Oh Tomb Raider, how long it has been. I haven't dove (/cringe... more later) into a TR game since TR3 on the PS1. I used to love the old Tomb Raider games and experiences. They were a perfect mix of puzzle solving/platforming and action. However, lately the Tomb Raider franchise has descended into irrelevancy, as attempts to "reinvent" itself have failed. So, how does the latest game in the series fare?
Not so well. Eidos continues to struggle to relive the series' glory days, and developer Crystal Dynamics doesn't seem to really know what made Tomb Raider so magical all those years ago.
On the surface, Tomb Raider is about exploration. The premise is that you are some rich, um.., tomb raider who goes off on various adventures searching for lost artifacts for whatever the current reason in, and usually ends up pissing off some ancient deity or bastard evil doers in the process. So, we have exploration, and we have combat. What really made Tomb Raider great back in the day was the pacing of the game. In the first game,while on your plundering excursion you would emerge or a cave or water passage or whathaveyou and some wolf or bear would be there, waiting to unceremoniously attack you. This is what I loved about the games. There was no warning or Resident Evil-esque cutscene or scare music. It wasn't like some switch was flipped to let you know that is was ok to panic now. Nope, one second you are trying to find your way through some cave network, the next you have a wolf chomping on your leg. The second game nailed the action/exploration balance. In TR2 you fought a lot more human enemies, and you had much more combat tools at your disposal. The game was great for getting your heart pumping with a fire fight with 5 bad guys or a high speed boat chase through Venice, and then letting you catch your breath afterward as you worked your way through the level.
However, from my couple hours with Underworld, it seems the action/exploration balance has be ousted for more full on exploration. It reminds me a lot of Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed now. So much potential in the game engine, but wasted on boring, uninspired "puzzle" worlds.
The game starts as we'd expect, with Lara's mansion. But, just as you hit 'Start Game' you see Lara's mansion explode. I see what you are trying to do here Crystal Dynamics. Start the game off with a "bang". Try to get people excited they are Tomb Raider again. Ok, let's see what you got. You then lead Lara through her burning house, reacquainting yourself with the classic Tomb Raider controls, along with learning some new tricks. All of the typical actions seem to be here. We have the standards like run, jump, wall grab and shimmy. What I notice is that Lara's iconic hopping backstep is gone, in favor of a more typical slow backstep. Sad. This may have been tossed a long time ago, but since I haven't played TR since Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation demo on the Dreamcast, I'm going to say it is new. Lara definitely controls a lot smoother than in her older games. It is nice to see, but something inside of me still misses the old, clunky controls, much like many people still prefer the old school Resident Evil controls, as unintuitive as they were.
Anyway, Lara now also has a grappling hook to use. Originally I thought this was going to be simply for swinging, but in the first level she used to it hook onto the head of a snake statue and bring it crashing down onto a puzzle platform. Nice touch.
Ok, so I finish the flaming mansion introduction. I am ready for some classic Tomb Raider action. However, I am disappointed to learn the first level of the game is a MOTHERFUCKING UNDERWATER SWIMMING LEVEL. As you kidding me Crystal Dynamics? Someone needs to take a bat to the head of your game designer. Underwater swimming levels are always terrible and frustrating, but they are forgivable later in the game for a change of pace as long as they remain short. Not right off the bat before people have had a chance to settle in to the controls. Sigh, I almost want to quit even before I finish the level. It isn't even a linear level. You have the open space of ocean floor awaiting you, and you have to find these different caves that have the keys you need to open the door in this main temple. All underwater. Sigh. As to be expected, there are shark enemies, but there are only 2, and they don't put up any fight at all. You see them coming from a mile away and you simple lock on to them and shoot them with your harpoon. Underwater enemies are supposed to be a pain in the ass to kill, which adds to the frustration of the underwater level, but in a tolerable way. The frustrating thing here isn't the sharks after my flesh, but the fact that I can barely see in this underwater hell and I need to explore these hard to find caves. Sigh.
So I finally find the keys I need, and eventually I am led to a cave where I can actually get out of the water. Nice. Maybe I'll find some odd underwater creature waiting to chomp on me. Nope. Just your typical platforming BS before I get to the door of the next level. The only exciting thing in the entire level was coming around a bend in the water cave and seeing an octopus leg slide out of the opening in front of you. This actually got my heart racing for a bit, hoping for a fight, but I didn't see my tentacled friend again for the rest of the level. Disappointing. I'm assuming maybe I'll see it in the next level, but for now I'm left with a bitter taste in my mouth. Probably from the salt water. I almost sent the game back to Gamefly right then, but I decided I wanted to get a little more playtime with it, to see if maybe the combat can help save the experience. I will update when/if I play the next level, but for now it looks like Lara has fully gone the way of the hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog that is... who has fallen into similar irrelevancy).
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