Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation

by Square Enix

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004R9FG
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.8 x 0.4 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 27, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,184 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: Sega Dreamcast

Editorial Review

Lara Croft makes her Dreamcast debut in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, a must-have title for fans of the busty heroine's PlayStation exploits. Featuring high-resolution graphics that rival those of the PC version, this visual masterpiece sports a "fleshed-out" Lara in addition to lighting and water effects that make its 3-D environments seem all the more realistic.

Beneath the surface, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is pretty much the same old Tomb Raider action-adventure formula, with gameplay consisting of exploration, combat, and puzzle solving. (Which is not necessarily a bad thing, as most Tomb Raider fans just can't seem to get enough.) However, gamers do get to play as "young" Lara Croft for the first time, and the gallery mode rewards players with pictures of Lara as they progress through the game.

Unfortunately, advancing in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation can be quite frustrating at times, as the controls--which utilize all the functions of the Dreamcast controller--are not only awkward, but also lack the responsiveness that some of the game's challenges require. --Joe Hon

Pros:

• Enhanced graphics rival those of the PC version
• Ability to play as young Lara Croft
• Gallery feature a definite plus for fans

Cons:

• Poor controls

GameSpot Review

It's been almost four years since Lara Croft brought her boogie shoes to a Sega console, due to an exclusivity contract Sony had forged with Eidos. When the Tomb Raider franchise first reared its Indiana Jones-inspired head, Core was developing it for the Sega Saturn. Halfway through development, it was announced that the game would also come to the PlayStation, in improved form no less. After the original Tomb Raider made its debut on the Saturn, Tomb Raider swiftly disappeared from Sega's library for what seemed like eons. During that time, Eidos has raped and pillaged the TR license for all it's been worth, releasing two console sequels and numerous PC and Mac iterations. Well, another year, another Tomb Raider sequel, and Eidos has released the series' fourth official game, titled Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation for the PlayStation, the PC, and now for the Dreamcast. After four long years, Lara is back in Sega's arms. However, is this a sincere attempt to support Sega's flagship system, or is it a cheap cash-in on a PC port designed to make quick bucks at the expense of Dreamcast owners? With each of the first three Tomb Raider episodes, released one year after another, there were incremental improvements (some would call them innovations) added to entice gamers to come back. But who's kidding who? The reason most gamers came back, aside from a secret archaeological desire to spelunk, was to lead buxom Lara through a never-ending series of catacombs and labyrinths. That's not to detract from the often near-genius level design, displayed in abundance in the seminal "part two." Unfortunately, Eidos is all too well aware of its greatest asset, but now that we've progressed beyond the difficult part one, the deviously designed part two, and the more-of-the-same-but-look-at-Lara's-two-new-moves part three, what exactly is there to bring us back to the unofficial part four, The Last Revelation? At the start, things look rather grim. In an aggravatingly mandatory tutorial, offered by Professor Werner Von Croy, you must navigate an adolescent jailbait Lara through a series of condescendingly trite exercises designed to introduce you to the controls. Core seems to assume there will be a bunch of gamers who have never touched a Tomb Raider game before, as you cannot skip past this seemingly endless ritual, which will have experienced Tomb Raiders dribbling on the action button. At least in past games, Lara's gymnasium offered a secluded space to try out the controls at your convenience. Not so, here. At one point in the opening, which also sets the storyline, Von Croy challenges you to a race, half-designed to show you he's not the old fart you think he is and also to set into practice your "newly learned" moves in an actual gaming environment. Unfortunately, Von Croy isn't hampered by the leaden control, crappy camera angles, and pixilated graphics that you must contend with. Thankfully, this "race" is merely an excuse to get you to the next cutscene, in which Von Croy introduces Lara not to the ways of Indiana Jones but to those of Pitfall Harry! Yes, in Tomb Raider: the Last Revelation, Lara can now swing from ropes! In your first encounter with a rope, the game's faults immediately reveal themselves. On reaching said rope, Lara must jump to it, pump a few times for momentum's sake, then vault across to the opposite platform. While most gamers have at some point taken the rope-swinging plunge in one 2D platform game or another, doing the deed in 3D is an altogether different story. From the very first moment she tries a rope swing she is impeded by a sideways camera angle, which doesn't let you see the edge of the platform, let alone the rope. She also has the funky problem of trying to align herself with the rope, which often results in her plummeting off-angle into the pool below - there's a lag between the time you press the jump button and the time Lara actually jumps. All these problems come to light within the first, frustrating hour after you turn the game on. A new change to the control scheme, which allows you to switch from digital to analog, assigns sidestepping and Lara's "cautious walk" to whatever pad is not being used for running. This requires the gamer to switch back and forth between the two control pads for the different functions. The Dreamcast's lack of two extra buttons most likely contributed to this, but it's not exactly intuitive. After a short CG sequence that sets in motion the reason she is here at all (this year's adventure is in Egypt!), it's back to the future for Lara and the start of the game proper. While the game is actually better than the introduction indicates, it's still not great. The worst part about this particular adventure is that it feels as if you have done it all before. Back in its day, Charlie's Angels was a pretty fun TV show to watch, but after a while, even 13-year-old boys got tired of watching Farrah Fawcett go through the same-old, same-old motions. The same goes for Lara Croft - her tomb raiding has become an exercise of been-there, done-that. Although lengthy and designed to be more action-adventurey than mind-bendingly clever, Last Revelation still puts you through your paces in a series of find-the-chain-and-pull-it, put-the-item-in-the-slot-and-open-the-door mechanics. There are some devilish situations that will require clearheadedness and a thoughtful mind, but in spite of the odd and oddly frustrating rope-swinging sequences, anyone who has played any of the first three episodes has played Last Revelation. While the graphics are better than those in the PlayStation version, they are only marginally improved over the PC's. Yeah, everything is running in high-res, and Lara does benefit from a stunning real-time shadow that bends according to the light source and her surroundings. However, the environments are still mapped over with low-res textures anti-aliased to death, giving the game an almost N64-ish look in some places. Usually up for debate is whether Lara's breasts have been enlarged, reduced, or whether her ass has more polygons for a smoother, all-natural look. Quite honestly, who cares? As time goes by, it becomes harder and harder to look at Lara, despite how perky her breasts have gotten. Since her debut, games like Metal Gear Solid, Soul Calibur, Space Channel 5 and Dead or Alive 2 have come out, and as a result, each new Tomb Raider game ceases to amaze, despite its blocky, pixelated waterfalls and improved lighting effects. The game's frame rate veers wildly from acceptable (in closed corridors) to staggeringly bad (usually when Lara comes out of said corridors into wide-open areas). Even with the Dreamcast's powers, the frame rate often stumbles into the 15fps category. Blame Windows CE, but this game hardly takes advantage of what the Dreamcast can do. Coupled with the iffy frame rates are the occasionally obnoxious camera angles, which, when combined with the pivot-and-then-go gameplay, can cause much frustration in a game centered on various platform elements. The most the game has to offer are some unnaturally angular environments designed to alert the gamer that "Yes, you can go there," or "No, you cannot." While the ambience certainly offers a realistic setting, the game can often revert to that overwhelming feeling of solitude found in the first Tomb Raider. Although you have a torch-lighting lackey in your service during the opening moments of the game, he is nothing more than an AI drone designed to trudge onward as you tackle puzzles and pull switches. For gamers who prefer a little more company in their adventures, there is occasionally a scorpion or wolf that will try to bite you. --James Mielke
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a must have game!, March 15, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (Video Game)

This game is much better than the playstation version. The graphics have improved, the control is better, no blocky graphics, and actually shows Lara's fingers and her shadow! I would highly recomend that you pre-order this game. Dreamcast makes this game 100% better!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Been there, done that, April 10, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (Video Game)

I really liked the previous Tomb Raider games. So I was looking forward to play Tomb 4 as one of my first Dreamcast games. I heard the graphics are better than on the PC versions, better sounds, new features. Well, to make it short: The graphics have not improved considerably, the sound is nice, there are more or less TWO new features: combining inventory items and swinging on ropes. Everything else and I mean EVERYTHING is exactly the same as ever before. It's more a Tomb Raider 3: "Egyptian Scenario" except that you pay more. Bottom line: Eidos is simply squeezing the last dollar out of an old idea.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful game ruined by a million little annoyances, July 10, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (Video Game)

On the surface, this game looks like the best of the tomb raider series. Massive locations, excellent graphics, decent controls (although they do take some getting used to). This game also has some of the most ingenious level designs of any Tomb Raider game, or any game period for that matter.

Unfortunately this game suffers from the biggest drawback a game can have, in my opinion. It's difficulty level is so frustratingly high that I became stuck once every 15 minutes or so of gameplay. I literally needed a walkthrough to get through most of this game. I'd play for about 10 to 15 minutes and then I'd spend 45 minutes to an hour trying to figure out what to do next. It's enough to make you want to destroy everything within a ten mile radius. I like my games to be hard enough to leave you with a feeling of accomplishment, but this is just sadistic.

If you'd like a comparison, this is the best I have. Did you ever play any of the Ninja Gaiden series on the NES? Do you remember screaming at Ryu for "death by stupidity" all the time? How about throwing controllers at the TV screen in an effort to let the game no that you are not pleased with it? That's exactly the way Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation makes me feel. It's a beautiful game that is truly enjoyable to watch someone else play, but when you play it yourself it is absolutely no fun at all.

If you do not like being frustrated by your games, stay away from this one.

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