head to head
vs
Half-Life 2vsShadow of the Tomb Raider
Half-Life 2 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Shadow of the Tomb Raider leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Half-Life 2Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 5
Half-Life 2 leans harder on execution: Gravity gun and shooting demand precision.
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization3 vs 4
Shadow of the Tomb Raider leans harder on optimization: Gear, perks, tomb routes solvable.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.