Lara's back! And her front too... (Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PS2))

Member Name: butters

Product:	Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PS2)
Date:	25/11/07 (143 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keeps to the original, lenghtier than Legend

Disadvantages: Some camera issues

Tomb Raider started way back in 1996 on both the Saturn and the Playstation, receiving quite a reception, being quite popular, not only amongst the spotty 13 year old boys at the time but by other gamers. Even though it was pretty obvious the series protagonist Lara Croft was made with sex appeal in mind it still stood out as a game itself, causing many more sequels which got worse over time, with the rock bottom being Angel of Darkness before the series was once again revived with Tomb Raider: Legend, introducing Lara back to the tomb's she was meant to raid. So since the flops of the later Playstation games and Angel of Darkness the flame was handed to Crystal dynamics, who, after revitalising the series with Legends, decided to remake the original.
A remake can be a good of a bad thing. Good would be the King Kong movies, whereas bad would include the idea of remaking Charlie and the Chocolate factory. It is a tricky thing to do because not only must you keep the game fresh to introduce new fans, you must keep it true to its roots so the old fans do not get annoyed. This is exactly what has happened, improving on the original game with not only graphics but gameplay too. It is just a shame that this game came so close to the end of the PS2's reign, being overshadowed by numerous PS3 games.

It would not be tomb Raider though if they did not try to cram as much sex appeal into her as possible and they do that, with an extremely realistic looking Lara, back in her original clothes. However it does not spoil the game (it adds to it) and Lara herself does at least have a personality unlike so many other games where developers seem to think sex appeal is enough to get sales, without the actual character having a personality.

The story revolves around British sounding Lara Croft, hired to retrieve a mythical item called the Scion, which leads her through numerious tombs and caves full of animals, booby traps and puzzles. It sticks true to what I know of the original story really, and has some great cut scenes, really showing of the power of the PS2.

As you are dropped in to the first level, it is then you'll realise how much Lara has changed over the years. A feeling of nostalgia occurs straight away, being left alone in a tomb, not knowing what to do. It just looks so realistic and vast; straight away it captures the impact of the original game, and shows that it will not be like Legend. Although good, that just appeared to be a stepping stone to get Lara back on track, which is this game. This is how a tomb should be, and this is how the game should be, really drawing you in to the game, with the atmosphere, before you have even moved, being amazing.

This is the same with all environments, very atmospheric straight away. There is obviously music in the game though everything seems silent except for the rare occasion you are in battle and this is constant throughout the game. They are great for exploring, and although there is a path you must follow it is not hard to get stuck. That is not to say the game is linear though. Although there is a set path the levels lead you from room to room, with the rooms usually being massive so working how to get from one place to the other is not easy. There are also many hidden areas, usually quite small which are hard to find and lead you a little away from the main path, where you can find collectibles such as artefacts and relics. These unlock things such as new costumes (such as the ability to look like the old Lara, from PSone which, whilst may stick out a little is still fun. You can also look like Lara from Legends). It means you do not rush through levels and can take your time exploring sections of the map. Though I really doubt you could rush through the game anyway.
The game has focused far more on puzzles than combat and you will not find human combat here. It is animals (including the dinosaurs) and puzzles all the way. The puzzles can involve long complex jumps to get out of an area, or just simply shimmying up a pole and jumping onto higher ground, but all the time the atmosphere remains, made better by the graphics.
This freedom and feeling of alone does not make it feel like you are just dumped into the game with no help though, there are a few tips and the difficulty does ease you into the game well.

Having played this on my PS3 (I have noted no problems so it is fully compatible) I can say it does not live up to PS3 graphics though this is obvious. Although the cut scenes to this game are great, the in game, whilst graphically excellent for a PS2 game, I did notice quite a bit at the start the quality change. Most areas look amazing, such as one place where you enter something that looks like an arena. Though when you get close up the detail lacks a little, and looks very last-gen.

However it is not all graphics and the game itself is excellent. The puzzles are all amazing and all seem to fit into the level (i.e. nothing sticks out of place looking stupid, yet nothing is too hard to work out) and the combat whilst rare is easily done with crouching done with the 'o' button, x to jump, triangle to interact and square to grapple.

The controls were a bugger in the original Tomb Raider game and quite a put off. It used to be done with the analogue sticks (right turned you and left moved you forwards and backwards and for strafing). Those controls really only work well with first person shooters and in third person they seem awkward. However, totally refined in this the controls are like legend with the left analogue stick freely controlling movement and the right controlling the camera. The left analogue stick movement is amazing making Lara so free. You can just run about and jump with ease, having to think very little, seeming very natural and if ever you have to suddenly perform an action it is done with ease.
The combat is done with the shoulder buttons (L1 & R1) with you being able to flick through targets and easily shoot, whilst the action buttons and the left analogue stick provide enough movement for you to jump away from or dodge you enemy. There are obvious new abilities such as adrenaline mode which can be used when a creature is charging towards you which lets you dodge slow motion and shoot. It is not done tackily though and fits in well with the game like the numerious other additions that were not in the original such as the grapple hook which provides a lot more fun in puzzles.

The camera can be a bit weird sometimes. Although 90% of the time it will stay behind you perfect from time to time it does shoot around which can cause you to miss your jump from time to time. It does seem to swing around and zoom in a lot at weird angles too. For example if you are crawling through a small space the camera feels the need to zoom right in on Lara's arse, which must be done on purpose, like many more subtle unnecessary things such as Lara stretching out if you leave her too long. It doesn't exactly spoil the game though and the camera is very rarely an issue.

Now the game itself is quite lengthy with around 15 hours of gameplay. Yes, it will not last you too long like games like Oblivion but it certainly means it will take you some time since it is very in-depth and requires a lot of thought. It is not the kind of game you do in one sitting because of this either and I took my time, with quite a few gaming sessions each doing a few parts of a tomb at a time. The checkpoint system means you do not have to start way back from the start of the tomb upon loading the game, which makes this session gameplay a lot better, and games such as the Legend of Zelda could maybe adopt this style.
One big disadvantage of Legend was that it was too short so it is nice to get a lengthier game, and with exploration through the tombs it could maybe last you 20 hours or so.
So, the replay value of the game itself is quite limited in my view. It has a time trial mode for each tomb but it isn't something that interests me, because the dungeons are pretty in depth and half the fun is finding out how to solve the puzzles.

What will add another hour or two though is the Mansion, remade in all its glory and makes some fun exploration where you can find some extra relics. It makes for nice exploration and adds an hour to the game, and is one of the places that I felt was nice to roam around again.

~Game Information~

Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Players: 1
Platforms: PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, Windows, PSP. The PS2 version plays on the PS3 fine.
Age: 12+
Price: RRP £30. Amazon Price £22.48

~Overall~

It is amazing. People say that it is gameplay that makes a game and not graphics. Though this may be true in many cases this makeover has certainly helped Lara look he best in what I would say is my favourite game of the series. It brings hope for the PS3 version of the game certainly and though it has taken some time, with this and Legend, Lara is back on form.

The gameplay is amazing, so free with the hug environments and pillars making the game so atmospheric, really making you feel alone in the tomb which is how it should be. There is nobody to hold your hand here except a few hints from the journal if you need them but even then they're vague. The controls are even improved over the original which makes the game that much better with movement that much freer and the additions to the combat and the puzzles (adrenaline and grapple hook) add a lot to the game also. The grapple hook is used really well.

The graphics are great also, which just makes this into a must have PS2 game not only for PS2 owners but PS3 ones too, because when you put on the game you will instantly forget about the graphics.

There is a special edition version that comes with extras also like concept art. They're ok. And then you also get the music track which I found quite boring. The music was sometimes good but a lot of the time it starts good and gets average/repetitive. Though in the game this never bothered me, I found the little music I heard atmospheric, and most of the time the silence I heard added more to the game than anything else.

Summary: Lara is completely back on form in this PS2 remake of the original