Tomb Raider: Underworld

This is my first review so go easy on me. Tomb Raider: Underworld follows the story from the previous game Tomb Raider: Legend where Lara, as a 9 year old girl gets stranded in the Himalayas with her mom when, suddenly her mom disappears through a portal and Lara tries to solve the mystery that her dad started about what really happened to her mom. So she starts out in the Mediterranean Sea after a colleague of her dads said that a hint about Avalon might be in some ruins at the bottom. After playing through the game I found that it was similar to 2 games that I owned before getting it, those two being Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire. HP, because of the puzzle solving and collecting Wizard Cards, and James Bond because of the shooting and different weapons, though I liked Underworld's camera view better than James Bond.

The graphics were amazing; it's like watching a movie especially with the cinematics in the game; the story is unbelievably awesome, unpredictable and very well thought out and done and also connected very well to Legend's story; combat was very fun especially with the Adrenaline Headshot. The only blemish(9.5 but can't do that so 10) with my rating is with the camera angles at certain points in the game. Make sure, at least, to buy Legend first to get accustomed with the story before playing Underworld which is the climax of the story like I did. You can buy Anniversary edition if you want to. Some people didn't like how Allister and Zip weren't in Underworld as much as Legend but It didn't bug me as much. One glitch that I had to endure was during the Southern Mexico level, I got stuck because I saved my game after jumping over a pillar laying across the hallway in Xibalba then stopped and went back to go get a treasure, but when I started from when I saved it, the motorcycle was on the other side of the pillar than I was so I had to start over, just to warn you.

Tomb Raider Underworld looks like a current generation game but feels like it is still stuck in the past. Let's start with the good looks. The environments in Underworld are stunning and grand. The lighting, reflections and textures look fantastic. The character models look a lot more realistic than in previous games, with Lara having a much more athletic build. Lara still has a plastic Michael Jackson face, which does ruin the immersion a bit, but at least it doesn't affect the game-play. Lara is now mo-capped, adding a lot more flexibility to the character, e.g. Lara can jump and grab the very corner of a ledge which is on a strange angle.

For all the good looks this game has, there are so many things that spoil the game-play. The first noticeable thing is the camera. It does nothing to aid the flow of the game or enhance Lara's movement, in fact it impedes you so many times. instead of zooming out when you need it to, it instead gets stuck behind Lara's back, sometimes it goes above Lara so you can't even see her. This means half the time you cannot see where you are going when you are climbing/jumping. When this happens you can either plan your route from the ground (which isn't always possible) or guess where you have to jump, often resulting in death because you've overshot the mark. The camera is also a hindrance in gun battles, as it jumps around so much, and rarely focuses on the target. The gun battles are so bad it almost feels like it was tacked on because traditionally Lara has had to shoot something. The secrets/relic hunt is quite boring, and they seem scattered arbitrarily through the game for the sake of it. For the first time, the secrets hunt really does not add any replay value and is quite tedious.

Underworld's saving grace is the level design, with huge puzzles and huge levels. Unfortunately, the game simply was not long enough. Experienced tomb raiders should have no problem completing the game. I managed to complete it in less time than Legend, which was a huge disappointment. As good as the story and levels are, the bad camera, the length of the game, and the little replay value will ensure that I do not revisit Underworld for a while. The exclusive content for the Xbox 360 should not have been exclusive at all, as this game really could have used a few more levels. Underworld really does feel like a half-game.

Despite being shorter than Anniversary, I felt that Underworld was a far superior game. This chapter in the history of Lady Lara Croft corrected most of the frustrating mistakes of it's predecessor and made it an enjoyable gaming experience that was almost on par with Legend. Underworld steered away from using extreme difficulty and repeated death as a means to increase the playtime and therefore made the game far less frustrating, to the point of being extremely enjoyable. I have completed the main story, but I can assure you that I will be returning to each level to retrieve the collectibles I missed on the first run (which Anniversary didn't inspire me to do).

Don't get me wrong, though, there are minor technical glitches, such as enemies freezing in place, places where Lara can easily get 'stuck' and on one occasion she became permanently invisible, forcing me to reboot, but these are only minor annoyances. One other gripe I have about Underworld is that I don't think it lived up to the hype that Eidos tried to generate. The "What Could Lara Do?" tag-line built my hopes up to expect a world where anything was possible and where no place was off limits. Although the levels were deliciously grand, my expectations were quickly dashed when, in the first level, I found myself on a boat with dozens of doors and hatches, almost none of which could be explored. I'm not saying that Underworld is bad, just not what it was made out to be.

Although Underworld did see a return of Zip and Allister, they only appeared at the beginning and end of levels and in the second half of the game, they were absent entirely. I felt a little cheated by this as these two characters (and Winston) made Legend feel much brighter and more fun than any previous TR game. Their constant playful jibes and contributions to the level-at-hand gave the game a less lonely feeling and allowed us to see Lara's wit, warmth, charm and flaws, making her a much more interesting character. Though there are several moments where Lara's true emotions are shown, for the most part of the game, she feels much, much less three dimensional than she was in Legend. Ironic, considering the amount of work they put in to making her look more realistic, physically. To be quite honest, Lara's three friends simply felt 'tacked-on', rather than integrated in the story.

And then there is the story. It is very good, well thought out and involving. The personal twist Lara discovers at the end of the Thailand mission was wonderful. But, as the name of the game implies, Underworld's plot goes places much darker than that of Legend or even Anniversary. Some people may remember me starting a thread in the forum for this game about whether Lara's character would be tarnished by actions she takes in this game. I am pleased to say that that is not the case - Lady Croft in Underworld is a noble, if imperfect, heroin. But what she has to endure in this game is cruel. The resolution to one ongoing aspect of the plot was especially cruel, as if the writers sat around and asked themselves "What's the most punishing way (for Lara) that we can resolve this part of the story?" It's just one of many emotional blows the player is forced to endure during this game and, unfortunately, they are not countered by superior uplifting or hopeful moments. While well done, I would've preferred it if the story had been a lot kinder to Lara.If you need your entertainment to end happily, this probably isn't the game for you.

All-in-all, I believe that Legend remains the finest Tomb Raider game ever, although Underworld has just claimed second place. In spite of it's heart-wrenching moments, it was a well designed and involving game that was not bogged down with infuriating, repetitive difficulty.

Now I'd like to end with a plea to Eidos: PLEASE leave the game engine as is and devote your time (in the next TR volume) to making more levels! These wonderful games that you are making are over far too soon! I would have gladly settled for the Legend engine and graphics if it meant you would have spent the time you saved building three or four more levels! I am extremely grateful for the wonderful gaming experience I have just had, but I don't mind sounding like a greedy bastard when I say: "I WANT MORE!"

Whoa. Am I about to tear into this game given the fact I gave it a 5 out of 10? You bet your adventure seeking a$$es I am. Because crystal dynamics is more capable than this. Because Tomb Raider deserves everything they promised sans the glitches and horrible collision detection. Because not since Angel of Darkness has Lara re-discovered her ability to phase through solid objects, and get stuck on the smallest twig, stuck enough to make you wander what happened to quality control. So the story is intriguing, the environments gorgeous and the soundtrack beautiful. Excellent job there, CD! Now... Seeing as how Tomb Raider has evolved, they got one step right. Motion capture for Lara. However, after SO many iterations of this game, I want to see a realistic Lara. It seems detracting to have realistic movements placed over a character playing in realistic environments, but possessing the face of a Brats doll. Seriously, after all these games, she still has the same nose as in the first playsation game, which to PSOne's credit was all they could render at the time. If they want to retain a cartoon-y look, have continuity. Make the game all cohesive, not cartoon-y Lara vs. realistic world. Next, the collision. OH LORD, this, and the camera have seriously impeached my love for Lara. You know what I take this as? A product suffering because of multiple ports. If they want to reach every console owning gamer under the sun, take care with each version. The camera is terrible in this game. I can't count the number of times I freaked out as I was on a ledge, and couldn't see where to go next, so I gathered I was to take a leap of faith in the game, only to find my deduction like two inches off. Seriously. I don't remember having this much of an issue with tomb raider legend or anniversary. Thirdly, combat. Combat on my PS3 sucked. It felt sloppy, evading and shooting is a terrible affair, the camera starts freaking out as you are locked on to an enemy, but you can't see the enemy, as the game engine is trying to stay on Lara bouncing around. I literally wanted combat reduced by like 95% it is that bad. Unless the next tomb raider can somehow design a combat system that is amazing, like... A-MAZ-ING , then I almost suggest taking it out completely. Exploration was what made me continue to play this game. And it sucks, as had these problems been rectified, this could have been THE tomb raider experience to get. As it stands, boo CD. Plus, where is the bonus content for PS owners? You know, the company your initial user base took you up on? 360 exclusive content? Color me offended.

I'm a big Tomb Raider fan, have played all the previously released games, including gold games, and I must say, this game is most like Tomb Raider AOD: A great story, stunning new graphics, and out of control controls. Although this game doesn't contain as many texture glitches as AOD, the setback is that the camera is completely out of control. It's like they put the game on 2x speed compared to Tomb Raider Anniversary, which completely takes out the pleasure of playing the game, and just makes you confused and even sometimes nauseous. The story is interesting, and in line with the previous game Tomb Raider Legend, although in this game you have no idea where to go, because the textures are too realistic and the camera is in your way. It's just really, REALLY disappointing how they managed to screw this game up so badly in gameplay, like so many new games, always such a hurry to make it before some deadline.