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this is how you raid a tomb!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 23 / 25
Date: June 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The original Tomb Raider was my favorite game of all time, the title that really got me into gaming. Now the developers have gone back to Lara's roots with Anniversary, and in the process they have re-discovered what made the title such a hit in the first place. Anniversary is the best in the series.

What makes Anniversary great is it focuses on the series' strengths rather than its weaknesses. Tomb Raider is primarily a game about exploration and puzzle-solving. The environments in Anniversary are enormous, and the primary challenge for the gamer is finding out how to get from point A to point B by using the environment to your advantage. It is very daunting when you're standing at base of a statue the size of the Statue of Liberty and realize you must find a way to climb to the top. Even defeating the bosses is more about using your brains rather than your reflexes.

Action-oriented gamers may be turned off -- Anniversary isn't about gunplay, which has never been a strength of the series. Human opponents have been replaced by animals, a great touch that, along with echoing sound effects, adds tons of atmosphere to the tombs.

The graphics are gorgeous, with wonderful lighting effects, and run smoothly on older PCs like mine. The levels are surprisingly consistent with the original game, with even some items in the same places. The story is servicable, nothing to write home about, with most of the changes from the original game made to fit it in with the story arc started in Legend. However, there are some nice touches about this being Lara's first outing -- she is not the battle-hardened adventurer we see in Legend, but we get to find out how she became that way.

Unfortunately, there are some flaws that keep this game from perfection. The biggest is the camera. Too often Lara will be making blind leaps from ledges because you can't pan around to see what is off-screen, and it will change angles at sensitive moments, such as when you're making what needs to be a perfectly timed leap. Also, during gun battles in close quarters, it will zoom in so close that all you can see is Lara's back.

There are several little bugs that detract from the game. I kept losing my autosave, so make sure to manually save often unless you want to restart from scratch. And there are sound problems with Windows XP that were not resolved even after I followed the company's troubleshooting advice.

Regardless, this is a great game, and at $30, it's a steal. Let's hope that in future Tomb Raider games, the developers will stick to the formula set in Anniversary.

I still miss the OLD Laura...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: July 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I cut my teeth on the very first Tomb Raider when I stumbled onto it. I loved the game, although there was no sound and the pixels were a bit too large. Still, it was a jump in technology and fascinated me.
After Eidos' departure from the original Tomb Raider formula in Angel of Darkness, I was delighted to hear they were going back to the old formula which made Tomb Raider so popular.
Unfortunately, the one thing they didn't go back to was the camera. Like recent Catwoman and Indiana Jones games, they use that damned revolving camera. The old Tomb Raider games were a blast to play because the camera was behind Laura's head and made you feel like YOU were her AND, you could press a few buttons and look through her eyes; up, down, left and right when you were entering an area that looked like trouble.
I Love the Tomb Raider games; all but Angel of Darkness. But, I absolutely hate the camera in the last few games. Laura walks through a door and now you see her as if she's entering the new area. The cam is now positioned in front of her, so you have to keep turning your mouse until you can see behind her. If there's an enemy approaching, you can't see it until you get the cam behind her. That's annoying as hell.
Also, when she's in combat or making jumps, again, you have to continually position the camera. The old method was excellent. WHY do they have to use THIS stupid camera???
In ALL the Tomb Raider games, there seems to be a delay in action when you hit the keys and sometimes you have to hit them twice. For example, when you want her to jump. Often, there's a second delay in her performing the jump after you hit the key. It must be something with the engine they use. For example, I'd have her run and jump off a platform to another ledge or something and she'd run and just fall off the edge to her death. I hit jump at that split second but she fell. Or when the T-rex is charging, I hit jump and the right or left button, but she stands there taking injury. Now that really pisses me off.
Also, like the last Indiana Jones game, the level I'm stuck on right now is the battle with the T-rex. It's one of those timed levels with no place to hide, no place to relax. I think I counted over 1000 attempts to get Indy to run and jump and escape the tank-thing chasing him on the second-to-last level of the Indiana Jones game and by then, it wasn't fun anymore. I'm running into that now with the T-rex. I've read how to kill it but it doesn't help when Laura crouches rather than jumps or that I can't SEE the T-rex as I'm running. It doesn't help that she runs at one speed only or that the keys have a tendancy to be non-responsive. I absolutely hate timed levels. You have to do everything exactly right or start over.
When THIS game came out, I realized I had never really completed the very first Tomb Raider game because I couldn't hear the cut scenes. I downloaded all the Glidos stuff and upgraded my original game and played it to conclusion. It was very enjoyable. The animals in the original look goofy as compared with the critters in the remake here. The graphics are absolutely excellent and so far, it's relatively enjoyable. I DO wish the designers would allow for alternate routes rather than being strictly linear. I've rated the game, thus far, as 4 stars, only because I haven't completed it.
In the original, I had no trouble defeating the T-rex because you could back into a tunnel when it attacked and shoot from safety. You don't have that option with this version. And because of the camera, it's awkward turning her around to face the T-rex and then fire. My fingers are cramping up from constantly firing her guns and jumping.
I still have ALL my Tomb Raider games and play them over and over again. All except Angel of Darkness. I trashed that one. Jesus, I sure wish they'd go back to the original camera behind Laura's head. At least that way you could see what's coming and I liked the old controls better too. It was much easier to control Laura and flip sideways, back and front. Now when you hit jump and left or right, she turns and jumps in that direction rather than flipping. I liked the flip better.
Also, there's no real roll in this version. She can roll when you're running, but not from a standing position; as if you were standing in front of a lever. Previously,when you were standing facing a wall and you hit "end" on the keyboard, Laura would flip and be facing the opposite direction. I also miss the fact that you could get her to burst into a full sprint. Now she just casually runs from enemies, and usually takes a lot of damage because of it. Not to mention that YOU feel the urgency for speed.
Tomb Raider II and successors (except AOD)all had great controls and cam. You really felt like you could do almost anything. I wish they'd have left those controls in place and upgraded the graphics and all would've been perfect.
One other thing that I've noticed thus far. Laura can't interact with a lot of the environment. She can't really explore other areas. You see an obvious ledge, but she can't jump up to it or grab on. C'mon... half the fun is exploring everything and feeling like you're really alive and a part of the game.
Overall, I'm sure I'm going to love this game, despite all the criticisms I've had. I just want to see more adventures. But, the older games are still better because you could control the actions better and SEE better. That was the formula that made it all enjoyable.
If they could change only two things to make this game and future Tomb Raider games better, I'd say get rid of that camera and go back to the original and restore the orignal controls. I'll add an update when I finally progress beyond the T-rex...

Better Than Legend

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: June 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Two of my all time favorite titles, Resident Evil and Tomb Raider remade have not disappointed. RE4's keyboard controls were a minus but the controls in TR: Anniversary are much better thanks to the mouse. Gameplay wise I remember a few parts from the original, lots of challenging and fun puzzles to solve. But Anniversary feels new and original, like a completely different game thanks to the updated graphics. I am playing on my notebooks IPS screen and the visuals/detail are very good. So good that I actually got a bit of acrophobia trying to pull off all those dizzying maneuvers in the St. Francis Folly level! The music and atmosphere is great as well, very engaging. Anniversary has become my favorite of the series.

NOT FOR GROWN-UPS

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: August 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you're a kid with finely-honed, millisecond-sharp gaming instincts, developed over years of repetitive play, you'll probably have a great time. If you're a grown up who, like me, thought you were buying an enjoyable game whose primary challenge is puzzle-solving, then you're screwed. The game is gorgeous, easy to learn, and easy to play. The levels and puzzles are challenging and fun. But when I came to the first BIG boss, the T-Rex, I got destroyed. And then again. And again. And on and on and on... It's one of those shooting sequences where you have to hit EXACTLY the right sequence of keys, at EXACTLY the right millisecond, and then do the whole thing over again several times. If you make the slightest mistake (there's ZERO margin of error here), you're dead, and have to start all over. After 30 or 40 tries, I said "screw it," and packed up the game. Thirty bucks, flushed. Oh well, live and learn. Grown-ups: stay away. Everyone else: I'll be selling mine on eBay.

Frustrating

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: July 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game alternates between acrobatic maneuvers that are somewhat difficult but managable, and battles that are nearly impossible to win. Overall, I found it very frustrating to get to the big battles and get killed repeatedly, and finally gave up without completing the game.

Purely Frustrating

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: September 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Save yourself some money. Don't buy this game, because it is too hard to control.

I have tried a gamepad, an optical mouse, and a keyboard. Forget it!

Maybe they have a keyboard just for the game... similar to a control panel on a jet!

On the other hand, the puzzles were designed by "Special Ed".

Fighting Your Problems For A Long Time

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 20
Date: June 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

My first game for the original Playstation was Tomb Raider 2, back in 1998, and I played that game through several times, despite the repetition, box moving, and sense of sadness at Lara Croft's lonely adventures. When I figured out that the monks at the temple wouldn't attack "me" if "we" didn't shoot them, I finally realized what I was missing in my real life, friends.

It's been over a year since I played any video games, since I finished the missions and quit GTA: San Andreas with still only 60% completed. I picked up TR: Anniversary for old time's sake, just to see if I could capture the feeling of the original. I'd tried the demo of TR: Legend some time ago but wasn't really interested. I always thought playing a game on the PC just wasn't the same as using a controller, but GTA got me over that hurdle.

At first I was enthralled by the beautiful graphics and limited number of animals to shoot, instead the focus being on climbing, jumping, leaping, swinging, and trying to figure out where to go next. But besides looking for relics and artifacts, shooting a few animals and monsters, and a few "interactive" cut scenes, that's all the game really is. The puzzles aren't that difficult, and there's always only one way to go.

On every level are several rooms, connected by trapped, animal filled, or empty hallways, and each room is essentially the same: Figure out how to climb up or climb down, empty the water or fill the water, pull the lever to gain access to another room, find the key(s) to finish the level, and repeat. Sure, as the game progresses it becomes necessary to master several moves in order to continue, but I finally admitted to myself, what's the point?, and I quit somewhere in the Great Pyramid where you have to shoot two demons and then swing around the room on poles, crevices and two hooks, with an 18 second time limit. A previous stunt (the snapping block - pillar jump) proved so frustratingly difficult that I had to die and try again over 100 times before getting it (randomly?) just right. Uninstalled, saves erased and shelved.

And just like TR2 this game is depressingly lonely. It may be pretty and challenging, but there is no one to share it with along the way.

Save your money!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: September 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I remember, fondly, the early Tomb Raider games; I still have Tomb Raider III around here somewhere.

Tomb Raider Anniversary is simply, a huge waste of your hard earned cash. Laura is uncontrollable; WASD does not send her in a predetermined NWSE direction but depends, instead on which way she's facing. If she changes direction, so the the direction in which she will be sent by the WASD keys. Why anyone would decide this was a good thing, I do not know.

Using the grapple hook is an exercise in frustration as the Q key sits right next to the TAB key. If you miss the Q key even slightly, Laura is in mid jump and, suddenly, you're greeted with her inventory.

Save your cash. This one was a hard $30.00 lesson.

I'm going to uninstall this one and replay TR3. Do the same.

Whoa, another great TR game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I received on the first day it was available for PC. So far, I've finished a quarter of the game. Whoa! Was I amazed. I finished legend last year. Compare to legend, Anniversary feels a lot more refined. There are a bunch of new elements in controlling, and in the actual game-playing itself. The environmental graphics is even better. And if you played the original like I did, you would find this game very enjoyable. It's well-worth the money.

By the way, the engine of the game developed by Crystal Dynamics is very efficient. The game runs very smooth in 1024 X 768 without any AGP or e-PCI 3D video cards. But don't expect to have any options on. For best effect, a video card that ranges from 100 - 150 will do the job beautifully.

Buggy w/extended "timed" obstacles on top of poor control

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: August 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

At first game was smooth visuals, like the one before it, "Legend" was too, but offered more fun and better controls. Saving the game can only happens at certain intervals and several times conditions were so hard to accomplish I would have to play a hundred times or more to finally pass the exercise or choose to bypass it due to extreme problems with improper control or it just being too hard to accomplish. Many times I checked for updates but none to be found. Touched upon a blog for help and a few suggestions were found from new friends, but seemed mostly like buggy glitches in the game were worked around somehow, other than won by sharpening ones expertise in the game. About half way through, I decided to uninstall the game as it became so increasing difficult I was soon just trying to move on without accomplishing very hard tasks that were needed to find relics and such. No sense in continuing if having to leave behind all the relics. The new "wall traversing", was sorely buggy and hard to manage as I think it was really intended. I would have to get past that, which didn't work correctly, even after a myraid of prevously hard jumps and grabs, and then the event was even "timed" on top of it all! I felt like some cruel game producer was trying to torture me. That which started as fun entertainment, soon became torturous and painstaking!
Not to mention that the puzzles can't just be solved by oneself anymore, they are so hard I found them impossible to do without a guide from the internet or a book. What fun is that if you have to read how to solve something "ALL THE TIME!"...... it should be do-able without having to use a guide. Just too hard and a problem instead of a fun mystery, sorry, I just gave up. Very dissapointed, but Legend was great so I may go back in a year or so and get some of the older Tomb Raiders that were just before Legend and play them. Right now I am disgusted that I paid some $30 for this one and disenchanted from trying others for some time to come for now! I will probably just not play them anymore, the way I feel right now. She didn't even look sexy with some top on up to her neck. Couldn't change her apparel, she would get dirty as time went on. Was like she needed a shower and clean clothes, disgusting. Sorry, maybe I can sell it ........ no, wouldn't want to ask money for something as frustrating as this, guess I will just eat it. Too bad, was expecting something way better. How they can go to so much trouble to ruin a good game is beyond me? Why do they do that? Something with so much potential and just ruin it? Sad!

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