Great storyboard, fantastic concept art and new abilities, but still lacks some gameplay and puzzle innovation.

User Rating: 8.5 | Tomb Raider: Underworld PS3
For gamers who like Tomb Raider games, Underworld is really a great option. It has all the elements a Tomb Raider lover wants on a Lara's game. Unfortunately, that is also the most negative point of the game: lacks innovation. There are new possibilities in the game, like shooting with one hand while grabbed, head shot bullet time, melee attack (that was also possible on TR6), and Lara has humanized movements. But any of these options is quite surprising, the game just have what is expected of a new Tomb Raider since the second title in the series: "Lara can do new movements and solve new puzzles!". Fans want more! We need outrageous innovative ideas that can leave the fans dazzled. Next I will discuss the elements of the game separately.

Traditionally on TR series, the concept art of the game is just marvelous. There are many fantastic panoramas and wonderful temples. There are some interesting creatures like the blind Kraken. There are many details according to the myths the game is inspired on. The graphics resolution and perfection could be better, since my video game console can do much better that what we have in TR Underworld, but it's quite acceptable for a nowadays game. One overall criticism about the graphics: in the end of the game, the player got tired of the flaring-dark-bluish scenarios, since the game has many underwater parts and the lightning based artifacts use a lot of blue colors.

The audio of the game is cool, with great music and realistic sounds, though I preferred TR Legend soundtrack.

The storyboard is really great! It's a travel by the Nordic culture with a whole new perspective. It also put an end to some dilemmas started on TR legend and killed a boring NPC of the old game! The involvement of the villains is also interesting and the story flows well during the game.

The game-play needs to be improved. If you get used with the head shot system, you will not have any problems. The problem may be to get used to it. Combining shooting with melee attacks and bullet time specials like head shot or combo shot is not very easy, so you usually use only one of these attacks. Combining attacks should be easier, or there should be other attack options.

I found many interesting puzzles, but they are not very innovative. The game should explore different ideas mixed with old ones.

Lara herself is very nice modeled and has realistic movements. I just think that they should stop changing her face so much through the games.