Tomb Raider: Anniversary

"A Trip Down Memory Lane"

Introduction

Now, back in 1996 we got Tomb Raider - games had not long moved into 3D and, compared to todays standards, the graphics were laughable. However, the game still managed to be an atmospheric action adventure game with its own charm and style - what it lacked in story, it more than made up for in level design, and sheer creativity. Now here we are, over a decade later and the epic game has been remade for the xbox 360 - so, the question is: does it live up to the original? Read on to find out.

Graphics

No point comparing the graphics to the original.

It is difficult to complain about the graphics in Tomb Raider Anniversary, they aren't the best graphics I've seen but they're not exactly the worst, so what can I say? They could be better. One thing to note about the graphics is that a lot of the textures have been based around the ones from the original game - this is a very neat touch, St. Francis Folly (one of the greatest Tomb Raider levels ever) has been done in this way - they recreated the texture from the original so that it is recognisable, while other places have been given a dramatic overhaul to make them more believable and original.

They really tried to strike a balance between old and new and I think they hit the balance quite well - although I would have preferred to have an exact remake of the old game myself.

Story

The story has been improved significantly - we now get the reason why Lara decides to go after the Scion in the first place (something that some people thought seemed stupid in the original) and various other parts of the story have been filled in to make it a lot more clear. Having said this, story is still not the strong point of this game - the story from Tomb Raider Legend was much better, but then this is understandable since they were remaking a game which had little story anyway.

A touch I didn't like was that most 'boss fights' from the original game were taken out and replaced with cutscenes - the ones where you press the button that comes up on the screen otherwise you die - Shenmue style. I was looking forward to the boss fights towards the end but they simply ended with cutscenes - a shame really. Some of the cutscenes are pretty funny though - one of them had me laughing so hard that I couldn't press the button in time and I just died.

Gameplay

I do have a bit of a quibble about this, the developers basically took the control scheme from Tomb Raider Legend and the basic level design from Tomb Raider and but it in the blender to give levels that now allow for Lara's new way of moving. A lot of the levels are memorable in the game and there are some decently difficult secrets and some nice platforming parts to it. The only problem I have with it is that it has basically lost the original Tomb Raider style. Remember the old cumbersome controls? Well, in my opinion the old control scheme was part of what made Tomb Raider so good. Jumps are now so easy to pull off that you take most platforming sections for granted and the route is all too obvious. This never happened on Tomb Raider - moving Lara around was a puzzle in its own right and this is what made Tomb Raider so good.

Nevertheless the new style has been implemented well, and recognising the levels as you go through them and seeing what they would have looked like in detail is priceless for fans of the series. Basically, if you liked Tomb Raider then you really should at least rent this, because seeing what the developers would have done with it is a really good feeling.

Other than control schemes, the gameplay is pretty much based around the original: get through the tombs to the Scion pieces at any cost by finding keys, pulling switches, jumping, running and killing anything that stands in your way. Secrets also make a return, these are fun to go looking for and add replay value. It makes for a classic Tomb Raider combination.

Level Design

As said already, they did a good job of sticking to the original level design, a lot of things have been made a lot more clear - for example the second level 'city of Vilcabamba' never used to actually look like a village, but now it has been redone to capture this feel. Naturally, the puzzles have been changed to add variety - well we couldn't have the exact same puzzles from Tomb Raider could we?

A small part of most levels has been taken out to shorten things down and make things more efficient - I personally wish they had just left them in as I feel they add to the game. There is definitely a lot less wasted space in the levels, but I dont think this is a good thing, you may disagree though.

The 'Lara's home' also features, it is similar to the one from Tomb Raider Legend except there is now an outside hedge maze - and obviously there's different things to be done inside it as it basically serves as an extra level for the game. They should have spent more time on this though, as I feel the one in Legend was done much better even without the maze - you had to follow clues around the house to find the gold secret and it took longer and it was more enjoyable. One good feature is the music room, which includes an homage to the original music room from Lara's Home in Tomb Raider - but the music room and the hedge maze are about the only improvements upon the Croft Manor from Tomb Raider: Legend.

Overall, the level design is a good homage to the original game.

Replay Value

There is a decent amount of replay value: there are a lot of things to be unlocked (though not as many as in Tomb Raider Legend), including outfits, art galleries (some of these images are well worth the money, they have original concept art for Lara Croft in there as well as many other things such as the enemy set from Tomb Raider and their 'revamped' counterparts), cheats and commentaries. The commentaries are also another very good unlockable, its worth playing through the entire game again just to listen to the commentaries for each section they fetched in the original Creative Designer for Tomb Raider and the Game Designer for Tomb Raider: Anniversary to comment on the original sections and how they've been modified - they have some funny things to say and its worth listening to it just to hear them talking about the most memorable parts of Tomb Raider.

Pros

- A good trip down memory lane for fans of the original.
- Decent replay value
- Good quality unlockables
- Good balance between 'old and new'

Cons

- Doesn't seem to quite recapture what was so fun about the original game, keeps itself distinctly as an homage to it.
- Need more quantity to the unlockables
- Cut out the original boss fights except one or two, replaced by other boss fights or 'active' cut scenes.

Final word

If you're a fan of the series then you NEED this game. If you missed out on the original adventure and you can't bring yourself to play through it because of its dated graphics and style then this is your chance to play through it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/08

Game Release: Tomb Raider: Anniversary (EU, 10/26/07)