Retro PS1 Gaming - Tomb Raider: Chronicles (Tomb Raider - Chronicles (PS))

Member Name: monkeywarrior

Product:	Tomb Raider - Chronicles (PS)
Date:	10/10/04 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good for fans of the series, Peculiar plotline works well in practice

Disadvantages: Disappointing end sequence, Very dated-looking now, Frustrating and very tricky without a guide

When I first bought Tomb Raider: Chronicles, I was sceptical, with the game's dubious plotline and seemingly identical gameplay but since I had enjoyed the other episodes so much, I thought it was worth a try.

The rather tenuous plot - Lara supposedly dead with her mates reminiscing about her other adventures to provide the backbone of the story - actually works well in practice. The adventure (a great deal smaller than Lara's previous outings, I must say) is split into four 'mini - adventures' each seeing Lara at a different period in her life, each consisting of three(ish) levels.

The first adventure takes place in Rome, and is excellent - your bog standard tomb raiding, basically - clever puzzles, great cutscenes, mysterious goings on and spectacular bosses. Next, comes a Russian U Boat mission, beginning in the base, progressing to the very bottom of the ocean - here we see much frenetic blasting and door opening in equal measures and the only use of a vehicle in the game (something I feel is sadly lacking - don't you remember the thrill on TR2 as you rode that snowmobile about recklessly running guys over - surely the most memorable level in the game) a diving suit - kinda cool. Once this is over and done with, we move to Ireland, with a young Lara (no blummin weapons, of course) for a session of exploring and puzzle solving in the extreme - almost impossible without a guide, unfortunately. And finally, there is much stealthing and coolness going on in section four, a tower block raid which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Matrix.

The subplots are linked together by brilliant FMVs and are all in my personal opinion as enjoyable as eachother and a welcome deviation from the standard theme. Music and sounds effects are excellent and the graphics are about as polished as theyre gonna get using that age old engine.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the game - there are some frustrating bits, and a disappointing lack of bosses on the later levels, but it still has the old tomb raider magic. One thing which did p!ss me off though was the end sequence (which I was hoping to be the highlight of the FMVs) which was a badly put together piece of twoddle that explains nothing and makes a right mess of finishing up everything... oh well, I shall leave to you to find that out - because, even after all its little faults, this is still a game Tomb Raider fans should play.

Summary: