Then Ms. Croft is plunked into the Mediterranean, determined to scuba her way to (what else) an ancient artifact. Compared to her brief jaunt through the flaming wreckage of her home, Lara’s exploration of the Mediterranean and the submerged ruins beneath it feel downright tranquil. Even when she encounters a screen filling Kraken, the beast just seems sleepily annoyed at Lara’s presence, only tentacle-lashing her if she gets too close.
These might seem like points against the game, but they aren’t. Rather than arming Lara to the teeth and making her blast the mythical creature to kingdom come, you’ve got to figure out a way to break a giant stone chandelier-looking structure hanging from the ceiling to crush the Kraken’s head with a brains-over-brawn approach that’s prevalent throughout.
However, with its surprisingly solid story, high production values and some occasional fireworks, Underworld certainly does its best to be the most epic Tomb Raider to date. But with the game’s more natural exploration and beautifully-crafted environmental puzzles taking precedence over gunning down faceless goons and wild critters (as has sometimes been the case in past games), the game is actually a quieter affair, if one that’s no less compelling, than its opening moments might have you believe.
Instead, this is Tomb Raider in its element—if you don’t want to spend all your time exploring dead cities and secret passages, Underworld isn’t the game for you.
In terms of both story and design, the game is also as much about Crystal D’s previous efforts with the series as it is a standalone game. The caveat is that while Underworld is great in its own right, some shoddy technical problems with the game force me to say so with some trepidation, based on the series’ past mistakes and marred track record.
The developer’s first shot with Ms. Croft, 2006’s Tomb Raider: Legend, introduced gameplay far more fluid than the stubbornly rigid originals, essentially giving the series an update for the current generation while allowing Tomb Raider another chance to go toe-to-toe with its competition—something a number of unoriginal sequels that were rushed in time for Christmas had been preventing for years.
Legend was a much-needed breath of fresh air for the series, although it kept some action-game elements and modern locales for Lara to traipse about in addition to her usual crypt-like haunts. Crystal D followed up Legend with 2007’s Tomb Raider: Anniversary, essentially a re-imagining of the original game complete with its isolating, damn-near enemy-less design.
Both games felt and played well, earning the series more acclaim than it had seen since ’97’s Tomb Raider II—it was obvious Crystal D had taken the time to get things right.
Which brings us to Underworld, the team’s first release that takes advantage of both the PS3 and the Xbox 360’s hardware. While technically a continuation of the events in Legend (prepare to be confused if you haven’t played it), Underworld is a mash-up of sorts, taking some of the better elements of the last two games while wrapping up Legend’s story arch, which deals with Lara looking for her believed-to-be-dead mother in the Norse land of the dead.
The game’s levels are actually the stars of the show. Unlike Indy, Ms. Croft could never get by just on personality (although Lara has shown more depth than ever before since Crystal D took over), but thanks to the team’s talented level designers, she doesn’t have to. Underworld’s various sites of antiquity, from Thailand to Mexico, are impeccably rendered and lighted, wondrous to behold and massive enough that you’ll have to stop and figure out where to go or what to do next.
The game retains linearity, but in these huge, open environments everything feels much more natural. Exploration has always been a cornerstone of the series, and thankfully Crystal D doesn’t shy away from it here. Whether you're negotiating traps, solving wonderfully conceived ancient puzzles or simply trying to get from point A to point B, this is the most organic Tomb Raider yet, and as a result, gameplay is a lot of fun.
Yet for all its sweeping grandiosity, Underworld tears a little more at the seams than either Legend or Anniversary. For every sprawling jungle or temple Lara encounters, there are inconsistencies with the frame rate, and with every brain-busting puzzle there are glitches between animations and invisible barriers around objects which Lara can and often will get stuck on.
Each time the game draws you in with beautiful graphics and awesome, gargantuan setpieces like a cavernous room of giant swinging pendulums in the shape of Norse hammers—and it will happen plenty—these numerous little problems will rob you of some of the experience. I don't like to nitpick, but when the final boss of the game gets stuck in the air until you move to a part of the level that triggers another set of attacks, it kind of takes away from the overall experience.
The game is also a bit short, although new downloadable levels coming out sometime early in 2009 could increase the length to some extent. Sadly, Underworld’s DLC is exclusive to the 360 version of the game at the moment, so unless Sony starts making overtures to Crystal D, it's unlikely PS3 owners will see the full story on their console.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Underworld, for as long as it lasts. But both because of the aforementioned missteps the series has seen in the past, as well as Crystal D’s success in reviving Tomb Raider into a capable series, these little chinks in Underworld’s armor are more than just annoyances—they’re distressing warning signs that future games could be shipped half-done just to make a buck.
Since Underworld is the close of a multi-game story, it seems logical that Crystal D will go back to the drawing board for whatever’s next for Lara, taking their time to put out a new revamped game that breaks the formula they’ve more or less perfected. But for better or worse, Underworld is a reminder of how much fun that formula can be, and is a proper send-off of the series until Lara’s next adventure.
Tomb Raider: Underworld
4 out 5 stars
Eidos
PS3, Xbox 360
$59.99
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