Tomb Raider: Underworld
No Stars For Girlfriend?!
Tomb Raider: Underworld for PlayStation 2 by Eidos resumes where Tomb
Raider: Legend left off. This installment introduces a new, interactive
playing environment that gives players a chance to immerse themselves
more fully into the game. Players once again take the role of Lara Croft as
she explores such wide-ranging places as the Arctic, Mexico, and beneath
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Laras environment is now much more realistic and interactive. View larger.
And now she can hold onto a ledge with one hand and fire a gun with the
other. View larger. Interactive Worlds Introduces Realistic game play
Unlike the previous games in the series, Laras environment is now much
more realistic and interactive. Footprints will be left in mud, for example,
but only until they wash away in the rain. Laras shirt will also get wet, and
shes more likely to lose her grip if she is standing on a slippery, rain-
soaked ledge. When the sun comes out, her shirt will dry and the slippery
surfaces regain their friction. In Underworld, Lara also has a lot more
flexibility in how she makes her way through a level, as there is often more
than one way to get from here to there. She can now climb walls with
texture and rocky outcroppings to reach areas she previously wouldnt have
been able to access. All of these additions have been made to give the
game a non-linear, open feel. Players can interactive with the environment
by doing things they find to be intuitive, and the game will respond
appropriately. When Lara interacts with trees, for example, she will push
aside leaves using either one or two hands depending, on whether or not
shes holding something. These details give a lifelike, immersive sensation
to the game. New Melee Combat System
Underworld introduces a new melee combat system that requires players
to strategically strike with offensive, defensive, and evasive maneuvers.
Lara can now attack enemies with different punches, kicks, knees, and
other acrobatic onslaughts. Items lying on the ground, such as poles that
were previously walked on, can be picked up and swung at enemies.
Players can also perform a greater variety of actions with weapons; for
example, Lara can now hold onto a ledge with one hand and fire a gun
with the other. Realistic Enemy and Animal AI
The AI in Tomb Raider: Underworld has also taken a big step forward--
both enemies and animals now make independent decisions based on
their surroundings, employ ambush and squad tactics when fighting, and
will retreat if deemed necessary.
With updated graphics and a more immersive and realistic game play,
Tomb Raider: Underworld will have both fans and newcomers excited
about the newest installment in this popular video game-pinup franchise.
Tomb Raider: Underworld is loaded with a new melee combat system,
various weapons, and smarter AI for both enemies and animals.
Personal Review: Tomb Raider: Underworld

Lara Croft has been the most played character in gaming history. A record
like Wilt Chamberlain scoring a hundred points in an NBA game, Lara may
never be surpassed either. The two TRs that were the most similar in play
and total gaming were #2 & #3. I still like their look on PC even today. #1's
graphics were pixelated, but we loved it all the same. #4 & #5 are good
too. Now, TR:AOD(1st PS2 game), everyone complains about, but
everyone that slammed it, finished it, and maybe even played it again. No
one ever says that they played the first level and quit or threw the game
away, which I've done before(Doom3's one dimensional play). Tomb
Raider will always be the thinking person's game, not the fast twitch kill 50
monsters in-a-row type of game. TR:AOD was a very good game with a
not very good control scheme. I really liked the colorful graphics compared
to the new incarnations of muted colors in Legend, Anniv., and
Underworld. Another game that everyone complains about is Rez
Evil4(pc), but is one best playing games around. Legend is the best of the
new bunch, with few glitches and good play. Anniversary is good too, but it
has some sections for me that my non-teenage hands can't move fast
enough to maneuver. Spinning blades on walls and Centaurs are killing me
from finishing that one, and I've been able to finish every TR game 'cept
that one. PC version proved easier than the sloppy joystick of PS2. OK,
back to TR:Und#9, yes, #9. Why have we gotten nine TRs so far?
Because we love to play the darn thing over and over again. Just like your
spouses and friends, you complain about them, but you always keep
coming back. Personally I'd like to see a combo of TR:AOD and the last
three, with a few items from the oldies. Tomb Raider Underworld was like
one reviewer said, which I also said to myself before reading his, "TR for
Dummys". This is not a slam of the game. TR:U9 is totally unique in the
world of TR games. Many of the decisions are removed from your grasp.
You shoot at things only as a diversion from solving or maneuvering your
way to the next level. All treasures are getable, whereas some TR games
made this feat brutally hard. The older the TR game, the longer it will take
to complete. This is the shortest TR game, which took me a record two
days to complete! It does help that I've played them all though. No guide is
needed to play this TR. If you are new to any TR, maybe get a guide. The
game menu even provides a handy hint menu if you get stuck, but won't
exactly give you the answer. The older the TR game, the more you need a
guide to play it. I see A LOT of people complaining about bad camera
angles. Think about this now. I guarantee you that these are people are
accustomed to playing linear FPS games with not very demanding camera
angles. The TR world is built on a multi-dimensional and spatial
environment that no other game is required to perform. If any of you can
remember executing blind hair raising cliff or ledge jumps over certain
death in almost all of the early TR games of PS1, you wouldn't whine about
it on Underworld. Oh, and if you miss that jump and die, you may need to
retrace your steps back from somewhere else where you had a tougher
jump to perform to get back to the other one that killed you. That is what
makes TRs unique, performing the outrageous death defying no-look jump
off into oblivion and then miraculously grab a ledge in the darkness if by
magic. No other game maker, except Prey comes to mind, has designed

jumping, falling, climbing, running, leaping, flipping up down and around
caverns or buildings that are dizzyingly deep or tall or both. The design of
the 'looking' scheme has got to be crazy hard to get right. Halo is wildly
popular. It's simple, straight forward, great control scheme, you won't be
stumped, but not multi-dimensional like TR or Half Life games, and kinda
boring just shooting the same creatures from level to level with no-brain
ease. All in all, TR:U9 is a quick easy journey with Lara that you will enjoy
with little frustration. The puzzles are fun and thoughtful. When I got stuck
somewhere, it was always the 'chimney jump' I forgot about. I'm going to
get the PC version too, just to see the better graphics, and these things
always look awaesome on the PC.
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