The Only Tomb Worth Exploring
Written: Aug 18 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Puzzles, The Tombs are very well made
Cons: Lara Croft, Graphics are Dated
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| Goldentoe's Full Review: Tomb Raider for PlayStation 1 |
I actually bought this Tomb Raider after playing the first level of Tomb Raider II, and man am I glad I did, so I could see that the Tomb Raider series isn't total garbage. First I'll start with Lara Croft, she is nothing special, actually I don't like her. All she is, is a inherently rich woman who instead of helping others she decides she would rather steal historical treasures and keep them locked away for no one to ever see. Just by chance every time she is in search of something valuable someone else is looking for it in their vain attempts to conquer the world (what luck we have someone as greedy as Lara to save all our miserable little lives). The only thing that sold so many copies of the game is the fact that she has huge breasts and the stupid rumor that there is a"Nude Code". The game would be just as good with a chain smoking, one-legged midget, excuse me, vertically challenged person as the main character. The fact that this game actually kept the game in ancient tombs is what with some solid puzzle action makes this game worth playing.
The graphics are very dated by todays standards, all the environments look like pixelation delights. Almost everything is block based, which is very useful to the game, but makes less than a compelling looking cavern. It takes quite a while to figure out what is attacking you for the fact that the camera is always pointed the wrong direction, plus the fact that the animals don't look realistic.
The sound in Tomb Raider has the unique ability of practicing the art of nothing. That's right, there is hardly any sound in the game. Music is practically non-existent, the only music to speak of is when you get into a dangerous situation a short orchestrated score will play, or when you enter a new area it may play a short song. All of the sound effects are well done though from Lara's grunts to the gun blasts. So most of the time you get the joy of listening to Lara's feet hitting the ground. Surprisingly this works for the game and you aren't distracted from the gameplay.
The control in Tomb Raider feels very mathematical. Walk up to the ledge, take two large steps back, run forward and press jump, she will make a perfect jump at the end of the ledge. This style slows the game up, but it also insures that you don't make bad jumps by just haphazardly making dangerous jumps. The camera is kind of annoying, the developers obviously enjoy keeping the action off of the the screen, you can get Lara to lock onto the nearest enemy, but the camera will not move so you can see the enemy, so since you can't see it you will probably set and shoot a corpse for awhile.
The gameplay is what makes this the best Tomb Raider of the series (and I gave it a 3 that isn't saying much for the series). You explore vast tombs finding objects, pulling switches and moving blocks all the while avoiding traps. The puzzles are genuinely confusing, but are able to be figured out by yourself if you keep working on them. The best thing about this game is the fact that the enemies are few and far between. When there are enemies they are some sort of wildlife, like bears and wolves. The fact that they included dinosaurs in the game throws all the realistic elements of the game (how raptors could live in a small tomb that has been locked up with no food or water for thousands of years is beyond me). The dinosaurs do bring about the best part in the game, when you are first meet the first dino the T-Rex it is absolutely great since it seems to have just come out of nowhere.
Overall I'd recommend this Tomb Raider over the others for the sheer fact that it has the best mixture of action and puzzle solving. It keeps you in tombs (which is it's best feature) and keeps the fighting to a minimum. It may not look as pretty and refined as all the other installments it has the best gameplay.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Goldentoe
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Member: James Lowenberg
Location: Mayberry, Iowa
Reviews written: 59
Trusted by: 29 members
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