them very original, to be honest. We do not gain experience points and the only items we find are the weapons hidden throughout the mansion. There are waves and waves of enemies and our job is to eliminate the floating skulls at key locations. This is a very silly DLC and not very good as the narrow hallways are not good for fighting the fast-approaching enemies. Blood Ties is great but not good enough for this pack to be worth purchasing. I recommend it but only if it is heavily discounted - your best bet is to purchase the all-inclusive Season Pass.
• 

  SillyAgentKiiN

  Nov 24, 2019

  [h1] Rise of the Tomb Raider DLC: 20 Year Celebration Pack [/h1] [h1] CONTENTS: [/h1] 1️⃣ Blood Ties = Story mode = 1 hour of Croft Manor Puzzle = Explore background of Lara's family 2️⃣ Lara’s Nightmare = Zombie Horde = 1 hour of Rage Skull hunting mini-game = Score a rank in friend leaderboard 3️⃣ Five classic Lara Croft skins ➜ Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDutAUDPcFE) 4️⃣ An outfit + weapon inspired by Tomb Raider III 5️⃣ Extreme Survivor = New difficulty in campaign [h1] LIKES: [/h1] ✔️Detail story about background of Lara's family ✔️Croft Manor Puzzle design ✔️No cost to acquire a weapon in Zombie Horde [h1] DISLIKES: [/h1] ❌ Seeing the same zombie again ❌ The easiest difficulty still too hard to defeat the final boss ❌ No current score or personal best score display on HUD [h1] HOW TO ACTIVATE? [/h1] It will show up an additional option in main menu [h1] MORE INFORMATION:[/h1] 👉[u][url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198087794419/recommended/50554/]Base Game Review[/url][/u] 🔔[u][url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31940448-Expectation-Checklist/]Find more Review from this Curator[/url][/u]
• 

  md99

  May 6, 2020

  This is a heads up for anyone thinking of purchasing this dlc. I've read on the discussions page that this, the last to be released content pack for ROTTR contains everything previously made available, all additional challenges, costumes, new levels, etc A specific reference was made to this 20th anniversary pack also containing all the content in the season pass, I can categorically state it does not. What you get here is Croft Manor, a couple of cards to use in endurance mode, character models from the 32-bit Tomb Raider games and I think Lara's nightmare mode. On discovering this I asked for a refund and bought the season pass instead which does feature all the dlc, all costumes, baba yaga, new endurance modes and everything else listed above. It renders this, the 20th Anniversary pack defunct so get the season pass instead, at the time of writing, for the same price.