Following swiftly on from 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider and the 2013 reboot which made the gaming world fall in love with Ms Croft again, Shadow wheels out great gobbets of South American archaeological goodness.

And if the thought of messing with the formula which made Lara such a compelling romp in the two previous instalments elicits disgust and hatred, you may go ahead and swallow that bile. The puzzles, the crafting, the hunting, the upgrades… all remain pretty much in tact from the previous titles.

Dated? Perhaps, but change it and you run the risk of ruining the experience. Risk vs safety… one gets the impression Lara would have taken a different path. Nevetheless…

Shadow also sees a less innocent Lara; she’ll snap the neck of a bunch of elderly nuns if she suspects they’re involved in unsavoury movements of artifacts. This alarms her faithful companion Jonah and makes her a less sympathetic character than previously. Certainly there’s a chance her actions here have unleashed something nasty on the populace.

The apparent never-ending mercenary conveyor of Trinity are Lara’s enemy again, although its leader does take it upon himself to fix Lara’s disastrous error. Quite obviously, there’s an evil twist to his benevolence.

Of the three titles, Shadow’s script is the least convincing. Jonah and Lara have far too many melodramatic tiffs, and Croft’s monologues come across a little stiff compared with the first two. Graphically, however, it maintains the series’ exceptional standards; the South American jungles and vistas are glorious.

Violence is best carried out in two ways: from a distance and stealth. Get drawn in to melee and you’ll find Lara at a serious disadvantage. I don’t remember her being this rubbish with her fists in the first two, so best you stick to creeping around in bushes and popping arrows into your enemies’ thick skulls.

Once again, in addition to the main storyline, there’s a batch of bonus tombs in which to risk Lara’s life. These are arguably more exhilarating than the puzzles posed on the beaten track. Some are pretty obvious, others maddeningly lateral but consequently most satisfying when beaten.

While Shadow may come across like some new buttons sewn on an old coat, it’s nevertheless a mighty fine coat that you won’t mind wearing for a third winter.