Review: Tomb Raider
Score:
71%
Version Reviewed: 1.00
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In the mid 90's gamers got their first taste of Tomb Raider. It was Indiana Jones and an Andy Sidaris film all rolled into one and for many, a blessed event (Andy Sidaris is hailed by many as the creator of the Tits & Dynamite genre of film-making, long may he live - Ed). Her first adventure brought platform gaming into 3D for many and helped popularize two-gun fun. It was also one of the first US games to feature a strong female character and achieve popular acceptance. It has now been translated to the big screen with two successful films starring Angelina Jolie and has been followed-up and ported to almost every platform available since it's inception. The game is an undeniable classic and now it has been brought to the N-Gage in all its glory.
For those unfamiliar with the game, it takes the exploration elements of RPGs and modern adventure games, combines them with standard key and lock puzzles (where's the switch?), and adds just a touch of solid third-person action, all of it driven with a style that's straight out of the classic adventure serials that inspired Steven Spielberg to create his epic Indy trilogy. It all centers on Lara Croft, a well-to-do absurdly shapely adventurer who hunts treasures all over the world for fun and profit. She is amongst the best at what she does and you get to control her while she does it. You travel to sites all over the world fighting with wildlife and other Tomb Raiders as you try to lay claim on some of the treasures of the ancient world.
The graphics in this revisited outing are comparable to the Saturn version of the original Tomb Raider with solid 3D and the occasionally ugly texture. Lara controls well enough with the original control scheme re-mapped to the N-Gage quirks included. In the original you had sidestep buttons and those are back much to my dismay. The occasional difficulties lining up for a jump or for flipping a switch are intact as well. You also have the option to walk instead of running by holding 7. It all works well once you're adjusted to it but never quite controls as well as the original did on the sometimes cramped controls of the N-Gage. Nastiest change was the addition of an auto-run feature that you cannot disable. When you press forward whether running or walking she will just keep on truckin' until you press another button or press back. Fall off a few cliffs and you will learn to control this, but those initial mistakes will certainly irk you just as they did me. It's minor, but is there.
The sound is nice enough, that is to say it gets the job done and doesn't take you out of the experience, but it won't impress you either. Headphones and a dark room can make for a more enjoyable experience though sadly not really much different on this title. Mind you the headphones/dark room combo will make you jump every time a wolf or something dives out from some unexpected corner and that's a definite plus (unless your wife is sleeping next to you...sorry, Honey).
Loading times are a much like the original but seemed faster to me. Sadly, the level specific loading screens were removed (I haven't beaten it yet so maybe they are back later on). Originally there were neat little cut scenes between some levels and at the beginning to drive the story and those have been removed in favor of smaller and more easily programmed scrolling descriptions. I missed Lara's voice at the beginning during the tutorial in her house, but understand the decision to remove it and find it to be no great loss.
Most important is the gameplay and that is faithfully intact. You can double gun bats, bears and bad guys just as you remember and the back-flipping, side-flipping madness of a battle with a pack of wolves is just as irritatingly fun as it should be. The fun of diving over a massive chasm (a fall into which would certainly kill) only to catch the ledge at the last minute and drag yourself up is also, I'm proud to report, absolutely the same.
All if all it is the game you knew and loved from back then and something more as well. Ideaworks 3D have seen fit to add ghost racing to the game and it's a nice little addition for us N-Gagers. You can now race against the times of other players all over planet earth and prove once and for all you're the better Lara. It works fairly well and is a definite boon to a game that would otherwise suffer from Beentheredonethat Syndrome, a dreaded virus that was rampant in the first wave of N-Gage releases.
For all those gamers wondering if the should or shouldn't buy into this title it's pretty simple: if you played the original and weren't impressed avoid this because it's more of the same, if you have loved the series and are itching for more Lara fun pick it up and have some fun because it is a fun game.
Lara's first N-Gage outing garners a 71% in my book and only scores this low because it is essentially (less one feature) an old game I've played before.
Reviewed by Chris Rydberg at