Tomb Raider: Underworld (2008) (VG)

Writers:

Toby Gard (story)
Eric Lindstrom (story)

Release Date:

18 November 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

Lara Croft continues in her search for her long lost mother in the legendary land of Avalon.

Plot Keywords:

Tomb Raider | Lara Croft | Superheroine | Sequel | Busty

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Keeley Hawes	...	Lara Croft (voice)
Kath Soucie	...	Amanda Evert (voice)
Grey DeLisle	...	Jacqueline Natla (voice)
Alex Désert	...	Zip (voice)
Greg Ellis	...	Alister Fletcher / Mercenary (voice)
Alan Shearman	...	Winston Smith (voice)

Also Known As:

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend II (USA) (working title)
Tomb Raider 8 (UK) (working title)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:T | UK:12 | USA:M (special edition) | Australia:M

Company:

Crystal Dynamics

Trivia:

Natla, the main villain from the first Tomb Raider (and the retelling in Tomb Raider: Anniversary), makes a re-appearance.

Goofs:

Continuity: When coming up from Niflheim in the "Mediterranean Sea" level, if you look around there are no other vessels to be seen (apart from Lara's own yacht). However, as soon as Lara climbs back on to her boat, Amanda's tanker is suddenly anchored about half a mile away.

Quotes:

Amanda Evert: After killing the Midgard Serpent, Thor dies from its venom anyway.
Lara Croft: Not if you clear the corridor and get us out of here
[Amanda tries to clear the debris from the corridor with her powers and the stones don't budge]
Amanda Evert: Out of juice, just like Bolivia. The good news we saved the world. The bad news is now we're going to die down here, just like your mother.

Movie Connections:

Features Tomb Raider: Legend (2006) (VG)

Visually beautiful but game-play disappoints

Tomb Raider Underworld looks like a current generation game but feels like it is still stuck in the past. Let's start with the good looks. The environments in Underworld are stunning and grand. The lighting, reflections and textures look fantastic. The character models look a lot more realistic than in previous games, with Lara having a much more athletic build. Lara still has a plastic Michael Jackson face, which does ruin the immersion a bit, but at least it doesn't affect the game-play. Lara is now mo-capped, adding a lot more flexibility to the character, e.g. Lara can jump and grab the very corner of a ledge which is on a strange angle.

For all the good looks this game has, there are so many things that spoil the game-play. The first noticeable thing is the camera. It does nothing to aid the flow of the game or enhance Lara's movement, in fact it impedes you so many times. instead of zooming out when you need it to, it instead gets stuck behind Lara's back, sometimes it goes above Lara so you can't even see her. This means half the time you cannot see where you are going when you are climbing/jumping. When this happens you can either plan your route from the ground (which isn't always possible) or guess where you have to jump, often resulting in death because you've overshot the mark. The camera is also a hindrance in gun battles, as it jumps around so much, and rarely focuses on the target. The gun battles are so bad it almost feels like it was tacked on because traditionally Lara has had to shoot something. The secrets/relic hunt is quite boring, and they seem scattered arbitrarily through the game for the sake of it. For the first time, the secrets hunt really does not add any replay value and is quite tedious.

Underworld's saving grace is the level design, with huge puzzles and huge levels. Unfortunately, the game simply was not long enough. Experienced tomb raiders should have no problem completing the game. I managed to complete it in less time than Legend, which was a huge disappointment. As good as the story and levels are, the bad camera, the length of the game, and the little replay value will ensure that I do not revisit Underworld for a while. The exclusive content for the Xbox 360 should not have been exclusive at all, as this game really could have used a few more levels. Underworld really does feel like a half-game.