The Playstation's answer to Indiana Jones. (Tomb Raider (PS))

Member Name: RussellC

Product:	Tomb Raider (PS)
Date:	25/08/00 (59 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The original an immersive environment.

Disadvantages: Superceded by later games.

Here's a game that has probably helped sell more Playsations in the UK than any other, that's launched tonnes of merchandising and that has it's own official model. I doubt there's a person in this country who doesn't know about Lara Croft she has after all become an icon of our times. Tomb Raider is the first outing for her and as such it's the roughest of the lot and now that there are sequels is perhaps less interesting to those who've never played Tomb Raider before.

The plot is something familiar to anyone who's seen an Indiana Jones movie, Lara is an archaeologist in the Indiana Jones, not in the Time team way. She's a rich aristocratic girl, who lost her parents at a young age and spends her time endangering her life in the quest for ancient relics. I guess she's got to do something with her time and all that money? Lara's been contracted to collect a number of artifacts that come together to create a mystical Scion. Of course as it turns out this Scion isn't that nice really, especially when in the wrong hands, which it inevitably falls into. In the end it's up to Lara to save the world from disaster. No awards for orginality there, but its when you play the game that things really get good.

Step back to a couple of years ago, Tomb Raider was brand new hyped up and everyone wanted it. When you put it into your Playstation you entered a world you'd never seen before, 3D and highly interactive, you realy felt like you were there. Lara was highly controllable, running, swimming, climbing and shooting. Plus she was designed to appeal to every man in the country (and it seems to have worked to greater or lesser extents). Graphically the game was highly impressive, there was this large 3D world filed with 3D creatures, and not cute ones like in Mario 64, these ones were dnagerous. Gameplay is excellent, as I've said Lara is versatile, but controls are intuitive. When you first come to th
e game there's a period of adjustment, but the addition of a practice ground and training zone in Lara's house help with this. A few levels in and there's no problems making Lara do exactly what you want.

Puzzles are of the rudimentary find the lever, pull the lever type, perhaps with the occasional find the key throw in. A number of traps and pitfalls make things more interesting though and combined with the opponents make many sitations a life and death moment. The real challenge is generaly ensuring you have enough ammo and health at all times, by working through the levels to the best of your abilities. Saving is limited to save crystals strategically placed around the levels so you need to take care as you play. Level design is superb, levels are just the right size and always at the right level of challenge. This isn't a game where you'll tire of replaying a difficult section.

Overall Tomb Raider is a very satisfying gaming experience, good design and a consistant plotting make for an enjoyable experience. It's still one of the better 3D worlds to play in, though it's showing its age now. In many respects I prefer it to later games as it felt more original when I first played it and the gameplay was kept tight. Probably of more interest now is the sequel Tomb Raider 2, which improved on the graphics and added in a few more controls. Still this is a budget game and worth many hours of gameplay so look out for it.

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