Crucially, none of these moves complicates Lara's basic movement, and while you have to adjust your eyes to the many new visual cues showing you where to go, they all add new levels to the simple pleasure of adventuring. Lara's even learned a few new moves in the year since Anniversary, and she can now free-climb, balance along thin beams, and abseil using her rappel line. The interaction between Lara and the environments has long been the draw of the series, and performing daring jumps to scale seemingly impossible heights is as satisfying as ever. Tomb Raider Underworld is constructed in an almost identical fashion to its predecessors, with exploration in exotic locations punctuated by occasional combat and vehicle sections. It's badly written, poorly voiced, and instantly forgettable for anyone but hardcore fans of the series, but thankfully the cutscenes are mercifully short, leaving you to get down to the serious business of raiding tombs. Cut back two weeks, and we find Lara trying to take care of some of her father's unfinished business, something that leads her on to discovering more about her mother, characters from previous games, and the mythical Hammer of Thor. Things start out badly for Lara a prologue of her racing to escape her lofty mansion as it burns to the ground. It follows the same adventure template that we've come to expect, but it also deals with death, resurrection, and even Norse mythology in its story. Underworld features a forgettable story and cliched dialogue, but thankfully the cut-scenes are short.Īs the 'Underworld' suffix suggests, this Tomb Raider covers darker territory than its predecessors.

Tomb Raider Underworld offers an enticing new adventure, but if you're a fan of the series you'll find that Lara is starting to show her age. Lara may have plenty of new moves at her disposal, but little has been done to address the many camera and clipping issues still present.

Tomb Raider Underworld is Crystal Dynamics' third game in as many years, and the high work rate is starting to show. The team managed to reinvent the series while staying true to its roots with Tomb Raider: Legend, while Tomb Raider: Anniversary built on solid foundations to reimagine Lara Croft's original adventure. When Eidos handed development of the Tomb Raider franchise to Crystal Dynamics, it was a risky but ultimately wise decision.

Underworld rating review