Reader Reviews
This week: Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Tomb Raider, Pac-Man Vs., TrackMania, and more.
Tomb Raider (PC)
by theheadcharge
The Tomb Raider series has come up for a bit of stick recently, and not entirely without reason - you see since the first instalment Core just don't seem to have been able to get that magic formula right, and generally the games have been in decline ever since the first [And now Eidos has handed the franchise to Crystal Dynamics -Ed]. Maybe it's the pressure to evolve the franchise, or having to bring out a new one in time for Christmas. Whatever it is I have fond memories of the first game and decided to boot it up and see if it really was as fantastic a gaming experience as I thought way back in 1996.
The game starts you off brilliantly, and sets the tone for the whole game as you are left alone entering an ancient and ominous looking huge door into the side of a cliff. As you proceed deeper into the caves you come across traps and a few smaller enemies, emerging from tunnels into huge cavernous rooms. Further levels just increase the feeling of being alone, exploring places that no-one has seen for thousands of years as the levels get more and more grand, with great puzzles tying in to mythology as you explore the vast Palace Midas, undiscovered Coliseums and Pyramids (well they had to justify the "Tomb Raiding" bit in the name didn't they?)
The puzzles I mentioned are on the whole great, a little bit of switch pushing, and object collecting, mixed with clever things like luring a gigantic hammer to slam down on the spot you were milliseconds ago standing on in order to climb on top of it and leap to a higher ledge you couldn't reach. Never do these puzzles stop you dead in your tracks, and yet still when you beat them you get a nice feeling of success as they normally allow you access to new areas, such as in one level where you suddenly get access to an elevated walkway which goes around almost the entire level, but which you hadn't even noticed.
Playing this game it is easy to compare it with the sequels and see where they went wrong. Tomb Raider is not about fighting gun-toting bad guys, it's about being miles from everything and discovering ancient civilisations and exploring grand locations which no one believed existed - the Jurassic Park area, the Sphinx' head, and other Egyptian areas accessed by swimming through hidden tunnels. It's about retreating from the wolves that just scared the crap out of you and blowing them away from the comfort of a raised platform. Or running past another long dead explorer's skeleton. Last of all (promise) it's about suspending your disbelief the tiniest amount as you find "Hidden Secret 3 - shotgun shells of the ancient Incas", or not suspending your disbelief as you think "what if dinosaurs did exist, trapped in a valley completely cut away from everything?"
There are very few negatives to this game - obviously the ageing graphics but other errors are minor, such as one locale starting to outstay its welcome just as you move onto the next, or some of the later enemies whilst definitely not disappointing just don't feel "right" for the game. If you've been let down by more recent Tomb Raider games, come see what all the fuss was about and why it became a license to print money in the first place - you owe it to yourself as a gamer to at least see if its your bag, baby.