REVIEW : TOMB RAIDER UNDERWORLD

Ok this time I'm going into a full on game review. I had promised in my previous post that I'd post a review for Tomb Raider : Underworld. So here it goes. The 8th installment in the famous and legendary Tomb Raider series which started way back in 1997 and introduced us to the legendary famous (and if I may add, immensely sexy) Lara Croft.

DEVELOPED BY : CRYSTAL DYNAMICS

NIXES SOFTWARE

SANTA CRUZ GAMES

PUBLISHED BY : EIDOS INTERACTIVE

DISTRIBUTED BY : WARNER BROTHERS

GAMES TIME WARNER

RELEASED IN : 2008

I know I played this game a bit late. I played it almost a year after it had released. I had some other important work in between so even though I had already got myself a copy of the game, I had not found the time to play it. This was really difficult because I know the game had taken off from where the last installation of the series Tomb Raider Legend ended and the curiousity as to what happens next was killing me. The last one had ended with Lara Croft's nemesis Amanda telling her that her mother ( who was believed dead) was alive and in a Norse mythical and mysterious underworld called Avalon. Tom Raider Underworld now continues the story and shows Lara's quest to find the place called Avalon. In order to do that she has to travel to other Norse Underworlds to collect some ancient magical artifacts without which she can't gain entry to Avalon. The artifacts are two ancients gauntlets used by the ancient god Thor, a belt worn by Thor, and a hammer ,also used by Thor which together with the belt and gauntlets can open the gateway to Avalon and let Lara discover the truth behind her mother. Now before anything else, let's discuss the aspects of the game worth mentioning.

Graphics : 8/10

The graphics of this game is quite spectacular and the lush, flora and fauna featured in major part of the game is a treat for the eyes. The environments were great and realism was felt. However sometimes the camera angles were a bit irritating. Especially when you are hanging from a ledge or climbing walls. If you want to shoot an enemy while hanging from a ledge ( this technique was introduced in this installment itself) you can't be sure you can be aiming right. Because the camera angle may not show you the enemy. But otherwise the graphics is great. You will be spellbound seeing the natural beauty of the coastal islands and the underwater part.

Story : 8/10

This game has the best story-line in the entire series, second only to the original Tomb Raider game story. And also Tomb Raider Anniversary since it's a remake of the original and has the exact same plot. There was not a moment that I got bored of the story. The mystery behind what Avalon really is, what actually happened to Lara Croft's mother and indications of some monstrous entity in Avalon which could destroy the world if unleashed has been presented in an extremely brilliant manner. Moroever, the developers had to research on mythological concepts of a lot of cultures. You get to know quite a few things too while playing this game. The story was linear and will keep you excited to know what happens next. I could feel the glee myself when I found the two gauntlets and couldn' wait to get the belt next. Similarly when I found Thor's belt, I couldn't wait to lay my hands on the hammer. The story totally involves you into the game. You keep wanting to know ? What next.

Now I come to a point I mentioned in my previous post. The base of the story does have a slight similarity to Shade: Wrath of Angels mentioned in the previous post. Well in both the games you look for someone who vanished and he supposedly trapped in another world. Your mother in this case and your brother in Shade. Also you need to travel to different worlds unknown to humanity and collect artifacts in order to gain entry to where the one you are looking for is in both the games. The gauntlets, belt and hammer in this game and the four angel's hearts in Shade. And finally, in both the games you are actually aided by an ancient entity on your quest and in both cases you realize in the end that you were actually being used and the one helping you becomes the main antagonist. Natla in this case and the Angel of faith in Shade. This concept of being deceived in the end by someone for whom you were executing the mission is not unknown in games.Most of he games in the Meta Gear series are examples.

Anyways, if the story was so good, why didn't a give it a 10/10 and deduct two point you ask ? Well because I didn't like something. You don't get to battle Natla at all even though she is the primary antagonist. When I got hold of Thor's hammer, I was very excited about the upcoming battle I was so sure would be coming between me and Natla because this hammer was the only thing that could finish off an immortal god like Natla. To my utter dismay, the developers didn't give me, or rather anyone a chance to do that. It all happens in the last cutscene. Lara just throws the hammer into Natla and she crashes below into a deadly liquid and is assumed dead. So basically YOU , as the player, can't take the credit.

Gameplay : 7.5/10

If u're a gymnast/acrobat etc, you're going to fall in love with the gameplay. And that's because most of the gameplay is about gymnastics and awesome daredevil stunts. Most of gameplay includes climbing walls , jumping from a wall to a ledge, or from a ledge to a wall. I don't know whether to call this a shortcoming but if u're looking for some big action, you won't find it in Tomb Raider Underworld. Enemies are really very few. The main challenge in the game is to rely on Lara's superb acrobatic abilities to cross a dangerous terrain or some deep pit . You will really have to observe your surroundings very carefully and find some rock, some wall, or anything that Lara can climb or hold onto. There were times when I thought that crossing a particular area was impossible, a particular jump was impossible,there was no way etc but then there has to be a way isn't it ? Just examine your surroundings very carefully. In two missions, you will be needing your bike to make certain jumps and also to solve a puzzle. There are interesting puzzles as well you need to solve to get into a particular area. You can now shoot at enemies while hanging from ledges although a liitle problem with camera angles have made this added feature a little difficult. You can also split your guns and fire at two targets at the same time. You now have a bomb that sticks to walls as well as enemies and detonates after a few seconds. So once a bomb is tuck onto a enemy, there is no escape for the enemy. To make the game more realistic, if you exploring a wet area or if it's raining or if your hands are wet, you may slip from a ledge. But the most notable feature added to this installation was the "adrenaline moments" when time slows down and you can use that to your advantage to jump out of harm's way. The previous one had interactive cutscenes like RE4 when you did not have complete control over the character and had to press buttons as prompted. I tend to like these adrenalin moments more. Reminds me of the game that introduced this concept, which is Max Payne.

However I had expected more enemies. Frankly a few jaguars, a few tigers and some poachers are the enemies you encounter apart from a different supernatural enemy called thralls. Thralls are undead creatures , very much like zombies. They have been created by a deadly ancient liquid called eitr. Whoever comes in contact with this liquid dies, but the body remains active protecting some artifact and killing anyone whom they come in contact with. Their flesh is gone and all that remain are a walking pile of bones and look terrifying. You encounter some thralls. But even then, they're very less in number except for the last level. And two particular levels on two ships have some action with you battling Amanda's goons. And I don't count the underwater sharks as real threats. And this lack of enemies made me reduce points for the gameplay. Other than that ,it's splendidly realistic and good.

Overall :7.8/10

That's quite a good score. You can actually have hours of playing with this game without getting bored. It's extremely adventurous. You may not like it as much as I did but I bet you can never hate this one. Checkout the trailer here.