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Tomb Raider: Underworld Review
User Submitted Tomb Raider: Underworld Reviews
Date: 2010-08-30
Fun, great graphics, puzzles, stunning visuals.
Amazing, stunning visuals, immersive world. The one thing though is that I can not think of how anybody could solve the puzzles in the game without a strategy guide, or at least using an online walkthrough guide. That said this game is simply amazing. I just ordered two of the earlier Tomb Raider games (Legend, Anniversary) and their strategy guides, going to keep me occupied when winter approaches.
Date: 2010-08-13
A Flawed But Fun Game That Delivers On What It Promises
Since Action / Adventure games tend to be the types of games I most enjoy, I figured it was high time that I finally played a game from the series that pretty much seems to be a cornerstone of the genre : TOMB RAIDER. With that in mind, I picked up 'TOMB RAIDER : Underworld' on the cheap for only $10 and got to it. Not having really much of an idea what to expect from the game, beyond what little I knew about the iconic main character from movies, comics and hearsay, I can at least say that I had an open mind and a fresh take on the series / game, as I set out to play it. Which, I suppose served me well, because as much as I enjoyed aspects of it and did overall enjoy it more than not, there were definitely some aspects of it that were exceptionally frustrating. So let's get to it....
THE GOOD : The first thing that struck me about the game was how beautiful everything was. From the obvious elements like Lara's perfect rack and tightly wardrobed body (which I guess has always been one of the series draws?) to the expansive, lush and exceptionally atmospheric scenery, everything in this game was quite pleasing to the eye, to say the least. I found myself, a good number of times, just stopping to look around at the environment around me. Especially on the jungle levels which seemed to have a great amount of detail and work put into them. Even on the cold weather levels, the environment was done well enough to the point that it felt stark and cold, but never got boring to look at. All in all, the game was quite a feast for the eyes. But in addition to being good on the eyes, the game was also a bit of a challenge for the brain. The puzzles and solutions to them definitely required some thought. Not so much so that it was ridiculously frustrating, but definitely enough to keep you busy and challenging yourself. Sometimes it would involve looking for a specific artifact, sometimes it was simply a matter of figuring out how to get from one point to the next. Whatever the case, it was rarely, if ever, dull. Something else that kept the game from getting dull, and this gets back to the environments, was the diversity of them. From underwater adventures, to jungle treks, to ruined temples, to the arctic, this game definitely had some diversity to it. Even the weapons category, which, for the most part was pretty basic, mixed it up by throwing tranquilizer guns, spear guns and even a special treat : Thor's mystical (and powerful!) hammer Mjolnir, into the mix along with Lara's standard dual pistols and a few other 'standard' guns. None of these weapons had the 'realistic' feel that so many of us are used from playing FPS type games, but then again, that's not what this category of gaming is really about. It's more about the adventure and the challenge it puts you through. Because it's fun to take Lara through these diverse locales, navigating deadly traps and environments and fending off dangerous and sometimes otherworldly creatures of all shapes and sizes. And in this regard, 'TOMB RAIDER : Underworld' gets it right.
THE BAD : Unfortunately, 'TOMB RAIDER : Underworld' gets some things wrong too - big things. Those being the camera and controls, which, in ANY game can be a killer and degrade the fun immensely. Especially since games are all about one thing and one thing only : how much fun did you have playing it? I wouldn't say I didn't have fun playing this game, but I can definitely say that after struggling with a camera that seemed to have a mind of it's own, somewhat unresponsive controls and glitchy software that acted oddlly and at times completely froze up, in the end, I didn't have as much fun as I strted out having and was hoping I'd end up having. To break it down a bit, the camera often didn't position itself in the most advantageous spot and as was so often the case, when you'd go to adjust it to where you wanted it, it wouldn't always stay there. At other times, it was near impossible to get the camera to any decent angle at all, such as if you were stuck in a corner or some other tight spot and needed a clearer view of your positioning. Too often this would result in an unnecessary, intentional death just to 'reset' things. Tacking right on to the bad camera (which I understand from reading some reviews now after having played this, that this has been a LONG running problem with this whole series), are the bad controls. All too often Lara wouldn't do what I was punching into the controller for her to do, or going in a direction I wasn't sending her in, etc. This, too, resulted in a lot of unnecessary deaths. Another killer in this game was the glitchy software. At times I experienced Lara getting stuck in a 'pattern' of action that required pressing a completely unrelated action to get her to snap out of it. For example, if Lara was in a tight space such as a corner, I wasn't able at times to just turn her around and jump her over the obstacle. It would just cause her to repetitively jump facing into the corner or whatever. I'd have to do something like shoot the gun to get her to 'snap out of it'. Also, there were simple, standard actions that Lara would execute such as getting on a bike or picking up a treasure that caused her to act like a robot and not anything even close to human. And this was just the game being the game - it wasn't a glitch. 'Face this way, now turn towards object x, now turn sideways, now execute action y' type stuff. Nothing fluid that led you to believe you might be watching a person. There was never a feeling you weren't watching a computer generated avatar executing actions you told it to. At other times, the software caused the game to just straight-up freeze on me causing me to have to eject the disc and reboot the system. This didn't happen a ton, but enough that it's worth mentioning. And all of this was in addition to the screen tearing and disappearing Lara I'd experience every now and then, depending on where I was trying to put the camera. All in all, 'TOMB RAIDER : Underworld' really doesn't have too many bad aspects to it, but the things it does have against it are pretty substantial, though not enough to completely kill the fun - just hamper it a decent bit.
THE BOTTOM LINE : It would be too easy to make references to this game being like a very beautiful but fussy and finnicky woman, or some other such reference, so I'll stay away from anything of the sort for fear of coming off as misogynistic. But suffice it to say, that though this game can be fun (especially for the price, if you get it used) and absolutely has its' moments, it also has some pretty glaring weaknesses that definitely can take away from the fun....... Then again, how bad can it really be watching Lara Croft's perfect body in skintight outfits for 8-12 hours? Even when she's only wearing a skimpy wetsuit in freezing arctic water?? Sorry - I had to find a way to work that in. I just found that design choice pretty amusing. I mean, that outfit?? In the arctic?? REALLY?!?!?!? But as I said before, I guess that's always been one of the major appeals of this series so, give the fans what they want, I guess. And really, the bottom line here is that despite its' glaring flaws, this game definitely delivers what it promises and it's done in a beautifully rendered way.
Date: 2010-07-23
Fun Game
I haven't played a Tomb Raider game in quite some time (not since PS1), but found this game fun and challenging. The grappling hook is pretty sweet, and the other acrobatic features are fun as well. The gameplay was fun. There seems to be lots of talk of bugs and glitches in the reviews here, but honestly I did not encounter any. None at all. Not sure if other people are doing something wring or what. I did use a walkthrough to help me out in some spots, as it can get quite difficult to navigate through levels and find things.
Date: 2010-07-19
It begin's in a blast...and just keeps the good times going
Ok this game is exteremly interesting.I can play it for... well sometimes hours if I can.The only problem is a little camra issue but if you don't mess with it when your climbing you will be just fine.Another issue is that some of the levels were so hard that i needed codes to beat them. The codes were for 1 shot kill and were nothing can hurt you exept falls.Without these I wouldn't have even made it though lara's basement.[her basement has alot of BIG spiders and 2 big undead saber tooth tigers]
Date: 2010-07-10
Glitches Galore (PS3)
A local retailer dropped the price on this to under $10 new, and I figured at that price point I could put up with a few known bugs. I was wrong. Even after a game software update, in Level 1 alone (Mediterranean Sea), I've encountered three bugs (items were missing, and cut scenes wouldn't trigger) and had the game crash my PS3 twice. Whatever jollies I might have gotten from the improved arsenal of moves and the upgraded environments and animation, have been obliterated by the necessity to reload, reboot and finally just restart the level. I'm a long time fan of the TR franchise, and eagerly awaited the successor to Tomb Raider Legend, however I don't imagine I'm going to get to see the story play out if the game continues to malfunction in this spectacular fashion. Such a pity since the graphics look absolutely fantastic, movement/combat have gotten long-wished for common sense upgrades, and Keeley Hawes gives another laudable turn as the voice of Lara.
For the self-flagellating types who figure on carefully picking their way through, bug-fix-walkthrough in hand, occasional crashes be damned, I'll add one more warning: be prepared to fight with the camera control. The automatic placement often seems engineered for Lara's imminent death and attempts to reposition the camera result in an eye-straining tug-of-war between the player and the programming. Not my idea of a fun time...
Eidos squandered a great opportunity here. Avoid this unstable mess, your $10 is better spent elsewhere.
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