• Platform:   PlayStation2
• Media: Video Game

Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PS2)  (63)

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Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (PS2)  (126)

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Amazon.co.uk Review
In a nutshell:
Lara Croft is finally back in the first game to do her legacy justice since the days of the original PlayStation. With updated graphics and gameplay, and a whole new suite of moves and equipment this is the sequel fans have always demanded.

The lowdown:
After the disappointment of Angel of Darkness, the Tomb Raider series has gone back to basics with a new developer and even a new Lara. Combat is back to being only around a third of the game with everything else centred on platform jumping and puzzle solving. To help this, there’s a canny new movement system that allows Lara to jump onto and grab objects at an angle, so there’s none of the awkward grid based movement of the earlier games. This is also the first Tomb Raider to have a proper physics engine, with lots of the puzzles revolving around movement and the use of Lara’s natty new magnetic grappling hook. The graphics are also excellent, and with input from the original creator this is a long awaited return to form.

Most exciting moment:
The realisation that this is actually a proper update of the original game, as Lara leaps around cliffs like a mountain goat, with graphics and controls that aren’t still stuck in 1996.

Since you ask:
The new voice of Lara is provided by Keeley Hawes, who also plays Zoe Reynolds in BBC TV show Spooks.

The bottom line:
Lara Croft is back in the first decent new Tomb Raider game for a long time.
Harrison Dent

Manufacturer's Description
Gaming's most famous heroine makes her triumphant return in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend!

Lara Croft travels the globe in search of an ancient English artifact and is pitted against rival forces led by a nemesis from her past...long thought dead.

Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PS2)  (63)

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Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (PS2)  (126)

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135 Reviews 5 star:  (47) 4 star:  (43) 3 star:  (28) 2 star:  (14) 1 star:  (3)           Average Customer Review (135 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   31 of 33 people found the following review helpful: R.I.P Lara Croft- Died April 2006, 17 April 2006 By  T. S. Waddington "Chimp" (Northampton) - See all my reviews    Fun: After seeing early screenshots and gossip about the new Tomb Raider game I thought that this might be the best edition yet, sadly I was desperately wrong. Any real Tomb Raider fan, like me, will understand where I am coming from. After buying the original game when i was very young Tomb Raider became my favourite series of games. I have eagerly anticipated the release of the next installment more so than any other computer game ever since. The main draw for me has always been the sense of isolation and the focus on puzzle rather than action, Tomb Raider has always been a game that mentally stretches people and for me has always stood out from the majority of mindless action games. I am not saying that mindless action games don't have a place within the gaming world, it's just Tomb Raider was always different. Angel of Darkness was without a doubt disappointing, however despite the problems with the control of Lara it still had the heart and soul of Tomb Raider, some of the puzzles were hard and Lara was in essence the same as she has always been. Because of poor sales figures and bad reviews Lara was ripped away from Core Design and handed over to Crystal Dynamics an American (shudder)design team. Apart from the appearance of Lara this game has been utterly transformed into a cheesy action adventure with minimal brain power needed. Everything that I have grown to love about Tomb Raider has been altered, the old music has been completely eradicated the puzzles are embarrasingly easy, the atmosphere is relentlessly destroyed by Lara's wisecracking American tech expert through her headset. Worst of all is that Lara herself has changed into some sort of female James Bond who works with a backup team, she is no longer enigmatic and interesting. I have to say that I am disappointed that the new game has recieved such positive press because this will encourage Crystal Dynamics to release further pointless sequels, I fear that the old Tomb Raider is gone forever and in its place we have a game that no longer stands out from the crowd. I could go on about the faults of this game for pages however i must stop somewhere. You may be wondering why I have given it three stars after competely slating it, well for what it is, it is very fun to play and quite exciting while it lasts it just doesn't have special quality the previous incarnations did.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: A 3D Platformer, but not a Tomb Raider, 16 April 2006 By  Cinemascope (On your PC screen) - See all my reviews Fun: Tomb Raider 1 (On Playstation) was a landmark. Tomb Raider 2 was breathtaking. Tomb Raider 3 spoiled the formula somewhat with too many 'sudden death' traps and overly complex levels, but was still generously huge, engaging and varied. Then they gradually lost the plot, and the rot had truly set in by 'Chronicles'. 'Angel of Darkness' was a major disappointment, being the first serious overhaul of the series. Lara ran as if through treacle, the camera didn't track you effectively - leading to diastrously misjudged leaps into the abyss, and the levels were unpopulated, with often simplistic problems to overcome. So all us Tomb Raider fans were praying for a return to form when 'TR Legend' was first mooted. Now it's out, I fear many reviewers have heaped praise on it after a superficial glance, or without any memory of the qualities of the first three. Legend fails spectacularly on several fronts: There is no exploration, it's absolutely unerringly linear, and compared to all previous Tomb Raiders, very short. Part of TR's charm was exploring; seeing a ledge far above and wondering "how do I get there?". Trying to see a ledge at all. WORKING IT OUT. All that is gone, and to make matters worse they've dumbed it down even further by giving Lara a pair of binoculars that can reveal all the moveable/switchable/grabbable objects in view. No challenge. Facing leaps over crevasses, a floating X icon indicates your grapple hook is needed. No challenge. No thought. Levels are punctuated by awful QTEs (Quick Time Events) that are basically sudden FMV clips requiring specific button presses. Lara talks far too much (she used to be the strong silent type!) and now has two idiot assistants who 'joke', bicker and offer yet more 'useful' information on a regular basis (like "Hey! Now THAT'S really COOL!"), shattering the silence that used to be part of the series atmosphere. The distinctive theme from the first 3 is gone, a big mistake - now they have a generic techno-bond theme for the titles, and a tuneless, oppressive soundtrack during play. The motorbike levels don't bear description - useless, but mercifully few of them. In actual play, the game is a clone of Prince of Persia, which is kind of ironic as Tomb Raider was originally a 3D interpretation of the original 2D Prince of Persia. But Prince of Persia was totally linear too - yet far better than this within such limits. Very little of the old Lara remains. Tomb Raider should have stayed true to it's roots and delivered exploration with 'big reveals' (Lost Valley, St Francis Folly, remember those levels?). Eidos: re-release the original 3 PS1 games for PS2, or maybe PS3, with nothing but a graphical smoothing. Leave the grid based system intact, leave the music intact - change *nothing* and let those who haven't experienced them see what they are missing. I'd buy them all over again - THEY were the legends. But not another one like this.