Tomb Raider: Underworld

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 have been a Tomb Raider fan for years now and when Tomb Raider Underworld was said to be the best Tomb Raider yet i couldn't wait for its release. However it was unfortunately short, it only had 1 more additional level than legend which therefore means that it only had 8 maybe the creators are trying to tell us that the number of the Tomb Raider is the same amount of levels e.g. Tomb Raider Legend was the 7th in the series and it had 7 levels and Tomb Raider Underworld being the 8th has 8 levels. Although it was short the game wasn't all bad it had once again a very strong storyline which makes it almost impossible to stop playing the game although i found that the emotion in the game at points was put across poorly. The graphics were amazing as always and the game play is fun and interesting especially with the new weapons that she finds over the course of the game. The makers have really focused on design and movement with this game making it seem more realistic and of course as any Tomb Raider fan will know that this one contains blood. I am still with Tomb Raider 2 being my favourite but they are getting closer to the greatness they once had and who knows maybe my opinion will changed within a few years.

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.

Despite what some reviews around the net say, TR:U is a fantastic step forward for the series. While not overly different from Legend and Anniversary, it has definitely taken inspiration from the two and combined all of the best bits of both.

The story itself is extremely compelling, and the ending is truly epic and moving. We finally get to see Lara uncover the truth about the events beginning in Legend, and they even tie up with events from TR1 and Anniversary. The story is what kept me going, something that hasn't happened since Mass Effect and Gears 2.

As you may have guessed, I have played the game on Xbox 360. I have an open mind for all platforms (and play on PC as well), but I believe Tomb Raider is best played on your console of choice due to the fact the controls work so well on a controller. Apart from some minor control quirks and the odd camera moment, most of the game remains solid and stable and never did the quirks frustrate or hamper the experience.

Some familiar characters return for Underworld, including Zip and Alistair. If there is one thing I would have changed in Underworld, it's that Zip and Alistair don't play as big a role as in Legend, which is a shame because there are times in Underworld where you know you would be hearing them if you were playing Legend.

Some people however will like this approach, as there are no hints and tips given to you when solving puzzles, as Zip and Alistair are oblivious to your actions. Instead, Lara films her expeditions with an HDD camcorder (which has the same amount of battery every time she uses it), and this progresses the story in the same way Zip and Alistair did in Legend.

Being more like Anniversary will certainly please the older fans, but for people who properly joined the series at Legend (like me), some will feel the lack of dialogue is, well, lacking. This however is only my opinion, and on the plus side the lack of dialogue certainly adds to the feeling of isolation present throughout the game.

Overall, Underworld is a great game, with dazzling graphics in a similar style to 'Uncharted' on the PS3. The exploration and story really keep you going, and the generally epic feel to the game makes it feel like a Hollywood blockbuster. Keep it up Crystal Dynamics, you're doing a fine job.

The story and atmosphere are decent but not great. Most of the gameplay is puzzle platforming. This sometimes gets a bit repetitive, but there is enough variation and cutscenes to prevent it from getting too tedious. The balance between platforming and other types of gameplay is better than in TR-Anniversary (which was all platforming) but maybe not quite as engaging for the masses (and me) as the 2013 reboot (which had more action). The platforming difficulty is generally good for most of us, but on the easy side for hardcore gamers. I struggled with some parts, but always got through after a while. Some environments look really nice (Thailand), but others have rather bare and bland level design. The combat is fairly bad, as expected with this series. The checkpoint save system is also annoying, but not too bad.

Though some of the veterans will scoff, I find the optional "field assistance" hints an improvement over the previous games that offered no help at all - now I am less likely to need to look up solutions online when I get stuck. There is still big room for improvement in this area though. At least there are difficulty settings for specific things like enemy health and fall damage.

Lara's controls are a bit mixed. In some ways they are fine, but they also feel a bit nervous and she moves less natural (less inertia and animation flow) than in TR-Anniversary. As usual, sometimes the controls don't do what you want, causing many accidental deaths. Also, the camera behaviour can be disorienting, and the FOV is unpleasantly low. At least there is no mouse acceleration. The HUD is bad - you have to open your PDA to change weapon and see how much ammo you have. None of these flaws are game breaking though.

Tip: To improve the graphics beyond the max ingame settings, i suggest forcing AF to x4 (ingame AF setting does not work) and AA transparency to 4x supersampling in nvidia control panel.

I would say this is a game to get when on sale, and only if you are OK with a lot of puzzle platforming.