Customer Reviews

Tomb Raider Anniversary

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this game for my girlfriend (along with Tomb Raider Legend for the Game Cube) because she really likes the Tomb Raider games, but I did not expect to play the game much at all. I have never been a huge Tomb Raider fan. On the original game I never progressed farther than half of the first level and watched my friends beat the rest of the game. I wanted to play more of the original game, but the controls really annoyed me. I didn't expect much from this version of the game either.

I'm glad that I was wrong. This game is very good. Not perfect, but very good. I found myself pressuring my girlfriend to play more of the game so that I could have a crack at it. The big problem is that I get into trouble if I start playing one of her games and I get farther into the game than she does, so I have to wait until she's done.

Graphically, the game is pretty good. The levels are large, expansive, and look good. Not amazing, but good. Levels are designed to be aethetically pleasing and complex at the same time. One of my favorite parts of the game is the waterfall zone in Peru. There are moving cogs, gears, water wheels, and other objects on screen creating a vibrant and active environment, much of it interactive. When I saw my girlfriend hit this part of the game, I had to give it a go.

I would favorably compare the game to the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time series. Lara moves with more freedom than she has in any other game except perhaps Tomb Raider legend. She controls fluidly and feels acrobatic, but the Prince would own her any day with his mad Persian ninja skills. The motion controls work well, especially the grappling hook. There are some quick-time motion control events that work well, but feel slightly out of place mostly due to the glaring animation superimposed on top of the screen instructing you what to do. Reducing the size of the instructional animation would have been a better design decision, but it doesn't hurt the overall fun factor.

Combat will probably upset some Tomb Raider purists while gamers who enjoy action games will probably view the changes to gunplay as an improvement. Although Lara can lock the camera onto enemies, the player must actually aim the cursor using the wiimote pointer at the actual target. Personally, I view it as an improvement and I like that combat requires more than just locking onto the enemy, running in circles around it while mashing down the fire button down. My girlfriend didn't like it as much and it took her some getting used to because it was a major departure from the way combat has been handled in previous Tomb Raider games. It doesn't actually make the game any better or worse, but it is a difference to take into account. Ultimately, the game is truly about exploration and puzzle solving so a change in the combat system doesn't really affect my overall opinion of the game, as long as it works. My only serious complaint about the game is the camera. Usually the camera isn't a problem, but in combat it is easy to get disoriented in tight quarters if you aren't careful. I didn't have much of a problem adapting to the camera, but my girlfriend did. I chalk the difference up to the fact that I probably play way too many video games and have learned to adapt quickly to different camera systems while my girlfriend generally tries to do more productive things with her time and has less practice with those types of issues. Ultimately, she got going along pretty smoothly and can raid tombs with the best of them.

Tomb Raider pros:
===> Clean, crisp graphics and beautiful environments.
===> Levels that are based off on the original Tomb Raider. The levels have been changed signifigantly but still will hold a lot of nostalgia for gamers that played the original.
===> Generally well designed motion controls that add to the immersive nature of the game.
===> Low price tag: At $40, this game is definitely worth it.

Tomb Raider cons:
===> The camera gets a little too twitchy when in close quarters combat.
===> Player profiles automatically default to the first file, so if you have a second person playing through on their own profile, the game will automatically default to the first person's profile upon start-up, requiring any other player to load up their profile instead. This is a really minor complaint, but it isn't an intuitive design unless you happen to be the only person playing the game. I'm just picky about that.

Overall, I highly recommend this title to most gamers. If you are looking for an action-packed blast fest with guns a-blazin', I recommend avoiding Tomb Raider games in general, but if you want a well-designed cerebral adventure with a great sense of exploration and wonder, this game is for you. I enjoy this game so much that I really want to see Tomb Raider 2 and 3 given the same treatment. Now if someone, and by someone I specifically mean Lucas Arts, could just get around to creating a really good Indiana Jones game for the consoles...

Plain and simply...it's difficult. No one wants a game that's tooooo easy but no one want's a game that's frustrating.
-First the camera angles are not that good. The camera is beyond dynamic. They continuously move, so that when you're trying to climb or jump back or up she jumps the wrong way. When you leap toward a ledge she tends to be off sometimes due to the dynamic camera motion.
-Second there's no auto-lock feature for aiming. When you press the Z button it activates some sort of lock feature that allows you to jump around aimlessly. For creatures like bats it's very difficult to aim and shoot them when the camera's are off.
-First time ever I got stuck this long at a game. I bought the Eprima guide and uh it helped...a little. Got me out of that spot but if you want this game you MUST buy the guide and learn how to interpret it.
-Laura looks a little different also but who cares she's still hot.

If you're not planning on getting the guide I've got two words for ya...GOOD LUCK

I remember playing the Tomb Raider games in college on my friend's Playstation. I always loved the character of Lara Croft and the adventure the games offered. Exotic locales, puzzling tombs, exciting battles, breathtaking scenery. Having always been a nintendo girl, I was often sad that the Tomb Raider games were never released on other platforms...until now!
Tomb Raider Anniversary is everything I remembered the games being and more! Now incorporating the innovative Wii remote, Lara Croft has never been so much fun in action. Sure it takes awhile to get the hang of things, but once you do you can't imagine playing Lara any other way! This game is hours of absolute fun!
Thanks for releasing this wonderful game on the Wii!!!

I don't even remember playing any of the old Tomb Raider games. Either I was busy playing others or the series never appealed to me so what made me want to pick up Tomb Raider Anniversary I'm not sure. Either it was a special/interview that I saw on TV, whether there was just nothing else at the store or just genuine curiousity, I picked it up and while I wouldn't say I became a fan of the series as a whole, I kind of liked the game even though there's certain aspects to it I'm not as enthused about.

Story: Artifact seeker Lara Croft is called upon by Natla Technologies to get an ancient artifact in the mountains of Peru. From there she visits ancient cities and uncovers a mystery surrounding the places, the artifacts as well as an ancient legend that gets more real by the minute. Like a lot of games, Tomb Raider's strength/weakness is the straightforwardness of the story. Plot twists can be seen a mile away but its the presentation and the feel of the game that bring you in.

Graphics: The Wii Edition of Tomb Raider looks more sharper when progressive scan is on but it doesn't really look next-gen, but rather a really pretty last gen. Lara is nicely animated and the cinematics have gotten a good touch-up but the levels themselves look fine and lighting works quite well but you're not going "holy crap, this game looks amazing!" the whole time.

Sound/Music: Whenever the music is actually on, it's quite nice and well-suited for the game but for the most part, it's just Lara and the elements and aside from small flourishes like entering a new area, solving a puzzle or battle time, most of the gameplay is somewhat quiet. The voice acting is quite good since it's usable and doesn't detract though it's not Metal Gear quality.

Gameplay: A strange thing happened: even though Lara's 3D outing, came out before it, I kept getting reminded that she seems like a female Prince of Persia. From ledge jumping to twirling on poles, balancing on columns, people who've played the Prince's stuff will familiar this quite familiar but there's just one problem: Lara doesn't seem as intuitive. On rare occasions I miss a jump but with Lara I kept getting the feeling I wasn't getting the hang of her moves. But Lara has more abilities such as guns, grappling hooks, column balancing and leaping from slanted ledges, there's more variety to what she does.

Your enjoyment of the game is how much you love platforming and puzzles. A good chunk of the gameplay is devoted in figuring out how to get from A to B while leaping to C so you can get what's at D and it's here that the game shines since solutions are not vague or difficult to pull off (which God of War was victim of, personally) though it's easy to miss stuff and exploration everywhere is recommended. But it's combat that just never really takes off since it's kind of boring and it's actually distracting since the platforming is kind of fun then it's like "ugh, dogs" then you have to fight them off. Doesn't help Lara feels sluggish and camera control takes awhile to figure out so while Lara's always been a "girl with guns" genre, the puzzles kind of overshadow it.

One of the things I quite like about the Wii is that a game with little hype or mass appeal (any Wii owners NOT thinking of Brawl?), it's nice to all of a sudden discover a game and Tomb Raider Anniversary may not be stellar the entire way through, it's still a worthy playthrough.

An "interactive" Tomb Raider? Well, sounds great! Sign me up!

The end results of Eidos and Crystal Dynamics first foray with their revived Tomb Raider series certainly showe promise, but falls too short to be a classic. Re-inventing Lara's first video game adventure as "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider-Anniversary: Will Edition" created a lot of industry buzz. The game originally released last summer for the PS2 was well received by gamers the world over. It seemed that the re-imagined tale still had legs--the next step was porting the complete game to other consoles.

The "Wii Edition" (with it's promise of exclusive, extended games features) is graphically on par the PS2 version. It does hoever present quicker load times and crisper, cleaned up visuals. Added to the mix are a few extra rooms and added puzzles that take use of the Nintendo's unusual Wii-mote. This is where the game runs into trouble. Tomb Raider games are notorious for the controls--while it has been cleaned up tremendously over the past few years. The Wii-mote adds to the already steep learning curve.

Managing Lara is used via the nunchuck; you move forward by the D-pad and additional action is given from shaking the device about. The Wii-mote functions as a control center for the game. Unfortunately the camera controlled via the nunchuck *and* the Wii-Mote. This is the biggest flaw of the game, as the player really has to stop all action, hold down the "C" button and move the Wii-Mote about. The second biggest flaw is Lara's aim--you must acutally target on the screen in order to shoot. And given the game's pace, acrobatics, and faulty camera...simple tasks can be daunting.

Fans of the series will be familiar enough the games mechanics but it might be harder for new-comers to the series to fully grasp the true greatness of Tomb Raiding. It's definately worth a peek, but certainly head for the tried and true version of the PS2.

The Wii doesn't have too many games for it yet, and that's why I bought this. I remember playing the first Tomb Raider game, and it felt like I was trying to get a cow to do acrobatics. I was so happy that this version has controls that are much easier to use.

Lara is easy to use, and easy to move. There are a few things wrong with the controls though. The camera is not very friendly when you are in a hurry. The games' difficulty rises at a slow pace giving you plenty of time to get used to the controls. However when you get to Greece, and a few timed puzzles come around, the camera suddenly decides to hate you with a passion making something that should be simple difficult. The aiming is a bit spastic too. Moving the Wii remote just a little causes the cross hair to shift dramatically. And, getting used to running and shooting is difficult at first, but it just takes some getting used to.

I know I said a few bad things about this game, but I did give it four stars because it is a lot of fun except for a few quirks.

I remember playing this a bit back on the first PS. I like the puzzles in this one. So far I've gotten around, no problem, controls are fairly good. They're very similar to Prince of Persia (which I own, so I already had practice leaping and jumping and swinging on poles, etc w/ the Wiimote). Graphics are so so (but then again it IS a Wii)!!! To be honest, I haven't gotten too far (a little more than 11% of the game) so I'm sure I'll get stuck somewhere (usually happens, I'm currently stuck in Prince of Persia... can't beat the Boss). The camera angles are definitely not as intuitive and as easy to control as PoP... but it's doable.
The biggest thing I don't like about the game thus far is the shooting part... it is really hard to be running and jumping AND pointing the wii remote at the target and holding down Z and pressing B to shoot all at the same time. I end up shooting air most of the time because it's just too much to focus on. I think they should have done an auto-target where if you're faced the right way, the bullets will go to the target no problem. But oh well. Overall, I like it and suggest you getting this if you're old enough and if you like chill adventure games that are filled w/ puzzles.
UPDATE: Didn't get stuck, beat the entire game today! AMAZING!!! I always get frustrated and give up on most games, but this one kept me going. I will admit that on about a handful of places I did look at the walkthrough online, BUT the game is really not that bad. I find it much easier than Prince of Persia. This game is all based on puzzles and minimal battling, which I really like. You totally get used to the controls, they're not bad at all. It almost becomes second nature to you. And the game is filled with checkpoints so falling and trying again is not a problem. This is by far my far my most favorite game on the wii or period. Whenever I get more time I plan on redoing the levels to collect all the artifacts and relics in order to unlock more things.

I played the first Tomb Raider game on the Sega Saturn in the '90s and it's always been my favorite game. I got this one for Wii as a gift and worried that it would be too similar as I still remember stuff from the original. Don't worry--it's not! The locations are the same but they've changed enough in design to still be interesting. There are also new puzzles, different ways to move, different controls and new features for the Wii that make it feel like a new game that's oddly familiar. I haven't finished it but am loving it! It's just as frustrating as the original game when you're stumped (and I'll admit to having looked for a couple of answers online), which makes it just as rewarding when you accomplish whatever you're trying to do. I recommend it for anyone who prefers puzzle solving and timing challenges to straight shoot-'em-up action. The controls are different and the shooting can be tricky at first but once you get the hang of it it's not a problem and Lara can do so much more than in the original that it makes up for a little irritation during the learning curve.

This was my first time playing a Tomb Raider game, and I highly enjoyed it. The puzzles were challenging and fun, and of course sometimes frustrating! The only drawback (which is probably on all the versions) is that sometimes it is impossible to turn your view to actually see where you need to go. So just close your eyes, jump and pray there is a ledge or rope there!

Tomb Raider Anniversary is a remake of the highly acclaimed 1996 game Tomb Raider for the Sega Saturn/PS1. Those familiar with the series will know that the shining moments of the Tomb Raider franchise are behind it, but ever since Crystal Dynamics took the series helm with TB:A prequel Tomb Raider Legends, some would call it a comeback.

The basics of the game are simple. Play through a series of levels composed of one major theme (a total of 5, including locals like the mountains of Peru, and pyramids of Egypt). The gameplay is your standard platformer, but the game has a surprising Metroid-like feel to it. Enemies are scarce, and you'll often find yourself wandering through huge levels wondering where and what to do next.

The story in the game is not exactly stellar, but based off a 10 year old game (at the time of creation) its has withstood the test of time. Lara is hired to search for a mysterious piece of the 'Scion', which has an unknown purpose. She must go through various ancient villages and cities to find what she's looking for. Of course the story gets more complicated and interesting as you progress through the game, but I wouldn't want to spoil any thing.

Tomb Raider Anniversary for Wii in comparison to other versions of the game is pretty much the same as TB:A on an system. Same great game, same decent graphics, same 15-25 hours of play (depending on skill and unlockables). What is different on Wii is the inclusion of a few new puzzles. What was simple a switch in, for example, the PS2 version, is now series of switches that must be aligned. There are variations to the puzzles, which add a little bit of fun, but in the end the Wii-exclusive content adds very little to the overall experience. And that's disappointing.

What does make the Wii version superior is the free aim shooting. In previous games, Lara's shooting mechanics revolve around locking on, and pressing a button as fast as possible. In the Wii game, you must manually aim you weapon and fire. At first it makes things more complicated, and the reticule may seem hypersensitive, but after a while of play, you'll get used to both the sensitivity and awesome-ness of the free aiming mechanics.

All in all, this is a great game and a steal for $30(USD). Just don't go looking for a new experience in the Wii version if you've already played the game on a different console.