Tomb Raider is certainly a legendary series and with the recent release of the spin-off/reboot "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light", it feels like time to go back to where it all began. After chortling at the crude 3d of the opening cut-scene (check out Larson's choppy hand in the game's opening FMV...) the first thing that strikes the player is the iconic theme tune - such a simple melody , yet filled with the promise of adventure. The lack of music in the overall game is at first a disappointment, but when that violin line breaks the silence and an awe-inspiring lost temple fills the screen, you can feel the hairs stand up on Lara's neck as the camera leans in close to her shoulders to witness the majesty unfold...The equally iconic training level in Lara's house provides the basic moves a player needs to master in order to get Lara through all sorts of danger. This framing device for the tricky-at-first control scheme is a masterful piece of design being both intuitive and fun. On top of this, the game designers are able to begin to characterize the protagonist and set the tone for the rest of the game before it has even begun, giving the player a glimpse into Lara's opulent upbringing.
Immersion is perhaps the major achievement of Tomb Raider. Soon into the game, all thoughts of the sometimes frustrating controls and blocky graphics are banished from the player's mind, deep in the snowy caves of Peru. The level names are exciting and atmospheric (the "Tomb of Qualopec" being perhaps the coolest) and the enemy roster is diverse and often terrifying - the undead moans and weird "clicking" noises of Egypt's mummy-mutants is something I still hear in the dead of night.That said come the game's concluding stages, the immersion seems to trail-off somewhat, and after the well-thought-out Natla's mine level (seeing Lara unarmed and lost underground) the Atlantis level is underwhelming. It looks like it is set in an amateur H.R. Giger picture; disgusting and frankly annoying mutants leap out of incubation pods and the lava flows and blood rivers suggest the work of whoever did the interior design for DOOM II. Suddenly the game feels less like Indiana Jones and a little confused with the player unsure of where the game has taken them.
But these are arguably criticism's brought about by the numbing fact that the game is about to end. The player is left with that queasy feeling of returning home from a long-trip, happy to be back in comfort but depressed to be out of the way of excitement and adventure. This draws you closer to the feelings of the game's charismatic heroine returning to her manor-house luxury. Both you and Lara are locked in that one depressing moment, when the door has closed behind you and you can't wait for the next chance to plunge into the luring darkness of some lost, eternal city...
4 undead moans out of 5
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