Tomb Raider Anniversary

Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Released on: June 5, 2007
System: Games for Windows, Playstation 2
ESRB Rating: Teen
Review based on: Games for Windows (Downloaded from Steam)
Official Website

The Scoop: Lara Croft returns to her roots in this re imagining of the original Tomb Raider story.


Hitting Start...

• Someone wants to hire Lara to find a mysterious artifact. Something about the lost city of Atlantis. I'm not paying the best attention though because Lara is rendered much better than she was in the 1996 original.
  
• We are whisked away to a snowy mountain top in Peru. Poor Lara must be freezing in her now famous short shorts and blue tank top. You would think all the money she makes looting the riches from ancient tombs would afford her the comfort of a parka and some sensible boots.
• Hey look at that. Lara has her very own Sherpa. At least he had the sense to wear a jacket and some mukluks.
  
• The duo come to a large stone door in the mountain side. Numerous ledges and outcroppings dot the cliff surrounding the door. In classic Tomb Raider fashion it looks like I've got some work to do.
• The gameplay is solid. Climbing and jumping from ledge to ledge isn't frustrating even if you don't always make it the first time. It's made even easier with a Xbox 360 USB controller. If you intend to go the PC route with TR:A I recommend trying it over the mouse and keyboard.
• Finally I've guided Lara to a ledge over the door where the magic button is located. I push it and the large stone doors swing open. Ahhh victory.
• Cutscene: three wolves waiting on the other side of the door spring out and kill my Sherpa. Those bastards. I tried to stop them. But it was too late. They're already gaging on the soles of his boots. If only he were smart enough to dress for action like Lara he might still be alive! ( Funny how hindsight works sometimes ain't it! )
• The wolves dispatched and doors open Lara heads down into those deep dark caves one more time.
  

...I can't wait to see whats next.


Am I impressed? absolutely
How come? Crystal Dynamics provided the CPR that the Tomb Raider franchise needed last year with Tomb Raider Legend and it continues here. The gameplay is solid. The puzzles are tough but never impossible. And even though the graphics seems to be leaning more toward last gen than the current cycle there are still some really nice touches. It feels more like the Tomb Raider of old with the focus more on puzzles and acrobatics with the occasional firefight when you run into the animals and creatures lurking in the caves and jungles.