Stop the press: Tomb raider fans should buy this! maybe only of its graphics but BUY!
This game is Amazing. Maybe not when you first play Lara, but after managing the camera and look at the detail of some levels, for example the third level at Thailand, its Suberb.
But this is only a short description, i try to be more detailled here, so read further!.
As tomb raider players know, Lara's Mother is dead, and i dont want to add a spoiler here for Tomb Raider: Legend. But i had to.
SO SKIP THE NEXT 2 LINES IF YOU DONT WANNA KNOW THE END OF LEGEND!!!!
A woman wich i don't know the name of says Lara's mother is not dead but lives in Avalon.
In underworld you start at a period wich is today the day, but after that first short level you travel back 2 weeks in time and you play up till the first chapter.
Don't know what is next, cause im only at the fourth level, wich isnt Mexico as some game reviewers wrote in their previews, but it is the tomb of Croft Manor. But enough now about detailled level info. Seek out for yourself.
Anyway lets first take a look at the graphics. They are Amazing! Really.
I recently buyed me a better video card to make games much nicer, and the card was worth every single penny. Especially at this game, and assassins creed, the graphics look Suberb!
If you dont believe me try a demo, or some like that or seek out screenshots, and look for yourself. I can honestly tell you all that i almost fall of my chair when entered the Thailand level. I was looking at a plant, so took a closer look, and really it was as real as it can be! photo realistic! Not every plant or tree in the game is like this, but some are. And then i havent talked about the water. Really stunning it is! Seek out for yourself.
Good next one is Physics. Its good, but nothing more then that. Its nice to shoot at a barrel and see a decent explosion then. But when shooting at a panel with some buttons on it, nothing happens, execpt for some bullet holes. But the way people and animals are falling down, when you kill them. Greatly done! Even for Lara herself. When you mistime a jump and you are taking suicide she falls down like it should have in real life. But physics are not suberb cause of the control panel issue.
Next one, Sound. And this means all sound, like music, voice, and other sounds.
Good performance! Voice acting is really good. I believe same actors where used as from Legend. Lip sync can be better though. Gunfire sound is really nice to hear, even if you have a Realtek HD audio onboard card like i have.
EAX seems be standard in this game, cause when you fire your gun in a cave, you get some sorth of echo, and when you fire your gun underwater, its only a plop and then it fades away. Other sound? what to say about it. Good, maybe pro superb, but not full superb. Then the music. They add a nice sound track, really nice music to watch, in my opinion.
A minus point? Yes there is one. At cinematics, the voice isnt coming from my center speaker when it is when there are no cinematics. Some short lines of lara for example then.
Good Gameplay is the next thing i talk about.
Its good, even pro superb, but you have to like it. In my opnion though Lara climbs way to fast when she is climbing a wall where some loose rocks are hanging out. Don't get me wrong on this, cause the rocks are solid and do not drop down when Lara hang on to it. But she is too fast in my opinion. But anyway, its fun. But you can hate it too. In the first level you have to focus yourself on the camera, which is good, but sometimes it can be annoying espescially in small spaces, look out for that. A pro superb score overall from me here
Next thing is Lara herself.
Sorry to say this, but she is hot. Even a girl should say that. When you have Anti Aliasing at 4 and Antisitropic(forgive me if the last word is wrong) at 16, she looks like a real person with only a little bit fantasy.
Okey final score for me then.
Graphics 10/10
Physx 8.5/10
Sound 8.5/10
Gameplay 9/10
Lara herself 10/10
This means a final score of 46/50 wich is a 9.2
So for gamespot reviewers this means Editors Choice. Unfortunally, this game is getting some pro review scores around 7 or 8. Maybe they look at other things then i look at, but maybe when there is a patch coming up, they change the score. Anyway, even for players who like solid action adventure with good puzzles they must buy this one.
P.S i cant say anything about storyline, cause i havent beat the game yet, but i think its good. I like saga's like Avalon and so forth
PEOPLE GO AND GET THIS GAME!
P.P.S Forgive my misspelling here and there.
Greetz from Martijn from the Netherlands