Lara Croft, the adventurous heroine that captured gamers' hearts returns to the PlayStation 2 in Tomb Raider Anniversary. This updated version of the 1996 original chronicles her exploits in Peru, Egypt and other locations, as she narrowly escapes death at the claws of a hungry crocodile and a rampaging T-Rex.
Developer Crystal Dynamics did an admirable job improving the game's visual appeal as well as Lara's chest, but failed to address the original game's camera issues. It doesn't suck as bad as the first game but in tight spaces, the camera gets stuck at disorientating angles, causing gamers to lose their bearings and backtrack instead of forging onward. It also fails during battle, as Lara gets bumped off screen, making it difficult to judge jumps and dodges. In a wide-open area, however, the camera performs well, allowing gamers to achieve excellent views by maneuvering the right analog stick, or centering it by tapping L2. Just don't expect it to save Lara when she's stuck in a small cave and needs to make a death defying leap. More often than not, the strange perspective sends her off a cliff, plummeting to her doom.
Crystal Dynamics also loses points for reusing textures. Players will continuously ask, "Didn't I see this already?" Indeed, they have.
Anniversary also suffers from a lack of action, but whether or not this bothers players depends on personal taste. The original is, after all, a lonely affair that emphasizes mind bending puzzles over gun blasting. It occasionally throws a lone wolf, raptor or even demon their way, but for the most part, Lara's the only thing that moves. To that end, the game offers satisfying puzzles with an old school vibe. Everything boils down to pushing a crate, hitting a switch or finding an artifact (or all three), and patient gamers will enjoy the rock climbing and rope swinging that goes with that.
They'll also dig Lara's moves, which the developers yanked from Tomb Raider: Legend. In addition to a useful grappling hook, she horizontally leaps across busted ledges and pushes/pulls crates in multiple directions instead of four (forwards, backwards, left or right). Her animations make navigation easier, and her updated look (with well-rounded curves instead of triangles) gives players more womanly eye candy to gawk at, if they can deal with the game's jagged edges.
Tomb Raider nuts will revisit this game for nostalgia alone. Those who haven't played the original, however, may grow bored, even angry. It certainly doesn't compare to today's best action games, which go beyond simple item fetching and box pushing, and it cannot touch Tomb Raider: Legend, which features an excellent blend of puzzle solving and gunplay. Still, for $29.99, this makes a fine addition to one's video game library, providing gamers can look past its faults and accept it as a remake.
Final Score: 7 (out of 10)
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