Crystal's graphics can't make up for a weak story and dull gameplay.
Fans have complained back and forth and side to side about the ledge climbing, particularly the "white ledges." If you've played Crystal's games, you know what I'm talking about. The glowing ledges that stand out like black on white. They made no apparent effort to eliminate them in Underworld. The levels were very generic and linear. (Run down a hall, climb up a wall, pull a switch, climb back down, go through the door, next level.) Crystal got very lazy with this game towards the end. Towards the beginning of the game you are on a large boat, which eventually explodes and sinks to the bottom of the sea. Towards the end of the game, you are back on what is supposed to be a different boat. But it is the exact same boat, the weather is just different. There are dozens of doors on the ship, but you can't enter any of them. Which adds to the linear effect of the game. Also, the story just made me sick. The dialogue was terrible and the whole plot for the Legend trilogy is ridiculous. (Considering that her parents actually never died, as they were in Tomb Raider Chronicles during Lara's funeral.) Underworld has virtually no replay value. My positive point-out for Underworld is the graphics, though. I really was blown away, the enviroments were gorgeous. Very colorful, unlike Anniversary. What I was even more impressed with was that the plants actually moved when you walked through them. Uncharted annoyed me when the plants didn't move.
Overall, Underworld is a step forward but it needed to take a leap. It is still lacking entertainment value and recieving worse reviews than Legend and Anniversary, which isn't a good sign. Underworld was an average game, but just wasn't the Tomb Raider feeling I had hoped for. Maybe TR9 will change that, but hopefully the series will soon come to an end.