Review – Tomb Raider: The Art of Survival
Overview
Type: Art BooksPros:
+ High quality heavy stock paper
+ Abundant content
+ Expansive concept art spreads
+ Fans will love the insights
Cons:
- Cover art is overly simplistic
- Cover material is flimsy
- Priced slightly high for non-hardcover
Tomb Raider: The Art of Survival takes you through an interactive tour of concept art, story boards, character and item models, and even marketing approaches for the well reviewed Tomb Raider reboot.
Cover
When it comes to art books based on existing media, I would prefer something a little more lush than a piece of rejected cover art. The cover art for Tomb Raider: The Art of Survival is not bad, it just seems like a missed opportunity with all the expansive landscapes available inside the book itself. Design aside, the cover is a folded piece of glossy stock paper which doesn’t even really count as paperback.
Build
The heavy stock used for the paper in this book helps make up for the weak covers. The binding, although softcover, works well in holding its shape and giving you an easy flip through the 272 pages you’ll find in this book. The paper and cover are glossy throughout, which love to show off fingerprints as well as art.
Design
The design of this art book is excellent, mixing rich text with rich environmental art in a seamless, beautiful way. There is a ton of concept art, designed to show story boarding for memorable scenes from the Tomb Raider game. The character breakdowns are done as studies showing multiple angles and versions of each character and relic design.
Content
The content found in Tomb Raider: The Art of Survival is varied and comprehensive. There is a detailed compendium of information and art including sections for the development team, characters, environments, weapons and props, and even marketing and user interface elements. This big-picture view of every aspect of the game makes me wish there were similar art books done for more franchises.
Value
I hate to be a stickler, but when it comes to art books, there are bigger and arguably better offerings for less than the suggested price of $40 for this book. Since the content is completely focused around one subject, it may better suit some buyers who are looking for a focused effort. Right now Tomb Raider: The Art of Survival is listed at $26 on Amazon and the BradyGames store, which is much closer to where I would put the buy-point for this book.
