Tomb Raider Chronicles

by Eidos

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004WI4E
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: November 21, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,489 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk

Lara Croft--cultural icon, cover girl, and scourge of video-game wildlife everywhere--was last seen buried beneath an Egyptian pyramid at the end of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. Despite this apparent demise, Lara returns in Tomb Raider: Chronicles, an adventure that features previously unseen episodes from her career. Old friends of Lara who have gathered for her funeral to swap stories about her exploits introduce the episodes.

The first level is set in Rome and is classic Tomb Raider; plenty of jumping and puzzle solving with a minimum of gunplay. It's reminiscent of the very first game--it even features the comedy bad guys Pierre and Larson. This chapter also serves as an introduction to Lara's various moves and is a real nostalgia fest for longtime fans.

The other chapters have distinct themes and should be very familiar to fans of pop culture. There's a level on a spooky deserted island, in which an unarmed teenage Lara must survive by wits alone. There's an action-packed level set on a submarine (though there's no Matthew McConaughey). And most intriguing of all, a vinyl-catsuit-and-sunglasses- wearing Lara infiltrates a high-tech building and utilizes various stealth techniques. This level is similar to Metal Gear Solid and possibly indicates the future direction of the series (you didn't believe that Lara was really dead, did you?).

Unfortunately, the fiddly control system still remains, and the graphics have only been given a slight polish. The game's few new tricks--such as Lara's ability to walk a tightrope, for example--are essentially cosmetic. The gameplay overall hasn't evolved much, but thankfully the puzzles are less obscure this time around, and the levels are tightly designed, which cuts down on the aimless wandering that was common in the middle games of the series.

Tomb Raider fans will be very happy with what is probably the most purely enjoyable game since the first. Laraphobes will take more convincing, but all the hype that surrounds her shouldn't obscure the fact that the divine Ms. Croft hasn't appeared in a bad game yet, and Tomb Raider: Chronicles is no exception. --Michael Bartley

Product Description

Create and play your own Tomb Raider adventures from scratch - whether you're a novice or a seasoned programmer. You'll experience four new adventures that will take you from the rooftops of a high tech city to the bowels of a German U-boat.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gem To Be Found..., December 2, 2000

By 

Nick - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tomb Raider Chronicles (CD-ROM)

Notice how many countless game reviews of Tomb Raider usually criticize the game's bugs, like Lara "sinking into walls" and using the same old graphics and gameplay of pushing and pulling blocks to solve the puzzles. However, credit must be given to the creators for making such a game that captivated thousands with the storyline and its exotic locations.

Tomb Raider: Chronicles (PC) contains two discs, the first being the past adventures ( more about that in a while ) of Lara Croft and the second, the much awaited Level Editor.

The storyline of Tomb Raider: Chronicles goes like this; It starts of with a memorial service of Lara, held days after she was trapped in the Temple of Horus and was assumed to be dead. ( If you played Tomb Raider : Last Revelation, you will know why. ) Her friends then starts to talk about her previous "untold" small adventures and of course, you will get to play them.

The first of these adventures starts off in Rome, the second adventure takes place in a submarine, the third stars weaponless 16-year old Lara fighting demons on Ireland's Black Isle and the last takes place in an office block, with Lara in a Matrix style suit, sneaking through it.

The first two adventures displays the traditonal Tomb Raider gameplay- the first being more of puzzle solving and the second, being more of action and shooting. Things start to get interesting in the third and fourth adventures of Lara. Being weaponless in the third story, you must guide 16-year old Lara through Black Isle as she runs from demons and solve many fun but frustrating puzzles. The creators did a pretty good job designing this stage as not only does it looks and feels like Ireland, it also sends a chill down your spine while playing. The gameplay of the last stage is completely different from the traditional Tomb Raider games. In fact, it is like Metal Gear Solid where you have to sneak up on guards and knock them out , walk and crawl to be prevented from being discovered. This stage is quite exciting, especially the part where you come crashing down from the elevator.

Tomb Raider: Chronicles uses the same graphic and game engine ( but improved ) from Tomb Raider: Last Revelation. All the stages are beautifully made. The only problem with this game is not the "standing in wall" bug or it's frustating puzzles but it's voice acting. Surpisingly, this game has one of the worse voice acting ever- especially the last stage where Zip, one of the characters, communicates with you to give you hints. Sometimes, you can hardly hear him.

The second disc features the Level editor and a playable Egyptian tutorial level. With a one hundred page manual to print out, this level editor is useful for anyone wanting to create a Tomb Raider adventure before Lara's editor unleash the " new " Lara Croft in Tomb Raider 6.

Tomb raider: Chronicles will be the last game in the Tomb Raider series using the old game engine. With its short gameplay and somewhat crappy voice acting this would have been an excellent game but, it will become one of the many classics in years to come, just like Nintendo's 2D version of Mario.

This is a perfect gift for any hardcore Tomb Raider fan or anyone just wanting to have some fun.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent Gameplay, But Extremely Short!!!, November 22, 2000

By 

Hapworth (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tomb Raider Chronicles (CD-ROM)

There's much to praise about this latest Tomb Raider adventure, the last in the TR series (next year Eidos/Core will begin TR Next Generation, a game that will be markedly different and feature other playable characters). Chrnoicles features new moves, vastly differing locales, and innovative gameplay. The adventure, divided into four areas, begins in Rome and combines the Venice-like sequences of TRII with the classic archealogical feel of the original. From there it's off to the Sunken Submarine levels where Lara, James Bond-like, must infiltrate a Russian military base and stowaway herself onboard a sub. A fifteen-year old weaponless Lara then explores the mysteries of a haunted forest (probably the weakest area in the game). Chronicles then ends with a Matrix-like adventure in a highrise building where Lara, sporting a black leather catsuit and visual headgear, must use stealth to escape with a prized artifact.

The innovations are quite wonderful--there's an extreme depth suit for underwater exploring, chlorofoam soaked cloths for sneaking up behind and taking out unsuspecting guards. The game, which is very much in the mold of the Last Revelation, is wonderfully cinematic. The music, in particular, helps create mood.

There are some serious problems with this game, however. Like Last Revelation, some of the puzzles seem kind of arbitrary. In other words, whenever I was stumped (which wasn't too often because the game is fairly easy, another drawback) I'd eventually find a solution NOT through logic or brainpower but through trying anything and everything until I was succesful. Put simply, some time after TR II, Core ran out of great puzzle ideas and have resorted to annoying trial-and-error style gameplay. Sadly, though, trial and error don't make for fun gaming.

More troubling, however, is the fact that this game is EXTREMELY short. I payed $44 for Chronicles because I exptected it to be a full game, the length of Last Revelation, say, but Chronicles is only slightly longer than the Gold titles, yet it's twice the price. There are only fourteen sections in Chronicles (covering four locales), but they're not--following the style of Revelation--necessarily full levels, the types of levels we all know and love from TR 1-3. One can easily beat this game in three evenings. Needless to say, very disappointing!

Still, if you're not at all money conscious, this one's worth picking up only because at times it's still a hoot to play. There's also a Level Editor included with the game, for those who wish to design and create their own TR levels, but you need to be fairly computer literate to use it. It's probably a good sign that Chronicles is the last game in the TR canon, because Lara's beginning to wear out her welcome.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Game is EXTREMELY frustrating, fun second..., June 8, 2001

By 

Jim Bettis (Fairview Park, Ohio, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tomb Raider Chronicles (CD-ROM)

I own all the TombRaider Series. This one was extremely difficult at times. Still the adventure drove me to try over and over and over and over and over again until I finally got it right. Problem is, you can't move on in an adventure until you complete everything in order. Without a cheat sheet you'll be lost. The worst part is that stupid lazer HK gun. Lara gets killed because you can't aim it fast enough and it's totally inaccurate and a real pain in the butt on the firing ranges...Again, no alternate paths are available... Frustrating!