Given the developer’s insistence that Tomb Raider Underworld was being developed to work with the current console technology, much of it remains stubbornly devoted to its previous-generation counterparts.Lacking both the fluid movement of Assassin’s Creed, and the refined combat of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (perhaps TR’s closest competitor), Underworld occasionally feels as ancient as the tombs that frequent the adventure.
That’s not to say the game isn’t functional, or occasionally exciting. Traversing an ancient Viking temple submerged under an arctic ocean is as astounding as it sounds; so too is uncovering a treacherous Mayan temple. It’s just that the few innovations the game throws at the player feel more obligatory than refined. The ability to fire whilst hanging from ledges is welcome, but is used too little to be of much use; it’s also the only improvement over the tiresome “Run-and-gun” formula that is Tomb Raider’s combat. Similarly, the “wall jump” manoeuvre isn’t quite as flexible as you might presume, and worst of all, the erratic camera from the previous games has seen no improvements, making a return about as welcome as a herpes outbreak.
It may well be that the game’s developers, Crystal Dynamics, have a strong fear of repelling the die-hard Tomb Raider fans with too many extravagant changes – a fear that hasn’t so much retained the series’ flair as it has beaten it to death.
If I’m making the game sound terrible, it isn’t – it’s just utterly archaic. Scratch the surface however, and you’ll find some solid design. Given how restrictive the game’s control methods are, sticking to them for three games has obviously enabled Crystal Dynamics to adapt and improve on this iteration, as Underworld contains some of the best environmental puzzles in a Tomb Raider game for a long time. Often requiring the player to link moves and abilities in quick succession, it makes navigation almost labyrinthine. The astounding new environments have this in mind; tall as they are wide, they require an almost marsupial agility to traverse. Climbing from the ground to a towering cliff top in a matter of seconds – then peering off the edge and admiring the achievement – makes you truly appreciate what a rich tapestry the level design is, not to mention how important this is to the Tomb Raider ethic.
If only the story was as rich. Hurriedly leaping from one extravagant and underdeveloped plot twist to another, whilst simultaneously trying to tie up the previous games’ loose ends, it hurtles into obscurity with the pace and direction of a derailed locomotive. As a result, the game itself suffers by being far too short – the plot climax doing little to alleviate the disappointment of a game that ends much too quickly.
Underworld has some excellent levels and plenty of memorable moments, but a variety of humdrum gameplay additions and a reluctance to take any risks highlight just how inferior the Tomb Raider series now is to similar games.
If you’re the sort of unimaginative person who lazily likes reviews to be summed up with a numerical score, I give Tomb Raider Underworld a 214 out of a possible 347.
Tomb Raider: Underworld: 214/347
YOU CAN’T RATE IT OUT OF 100! THIS ISN’T COKEMACHINEGLOW/PITCHFORK!
Yeah I’m getting mixed messages here. On the one hand its out of a hundred, on the other it didn’t tell me I’m wrong and a fucking idiot for disagreeing
The 61% was added by Kane, methinks, not me. The reason I made the scoring system so confusing was because, as Kane correctly pointed out (but then kinda contradicted himself on but oh well), people shouldn’t take scores so seriously – pay more attention to the review. It’s the same reason my Fallout review had that obscure food-based scoring system. Obviously this is confusing people so I’ll just stop doing it.
Maybe we should score games out of how many times out of ten mark capitalises his entire sentences
Movies are nearly always reviewed out of 5. A rating out of ten is suitable for music. Likewise, every decent gaming mag both online and printed use a percentage – whether it’s out of 100 for gamespot, out of 10.0 for IGN or whatever. 214 of 347 is 61% (rounded off). Ryan was just making a point, the score shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
At least my calculator says 61.. too bad if it’s wrong, I quite happily ditched maths after gcses.
I really enjoyed the Fallout review
Thanks – this is my first foray into mainstream critique so it’s encouraging to hear that people enjoy my reviews.
Aye, they’ve been top notch. I need to start writing my Trackmania Nations one soon.