Tomb Raider

GRAPHICS

With this being the first Tomb Raider to appear on the PS2 it is unsurprising that Tomb Raider: Angel Of Darkness is far superior to its predecessors visually. Everything is a lot crisper and cut scenes show off the true power of the PS2. Having said this, Tomb Raider isn't as graphically impressive as one would have hoped, at times the graphics are extremely jagged and the finish is nowhere near as good as the likes of Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS2), Resident Evil (GC), or Halo (XBOX). This can't be put down to the PS2, although graphically inferior to other consoles, because gamers have witnessed better visuals in MGS2 and GTA. It is unimpressive that gamers view Lara's hands when typing in codes and she has no fingernails!

Of course the graphics are largely ok but nothing particularly special as gamers may have expected from a series as established as Tomb Raider. There are still spectacular views to witnessed, notably waterfalls, art galleries, the Parisian ghetto, research facilities, and graveyards. The level of gore in Tomb Raider is fairly tame when compared to gruesome titles such as Silent Hill, but when compared to MGS it is fairly similar. There are smidgens of blood when enemies are ot but there is certainly not an excess of blood.

There is a lot of detail in Tomb Raider. There has been a great deal of thought when putting different objects in different places and crowding the screen with various items. At times this really assists the experience for example when making risky jumps in "The Serpent Rouge," colourful lights illuminate the action, however at other times the sheer amount of detail on screen means that the overall graphical appearance suffers. Close ups of faces show characters are capable of many facial expressions but also show that there isn't that much detail in terms of character lines. Admittedly on Lara this is deliberate as she is nowadays used as a role model and perfect woman, but when talking to others it is amazing that they lack character lines and definition. This isn't the case with all characters but often gamers will believe there could have been a bit more detail.

16/20

SOUND

To complement Tomb Raider a full orchestra has composed an entire soundtrack for the game. Like Resident Evil this helps set the mood for different places. This is particularly well executed, for if danger is approaching the orchestra will speed up and play a harsher piece of music, but if the area is relatively safe the music will be gentle. There is also the use of various other pieces of music throughout the game, in the club dance music plays. There is little to fault when it comes to script and voice acting although there are the usual "oomphs" of frustration from Lara when she cascades into a wall or falls off a large drop. Sadly when encountered with an awkward jump which is made even more difficult due to the new control system Lara's moan of annoyance can just lead to annoying the gamer more rather than leading them to believe it is realistic. After all in terms of realism surely Lara Croft would be more likely to hold her head and sob if she had thrown herself into a wall, not let out a screech!

Gunshots, jumps, the grate as a box is pushed and the screams of pain as an animal or human is shot are all fairly standard and sadly seem to have progressed little from the last Tomb Raider. There was nothing particularly wrong with the sound effects in the last instalment but considering that the graphics have improved, it's on a much better console, and there is an orchestra providing the soundtrack one would have thought that they may have altered the sound effects.

17/20

GAMEPLAY

After her near death experience in Egypt Lara is angry that the very man who left her for dead, Werner VonCroy, is asking Lara for help. Upon meeting Lara there is a nasty argument between the two resulting in the death of VonCroy! Lara does not remember how her mentor died but takes it upon herself to investigate exactly what happened. This leads to Lara questioning people who knew VonCroy and looking for possible motives that would explain why somebody would kill him.

Brilliant gameplay and a well pieced together storyline have been the main attractions in the Tomb Raider series. Games have varied from having an equal division of action and puzzles (TR), mainly action based (TR2), and mainly puzzle based (TR3). Although all Tomb Raider's have been right the main thing has been finding the appropriate amount of action and puzzles to satisfy the gamer. When Tomb Raider 2 was very high on action critics complained there should have been more puzzles, leading to a puzzled based Tomb Raider 3 followed by a more equal division of puzzle and action in the fourth instalment after critics felt Eidos had included too many puzzles. Gameplay in Angel of Darkness is vastly different to any other Tomb Raider. There is a general lack of intelligent puzzles, and in its place is a series of high risk jumps and switch pulling activities. Puzzles seem to be more similar to those found in Silent Hill than in other Tomb Raider's as Lara is conveniently handed security codes for doors and presses switches to activate cut scenes. This is not necessarily a criticism of the game for the more simplistic puzzles mean that the game progresses a lot faster, but when the game is low on action this is when there seems to become a problem. For if there are simplistic puzzles and a lack of action what exactly is there?

Angel of Darkness focuses much more on Lara carrying out an investigation into finding out what has happened to VonCroy. Rather than experiencing reams of cut scenes Tomb Raider is a much more inter-active experience as gamers get to select the response or question they wish to give. In some ways this is similar to Broken Sword or Monkey Island as gamers get to decide how they wish to behave when investigating. Typically Lara is either aggressive or reasonable in her approach, depending on the character the gamer is dealing with may depend on how they wish to act. For example if dealing with a weak character it may be best to take a gentle approach or they may become scared and not wish to give Lara information, however if dealing with a strong character it may be best to be more aggressive and push them for information. Then again, if the character seems a threat, it is much better to be cautious and laid back, for not only do the responses have an impact on the route Lara takes when playing the game but in some circumstances saying the wrong thing can lead to Lara's death! This certainly adds a new level to Tomb Raider and proves a refreshing break from simply jumping around ancient ruins in search for a hidden artefact.

Action in Tomb Raider is somewhat sparse. As the game revolves around Paris the location is far less exotic than usual, this means that gamers will not be facing masses of monkeys or a herd of rhinos in some sort of animal massacre safari. The enemies are restricted to mainly humans with the odd standard animal such as a dog or rat in the sewers. To compensate for the lack of exotic animals there are various new creatures such as man eating plants so gamers shouldn't feel that all is lost. Action usually involves jumping, shimmying, and climbing your way to different locations in order to progress rather than shooting creatures. Like all other Tomb Raiders this means that this is a thinking man's action game rather than a kill them all style game like your average horror title or shoot 'em up. There is nothing wrong with making ridiculously life threatening jumps or shimmying 200 feet in the air but the control system seems to put a barrier in front of the gamer that has never been seen before.

Sadly when Eidos decided to make a few changes to the game they also decided to change the control system. This takes full use of the analogue stick but makes it incredibly hard to control at times. Rather than simply using the shoulder buttons for a side step, gamers must hold the "walk" button then move to the side they wish and despite the walk button, gamers walk if they tap the analogue stick a little and run if they push it harder. This can lead to problems when trying to stop or control a jump as Lara may not take a run up to the jump due to the pressure applied to the stick. In addition to this various other buttons now function differently from before, but the main criticism is that the controls just aren't as effective as they used to be! As there are many jumps to make it is an annoyance that gamers must hold down hard for Lara to run rather than her simply running automatically and only walking when the "walk" button is held down. Gamers will get used to the control system a couple of levels into the game but they will be left feeling that there is something clumsier about the gameplay in Tomb Raider that didn't previously exist.

In a bid to counteract the poor control system there are two new features - stealth mode and the ability for Lara's strength to rise as the game progresses and she moves heavier objects. The stealth mode simply borrows ideas from MGS. Lara can creep up behind guards and choke them and look round corners. Stealth mode can be useful when trying to squeeze through gaps in the wall, duck extremely low or avoid lasers that will trigger alarms. Lara's strength rising adds little to the game, it just means that gamers have to do certain things to allow Lara's strength to rise before they can say push over a statue or forcefully break through a door.

Loading times in Tomb Raider are not particularly impressive considering gamers have to repeat certain parts of the game due to the flawed control system. It may have been an idea for Eidos to have implemented a quick load and quick save feature into the game so that gamers stuck on particularly parts of the level would be able to resume progress almost instantly after dying rather than having to wait between 20 seconds and one minute for the game to load.

Tomb Raider is generally an enjoyable experience but just seems to lack the wow factor that made the other games really special. The only thing that really hinders the game is the botched control system as there are many welcome additions such as interactive conversations and stealth mode. In terms of storyline Tomb Raider can't be faulted, it's just a pity the game doesn't expand further a field than France.

18/25

LIFESPAN

The Angel of Darkness is the shortest of all the Tomb Raiders, but having said that it is bound to last gamers longer than Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid or Silent Hill. The main factor that can be blamed for the shortness is Lara's objective is relatively small when compared to previous objectives. Rather than having to search the entire world for a sacred item the game is confined to Paris. The inclusion of Kurtis means that gamers do not always play as Lara but even this only adds a small amount of extra life to the game, for he is largely uninvolved in the first half of the game. This will last gamers a good few weeks of solid gameplay but after chances are gamers will prefer to await for the next instalment rather than replay it, because even with "infinite ammo" or "all weapons" cheats there would be few merits as there is a lack of action. Of course hardcore fans will play it again just to view the different responses from different characters as Lara says different things. Other extras include a movie trailer for the new Tomb Raider film lasting two minutes and a video showing the making of Angel of Darkness lasting just over 10 minutes.

20/25

ORIGINALITY

There are various new additions to Angel of Darkness - stealth, gaining extra strength, Kurtis as a playable character, and interactive conversations. Although this is certainly new for the Tomb Raider series everything Eidos has added has been seen before in other games. Rather than coming up with innovative touches Eidos has pinched successful elements from other games and incorporated them into Tomb Raider. It is certainly not a bad thing that these features have appeared but the ideas aren't very original. The real question is whether these features are here to stay in other Tomb Raiders or whether this is a one off. After playing the game one would be led to believe that all elements will stay but not feature as strongly in the next instalment, whilst the control system with be redone so that it is more user-friendly.

5/10

OVERALL

Naturally Angel of Darkness is the best Tomb Raider title graphically but in terms of gameplay it is the weakest. There are a number of good ideas here such as the interactive conversations but the flawed control system and shortness of game mean that although this will be appreciated by hardcore fans it is not a must buy title. Many will feel disappointed but one can only hope that Eidos will identify the strengths and weaknesses of this title to produce a brilliant seventh instalment.

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