| SHMUPGurus said: I want to start by saying that the last Tomb Raider game I've played was Anniversary, and I didn't even get past the first level (had other games to play anyways). I know that Crystal Dynamics, the developers that took over the franchise, did a fine job with Legend, so I had to buy this game on PC. Let me just say this: it was worth every single penny! Here's my review of the game. First things first, the graphics. I won't try to compare them to Uncharted, which I found amazing by the way, but let's just say the scale is pretty HUGE! You'll see jungle environments, snowy environments, and a bunch of other ones. The new underwater environments look good too. The textures details are just the best I've ever seen in a video game (that says a lot here), and the depth of field just adds to the ''scale'' effect of the game. Oh, and by the way, my shitty laptop plays this game at full resolution (1440x900), at High details, 16x Q AA and 16x Anisotropic with NO LAG at all! They knew what they were doing with their game engine, and I couldn't ask more from one of the oldest 3D gaming developers on PC! Oh, and Lara looks damn fine! The animations look a lot better than I would have imagined, though with a few weird glitches happening every now and then, Lara sometimes look silly. More about glitches later! Since I've played Anniversary, I wasn't that surprised with the gameplay, but they still added a few new things (as far as I know). The hook makes a comeback and plays a big part in various puzzles. You can wall run too, which looks good, but it's buggy sometimes (more about glitches later). The ''spiderman-y'' part of gameplay is still there, though she can wall jump now (I think that's new). The bike is back too, but there are no linear stages anymore (which is good because it looked silly in Legend), so you'll be using the bike to travel to places in certain levels instead. There's a new adrenaline effect when you press Z in combat. It increases your current weapon's attack power, finishing your enemies a lot faster. I know they added an instant kill shot in the demo, but it didn't make its way in the retail version (or I just don't know how to do it!). I found the puzzles hard in a few dark areas, especially underwater ones, but with your trusty flashlight, there's always a way to find what to do or where to go! That's what I especially liked about the game, the new underwater puzzles, and damn they'll make you think and search a lot! You definitely want to look everywhere in every level for treasures because they unlock concept arts and everything. There are some ''slow-motion'' parts where you have to dodge shots or whatever. I found that pretty cool! So, basically it's a Tomb Raider game, but everything seems new about it. I've had lots of fun solving puzzles that I've never done before. The game has a couple of issues though. First thing, it's filled with random glitches, especially in the snowy level. It seems like they've rushed a few parts in the game, and it shows. When I would wall run in a certain part and then jump to grab a ledge, Lara would just ignore the ledge and drop down to her death (which sucks...! ;_;). Also, when I would press the E button to go faster along a ledge, Lara would suddenly teleport on the other side of the ledge (on a column for example). Then, I wouldn't be able to move and if I press the Ctrl key to drop down from the ledge, well, she dies. Second thing, the combat doesn't feel fluid at all. The AI is dumb, REALLY dumb. Your enemies, especially humans, just stay there when you shoot at them. The game tried to take a realistic approach with the graphics and all, but this just kills it in my opinion. Also, even though you can dodge, you ''can't'' really dodge, if you get what I'm saying? Big enemies usually come in packs of two, and after you dodge one's attack, the other enemy is definitely going to hurt you. That sucks, unless you stay on a ledge and shot them from a distance, you'll eventually have to use a health pack and there's no way around it. I just want to say that you won't die from enemies though. You'll die mostly trying to get to a certain area or solving a puzzle (glitches don't help too), and I've played the game on Tomb Raider difficulty (Medium). You just got to take your time in this game and appreciate all the little details put into it! So, that's my little review of the game. Tomb Raider: Underworld is, in general, a pretty solid game. For $60, you can't go wrong, especially if you're a fan of these types of games. If they just keep getting better and better, I wonder what we'll see next from them? =P Lara Croft > You. |
This paragraph totally convinced me to stay away from this game.
