For many gamers, the blocky, pointed and all over oddly shaped features of Ms. Lara Croft were their first introduction to console gaming and video vixens. Just over ten years ago, the original Tomb Raider was released for the PlayStation One and PC, giving future fanboys a taste of a true 3D puzzle platform game. Tomb Raider boasted ground breaking graphics and some of the most intricate puzzles around as well as some of the most unique and acrobatic ways of completing them. For her Tenth Anniversary celebration, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics have teamed up to bring the original adventure of the tomb raiding pinup girl back for all to play and in doing so have revitalized her with some incredible updates—not only visually but with game play mechanics that the series has seen incorporated over the years, as well.
The Tomb Raider series has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride. It started off with the original two outings going up in a steady climb of gaming giddiness and then quickly taking the downward spiral, plunging into mediocrity with the third installment and then into a free fall with the release of Angel of Darkness. The series did finally get a much needed resurrection last year when Tomb Raider: Legend and thankfully Tomb Raider: Anniversary follows suit with just about everything that made Legend a great game. Unlike Legend though, you have no fancy binoculars to help you look for hints, no headset to chitchat with friends and no flashlight to light up those spooky dark passage ways. You are utterly alone in the tombs you desecrate and the game unquestionably conveys the feeling of dread and uncertainty as you trudge through spider web covered tunnels, splashing in puddles of murky water and rolling past poison tipped darts that seek your soft flesh.
Along with the few weapons that Lara handles throughout the game; dual pistols still remaining her weapon of choice, she also has a handy magnetic grappling hook. The grappling hook deploys from her belt as she launches off ledges and allows her to get out of some hairy situations by swinging and wall running past hazards as well as pulling and manipulating objects strewn throughout the tombs. With all the items Lara has at her disposal, her biggest asset has always been her ability to get to anywhere she wants to by jumping, climbing and swimming and of course the use of a lever or button here and there. Much like the original game, Lara still has all her signature moves like ledge grabbing, rope climbing, pole swinging and even that weird headstand thing she does from time to time, but now comes with a few new moves added to her repertoire. Lara can now perch on top of poles and can use her “adrenaline dodge” technique to get out of harms way and land head shots to her enemies.
As great as it is to replay the original, don’t expect everything to be an exact recreation. Although many of the levels are the same architecturally and visually, albeit upgraded, the solutions are quite different to some of the same puzzles. Many times you find that you need to use your grapple for solving a puzzle that has you stumped which is the first clue you’re going to need to do something different than you remembered.
As intricate as the puzzles can be, there are checkpoints throughout each level that allows you restart from that point if you happen to take a dry swan dive and find yourself bouncing off the stone floor in a broken heap of twisted limbs. These checkpoints can be a double edged sword. They are quite handy for going through a series of tricky jumps so that you don’t need to keep repeating the same sequence from the beginning, but there are many places where if you do take a wrong jump and miss your mark, you won’t actually die from the fall and will more often then notend up where you have previously been and sometimes set off a checkpoint again, rendering your previous one useless even though it was deeper into the game. Other times, you may not set off a checkpoint, but you’ll be looking for a way to kill yourself to save the ten minute trek to get back up where you were.
As you progress through the game and get the hang of the gymnastic techniques that Lara performs, the game will switch it up on you and make things more difficult. Just finally figured out how to perform a wall run? Congratulations. Now you need to do it while spinning knives come at you, flames lick at your ankles and while you’re at it, you’ll need to be at a certain height on your rope so that when you jump off, you will be at just the right height to grab the ledge you need to continue.
The controls can also be a little too sensitive at times. Running up to a ledge to make a leap of faith and nudging the analog stick at the last second, a smidge left or right, will send you flying through the air, flailing like an idiot, until you slam into the ground, cursing out loud the entire way down. You quickly learn that when you have a series of jumps and swings to get through, to take your time and plan it carefully or else you’ll be doing it repeatedly. The camera can be another feature of the game that takes a bit of getting used to. For the most part it works perfectly fine, although there are times when it will not cooperate and you end up making jumps holding your breath hoping Lara will find a ledge to grab that you can’t see.
