Review by BlackAce_20

"She's back again... for... er.... ZZZZzzzzz"

This game was so promising! This is a perfect example why sequels designed to make money, never actually make money! Take Matrix for example! The first was mind-blowing and the second two were ok, but it really should've ended with the first! no one needed to know why the matrix was created or what was going on. The second just seemed to bridge the gap until the third and even then that really needed to be improved on in the storyline and the ending was AWEFUL! Still, if you haven't seen those two then you wouldn't know what I'm on about but believe me, it was a disappointment. Kind of like this game.

GRAPHICS: Who can argue here? The effects are amazing with murky London waters (that's so prejudice! Our waters aren't that filthy and it doesn't always rain here and... ah what the heck, they're right!) and fast flowing water reflecting the sun. They also managed to get rid of the blocky ground and pillars, although the technique (one block running-jumps and such) is still there. Lara looks better than ever in-game and the disappearing scenery are less frequent (although prevalent around movable blocks and interactive tiles). This is where the game is getting most praise, it's all downhill from here! 10/10

SOUND: You can tell they tried hard, but the music in this game still doesn't hold the same effect. Their tension-building music doesn't build enough tension and is often used superfluously, and the surprise music comes on too fast or is too little too late. Her annoying 'ah-ha' is gone but there is nothing here worthy of notice. The sound effects from the water is good but at the same time the gunfire is far too loud to be able to happily keep the volume up. A worthy attempt but misses the mark by a long shot! 5/10

STORY: Not bad at all for a computer franchise, including real-life history and an interesting twist in the tundra, featuring Mogwai's (Easter-Island rock faces) and an ancient lost civilisation. The again Alien V Predator (the film) had that too but it didn't help the quality of the film (it wasn't that bad I suppose). To see how the story turns out and to complete every game in the series is about the only reasons you'll play this to the end! 9/10

GAME-PLAY: This is where the figurative doggy-doo hits the fan (ambiguity was intentional here). It seems this game was designed solely to annoy and frustrate rather than to make enjoyable. There's too much traps which can spell death from the word go (watch out for the hidden spikes on the very first slope) and you end up repeating the same bit of the game time and time again. The simplicity of the jumps have been removed to add to the challenge, which is ok, but her inability to get hold of certain ledges makes it worse! Although the usage of the save crystals was a great idea, the limited amount made it difficult to distribute properly adding to the frustration. Like the previous games your weapons are taken from you, however this time there may not be enough space to claim them back, depending on what order you choose to do the levels in. You'd think with the amount of new weapons and vehicles that the game would be more fun but think again. The controls on each is difficult to get to grips with and you'll spend many a furious hour just learning each of them. There is also a hidden level if you collect all secrets which make up for their weak prizes. The learning curve is too steep so you really need patience if you're to get through this game and it's hardly worth replaying to get all the secrets let alone anything else! A courteous 1/10 due to the end of the crash-site level in the Indonesian Jungle levels

This is where Tomb Raider lost most of it's fans. There was no real imagination in this game at all, the block-puzzles were all similar and the instruction booklet left much to be learned from in-game experience. Again, this game's sole function must've been to annoy. I would only recommend this game to a true fanatic of the series or of this particular 3D puzzler action-adventure shoot-em-up by means of a sexy heroine genre. Otherwise avoid! The graphic improvement made this game work, but with the next-but-one-gen games coming out, this game has become rather obsolete! 4/10

Reviewer's Score: 4/10 | Originally Posted: 11/13/06

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