Tomb Raider: Underworld review (PS3)

Lara Croft is arguably the heroine of video games. A strong athletic woman, shooting enemies and beating ingenious undiscovered traps with the sheer smug talent we all know and love. One of the first expansive 3D environments many of us had experienced, and while the games have developed visually, they have often tried too hard to reinvent the core (if you’ll excuse the geeky pun) design and gameplay. Tomb Raider: Underworld not only revisits the original style in many ways, but the stories too, and remarkably effectively at that.

It’s quite a short journey, but well designed and seemingly thoroughly researched. Essentially, this time we’re dealing with Norse mythology. Thor’s Hammer and all that. It’s a well paced and suitably twisty tale, especially if you’ve seen the teaser trailer showing Lara blowing up her own mansion, but I feel like it could do with another couple more tombs to explore to bulk up the content. Arguably, within the context of this story there was no need for further exploration, but considering there aren’t really any boss battles as such, and I never felt particularly under pressure through my entire medium difficulty jaunt it doesn’t warrant much replayability when all of the (albeit excellent) exploration and puzzle solving sequences are old hat to me.

Blessing and a Curse

Actually that’s part of what makes this Tomb Raider better than many of the others we’ve seen since the original. Basing the majority of the game on the challenge of finding a safe route for Lara and using her many athletic abilities pumps up the best bits while diminishing the worst parts of the games; the areas where you’re charging through defeating humans.

Indeed, the best sections involve Lara showing off her flexibility and leaping dangerously around perilous traps. She has even taken some climbing lessons from Altair of Assassin’s Creed apparently, when there are individual rocks jutting from the walls, which looks lovely.

Looks lovely… hmm

Okay, Lara has never looked better. As a red blooded male (and given Lara’s proportions, who else is the game truly aimed at?) it is a pleasure to watch her as your main character, water glistening off her skin and being able to choose from the start what costume you’d like to wear in each level. Yes, I admit, I put the skimpy swimsuit back on for the finale. The environments too are beautiful. Some vast landscapes and terrifically lit interiors sell the world in which you are exploring. Aside from the detail of the lead character model, the top spot must go to the lighting design which dramatises everything you’ll see.

Buying the world back though are a large number of bugs and glitches that are an unfortunate necessary addition to this review. Move too close to an unclimbable object and Lara may freeze until you release the controls at which point you may be able to move again. Clipping issues with the world are prevalent in almost every area, and while not exactly a bug, the occasional slow down (especially in one short weather effect laden area) puts a damper on the PS3 version. It’s shouldn’t be enough to put you off your game though, since the invigoration is as great as it was when you were first running around the low polygon PS1 incarnations. Some people have suggested that making simple mistakes can cause you to have to retread large portions of the level, but there is always a quicker way to progress without backtracking. You simply have to find it.

Anniversary again?

Actually, the story continues many of the previous threads from Anniversary (i.e. the original) and Legend, with an optional Previously on Tomb Raider video available from the get go in the Extras menu, which I do suggest you take a look at before playing. It’s true, I do suggest you play the game, as short as it is, and despite the few blemishes on the otherwise smooth and gorgeous… presentation, Underworld is definitely at the top of the pile for Lara’s adventures.

Crystal Dynamics has really found the heart of Tomb Raider, and what made it fun in the first place, created a satisfying and inventive adventure and packaged it up into a short sub ten hour experience that will please all fans of the genre and the series. It’s just a shame that there is little reason to replay, especially on this trophy-less PlayStation 3 version other than to try to locate the plentiful hidden treasures, and even that is made easier by unlocking a Treasure Hunter mode, with all of the puzzles pre-solved for you. There’s no Croft manor mode, and no unlockable outfits. Even the weapons are chosen from the menu before entering each area, so don’t expect to find a hidden weapon stashed behind a vase.

I really did enjoy the experience, as unchallenging as it felt (whether because the puzzles rarely required timing threatening death beyond falling, because the enemies even have visible health bars or due to the friendly checkpoint system) but felt that it was too quick to get through to justify a full £40 purchase. Spot it a bit cheaper when you’re done with the tonne of other great games out at the moment and I definitely recommend picking it up.