Many found this game to be awful, a waste of time, the end of Lara, etc, etc... Ignore all that: this game is highly enjoyable and a worthy addition to the canon.
So want is all the fuss? For one thing, you must play as a new (male) character in three levels, not as Lara. This is odd, admittedly, as the game is billed as "The Adventures of Lara Croft" not "...plus Kurtis Trent". His character has odd disabilities, too as you'll find out! (He also has very weird abilities...)
Other "problems" are the new system of in-game icons, the dialogue sequences, and the ability upgrades (effectively replacing the old Secrets). I found these odd to start with, but soon got used to them and found them acceptable enough. The icons actually come in handy, The upgrades, however are rather random: open a door to get stronger legs... huh? Further, given the number of upgrades, either Lara starts as a weakling hardly able to drag herself out of bed or ends as a Demigoddess with superhuman strength: You decide!
Many found the twist in the plot line rather sinister and took issue, but to be quite frank the twist was no more sinister than in previous games, IMHO. The Irish Adventure in Chronicles and the Man-Spider in TR3 were pretty sinister! The Kurtis Trent twist is perhaps the only real issue, but that is just nitpicking, really.
The only major issue I have is with the final battles: they are far too easy once you know how to win them. I cannot figure out the point of Lara's final gaming action, either, yet.
Overall, the game is more realistic, though, (despite the oddities already mentioned): Lara moves and acts in a more humanlike way. You will need to retrain yourself a little since Drop-Grab on ladders and Run-Jump-Grab, among other things, function differently: RTFM! ;)