- Title: Tomb Raider Underworld
- Publisher: Eidos
- Developer: Crystal Dynamics
- ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen
- Genre: Action
- Pros: Solid graphics and sound; great gameplay; good level design, very satisfying
- Cons: Camera issues; occasional graphical glitches; don’t expect a lot of in-game help
Tomb Raider Underworld continues the story from 2006’s Tomb Raider Legend. Without spoiling too much of either game, the basics are like this. At the end of Legend, Lara is led to believe that her mother is not dead and was transported to the legendary island of Avalon through a space/time portal activated at a dais in Bolivia. In the process, that dais was destroyed. Underworld follows Lara as she uses her father’s research to try and find another way into Avalon but discovers the Avalon legend is much more than it seems.
Gameplay - Its All Good ...
While the story is sort of interesting, particularly if you liked Legend, the gameplay is the real attraction here. Underworld combines exploration/platforming with puzzle solving, combat, and some vehicle sequences to create a surprisingly varied and balanced experience. Each and every aspect has been improved over Legend, and Underworld is simply a better playing game overall.
The puzzles are mostly the same as Legend. A lot of block pushing and pressure plates that have to be weighed down, or “Find object A and place it in intricately carved switch B” type of things. They are kind of simple, but fun enough and there are more of them than the last game, so we’re satisfied.
The heart of Tomb Raider is exploration, and Underworld does a better job of it than just about any other game, Tomb Raider or not, out there. The levels are filled with ledges, poles, rock faces, and more that Lara has to climb around and swing on in order to reach the treasures and puzzle pieces she needs in order to advance. The levels are incredibly well designed and are much more realistic and organic than a lot of other games of this style. In other words, objects don’t seem arbitrarily placed just to help you climb. They seem natural like they are supposed to be there. The real key to the exploration in Underworld is that the game doesn’t ever hold you hand and point out everything you are supposed to do. The path that you are supposed to take is usually pretty linear, but finding the next platform or handhold that you need to use isn’t always easy, and that is what makes TRU so satisfying. You actually have to figure things out on your own, which is like a breath of fresh air when a lot of other games seem to offer too much help. Is it occasionally frustrating? Yes. But it is also very rewarding.
Unfortunately, there are a couple of things that get in the way a little bit. First off, the camera is pretty bad, which is a major no no in a game like this where precision is key. It likes to flip over to strange angles or occasionally lock in place so you can’t move it when you normally could. Eventually, you do get used to its quirks and learn to work around it, but there is no excuse for having a camera this poor. Another issue is that Lara occasionally gets stuck in animation loops. And by occasionally I mean all the time. She’ll start to pull a switch or pick something up and that animation will repeat over and over and over. Or if you just try to change direction while moving around she gets stuck in a loop and keeps turning around. Or when swimming she just gets stuck and starts flailing her arms and legs. The only way to get out of these loops is to let go of the left stick and she returns to normal. There were also a few occasions where I fell off a ledge and actually got stuck in midair. Lara just stands there like she is on terra firma, but you can clearly see there isn’t anything. Then, of course, if you move she finishes falling down and dies.
All of these little problems really add up, and are quite disappointing. The game is so crazy good for 90% of the time, but then it starts glitching out or the camera goes wacky on you and sours the experience. With just a little more polish, TRU would have been amazing instead of just “good”.
Underworld is a great looking game through and through. The environments are absolutely gorgeous, and the lighting is very well done. The animation isn’t as smooth as we would like, as the transitions between all of Lara’s acrobatic moves are pretty clunky. Other than that, though, the game looks great.
Sound
The sound is decent enough with the real standout being the music. The voice acting and general sound effects are merely okay, but the music is amazing throughout.
Bottom Line
Tomb Raider Underworld is a game that comes “this close” (puts thumb and index finger close together) to being a great game. We love the exploration and the overall balance between puzzles, combat, and platforming, but the camera along with some glitches and bugs just really sour the experience. Underworld is absolutely worth playing, especially if you loved TR Legend and Anniversary, but with a little extra polish it could have been so much more.
