Tomb Raider Trilogy

Review from Cav - Wednesday, 25 May 2011 @ 1:56am

When the opportunity to review Tomb Raider Trilogy came up, I jumped at the chance for a number of reasons: Firstly I haven't played a TR game for quite a few years and none of the three on offer had ever graced my consoles before, so this was a chance to fall in love with the British Bombshell all over again. And secondly, as a parent and somewhat frugal gamer (read: tight-arse), the bargain factor of three games on one disc was very appealing.

The three games on offer are all familiar titles: Legend, Anniversary and Underworld. Please don't be under the impression that the Trilogy will be new and improved, as you will be disappointed. Yes a small visual facelift (well, let's not call it a facelift, maybe just a shot of Botox) has been applied that we don't feel like we have blown the dust off the old PS2, but the gameplay itself hasn't improved at all. Lara still stumbles, slips, slides and falls when you least expect her to on surfaces that look more than stable, although things do improve as you progress though the trilogy. I would be surprised if there is a gamer out there who claims that there were comfortable with the way Lara controlled the first time they played. I think that Lara’s clumsiness (be it her fault or mine) is one of the contributing factors to why she and I parted ways many moons ago.

Lara's adventures in the very first Tomb Raider game way back on the PS1 (or what I can remember of it) were more believable than what are presented today. Dinosaurs, 80 foot squids and demons summoned from amulets? C'mon! Really? Leave that stuff to Turok, lady! Lara herself undergoes a slight transformation and you can actually see expression in her face in the cut scenes, where in the other games all she could really manage was an open or closed mouth and shifting/blinking eyes.

Call me biker bitch one more time....

I know I will probably be drawn and quartered for this comment, but I much preferred Legend over the other two games. I enjoyed the interaction between Lara and her two mansion based sidekicks, Zip and Alister, where the other two games left me feeling lonely without the on-going banter. There are some classic lines between cast in this game too. Take it in and have a giggle. One downside to the audio in Legend: in surround sound, the speech coming thru Lara’s earpiece blares through your speakers, but when a cut scene hits, you nearly need to raise the volume to hear the dialogue. All up, Legend was a great way o get back into the swing of things with Tomb Raider. Keep an ear out for the conversation Lara has in a helicopter with and Asian gent... nice use of Engrish there.

For those of you who would like to know a little more about TR: Anniversary, I don’t think former Australian Gamer writer come Halfbrick PR guru Phil Larsen could have put it better.

Now you know how I feel about the giant squid that appears in the third game, But TR: Underworld is of course the more fluid and visually appealing of the three games. Lara has acquired some pretty slick moves. The puzzle you and Lara face are always a nice challenge, but I find that direct isn’t always obvious in this game and there is a possibility to find yourself back tracking to steer yourself in the right direction.

Your Dashboard

One good thing that the TRT has going for it is the bonus content that comes with the disc. You will acquire a male and female costume for your PlayStation Home Avatar, as well as a nice theme for your dash. Free stuff is good stuff.... even if you haven't ventured into Home within the last 12 months.... like me.

No boys, you can't dress your male Avatar in Lara's shorts

Pros

• Three games, one disc
• Bonus PlayStation Home and Dash content
• HD upgrade for PS2 titles

Cons

• Lara still controls like a busted shopping trolley - not that I was expecting any improvements
• Some audio problems when played in 5.1 surround
• Quicktime events are a little too 'quick'