Uncovering an old tomb reveals treasures and ugly mummies.
User Rating: 8.3 | Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Platinum) PS2
To most of us, Tomb Raider was fine franchise. The unique atmosphere that entrances you with his massive size and the unusual mood of solitude. Unfortunately, broken camera and annoying controls eventually buried the franchise and Angel of Darkness came out to become it's own tombstone. Fortunately for us, Crystal Dynamic dug up the old grave and breath new life to the franchise with Tomb Raider: Legends. Now they are trying to go back to the beginning where this legendary franchise began and bring back the elements that made this franchise so popular. Unfortunately, they brought back the curse of Tomb Raider too. Let's talk about the problem of this game before we get into positives of this game. The problems are rather minor and there isn't many so let's get it over with. The first big problem you will notice immediately is the camera. The curse of Tomb Raider and it seems like you can never get a Tomb Raider game without camera problem. Ironically, I haven't noticed much camera problem in Tomb Raider: Legend, but this time around the camera problem is back and give us authentic Tomb Raider the original game. The camera works very differently from the original game, but the problem is near identical to give you the feeling that you are playing original game. Is this a way Crystal Dynamic is trying to tap into our nostalgia? I don't know but it is rather frustrating to see camera problem back after playing Legend which had very little problem with the camera. With the new (or old however you put it) camera problem, very often you don't see where you are and very often you lose your target when you are fighting or moving in confined area. Not just lose it, but camera goes little crazy and gives you perspective of very odd angle and zoom. This is by far the biggest problem of this game and pretty much the only problem that annoys you greatly. Other problems are rather minor. There is the control problem, which is largely associated with camera problem. Controls are rather unresponsive compared to many other games out there such as Devils May Cry franchise, but overall the control works fine for this game, and compared to the original Tomb Raider, the difference is HUGE. Still, as a gamer who played so many other games, the control does feel not very responsive and you can't help but to feel that it could've been better. Then there are usual problems of slow down. This doesn't happen very often unless you are using progressive scan. Then it happens some what frequent to be noticeable, but it isn't much of a deal. Now, let's get into positives. Playing this game as a fan of original Tomb Raider, it does leave me with very odd feeling. The places you visit seems familiar, but at the same time it feels very foreign. Granted it's been 10 years since I've last played Tomb Raider game, but besides few places that jumps out from the original game, most of the places you visit will feel very foreign, and it is a good thing. The game is new enough for you to enjoy even if you have played the original. Second to be mentioned is clever puzzles and platform aspect of this game. You will be glad to know that this game feels like mixture of Legends and original Tomb Raider. Puzzles and platform takes best of the both worlds. Add few new tricks such as jumping onto pole etc, the game has plenty of depth in that regards. By far this is most enjoyable tomb to raid. Another aspect of the game is the pacing. This time around, you do more of solving puzzles and platforming instead of running around mindlessly to figure out where you have to go. However, that doesn't mean there isn't any exploration aspect of this game. Unlike Legends, the game does a good job tricking you to have more of feeling of exploration. The levels are still somewhat linear, but the size and more open feeling of the level does give you enough experience in exploring to satisfy you. Then there is shooting action. This unfortunately needs more work, but then again Lara was never at her best when she shoots her guns. Still, this is great improvement over original and Legends as it is more exciting, more skill based, and the mood it sets is great. The music doesn't play until you see enemies and it is good thing. Most of the time you will feel that solitude of the game and all of sudden you hear wolf howl and music starts all of sudden. Now your heart is pumping with nervousness from unexpected surprise. This is the feeling we missed from Tomb Raider, the solitude and the rush from unexpected enemies. Also shooting is much better when you fight against animals that charge into you than humans who hides away and shoot. It also makes more sense for Lara to jump left and right to fight against animals than humans. Most of the fights are against animals in this game and that gives you the unique battle you don't experience from other games. The solitude is back. Most of the time, you will be running around in silence and only thing you will hear is your footsteps. This is something I have mixed feelings with. I liked Lara talking to her friends while exploring. It was great way to tell the story in more details and gives you that good feeling of having company. However, the solitude was what made this franchise great because it felt like you were trapping in tomb and it just set off that unique mood. This isn't something I can judge on. I guess I should leave this part to personal preference of the player. This can be either positive or negative depending on who you ask. The story is fairly well told compared to original game. Original game did have cut scenes between levels, but they were done rather poorly and I never cared about Tomb Raider stories. That changed with Tomb Raider Legends as they gave us excellent cut scenes that were more dramatic using great editing and camera angles. Those cut scenes are back, but unfortunately the talking in the middle of the level is gone. So storytelling is rather weaker compared to the Tomb Raider: Legends, but story itself matches the quality of Legends. However, there journal she reads that does some job of filling in for missing conversations with her buddies. Overall, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is excellent adventure/platform game. It isn't exactly action/adventure game because action is rather limited, and I can't say it is just an adventure game because adventure games usually revolves around interaction with NPC. This game comes closer to platform games like Prince of Persia but with exploration aspects. To anyone who enjoys platform game in more mature fashion than cute little Mario or such, then this is the game for you. To original Tomb Raider fans, this is what you wanted. Better controls, same mood, same challenge. It is evolution of the game you loved and this game won't disappoint you. 
