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The year-long wait PS4 owners have had to endure for Rise of the Tomb Raider On October 11 , the game will hit Sony's console in the form of the 20 Year Celebration edition. This includes all of the previously-released DLC, plus a trio of brand new modes that all seem super cool.

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Co-Op Endurance Mode

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Blood Ties

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Lara’s Nightmare

We got a chance to visit Crystal Dynamics and spend a day with the game on PlayStation 4. Here’s what we thought.While Endurance Mode certainly isn’t anything new to Rise of the Tomb Raider, the 20th anniversary edition introduces co-op to the tough-as-nails survival mode. Two players try to survive for as long as they can out in the wild as they forage for materials, raid tombs, battle the elements, and fight entire terrifying bears. At any point, players are able to end the mode and extract themselves from the wilderness, which gives them all of the rewards they stumbled upon during the session. However, if both players die before they can extract, they lose everything. In that way, it’s a bit like Dark Souls.I love the feeling of trying to balance out extending a run, while simultaneously running the risk of losing everything. It’s the same sort of tension you feel as you’re making a run from one bonfire to another in From Software’s games. While my session ended in failure -- I blame the combination of bears and heavily armed soldiers -- Andrew actually made it out alive in his playthough.I did, but I also chose to bail early rather than risking extra days to lose my resources. The Dark Souls comparison is perfect, but it’s equal parts Dark Souls and Don’t Starve, in that you’re trying to last for as many days as you can, and the game offers a pretty detailed breakdown of how long you survived and all of the notable events that happened along the way.I thought it was particularly interesting that co-op allows you to play as Lara and her friend, but both players will see themselves as Lara (and their partner as the friend). It’s an interesting way to keep the look and gameplay consistent with the main game but also not have a weird “two Lara Crofts are running around together” situation.To me, the most interesting piece of new content is Blood Ties, which is a Gone Home-style combat-free story about Lara exploring Croft Manor to find her father’s will and prove that she has the right to inherit the mansion. There are some light puzzles, but it’s mostly about the story of Lara’s parents. You’re still finding relics and diaries like in the core game, but here they’re about the Crofts and help you find clues that could lead to you to opening your father’s safe and finding the documents you need.Blood Ties seems like a welcome break from the main game’s combat and helped fill in some important gaps in Lara’s story. It’s also nice to see Tomb Raider return to the manor, which was a franchise staple that’s been missing so far in this reboot.Yeah, it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Gone Home, and getting that same vibe from Blood Ties had be grinning like an idiot. Croft Manor has been such an iconic location throughout the series, and seeing it final gain prominence in this new chapter is great. Also, a big bonus for PS4 owners, this mode can be played through a first-person perspective exclusively using PlayStation VR. We’ve talked at-length about wanting shorter, complimentary VR experiences that coexist with huge tentpole releases, and Blood Ties in VR definitely does just that.So the last new thing we got to see from the PS4 version of Rise of the Tomb Raider was Lara’s Nightmare. While it starts off similarly to Blood Ties, things quickly take a dark turn as Lara’s uncle threatens her life, and suddenly you find yourself in a spooky version of the mansion that’s crawling with zombies and flying skulls. This version played out like a classic Resident Evil game -- Lara’s resources and ammo were super scarce, the mansion was brimming with undead critters, and the atmosphere was legitimately spooky.This was definitely the goofiest part of the new content, but I actually didn’t mind it. Functionally, this worked a lot like Call of Duty Zombies in that it added a fun, videogame-y element to counter the fairly serious, grounded stuff in Blood Ties and the main game. It’s also fun to give the combat a little bit more of an arcade feel since crafting and upgrading is gone in favor of scavenging for the best weapon.

Overall, Rise of the Tomb Raider’s new modes are a nice compliment to what was already one of the best games of last year. You can find a full rundown of what’s included in the 20 Year Celebration edition in the announcement from this morning , plus check out gameplay and extended thoughts in the videos above.

Andrew Goldfarb is the executive editor of news at IGN and would probably not survive long out in the cold. You can find him rambling about Spelunky and cute animals on Twitter @garfep Marty Sliva is a senior editor at IGN and is currently seeking his helicopter pilot license. You can find him bragging about his Pokemon Go Zubat collection on Twitter @McBiggitty