Back to the Beginning
Lara's re-imagined origin goes portable and stays remarkably true to the console versions.
Published: August 25, 2007
Oddly enough, the one area that wasn't made more difficult was the very one most people thought was too easy in the last game: boss fights. Granted, the fights are a blast, but they can rely a bit too much on the whole piss-enemy-off-watch-them-charge-dodge-shoot mechanic that was introduced. The final fight in the game is tough not because of the actual battle (it's in an open arena with plenty of room to maneuver), but because afterward there's a QTE-style event that takes absolute split second timing to pull off.
Normally I'd say an easy final boss helps the game build to a breakneck finale (which I actually enjoy; if I'm racing to the end and I can have a challenging but not overly tough boss fight, I actually prefer that the pacing is kept), but having that interactive cutscene in there (complete with rant from the end boss) killed that momentum. Not to mention the ending was just as truncated as it was in the first game. But hey, at least once it's all over there's still Croft Manor (which is familiar, but redesigned for a new set of challenges, which I loved), and the aforementioned commentary sections in the levels, plus a handful of cheats, light debugging options (like turning off the textures, just as in Legend), costumes and so on.
It should also be said that the game is downright gorgeous, even on the PSP (on the PC, of course, it's even better, and some of the texture issues I had might be cleared by having it all run at a better resolution). Lara's animations are clean, smooth and natural (though obviously most of them were brought over from the last game -- including the utterly superfluous but awesome series of flips she can do), and some of the newer ones are nice little touches (the cannonball after going off a waterfall was a great touch). The framerate isn't quite as solid, though; Buzz Monkey has squeeze some serious juice out of the PSP hardware, and the Kain: Defiance engine can still pump out some pretty visuals, but the framerate can swing wildly going from tunnels to open areas.
If there is an area that I really felt was updated compared to the original, though, it was the sound department. Because so much of the game is just Lara clambering around on rock faces, the attention to detail in the way hands and feet slap against the rocks or how all her gear is constantly shifting really does add to the ambience. Weapons have a nice aural kick to them, and what little music (in classic series fashion) pipes in when first coming across a huge vista or new area is wonderful stuff, simultaneously familiar and yet new.
On the whole, the game is a great little update to the game that made Lara such an icon in this industry. Some stuff, like the general lack of real storyline (and no, Lara's "growth" in the game isn't really deep enough or well-played to add any real emotional impact), annoyed me a little, and how the camera and level design could be simultaneously freeing and yet cramped had me scratching my head. Is Tomb Raider Anniversary worth picking up? Absolutely -- especially for folks that still fondly remember the trial and error gameplay in years past -- but if you're expecting a proper update to Legend, this isn't really it.
Hopefully whatever Crystal Dynamics has cooking for Lara's next completely new (and I imagine next-gen) adventure will blend all of the advancements they've managed to add to the series with level designs and puzzles that really nail what it's like to play as a female Indiana Jones. Until then, this will have to suffice.
