Just what we all needed. Another Lara Croft game. (Tomb Raider 4 - The Last Revelation (DC))

Member Name: Archimedes

Product:	Tomb Raider 4 - The Last Revelation (DC)
Date:	07/01/01 (76 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice puzzles, good storyline, an ending we all wanted

Disadvantages: Same old formula, mediocre graphics

When Lara's two main assets (great graphics and superb playablility obviously) were unleashed upon the gaming world the effects were astounding with middle aged men the world over ending up salivating vast lakes of dribble beneath their monitors. Now, in her fourth outing on her fourth console the formula has been done to death, not only by Eidos but by other companies who have seen the success of the original. With a film coming out next year and Lara merchandising packaged with every game we have to ask the vital question is it getting too stale? According to Lara's relatively poor showing in the sales charts from this game the answer is yes.

Gameplay

I'm sure most gamers have either owned or played on one of Ms Crofts previous outings but for those who hav been living in a cave for the last 5 years I'll recap. You are an upper class English woman with a superb set of guns who travels the world collecting artifacts and, in the process, killing things and solving mind taxing puzzles. The controls follow on from the PlayStation versions with the buttons being the same, i.e. left button is jump, down button is action. Anyway the main aspect of the gameplay is puzzle solving but this time you do have more things, often wierd creatures such as skeletons and mummies, to kill and maim. The game is, as ever, frequently interrupted by FMV, which advance the storyline along. It's a nice reward as these are beautifully animated pieces.

Graphics

Had I not played on the PlayStation version of this game beforehand I would have said that the graphics were good but I can barely make out any difference between the two games. Having said that I think that the graphics for the PlayStation game were excellent however this seems to be quite a sloppy conversion.

Sound

You can expect the same old grunts and moans from Lara and the orchestral soundtrack to accompany it. The music changes with each opf the countries
accordingly and this ets the mood nicely. The noises of the undead are good while the animals sounded very good, particularly the death noises. These led me to believe that CORE, the developer, had indeed been slaughtering wild animals in a recording studio.

Overall Tomb Raider is a good game as long as you don't punish yourself by playing on the PC or PlayStation versions as the differences are more minimal than most of Liz Hurleys dresses.

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