Game Review: The Tomb Raider

from Download Game

The Tomb Raider games have always had a so-so reputation in the eyes of gamers, and the image was also mainly tarnished by what most people really had their eyes on. Still with the sort of absence the series has had as of late, the type of gameplay it represented seemed all but lost for a good while.

But here comes Crystal Dynamics and Eidos again for another round with the series. This time though the focus has changed, well, at least to a degree. Yes Lara’s still mostly sex appeal, but after looking past that the game has gotten a very large and much needed facelift.

You take control of Lara Croft once more, aided by a few of her friends that keep in touch via a radio, and once more you’re off to explore ruins and so such. The game takes you through many different types of temples, cityscapes, and of course a tomb or two, has to have tombs. Tombs are very essential to this game, but luckily there is a decent amount of tombs. Although more tombs would have been better, because really, is there ever such thing as too many tombs?

Now that I’ve killed that device, the gameplay is where the title got the most dramatic lift of all, but everything else still has a very “tomb raider” feel. Tomb Raider in that it feels like Indiana Jones. Hell the game even rips off those movies a couple of times, mostly with the same gag as well.

In the game you get control of Lara and all her gadgets, which are shockingly slim, given that you have a rope, some guns, and a couple of other devices that never come in handy much, however the levels themselves are what’s really featured here.

Each environment is a sprawling puzzle basically, there’s some combat thrown in, but the real fun is in the figuring out of how to get somewhere and where that place is. You’ll be doing plenty of swinging, jumping, climbing, pushing, all to manipulate the environment to allow you to the next set of problems to solve, much like the more modern Prince of Persia games.

The general tone of the levels is fairly good, the pacing and puzzles themselves blend well, while the combat feels a bit out of place in them some times, there’s a generally decent mix of exploration and some exiting moments.

The general gunplay though, is quite sloppy and poorly worked into the gameplay. It tries to emulate both past Tomb Raider games and it seems the Grand Theft Auto games as well. You get a bad but serviceable lock-on targeting system some poorly developed gunplay, and you can jump around while shooting. That’s about it. There’s some other things thrown in now and then, but for the most part the combat is forgettable.

Then for some strange reason vehicle levels are mixed in as well. There may be a couple of, “hey, that was cool…” moments, but they’re few and far between, and the vehicle controls themselves seem a bit loose and floaty. In these levels you’re on a motorcycle, and you shoot at people… That’s about it, they’re simplistic, easy to navigate, and require little real thought.

There is another nice little touch though. Every once in a while a cinematic sequence will start, and then you’ll be given button and some times analog stick prompts. Basically, if you mess up any of these prompts in the sequence, Lara will die in a horrible and some times amusing way. It works kind of like God of War, but they’re mostly simple and easy to get past, however it does spice up what would otherwise be just another cinematic sequence, and are one of the memorable aspects of the title.

Aside from that though, the game is short. Very short, painfully short I might add. After my initial run-through A allowed a friend to play it… and in a simple 4 hour marathon session he played from beginning to end, the entire title beaten in four hours. Granted he knew what to do by watching my play sessions on how the levels worked and operated, but still, the game’s single player mode is very short. If you have any basic skill set with the title, you’d be hard pressed to find your total play time for single player at any more than 6 hours tops.

There is multiple difficulty settings though, as well as a time trial option, and on the Xbox 360 version there’s a hefty dose of achievement points to be found, but after that, aside from an unlockable here and there, the game feels painfully thin.

It’s a shame though, because the focus on the core gameplay is fairly decent, and would have been that much better had the title managed to spread itself a bit further. After all the levels I had completed, I almost felt a tad annoyed that all those awesome locations and such had drawn to a close so soon.

The story presented works decently, chronicling both past and future events, leading up to a fairly anticlimactic but dramatic final duel of sorts. It’s fairly forgettable though, and like a number of other things, is lost under the weight of the exploration aspect.

Graphically the game holds up as well. The current generation versions look good for their respective systems, and while the 360 version seems to lack any extra polish, the art style and slight bump in performance keep it afloat. The only version I’ve yet to see in action though is the PSP port, so I can’t really speak as to how that one holds up, as a majority of my play was on the 360.

While on the sound design, the voice acting is forgettable, but nothing bad, the typical cheesy line here and there, so such, typical of what you’d expect to see here. The soundtrack and music though are actually very well done. Moments that are hectic have a vibrant bass heavy techno beat mixed with the games score; where as moments of solving puzzles and such are greeted with an ambient rhythm that suits the setting of the level. It’s a very well produced soundtrack really, and aides the game among it’s few finer moments, and helps try to mask some of the more mediocre parts.

However mediocre parts still come out in spades for the game. When you combine the lack of playable content, the shortness of the main story mode, the lack luster combat, the few parts that really set the game apart seem to be washed away.

Still though, what’s good in the game is above average. It’s just annoying though, that what’s not good is well below average, however, this game still marks a dramatic turning point for the once ill spoken of series. While it’s still hard to take Lara Croft seriously in the realm of gaming, this title is one that at the very least builds up some new respect for the series, and if found at a cheaper than average price is most likely worth a look, provided your into this style of game.

This had been the first time I’d really sat down with a Tomb Raider game long enough to beat it. The other titles always had that one aspect that kept me from enjoying them, but the changes made here make this a far more entertaining game then some of the more recent installments, because really, anything’s better than Angel of Darkness.

It missed the mark by a long shot in some places, but managed to hit the nail on the head in others, so it’s yet another one of those games that seemed like it could have been so much more. For what it’s worth though, after the painfully short time I spent with the title, I was impressed for the most part. It seems only in hindsight do all the flaws come out, and it’s easy to do that considering you’ll most likely spend more time pondering why the game was so short than actually playing it.

Also as a final note, this game tries to make you look at Lara’s butt a whole lot. I’m sure that drummed up sales…

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  $100 USD or more 

 

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