Tomb Raider: Anniversary

"Excellent; even for a remake of an already good game"

Even though I personally have never played the original Tomb Raider, I have played Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, as well as Tomb Raider: Legends. Hating the former, and enjoying the latter, I expected this to follow that of Legends. After only playing a few levels. I have compiled enough data to write a reasonable unbiased review.

Presentation:
The game itself runs smoothly, and the menus are simple and easy to navigate through. Some negative points include, the checkpoint save system, overall control, and combat.

The checkpoint save system is extremely annoying. After solving a difficult puzzle(s), more often than not, I die from a mistake, bringing me back all the way to the last checkpoint. While it is not completely horrific, it does bring some frustration, to redo the same thing over again, just to die in the same place repeatedly.

While the controls handle well, the controls do not give the player the sense of complete control. This is mostly due to camera issues, interrupting the actions of the player during some instances. Not as much of a hindrance as an annoyance.

Combat is much more stale in Anniversary than it was in Legends. In Legends, there were multiple group encounters, which required the player to quickly react and adapt to the surrounding cover. In Anniversary, combat is rare, and when there is actually combat, it is not as "epic"(for a lack of a better term) as it should be.

7.5/10

Graphics:
At first the graphics seem to be crisp and smooth, but upon closer examination, I notice the terrain has some jags and poorly rendered backgrounds. On the other hand, the character model seems to be fairly rendered. Nothing spectacular, but still good enough to be noticeable. The water effects also add a nice graphical effect.

7.5/10

Gameplay:
This game lets the player explore and play around the level much more than before. I was surprised at the size of some puzzles and levels. Even though the puzzles were less straightforward, and sometimes even completely out of the way, it gives the player a greater sense of accomplishment, as well as freedom. Gameplay mechanics follow that of Legends.

9/10

Story:
The story is nothing special.(I don't have much else to say...)

7/10

Sound:
The music and sound effects are quite good. I enjoyed the general atmosphere of the music, and the sound effects were clear and effective.

8/10

Replay:
Tomb Raider: Anniversary has more replayability than most other Tomb Raider games. With the extra artifacts and relics scattered around the levels, people will be playing again for some time to unlock the "secrets". Generally this game is much longer than Legends, and lets players have a greater sense of exploration and puzzle solving.

8.5/10

Summary:
With great gameplay mechanics, descent graphics, and a good amount of replayability, Tomb Raider: Anniversary definitely seems to be worthy of the original (even though I never played the original). For only $30, this game is a great buy. A sidenote though, I would not recommend this game to people with feeble minds, nor people who want gorey, fast paced, gun blazing action, as this game requires a lot of thought and patience to progress and appreciate thoroughly.

Overall score:
8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/18/07