Tomb Raider: Underworld

5 Responses to “Tomb Raider: Underworld”

1. quistis
   12/21/2009 at 11:31 am

   Tomb Raider Underworld is the continuation of a storyline from Legend and to a lesser extent Anniversary. It sees Lara continuing her search for her mother. The theme of the game is as the title suggests, underworld or rather the many underworlds or realms of the dead that exist in many different mythologies.
   Lara travels to various locations in search of Thor’s hammer. The locations include an underwater temple in the Mediterannean, Thailand, Mexico, and Greenland.

   Gameplay – 4/5: The gameplay revolves mostly around solving environmental puzzles. In this respect it is very similar to Legend and Anniversary, the two previous TR games. The main difference lies in the degree of freedom afforded to Lara. She can do many more things and utilize objects such as the grapple or her motorcycle in more creative ways than in the past games. The battle system has been updated too – you can now fight enemies using hand to hand combat as well as weapons. Speaking of weapons, you can now climb and shoot which is nice (only took ‘em nine games to figure that one out ). The levels are large and well designed. The puzzles are not very difficult and mostly involve pushing and pulling levers, and manipulating objects this way or that. Lara now has a sonar at her disposal to map levels (though I confess I never used it) and she also gives hints to help solve puzzles. The game is almost educational at times – you’ll learn a lot about different myths and legends. All in all enjoyable if you liked previous Tomb Raider games, Ico, or the more recent Drake’s Fortune (though Lara’s game concentrates on puzzle solving rather than combat).

   Graphics 5/5 – One word: Gorgeous. Lara looks great and so do the environments around her. Large, gorgeous environments, lush vegetation, huge, imposing statues all rendered with loving detail. This is truly a beautiful game. The first level takes place underwater and is truly memorable.

   Controls 3/5 – The controls are mostly the same as in Legend, but I confess I found them a little less stellar. There is some collision detection problems too. Basically the controls could have used a little tightening up but otherwise they’re bearable and any slight problems that exist don’t really detract from the gameplay. In the pre-Legend era Lara had a lot of problems with falling off cliffs accidentally or if you didn’t line up a jump exactly so, she would die. Here it’s a lot more forgiving. The combat controls are also quite nice – Lara autoaims when fighting melee and with guns so enemies are rarely a problem.

   Sound 4/5 – Nice music, good ambient atmosphere, not very memorable but not annoying either. This game is a lot darker than Legend so the witty banter between Lara and Zip and Alister is missing. Mostly Lara narrates and her voice actress is quite decent. The game can be played in English, French (which is how I play), German, Spanish.

   Rent or Buy: Hmmm…if you loved Legend, and Anniversary, chances are you’ll love this one too. If you prefer the more combat oriented Drake’s Fortune, my suggestion is to give this a rental to at least try it out. The game’s backstory is told in Lara’s journal entries and a cutscene that’s immediately accessible so while it helps to have played the previous two games, it’s not necessary. All in all this game definitely deserves a look if you’re a fan of adventure and puzzle solving games.
   Rating: 4 / 5
2. Stephen M. Sturgeon
   12/21/2009 at 1:36 pm

   I had been anticipating Tomb Raider Underworld for a long time. Ever since the cliffhanger ending in Legend, I don’t think there was a Tomb Raider fan alive who wasn’t eagerly waiting for the resolve.

   A few notes:
   If you haven’t played Legend, you really need to. This is a direct continuation of its story line. If you don’t know what happened in Legend, you’ll be lost with the story contained in Underworld. A passing knowledge of what happened in Anniversary would also be advised.

   The good:
   There was a conscious effort on the programmer’s part that if it seems like Lara should be able to do something, she can do it. For the first time the technology was available to let Lara do virtually anything the programmers could imagine. Poles Lara could only swing from before, she can now swing, perch, balance and fire a gun from. By far, this version of Lara can do more than she could in any previous game.

   The areas are huge and, for the most part, non-linear. There are a couple sections near the end where you’re basically being herded down a single corridor. But for the most part, this is the epitome of what a “go anywhere, do anything” exploration game should be. If you know exactly what you’re supposed to do, you can probably breeze through certain puzzles. But if you want to take time to explore and see what the game has to offer, you’ll find it has a lot.

   The story is also very involving. Like I said, it’s a continuation from Legend. So if you’ve played that, you already have a vested interest in what happens to these characters. Underworld really delivers on finally resolving the story between Lara and Amanda, Lara and Natla…and even Natla and Amanda.

   The bad:
   As much as I hate to find fault with this game, I have to be honest, there are some faults to be found.

   As stated in other reviews, the camera is really buggy. This more than any of the other bugs had me frustrated at times. It never became a game spoiler for me. But many times, you not only can’t move the camera to where it would be of utmost advantage, many times it’s a challenge just to move it to where it’s not utterly useless. This more than anything keeps me from giving this game that fifth star.

   While not nearly as irritating as the camera, I also have noticed frame rate issues. But those tend to come and go. There’s a brief moment on the part of the player of “what’s going on?” But it passes and you’re back on your way exploring.

   Cinematics are not unlockable like they were in Legend and Anniversary. Once you’ve gone past them, that’s it. Only chance you’ll have to see them again is if you either start a new game or go on Youtube.

   That brings me to my final point. Since cinematics are no longer unlockable, there’s really not much else worth unlocking. There’s character concept art, weapon concept art, level concept art and equipment concept art. It’s hardly worth going into the “treasure hunter” mode to unlock it all in my opinion. It’s a good thing that the levels are so huge and that it should take the average player a good while to finish the game. Because given the lack of anything worthwhile to unlock, that leaves little to nothing in the way of replay value.

   Final notes:
   This is a fun game. I hate that I had to list so many faults, because really this is a fun game. But you should know before spending the money that this does lack that certain amount of polish. As far as I’m concerned, though the good does outweigh the bad. If you’re a Tomb Raider fan, you should get this game. If you’re dying to find out how the Legend cliffhanger finally resolves, get this game. Just realize you may need to forgive the game for having a few little quirks.
   Rating: 4 / 5
3. T. Soatthiamroong
   12/21/2009 at 4:31 pm

   I just got the game today and played for a few hours. And these are my opinion on the game.

   Bad:
   - Environment collisions are bad. You could fall quite easily even from a simple ledge, due to bad collision detection. And you often bump into invisible walls, or even stuck on them, in stupid places that they shouldn’t be there.
   - Animations look bad. The poses are alright, but timings and in-betweens are bad and too fast. I feel like watching a speedy Charlie Chaplin’s film. Lara looks like a monkey when she does wall-climbing. And too-fast animations also cause very annoying errors in controling the character.
   - Camera sucks. They make the camera follows Lara too much and track-in too fast. It could cause controling mistakes and a headache. Especially when you stand too close to environment collision, the camera will shake like crazy. I feel dizzy after playing for a few hours.
   - Combat system are pretty bad. The gunplay doesn’t include cover system, which makes you take the bullets too much. Dodging moves don’t help much because a lousy camera don’t stay still, so you lose track of enemies very easily.

   Good:
   Well… it’s Tomb Raider after all. That means the story and puzzles are still interesting enough to keep you playing, even with lousy controls and camera. The models, textures, shaders, and lighting look great.

   In conclusion:
   The developers tried to put new things to keep the series fresh. Unfortunately, they don’t really work. On the other hand, the weak points destroy what made the past games in the series so great.

   I wouldn’t recommend this one to anybody new to the series. Judging from this one, you might hate the entire series all together. Tomb Raider Legend and Anniversary are better than this one.

   For average fans, you might want to download the demo and try it first, or wait untill the price drop.

   For die-hard fans, well, it’s still Tomb Raider. If you’re dying to collect every Tomb Raider games, it might not be so bad for you. Just don’t keep your hope up so high.

   Actually, I wanted to give it 3.5 stars.
   Rating: 3 / 5
4. Supreme Warrior
   12/21/2009 at 6:22 pm

   The best thing about this game has to be the amount of exotic locales and exploration that you do throughout. You have to explore the dense jungles of central Mexico, the tropical and beautiful scenery of coastal Thailand, frozen arctic wastelands, Lara own home(or underneath it), and tombs hidden deep within the Mediterrean Sea. There are almost no boss fights so that is one missing element that should have been added to the game since we have seen it in past Tomb Raider games. As a matter of fact, I think that this is probably the easiest but still most exciting Tomb Raider games that I have ever played. I enjoyed all of the exploring of the different locales and tombs. I almost felt like I was going on my own Indiana Jones expedition. Lara field gear in her PDA, really makes the game easier because she actually tells you what you need to do to progress further in the game, which was lacking from other TR games. Lots of enemies to shoot(people and animals) and the power of Thor’s hammer adds a whole new level of excitement for the game. Any fan of action adventure games and exploration should check this game out.
   Rating: 3 / 5
5. nonamewannabe "anyone"
   12/21/2009 at 8:25 pm

   Fun (at times) but glitch ridden. In one level the only way we knew how to get out was through a glitch! There were so many glitches it’s hard to remember all of them. One glitch at the end of the game, “The Boss” got stuck shooting at a pillar I needed to climb in order to proceed. “The Boss” continued getting stuck throughout the entire level. They also gave Lara all kinds of new climbing abilities, but they did not work out the bugs. She would end up floating in the in mid air, or holding a corner that didn’t exist. The enemies also had quirks. With the humans, you could unload both your pistols twice into them and they would not die….but if you kicked them they would die almost instantly!

   Pros:

   The motorcycle was cool.

   Environments were beautiful (when nothing was moving).

   Puzzles ok.

   Really cool graphics (when Lara wasn’t invisible).

   Cons:

   Bad enemy programing.

   Bad enemy graphics.

   Grapple problems.

   Bad camera (got stuck on Lara’s butt often).

   Jumping through ledges/pillars.

   Stuck in walls, rocks, etc.

   Getting stuck halfway through traps & surviving, but unable to proceed.

   Having to reload the game because you did the puzzle out of order.

   And many more….

   Game had promise but was rushed. Almost unplayable due to glitches. Not worth $50.
   Rating: 3 / 5