Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch is the first story expansion for Rise of The Tomb Raider. It’s included in the season pass and is the second piece of content released after Endurance mode earlier this month.
The Baba Yaga storyline takes you to the Soviet Installation part of the map. This is specifically the portion with all the towers and ziplines located in the beginning of the main game. Lara needs to find a “native girl” from the Remnant community who is being hunted by Trinity soldiers. It’s a quick battle with four soldiers, which leads you to meet Nadia hiding in a locker. She tells Lara that she was searching for her grandfather who was on a quest to kill the witch of legend, Baba Yaga. Lara’s doubt in the existence of the witch is evident, yet she pledges to help Nadia find her grandfather anyway.
The journey takes you into some already explored areas of the main game as well as a brand new area, the witch’s hideout. Two base camps are located in the area to allow for fast travel. Lara uncovers collectibles that hint at both the origin and identity of the witch, but the classic Tomb Raider twist at the end adds a real element of immersion.
Combat is the same cover-based style that is present in the main game and the tomb’s stick with the same physics-based puzzle solving. The most interesting aspect about the Baba Yaga add-on is that it isn’t your typical short expansion. With a game time of about 90 minutes, there isn’t much to get lost in. The challenge tomb has a tricky puzzle which might take you a while to solve. Some trippy hallucinogenic scenes full of jump scares and flashbacks ensue at the hands of Baba Yaga, which Lara fights through.
Lara needs to solve puzzles so that she can move to multiple platforms. This ends in a challenging boss fight with Baba Yaga herself. The encounter takes place over three levels in her hideout and is to the point. Playing it reminded me of the line from Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean when he comments on the plan by saying “I like it. Simple, easy to remember”. That’s what Baba Yaga is. It gets right to the point, gives you everything you need and doesn’t drag on.
Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch provides a mission which includes everything found in the main game. Sadness, despair and emotional struggle all culminate in a resolution. Just as the main game is known for showing Lara experience emotional and mental struggles on top of her physical ones, Baba Yaga continues that trend. As the mission goes on, it becomes obvious that Lara’s doubt to take on the mission in the beginning was out of fear rather than disbelief in Nadia’s story. Along with various other things which pop up as you go, which we won’t spoil for you, Lara continues on despite her gut feeling and embraces her fear. It’s this thought process and evolution of Lara’s character that we saw take place throughout the main game. Lara realizes she is fallible and not an invincible explorer. This continues right on into Baba Yaga, which ends in a nicely wrapped up side story.
Summary
As a reward for completing the story, you earn a new outfit and arrow weapon. Added to the fire, explosive and poison arrows, this arrow causes enemies to experience terrifying hallucinations. A number of new collectibles are available to find as well as a few side missions and one challenge tomb. Overall, Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch is short, but it’s a good short that gives you exactly what is needed without anything extra. If you loved the main game, definitely check out this content.
M.W.B. contributed 27 articles to ICXM between 2015–2016, covering game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news with a focus on hands-on impressions and verified-source reporting. Their bylines on the site span the run-up to Xbox One S and Project Scorpio, plus the broader Windows 10 gaming push.