Tomb Raider III

"Not much improvement from TR2, but it's still nice"

Tomb Raider has always been my favorite series of games. Lara Croft has always been my favorite gaming character, and this game still is a nice game to replay every now and then. Since I am writing this review in the year of 2007 (when Tomb Raider: Anniversary came out), I rank Tomb Raider 3 as 6th out of the 8 Tomb Raider games for PS and PS2. This may sound bad, but this game is still fun to play once in a while.

Tomb Raider has evolved into a pretty big series, and in the current year of 2007, Tomb Raider: Anniversary came out in the summer. However, in 2006, Crystal Dynamics had taken over the series after the major disappointment of Angel of Darkness. So, they created Tomb Raider: Legend, and in 2007, Tomb Raider: Anniversary. I have to tell you, these two games are spectacular. They brought back the real meaning of Tomb Raider to every Lara fan around the world. Anniversary was a remake of the original Tomb Raider, which was even more inspiring.

A quick summary of this game before I get to the details: Lara Croft, a cool archeologist, is seeking out relics and artifacts from lost tombs around the globe. In this adventure, she finds out about a mysterious artifact in India, and goes off to search for it. After encountering the first bad buddie in the game, she steals the artifact after defeating him and meets another man. This one is friendly to her at first, but as Lara collects the other four artifacts around the globe (there is one in each location: Nevada, London, and the South Pacific Islands), the man turns on her. And then the plot thickens. The game is challenging, has some replay value (not a whole lot), the gameplay is great, the storyline is OK, and the length is long enough.

Well, here we go with the detailed part.

GAMEPLAY- 8/10

As with TR1 and 2, the gameplay involves three main things: Lara Croft can shoot guns, perform acrobatic moves, and solve puzzles. However, don't play this game because you think that Lara Croft will be shooting the brains out of enemies the entire time. Mostly, you'll be solving puzzles. These puzzles are very unique, and sometimes very tough to solve. Lara Croft is not only an archeologist, though, but has some nice acrobatic moves. These are used to scale structures and perform some very risky moves, such as jumping over a LONG and DEEP gap. So Lara's movement comes into play often. There are some boss battles in the game, so don't expect to get it all easy and only have to defeat puny rats and crocodiles. You're going to get some tricky foes, mark my word. Especially later in the game. At these points, you'll be expected to unload some heavy artillery. And speaking of artillery, Lara can find several weapons throughout the game: a pair of Uzis, a shotgun, a powerful Desert Eagle, an MP5 submachine gun, a grenade launcher, a gun that harpoons animals underwater, and a huge ROCKET LAUNCHER. I'm telling you, this thing is like a powerhouse. So, aside from the ever-so-cool weapons, gameplay is somewhat a step down from previous TR games. Why? Because there is not as much puzzle solving that there were in TR1 and TR2. You'll still have to pull switches and do tons of things to survive and move on, but few things require that you get clues for a puzzle and then solve it. So overall, gameplay is pretty great, but just not as good as the previous 2 TR games. And the gameplay can get boring at times, mark my word.

STORYLINE- 7/10

Tomb Raider games have never been outstanding when it comes to storyline, unless you're talking about Legend and Anniversary. The 5 games for the PS have only had limited cut scenes and FMV sequences throughout the game, which doesn't take out a lot of the nice stuff about the game, but oh well. There will usually be a cut scene at the end of each level, and some FMVs at the beginning and end of the game. As I said up above, the storyline involves Lara, who is searching for four ancient idols, which are scattered around the globe.

GRAPHICS- 6/10

They're pretty much the same as TR1 and 2, which weren't that great. Of course, the graphics of this game DO NOT ruin the gameplay. Lara is actually smoother than in the other TR games, so I guess you can't say that they haven't changed at all. What's even better? Weather effects are now added to each environment, so expect to see rain, snow, mist, fog, and flurries throughout your travels. Enemies are a bit swifter, and like in TR1 and 2, the graphics don't look so horrible from a distance.

CHALLENGE- 9/10

Much more challenging than the 2 previous games. This is both good and bad, because I'm always up for more challenge, but this game added some things that seemed "impossible" at first. After dying for about the 30th time, though, you usually figured it out. There is still one secret in the game that I have not yet gotten, and it's a timed run in one of the final levels of the game. I'll just have to keep trying... but don't expect this game to hold your hand at all.

REPLAY VALUE- 7/10

Yes, it's fun to replay it, but don't do it time after time and then quit. Really, you should play the game once, wait a bit, play it over again, and etc. The nice thing about this game is that you have an UNLOCKABLE to get! Yay! By finding every secret in this entire game, you'll unlock one more level for your passport- All Hallows! This level is not required, but just a fun sidetrip after the game. As for replaying the game just for fun, it gets kind of boring. I don't know why, but replay value just isn't near as good as the previous 2 TR games were.

LENGTH- 9/10

This game is pretty long, so expect to get your play time out of it. The nice part of the game is that you can choose your path through the three central sections of the game. However, there's a better, more convenient path to go through those middle 3 sections, though.....

OVERALL- 7/10

Positives
+ Lara is still our hero
+ Plenty of fun gameplay
+ Tons of awesome weapons
+ Graphics are getting better
+ New moves for Ms. Croft
+ More, exciting vehicles
+ Long

Negatives
- Far more challenging than TR1 & TR2
- Gets boring after time
- Graphics still need improvement
- Almost too long

Buy or rent? Buying it is the best idea, but if you're not the person that replays games a lot, than rent it. Hope my review has helped you make a decision.

Before you go, however, I recommend that you check out my reviews for these games, if you haven't already:
- Tomb Raider: Anniversary
- Tomb Raider: Legend
- Tomb Raider
- Tomb Raider 2
- Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/24/07, Updated 11/19/07

Game Release: Tomb Raider III (US, 11/21/98)