Techtite Game Reviews ---

Not too long before this game, Lara Croft, via the Tomb Raider series, was the most well known "human" video game character of all...and for good reason. The original Tomb Raider was groundbreaking in 3rd-person, 3D accelerated action adventure storytelling, with intriguing visual puzzles and intricate, elaborate level maps. It was also one of the very first such games on the PC, to ever be 3D accelerated. Sadly, though, after 4 years of enhancements in games elsewhere, little has changed in the latest sequel, Tomb Raider Chronicles, and what has been changed is often a change for the worse!

This sequel has an uphill battle from the very beginning, given the finale of The Last Revelation (the prior sequel). Not even the game box makes any bones about it; Lara is missing, and presumed dead. So, how do you make a game sequel, you may ask? Well, 4 old friends of Lara's gather at her mansion to discuss Lara adventures that each man was told, or witnessed himself. Such exploits include her teenage years (where she must defeat demons while unarmed) , and a set of thievery levels, where she's dressed in skintight latex a la The Matrix. However, fans might be quite disappointed; the better idea here would've been to bring Lara back from her alleged grave, not just make a "sequel" via a rag-tag bunch of non-consecutive flashbacks.

There are a few nice touches in the game, however. While Lara's new tightrope walking skill seems a little useless, her ability to search drawers and cabinets for useful items was an enhancement well needed (after all, who casually leaves lethal gun ammunition on the ground?). Some amusing puzzles include the ability to use Lara's binoculars to see a guard type a secret code into a keypad across the hall. However, this puzzle is only seen once. There's also a cool puzzle where you must search a room via X-ray sighting (complete with a skeletal view of Lara herself), though this is only seen twice. Darn.

Most other enhancements are a step backward. For one thing, a "Lara's presumed dead" subplot means we're unable to enjoy that way-cool obstacle course in Lara's mansion. The new method, of teaching new moves during the "first mission," just isn't the same. In addition, while the concept of secret areas indicated by hidden golden roses is a cute idea, finding all roses leads to little more than some conceptual artist sketches viewable in the Special Features section of the main menu's Options screen. A better reward would have been a whole new secret level. Lastly, some real-life kinetics in the game are quirky, like how walking near a simple campfire sets Lara ablaze from head to toe, leading to an instant death.

In addition, there's that 3D "flyby" in the main menu, which must load up whenever the main menu screen is shown. This seems cool at first, then you see the flaw in design; this main menu loads up, automatically, whenever Lara dies: the ability to call up the load game screen freezes, you're forced to see the Lara-dies animation, then forced to wait as the main menu's flyby animation loads, so you can finally restore your game. In a game whose core puzzles are of the save/restore/repeat variety, this is just plain tedious.

The biggest annoyance here, however, is the ease at which Lara instantly dies at every turn. Exploration is no longer rewarded with secrets and power ups; instead, machine guns deplete your energy in seconds, and lasers kill instantly. You can no longer explore a vast ancient temple at will and with pleasure; you must now be cautious at every turn, or risk having to see that main menu flyby load after yet another instant death. Tomb Raider's former penchant for quick paced, adrenaline-rush gaming, has degraded into tip-toeing through a laser-filled hallway, daintily, with the thumb resting precariously on the restore key. How annoying.

Note to all Game designers!!! Instant Death is never fun. This should be placed on a plaque in all game designer offices, along with other simplistically obvious facts of life: 2 plus 2 is four, 4 plus 4 is eight, and Death is never fun.

While this review will contain no spoilers, I will say that the finale left me totally disappointed. Suffice to say that fans who looked forward to Lara's potential re-emergence will have to wait until Tomb Raider: Next Generation, next year. That's presuming that they decide to resurrect her at all; we will all have to wait and see, for at least one more year. With that in mind, it's even sadder that Lara isn't here right now; she can hold her breath a lot longer than I.

Also available for the following game systems (click on system name to order): Playstation-1 , Sega Dreamcast

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Tomb Raider Chronicles

A Techtite Review