Customer Reviews

Tomb Raider: Underworld

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Ah, another Tomb Raider game, which means I'll have to share the Wii with my girlfriend for a while. Graphically, this game looks very good, especially for a Wii title. Many of the textures look very nice unless viewed from extremely close camera angles. The environments are a mixture of wider open spaces and tight tunnels and hallways. Complex machinery, crumbling ruins, and environments that shift and morph after completing puzzles are common, in true Tomb Raider fashion. The locales look varied and different and keep me going to see what comes next.

Lara's animations are usually really smooth and some subtle but noticeable improvements have been implemented. She also now has a few new maneuvers such as a wall climb and wall jump (chimney jump) which are nice additions. With regards to the controls, I can't help but to make comparisons to the Prince of Persia series... Lara is pretty good, but she could learn a lot about raiding tombs from the Prince. The motion captures, while smoother than in previous games sometimes have some awkward interruption animations that are a bit jarring at times. The smoother animations also tend to not mesh with the environment at times and it may take more than one try to hop or step onto some surfaces. There is also this wacky-flailing-arms-running-thing that she does occasionally which would be best described as the proverbial "running like a girl" and it feels out of place. No one should run like that! It is infrequent when she does this, but it always catches my eye because I think Lara should run like an Olympian athlete, with power and purpose. Her running speed also seems a little slow-paced, but not bad. Climbing and jumping about is slightly improved over previous versions of the game, although sometimes the lateral jumps are difficult to get the game to recognize.

One thing I noticed is that Lara is a bit bouncier, and I am not referring to her feminine assets. By "bouncier" I mean she literally bounces off the ground when she falls and dies from a great height. Some of her falling death animations are what I would imagine a human-sized rag doll made of silly putty would look like if tossed out a fifth story window. Unrealistic yet kind of funny.

The camera is at times hard to deal with, as with previous versions. Sometimes it is in too close, sometimes it's out too far, but usually it isn't bad. When it is bad, it's really annoying and can get even get you killed. Sometimes, often without any type of cue or warning, the game switches to a fixed camera perspective which sometimes confuses me and makes me think the camera got stuck on some environmental obstacle.

The combat reticule is larger than Tomb Raider: Anniversary, which is nice since it is much, much easier to see what you are targeting. Up to the point that I have played there isn't a lot of combat, but Tomb Raider has never really been a combat focused game. It focuses on environmental puzzles and stays fairly true to the game's roots. Also, Med-Paks are no longer part of the game, and Lara will automatically recover from injury after a few moments of rest, which seems to be the new trend in video games. Overall, I think that the new health system is an improvement and I welcome the change.

The game starts you off after a short training level and then sends you off into a scuba diving sequence that could have been shorter. Once that boring hurdle is passed, the game gets back to its Tomb Raider platforming roots very quickly. The same basic Tomb Raider swimming controls are back. As usual, I struggled for a few minutes coming to grips with the swimming controls but even after I've mastered them again I really feel like they could be better somehow.

Ultimately, the game is about environmental navigation and solving mini-game puzzles. Many of the same style of puzzles we saw in Tomb Raider: Anniversary are back, and I still enjoy them. I wish there were more of them and that some of them were harder, especially the gear-and-cog puzzles. It is still easy to die if you aren't careful and fail to examine your surroundings before you jump to action, but the game is very forgiving and provides frequent checkpoints throughout each of the levels.

THE GOOD:
+++ Well designed levels in exotic, far-off places to explore.
+++ Excellent music and ambient sound
+++ Easier combat with the new, improved combat reticule
+++ Well designed exploration puzzles.
+++ Lots of checkpoints so death doesn't mean you lost 30 minutes of painstaking progress.

THE BAD:
--- The menu interface seems to be inspired by the iPod touch wheel, but it is not as intuitive as it could be. It is way too easy to accidentally select the wrong menu item.
--- The camera is still tricky to deal with.
--- Some of the controls and animations have so much potential but could have been tighter. A lot of the same issues from previous Tomb Raider games are still here.

It may sound like I really don't like this game, but I do. I just wish that the developers would have fixed these issues that have been present in the past several games. None of the issues ruin the game experience, but they do tarnish it when we've seen other games handle similar situations more gracefully. If you enjoyed the recent Tomb Raider games, you will probably enjoy this game. Fans of Prince of Persia and Indiana Jones will also probably enjoy this game despite its flaws.

I was very disappointed with this game. After a little internet research I found out why. The Wii version is missing some stages of the game that are found on the other game consoles. There are missing enemies such as sharks and spiders. You can not fire your weapon while hanging on ledge. Basically they removed from the Wii version all the cool stuff you see in the teasers.

I love the Tomb Raider Series and pre ordered this game. I would like to think it is my previous gaming expertise which allowed me to plow through this game in 3-4 leisurely days, but I don't think that was the case. If you are interested in the Tomb Raider and you have a Wii, I highly recommend Tomb Raider: Anniversary over this game. If you have played Tomb Raider before and have to try this new game, I would rent or buy for a different console.

I have always been a fan of the Tomb Raider games, so I was excited with this new title.

I have never seen a game with more bugs and glitches in it on any console!! Just Google "Tomb Raider Underworld Bugs" and catch a glimpse of what I mean. There is one glitch that seems to dominate on the Wii platform; a lever in the Thailand level required for passing randomly fails to appear. Eidos has issued a save game file that apparently lets you pass, but there are numerous other bugs from simple animation glitches to failing to save correctly (very frustrating!)

This game is well thought-out, has interesting locales to play in, and overall appeals to me the same way all the other TR games have, but it's not worth the frustration of the many bugs you'll encounter. Eidos should recall this game and reissue a bug-free version, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon.

EDIT: I did manage to finally finish this game, luckily the Thailand switch was there the first time I came to it. I did encounter several other bugs like Lara getting stuck in corners and cut scenes locking up my console, but still enjoyed the game overall despite all the frustration.

I bought this game for my wife and she is LOVES this game. She said it was a bit difficult to learn the controls at first but once she got through the first level she had it figured out pretty quick. She enjoys the feeling of it being all one big puzzle, as well as the adventure. I will say she HATES shooting games so when she had to shoot a couple of Tigers that seemed to disturb her. However, overall she really enjoys playing this game.

It's hard to explain exactly how disgusted you'll feel if you buy this game but I'll try.

At the very end of the Thailand level you need to pull a switch to finish but I couldn't find it. After asking the game for countless hints, searching online FAQs, and even watching a video guide I saw that the very obvious switch I needed was absent from my game. I was advised the only thing to do was restart my game and hope for better luck next time.

So now you know the game has huge bugs. Not the kind Lara shoots, they took all those out of the Wii version. I'm talking about the glitchy kind of bugs, more than just polygon clipping or walking off a cliff when you didn't press anything. Sure those are here too but that isn't new to Tomb Raider. This is the first video game outside of a PC that I've needed to download a patch for!

Eidos if you don't know how to make video games maybe you shouldn't.

The graphics are as good as expected on the Wii I wasn't disappointed there but I was disappointed to learn all the new features like shooting from ledges and melee combat are gone from the Wii version. When they say exclusive Wii content they mean exclusive lack of Wii content.

There are almost no enemies in this game and your health bar refills instead of finding med-packs. This was done to make the game easier no doubt because the controls suck. They take a while to get used to.

The levels are much much smaller on the Wii you won't even recognize this game if you've played it before elsewhere. I can understand the simple graphics and getting rid of the little spiders, but it didn't need to be this watered down.

I'm not a Tomb Raider fanatic I only bought this game after falling in love with Tomb Raider Legend. The two games are nothing alike sadly. Legend's fast pace has been replaced by the stop and go puzzle formula of old Tomb Raider. I rarely have something to shoot, you don't pick outfits for Lara anymore, you can't walk around your mansion between missions, and there's no level select function only four little game saves.

If you like Tomb Raider Legends this sequel will be a let down. If you love Tomb Raider regardless please buy it for another system. This was a sloppily made Wii game and it will do nothing but disappoint you.

I am truly an original Tomb Raider fan--had it on the Sega Saturn (who even remembers that console?) when it first came out. I love these games and was so excited when I saw that there was a new Tomb Raider game for wii! I played it for quite some time the first night I got it. I had trouble saving, checked the directions and some information online and finally got it down...or so I thought. Although I'd made it past the first two levels--with frequent checkpoints AND saving it manually along the way--I came back the next day and it kicked me to the very beginning. I tried several times over that first week and I could never get it to hold a save. It's not a game that you can complete in one sitting (nor would I even have the time to try!) so I had to return it. I'm still bummed that it didn't work but have read that a lot of people are having problems with the wii version. I ordered Anniversary instead, although I still remember a lot about the original game, and hope it gives me the Tomb Raider experience I was expecting.

I will say, though, that barring the bugs it seemed to be a great game and very much like previous versions, which is why I was so disappointed. Four stars for fun (it was headed to four or five from what I got to play of it!) but one star for the bugs.

This game is perfect for the occasional gamer (me). It is easy to manuver and control the charcater/actions, and yet also challenging in game plan. The expert/experienced gamer may think it is too easy. It is also noted on other reviews that the wii version is much easier to complete than the same game on other systems.
Overall I would give it a B+

I've been a fan of the Tomb Raider franchise since first picking up TR3 for Playstation, which led to me backtracking through the series and then forward as they were released. There have been some disappointments (Angel of Darkness) and there have been some feats of greatness (Legend), but I can't help but agree with some of the other reviews of Underworld that I've read, those that say this game could have been better.

I thought the story of Underworld was well thought out and served as an appropriate sequel to the combined plots of Anniversary (ie: Tomb Raider 1) and Legend. However, as gameplay goes, I had issues with my version for Nintendo Wii.

My biggest complaint is the 'camera' or player's viewpoint. It was difficult to control and occasionally misleading. Why couldn't the camera just stay behind Lara? I kept asking myself. Why all the zooming around and hintful panning out? Ugh.

Also, there were times in the game when I got stuck and became so frustrated I had to leave it for a few days. I hate cheating, but I'll admit that at one point during the game that I got so tired of seeing Lara die while attempting to perform a simple backwards jump (the Valhalla level, specifically the bridge with swinging hammers) I broke down and did a search online for a walkthrough. And before you get Thor's hammer, defeating the regenerating beasts was a nightmare until I discovered how to blow them up with 'sticky' grenades, a feature I learned of only because of online help.

Another of my complaints, and really the most dishearting, is the length of the game. In all the other Tomb Raider games I felt the story flowed naturally and had an appropriate ending. I was so greatly disappointed when Underworld seemed to end abruptly. Its possible that there is more to Underworld on the other platforms (Xbox, PS3, whatever), but for the Wii I felt it went too fast and ended too soon.

Natla wasn't even a challenge (unless she returns AGAIN in the future) and there was no true resolution between Amanda and Lara. I didn't get why Amanda chose to help Lara escape Hellheim, only to have a confrontation with her when they returned to Nepal. If anyone should be pissed, it should be Lara! Her mother is dead because of Amanda, her mansion destroyed and her friend killed by the doppelganger who we never really learned the fate of.

All-in-all, though I love the Tomb Raider franchise and look forward to more Lara in the future, I think they missed the mark with this one. Good effort, but lousy follow-through. ::sigh::

I have the Wii version of this game and couldn't be happier. My kids -- even my daughter -- love the Wii-specific puzzles and classic Tomb-Raider game play. We had no problems getting through any levels, as reported in another review. It's also the most beautiful Wii game I've ever seen.

I'm a huge fan of Tomb Raider, I loved the Anniversary title for the Wii. Beat that one twice just for fun. So, this game, for those who have played the other Tomb Raider game, this is a piece of cake. Sure some controls are a little different, like the "-" to grab things drop from ledges, etc. BUT you get the hang of it in no time. The swimming has improved dramatically, it is so easy to swim now and fast too. Just use the joystick for actual swimming and the wii remote arrows for direction. I haven't gotten that far in the game yet, but I love it. There's less fighting in this one from what I can tell, which is okay, I primarily love this game for the exploration aspect and figuring out where to go and what to do next. Exactly why I just returned the 007 game because it was too much shooting and no time for regrouping and exploration. I look forward to coming from work and playing this game. It's very entertaining and mellow! Two thumbs up.