Andy called Shadow of the Tomb Raider "one of Lara Croft's best modern adventures" in his review last month and, up until this week, fans seemed to generally agree, giving it mostly positive reviews on Steam. But then it was review bombed, with most disgruntled fans citing a 34% week-long sale, which ends tomorrow, as the reason for criticism.
From reading some of the 600+ reviews since the sale went live (66% of those reviews are negative), the main line of reasoning is that it's unfair to have paid full price for the game, either as a pre-order or at launch, only to see it heavily discounted so soon after.
Most don't seem concerned about whether the game is any good or not, and many don't even comment on it. "Feel like a fool to have pre-ordered," one simply says. Another negative review reads: "Game is good btw...but never pre-ordering a Square Enix game ever again."
While I can understand the frustration, I wouldn't have it any other way—the fact that games go on sale so quickly, and regularly, is one of the things I like best about PC gaming. It's yet another reason why you should be cautious about pre-ordering anything.
There is, of course, some legitimate criticism to be found in the reviews, with some pointing to audio and visual bugs, while others simply didn't get on with the story or combat. But, on balance, I still think it's worth playing, and if you're quick you can grab it with that 34% discount. It's $39.59/£29.69 on Steam.
Thanks, PCGamesN.