The reboot for Tomb Raider hits store shelves today. Here’s why we’re excited for the prequel to one of the best selling game franchises of all time.

Your ship crashed. You’re now trapped on an island. Injured, you wander you way up shore, looking for any signs of humanity. You find none. What now? Survive.

This is the situation players are thrown into in Tomb Raider.

Before we get started, we should note that some of the things we call improvements may be different from the standards set out by the previous games. However, things like having a more realistic and relatable looking protagonist are good changes, in our opinion.

By giving Lara things like a more sensible outfit and weapons constructed on the fly, this survivor tale may offer more for the general public, in opposition to the high-flying, over-the-top nature of Lara’s previous gun slinging adventures.

Here’s why we’re impressed with the changes made in the new Tomb Raider so far!

Less sex appeal

Let’s face it. It’s tough to take a protagonist serious if they’re constantly throwing their bum at our faces. A quick comparison between the older and newer Lara demonstrates the obvious differences between the two.

The new Lara isn’t wearing as skimpy of clothes, but hasn’t been made into a complete shut-in. Her new outfit seems a lot more practical for all of the wall scaling and underground tunnel crawling she does.

Back to basics

Origin stories seem to be a common thread in recent pop culture, and for good reason. There’s only so much material that can be released about a character before we start to wonder what made characters who they are.

Tomb Raider will offer an explanation as to how Lara became the sharp shooting hot head that the world has come to know her as. Apparently, it only takes being stranded on an isolated island and getting mauled by vicious enemies on said island to become a badass. Sounds simple enough, right?

More gore

The Tomb Raider games haven’t always been exactly G-rated. At that, this title marks the first in the series to receive an ‘M’ rating. The ESRB rating reads “Rated ‘M’ for ‘Mature,’ for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language.”

Some may be put off by the intensity of this iteration. However, we’re excited to see the most realistic survival adventure possible. To do that, the game makers had no choice other than keeping in such harsh content.

Realistic graphics

Wow. The only word we can use to describe just how amazing the renders of this game are. The in-game graphics are pretty too, with wet textures shimmering as they would in the real life, and fabrics appearing as if they’re made out of real materials.

While graphics certainly don’t make or break a game, it never hurts to have a pretty picture! It’s safe to say that Lara has never looked as realistic looking before.