Not a happy-end for the Tomb Raider series
Pros:
New adventures, moves, weapons
Cons:
Quite poor graphics, nothing original, BUGS
The Bottom Line:
Unless you are a Tomb Raider fan, the previous titles would be a better choice.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I dont think there are too many people that havent heard about Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. When it first appeared it was the game that created the adventure genre. Having such a huge success, they released another 3 games with the same main character. All of them were appreciated by the public. So we may think that this new title will follow the same path. Unfortunately, I think that it is just a clone of the others versions. With some little exceptions everything is the same.
Story
None. In case you didnt know in the last game Lara dies. So now, all of her friends gather and tell stories about her. So all the game is just a bunch of missions that dont have anything related. So the player will loose his interest quite soon, especially if he is stucked on a level. On 3 missions you will play Lara when she was a teenager. You wont have any weapons available and all the time youll have to climb, jump, crawl and swing. Yet some adventures are quite thrilling especially on the last levels
Gameplay
Unfortunately, the game has some serious bugs, that if you trigger them you wont be able to finish the game. I couldnt finish the game because on the last level, after killing a big guy I saved the game; but that triggered a bug that prevent me from finding a key. You can imagine how I felt after 9 hours of playing and now being unable to finish it. There are another 3 or 4 rooms where if you save or load you wont be able to finish the game. Also there are some bugs that prevent Lara from reaching some places. I couldnt get a Rose( secret items) because Lara couldnt hang on an edge. My advice is to get an walkthrough that will warn you about the bugs.
To all this we add the problems with the camera. It position in the wrong angle just when you are about to do a death-defying jump. Sometimes you cant even see where you have to land.
But lets not look only at the bad side of the game and see whats new here.
New moves:
Tightrope Walking: Simply walk across any rope or pole spanning a gap. If Lara loses her balance use opposite left and right movements to counteract the direction she is falling. To reverse direction just press the down directional.
Parallel Bars: Press Action to grab these bars and swing around. Time your release so you land on the next bar or landing area.
Forward Tumble: There are several places in the game where you must use this new move. While crouched simply press jump to roll forward. This is useful when trying to crawl into a lower area.
Weapons:
Pistols -
These are Lara's trusty sidearms she brought with her from her previous adventures. Use them "John Woo-style" to take out your basic baddies. Their unlimited ammo supply makes them a good fall-back weapon when you run out of ammo for your bigger guns. You usually start off with these weapons unless the story dictates otherwise.
Shotgun -
This old favorite is back complete with two types of ammo; Normal and Wideshot. Using the right ammo at the right time will make things easier and I'll tell you when to load up each kind for the best results. The slow reload time on this gun makes it useful for single attackers only.
Revolver -
More powerful than the pistols; this powerful handgun is the equivalent of the Magnums or Desert Eagle from the earlier games. It also has a slow reload time and a tricky aiming system so you cannot fire while flipping, etc. It makes a good sniping weapon when combined with the Laser Scope.
Desert Eagle -
This powerful handgun packs the same punch as the Revolver and features the same limitations. Ammo is usually scarce, so use this weapons only on the toughest opponents.
Uzi's -
This powerful old favorite is back, but ammo is so limited you will hardly ever get to use it except for the most serious of encounters.
HK -
This is a new weapons and features three firing modes; single shot, burst, and full automatic. Ammo for this weapon is even more limited than the Uzi, so keep it in single shot mode unless you are facing a unique enemy.
Binoculars
These allow you to survey the surrounding area to pinpoint items and enemies. Use the zoom commands to identify your targets.
Headset
Works just like the binoculars but with the added ability of an infrared mode that lets you see in the dark or invisible heat sources.
Grappling Gun -
This item is found near the end of the game and comes complete with its own scope. Once equipped you can aim at the ceiling and when the target turns green you can fire.
You will also find other items like crawbar, torch, chloroform and flares. Only specific weapons are available on a level. For example, you can use the last 3 items only in the last levels.
Graphics
They have the same old problems. First Lara walks into walls. Then the whole game has some poor graphics. The characters arent well drawn , with few details and everything gives you the feeling of being in a world drawn using only squares. You can notice some light effects when you are underwater, but still the game doesnt use the power of the new video boards.
Sound
Quite good, but takes a lot of space, around 500 megs .
