GamesRelay

Name: Tomb Raider: Anniversary

Back when the original Tomb Raider was released in 1996, the game had something no one had ever seen before; lush polygonal 3D graphics, this was the time when the Sega Saturn and PlayStation were really taking off with their release in the previous year. 3D graphics were now becoming standard and 2D was being phased out of the mainstream games. Tomb Raider was praised by critics not only for creating the cult icon that is Lara Croft, but the game had an immersive atmosphere which involved the protagonist exploring different areas in her quest to find the Scion of Atlantis.

Tomb Raider: Anniversary takes this 11 year old game and brings it back into the limelight for people who missed out the first time round. Gaming certainly wasn't as popular back then and with the current technology Tomb Raider: Anniversary has really been given the justice it always deserved. What sets this remake apart from the original is practically everything, it could be said that this isn't a remake at all, it certainly doesn't feel like it, it feels like a new game with similar areas and the same story, but that isn't a negative. Players of the original will still recognise areas they once explored before, but in a higher detail, everything in the game has been made bigger and better. The environments have been increased in size, puzzles have been tweaked, making them more elaborate and slightly easier to accomplish, the fluidity of Lara is now better than ever, more areas have been added to the existing ones giving you more to explore and do, the whole thing just feels much better.

The games story starts you off in the Peruvian Mountains where Lara's failure to find the Scion of Atlantis takes her to other places such as Peru, Greece and Egypt. However, Lara isn't the only one who wants the Scion, Larson Conway one of the games villains who is hired by a conniving business woman known as Jacqueline Natla comes after Lara throughout various stages of the game with henchmen en tow. Jacqueline Natla want's the Scion for various reasons, one of which includes resurrecting the army of Atlantis, but it's your job to stop this happening and keep the artifact for yourself in safe keeping, proudly displayed in Lara's famous mansion.

You'll find the same acrobatic feats in Tomb Raider: Anniversary as you did in the original, although one thing which thankfully has been improved is the control of Lara. With the release of Tomb Raider Legend, Lara's controls were revamped making them a lot easier to use and more forgiving to the newer player. Tomb Raider: Anniversary uses this same control scheme so you no longer have to measure your jumps fearing a fall to your death, it's a lot more fluid and a very welcome addition. For those players who played Tomb Raider: Legend, the controls and abilities are basically the same, minus a few differences. Lara can shimmy across ledges, jump from ledge to ledge, swing on ropes and horizontal swing bars, she can also tumble, climb easier, balance on vertical poles and leap from various different objects. Everything feels right, there's no, "That's not possible" moments, of course you would need to be a world leading Gymnast, but still everything feels real. Of course, Lara can only go so far, after all, she isn't a superhero, the same dangers have been taken from Tomb Raider: Legend. Timing your jumps isn't half as difficult as it was in the original, their is still a small margin of error though, timing it slightly wrong could have Lara catching a ledge with one hand, so being prepared to button bash your way back up is paramount.

The game of course comes with plenty of puzzles to keep you playing, some are small which are simple to figure out, others are huge puzzles high up in the rocks which you need to find a way to, most involve the usual finding keys to unlock certain areas and flipping switches to unlock certain parts, these however are usually all part of a much larger puzzle. One of the main challenges throughout the game is actually finding and getting to these puzzles, some will have you playing for hours trying to figure them out, thankfully they never tire either since each area is different and while the puzzles are similar, the real challenge is actually using Lara's acrobatic abilities to get too them.