Lara climbs out of her dusty tomb for a new adventure. Unfortunately, Eidos' control and camera work do not.....
Graphics: The game on the whole looks pretty good, especially environments. There's some very nice water effects to see here, and Lara looks beautiful. Some of the waterfalls in the backdrops can be absolutely breathtaking. However, all the enemies you face come off as being very generic. And by generic, boy, I mean SERIOUSLY generic...like...took 2 minutes to think up and implement generic. 90 percent of the enemies you see in this one look identical, and the detail is non-existent, which is strange considering that they did a pretty good job on Lara herself. There's some nice lighting to see, and the cutscenes look pretty good.
Sound: The sound here is pretty good as well. Voiceovers can be annoying at times, especially when you jump a ramp on the bike and your buddy over the headset hollers like a moron. Environment sounds are very well done, as is the musical score. One thing to mention though: I found myself toning down the music as, on the default settings, the soundtrack tends to overpower character speech, which is frustrating when there's a story being told and you can't hear it. The guns sound decent, and explosions are par for the course. You won't leave this game feeling like your experience with sound effects and music has been a revolutionary one, but you won't find yourself thinking it's tacky either.
Control: In a word? Buggy. Very buggy. You know, back in the day, the Tomb Raiders were pretty famous for having some bad camera angles and not the best jump controls. I am now convinced that Eidos will never get this right. Multiple times, I fell to my death because I could not jump exactly onto a rope. And whoever thought that implementing the Shenmue-esque "hit "x" button within a few seconds or you're dead" style of action...in a Tomb Raider game...should really be relieved of their position. It's totally out of place for a game that has very few fast-paced moments. Granted, Shenmue was no action-fest, but it just doesn't fit this style of game. Worked alright in R.E.4 I GUESS....but definitly not here. Bottom line: Be prepared to redo many, many sections of this game because you can't land that one jump or nail that one rope due to some sloppy control. Nothing like dying because you were trying to jump back away from a ledge, but instead, Lara jumps to the side because of the way the camera is positioned in relation to the controls. This control is a serious issue, and definitly cost a chunk of points on the score because, in this kind of a game, control is critical. And here we have nothing but a critical mistake.
Gameplay: At first, this one is tough to put down. Exploring the different environments is fun, when you're not dying due to the control mentioned above. But as you move through the game, you start to feel like it's getting monotonous..and I think even Eidos and Crystal Dynamics felt it too because you start to see little "minigames" here and there pop up. Sure, riding a bike and shooting at bad guys can be fun..but don't make me do it for 5 or 10 minutes at a time..jeez. Especially because, if you should die (which will occur instantly if you hit a tree by the way), you typically have to redo the larger chunk of the minigame. And needing to drive a forklift? WTF??? That was, for me, probably the most agitating moment in this game. It serves to highlight in BRIGHT yellow the horrendous control scheme. You're only driving it for two seconds, and in three rooms or so, but it seems like an eternity because when you try to lift boxes out of your way, they either fall off the forks or some other physics issue causes you trouble. Combat here is really simple: Shoot, jump, shoot more, jump more, uh oh..repetitive pattern. I went up againt the bosses in this one with no medkits and still had no trouble. And the most annoying moment in recent memory happened to me in this game. I won't ruin anything for anyone, so I'll just say it's a "boss fight" in which you get repeatedly pulled off of a machine you need to operate. Horrible idea, horrible execution..just horrible. As a last note, this one is over quick. I was just sitting there, playing along, and then the next thing I know, it's all over. For $60, I really feel ripped, even though the adventure was a good one..while it lasted is the thing.
All in all, if you like Tomb Raider or really if you like adventure games, this one is a pretty good play despite my complaints. I would have loved to see some of the bugs worked out, but other than being extremely annoying, they don't actually prevent the game from functioning. However, I've had the game for a day and a half and for me, the adventure has already concluded. My bottom line on this one: Pretty solid rental, and you will definitly beat it before it's due back unless you really take your time with it. But for the full price, this game is just not a purchase, as it's all wrapped up too quickly. Thanks for reading my review. Enjoy your games and remember, have fun with whatever titles you play because that's the whole point of everything.