Tomb raider
Review by : Crazy Review
Format : PC, PSX
Type : Adventure
Players : 1
This is core's first outing of Lara croft, there's still another 3 out there. Many claim that this is the best of the series, I would have to agree with that. It may not have the looks of Tomb Raider 4 or as many weapons as Tomb Raider 2 but its still a bloody good game.
All the others after this has strayed from its original format, which was based on 'exploring'. Tomb Raider 2 was more shooting, Tomb raider 3 went back to the 'exploring' bit but didn't quite manage it and Tomb raider 4 has done more of the same but with some improvements. Also this game is one of the hardest aswell as you to go around the level and save at fixed points where save crystals were, in Tomb Raider 2 you could save where you like and Tomb Raider 3 tried to go back to that system but instead of crystal being fixed as in Tomb Raider 1 you could collect them and then save where you like, which still made it slightly easier than Tomb Raider 1.
In this first game Lara croft is off in search of an artefact known as the scion. When you first start the game you can either start the game proper or go around lara house which acts as a training level. I'll start with the training level. You start in a room which leads to a music room where you can jump around and once you have done that for a few times you head out the door and there is nothing else upstairs as the doors are all shut, but open up for Tomb Raider 2, the training area is downstairs, here you will find a gym which leads onto a swimming pool, Lara helpfully comments and tells you want to do and how to achieve certain things which is very useful to first time players. Once you've had a swim in the pool and climb out the level ends and you are return to the main menu.
Now moveing onto the main game itself. The first level consists mainly of exploring with the occasional shooting which puts it more in the adventure section than the action. Lara seems stiff at first as you fiddle around to get her to do things, you will certainly find her less-resonspive if you played Tomb Raider 2 first which I did, but those new to Tomb raider will find her fiddlely at first but become more use to controling her.
The animations looks smooth and runs quickly. Lara herself can do many things such as walk, run, sidestep, jump, running jump, roll, climb, push/pull objects aswell as pick things up. Like I said before the whole basis of this game is 'exploring'. The levels are huge and contain many dead ends and its easy to get lost. The levels are all 'inside' and not as varied as the other tomb raiders which contain outside levels, this can get broing wandering around under a ceiling all the time and you desperalty want to get outside. You will have to finds keys to open doors etc to progress through the game.
The shooting element isn't explored very well as the weapons are limited and baddies are far and few between with ther ocassional 1 or 3 enemies coming at you at a time, but then again this is more exploration than shooting but the lack of guns may put some people off buying the original. The baddies you may face are humans, animals like bats, birds and wolves also there is a T-rex to face. The weapons you can get are Uzis, pistols, genade, magnums and a shotgun and thats it, I would recommend for autofire tap X button but for the shotgun its best just to hold down the X button.
There are save points scattered through the level where you can save your place, which makes the game harder as if you near the first save point and if you die then your gonna have to start again. The medi-packs are very few you might find an odd mini-medi-pack but the larger ones which restores all your health are very few, one of the very few crictisms which was aimed at this game.
This is not something for beginners to try and I would recommend either of the other 3 tomb raiders this is for hardcore gamers or gamers with a lot of time on thier hands as it is very challegning and will take you hours to complete a level.
Sound : Lacks music but nice speech for Lara
7/10
Gameplay : Well balanced betwen action and exploration
8/10
Difficulty : Mayby a little too hard
8/10
Graphics : Pretty dodgy by todays standards
7/10
8/10
Overall : A great adventure game that can be difficult
Review by : Crazy Review