After going through a rebirth in Tomb Raider Legend, Tomb Raider Anniversary revisits the 1996 original. Anniversary uses the game engine from Legend, which includes a great-looking Croft and easy to manage controls, and applies it to a storyline heavily based on the first Tomb Raider game.

Anniversary doesn't represent a full remake of the original Tomb Raider, although major moments like the battle with the T-Rex return. Lara has a number of new moves that require a complete redesign of several levels, such as the ledge leaping system and grappling hook. With current technology, Lara controls very nicely, unlike some of the unforgiving pre-Legend games. Therefore, players won't find themselves falling down as many bottomless pits. However, a mistimed jump or accidental button tap will still lead to certain doom.

The gameplay sticks to series' tradition as Lara, using impossible feats of acrobatics, must jump, climb, swim and crawl her way through ancient ruins to unlock the secrets of a mystical artifact. Along the way, long-forgotten machinery needs to be repaired, complex puzzles must be solved and wild animals (among other things) will attack. More dedicated tomb raiders will explore every darkened corner of the levels to collect artifacts and relics, which go toward unlocking special art, bios, cinematics and obstacle courses.

In Legend, Lara had to uncover a mystery linked to her mother's disappearance. Anniversary has her searching for the secrets of Atlantis, a long-time obsession of her late father. Since this game takes players back to the beginning, they lose a great many features that made Legend stand out, most notably the personal light source, the PDA and scanning binoculars. Lara also doesn't have her team of friends to offer banter and advice so much of the game ends up being pretty quiet. However, Legend's superb graphics and control do reappear, making the levels and Lara look fantastic. Gigantic, breathtaking, ruins require fast reflexes, wit and patience to complete. Some puzzles are so big and complex, missteps that don't lead to death will require Lara to start them all over again from the beginning, requiring a long trek back to the starting point. Most puzzles turn out to be fairly easy to solve, so long as players keep a constant eye out for ledges and levers. Some places, like the sword room of Damascus, require extra care since brushing up against them causes Lara to stagger back, ultimately leading to an untimely death.

Combat remains relatively straightforward, since the game has an automatic target locking system. The dodge system is most noteworthy, where avoiding a lunging attack opens up an opportunity for a critical shot. However, it can be very difficult to pull off against multiple attackers. Fast reflexes will also be needed for some of the cut scene puzzles, where arrows appear on the screen, indicating the direction Lara should move to avoid being hit. Keyboard and mouse controls work acceptably well, but using a gamepad may offer more comfort.

Tomb Raider Anniversary offers some nice, solid gameplay for both newcomers to the series and experienced players. Grand, complex, puzzles brings great challenges and adventure.

Related Links

Tomb Raider Anniversary Game Guide

Official Website

Our Final ScoreGood

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