Despite some nagging issues, Underworld proves Lara still has some fight left in her.
The story is a continuation of the narrative begun in Tomb Raider: Legend and elaborates on some of the unexplained elements in that game as well as Tomb Raider: Anniversary. As such, knowledge of the previous events is a must, or otherwise the story won't make all that much sense, nor will it carry as much weight. Lara is continuing her quest to find the mythical resting place of King Arthur, Avalon. As she travels across the globe, raiding ancient tombs in exotic locales, her old friend and current enemy Amanda Evert is hot on her heels. Making matters even worse is the unexpected reappearance of Jacqueline Natla, the ancient and immortal Atlantean and main antagonist of the original game.
The appearance of Natla is a welcome surprise, especially for veterans of the series and the ongoing antagonism between Lara and her former friend Amanda provides for some interesting scenes, but the story as a whole isn't terribly interesting nor dramatic. But the biggest problem the story suffers from is the fact that unless you've played Legend (and Anniversary to a lesser extent), you're just not going to get much out of it. Whilst an overarching storyline isn't a bad thing, it does handicap the game considerably. Major events, that might hold serious repercussions for people in the know, will seem trivial and meaningless for others. While it can be argued that this is mostly the players' own fault for not keeping up with a particular story, I'd still like it if the game tried a bit harder in acclimating new players so they wouldn't feel so aloof.
The basic gameplay of Tomb Raider has stayed mostly unchanged throughout the years. As Lara, you will traverse various locations using her incredible acrobatic skills, solve puzzles and fight foes both natural and supernatural. The biggest draw in Tomb Raider has always been Lara's interaction with the environment and this holds true for Underworld as well. Pulling off daring jumps and impossible manouvres is still fun, especially seeing as how Ms. Croft's repertoire of moves has been expanded to include wall-climbing, beam-vaulting, rappelling and much more. But putting a serious damper on all this fun is a control scheme that feels imprecise at best, as well as fairly dated by current standards. You never truly feel like you're in control, as if Lara were fighting against you the whole way. Lining up jumps is often a case of trial and error, actions seem to come at a considerable lag after a button press and even a simple task such as breaking a container (which usually contain collectables or helpful items) needs precious seconds of precise positioning to pull off. And if you do happen to get lucky and line up your jump perfectly, a myriad of bugs and glitches will make sure that nothing is ever free of frustration. For a game as dependent on platforming as Underworld, it's quite frankly astonishing how poorly the controls seem implemented at times.
As frustrating as the gameplay can be, the locations and puzzles usually win out in the end though. There are a lot of great outdoor and underground locales with some ingenious puzzles that will really make you think. And should you ever get stuck, there's a new helpful assist option in your PDA. By pressing the A button, Lara will give a vague hint on what needs to be done next. If your still stymied, pressing the Y button will have her spell it out for you. Coupled with a cool sonar feature that maps out levels in wireframe models, you don't need to worry about resorting to walkthroughs or getting stuck for long. And as helpful as these additions are, they don't turn the game into a breeze, keeping the difficulty just right but never frustrating.
In addition to the outdoor and underground levels, this time around Lara gets wet as well. Underwater levels are few and far in between, but they are some of the best moments Underworld has to offer. Exploring sunken ruins whilst fending off hungry sharks and other, more dangerous beasts is not only fun but looks great thanks to the visuals and Lara's impressive motion capture moves. As she swims, climbs and jumps from pole to pole, there's a certain grace and allure in her moves that almost transcends into sexual territory (this is Lara Croft we're talking about after all), as her lithe physique and ample endowments are put on display.
The locations for the most part look very awe-inspiring, with an epic scale and the descent from open areas down into more dark and claustrophobic tombs is palpable. But the level design is still extremely linear and rigid. The correct path is usually plainly marked with lighter shades and perfectly straight edges and there are very precise rules on exactly where and how Lara can interact with her surroundings. As other games have moved away from this kind of platforming, giving you more freedom and choice, Tomb Raider seems stuck in its archaic design. And thanks to an incredibly unruly camera that will usually either get in your way or be pointed away from important places and events, the feeling that Underworld does little to address the problems of previous TR games is pervasive.
Combat has always been almost secondary to the Tomb Raider experience and Underworld does little to rectify this. Thankfully there isn't a lot of combat, but what little remains isn't terribly exciting or even adequately pulled off. Enemies are shockingly stupid, running close to you and then planting their feet, refusing to take cover even as you pummel them with gunfire. Usually a firefight devolves into you running and jumping around enemies, shooting at them nonstop untill they give up the ghost. Whilst such behavior is to be expected of the beasts, both real and unreal, the combat doesn't get any interesting when fighting against them. Up until the end, when you get an extremely overpowered weapon (which ironically takes the frustration out of combat whilst at the same time not making it any better), your best bet is to circle an enemy like a headless chicken, jumping and shooting without pause.
At the start of every expedition you'll be given a choice between various clothing and weaponry to take with you. Whilst changing Lara's outfit to match her surroundings is fun, choosing your weapon seems as redundant as combat itself. No matter what you choose, Lara will still have packed every weapon available into her little backpack.
Luckily there is one area where Underworld clearly shines and that's in the puzzle department. While there isn't anything terribly new here, the puzzles are usually so grand in scale and smartly thought-out as to present a satisfying challenge. Figuring out what you need to do can take a bit of time thanks to the sizeable environments, even if you decide to use the PDA's assist function. Most puzzles are of the "fetch an item to use trigger" variety, but they're logical enough to be fun whilst allowing you to explore the intriguing world around you. A clear standout is a huge puzzle/boss battle found very early in the game, which wonderfully highlights the best aspects of Tomb Raider in an exhilirating and expansive way.
Lara is as yummy as she's always been, but other character models don't look nearly as good. The animations are terrific, but ultimately only one part of the package. The levels themselves aren't exactly dazzling, but they're detailed and large enough to be genuinely pleasing to the eye. Some of the latter stages don't look as fully realized as some of the earlier ones, but as a whole the game is entirely proficient graphically. There are few effects worthy of mention, but the game does run at a mostly smooth and crisp framerate, which helps alleviate any minor shortcomings. The water effects are perhaps the best of the bunch and underwater exploration is excitingly moody.
The dialogue is sparse and rather flat, but so is the delivery. With the possible exception of Lara herself, there just isn't enough emotion in the characters to make them all that memorable. The weapon sounds are equally unmemorable, but the ambient sounds and the musical score fare a bit better. The soundtrack is fairly quiet and sparse, but that's the way a TR game should be scored. There are a bunch of audio cues culled from the older games, which adds a nice bit of nostalgia.
Tomb Raider: Underworld isn't a terrible game by any means. It's an entirely enjoyable experience although one sorely lacking polish as evident by the bugs, glitches, terrible camera and uninspired game design. The combat is aggravatingly bereft of amusement, the AI is simply lacking and the platforming is too rigid for its own good. That being said, exploring Underworld's stunning environments and besting its enjoyable challenges is still very much a fun experience and one that shows there is still a lot of life left in the franchise. Here's hoping the next time around some of the more glaring issues are addressed and the gameplay is updated to meet today's standards. If and when that happens, Lara will once again prove why she's such a force to reckoned with.