There's a new girl in town and she's looking good!
As Lara Croft, you set off on an adventure to Andean ruins, the lost continent of Atlantis, and Egyptian pyramids to find the three pieces of the Scion, an artifact broken apart to keep its power hidden. Both tall, open air levels and deep underwater levels await, each filled with tons of switches and movable blocks guarding the route to the treasures, keeping you thinking while animals like tigers and crocodiles harass you at every opportunity. With even just a few weapons at her disposal, Lara is still a formidiable fighter whose acrobatic talents give her a leg up over charging beasts. While game may not have aged as well as others, keeping in mind that this is like a Dr. J who paved the way for Michael Jordans reminds you of how good the game really is.
The pure breadth and scope of the game and its level, and how well it fits into the not-too-simple/not-to-complex story give the game a natural and realistic feeling. Some levels are easily a dozen stories in height, and the extra stress you get making sure to not miss a jump to a ledge-grab from very high up is a neat feeling. The fact that you're in a near constant state of puzzle solving ensures that your mind gets a good workout, not just your fingers. While some of the solutions are very obtuse, there's a high sense of satisfaction from finally figuring something out. The number of secrets in each level are fun to find, and though without a FAQ you'll be lucky to find half of them, hearing the chime on the soundtrack from discovering one is a good feeling.
There are lots of little snags, most noticeably to fact that Lara controls like a Sherman tank. She's rather clunky on turns, and turning too sharply or touching a wall brings her to a full stop, though conversely the lack of analog control ensures the crucial ability to walk or run a perfectly straight line when needed. The graphics could be better, as some animals are laughably angular while others, when killed in water, will mysteriously hang in the air if you subsequently drain the water. There's too little reward to kill attacking animals, other than saving yourself damage, and equally no penalty to not do so, and the logic of how a lion has survived in a chamber sealed for centuries is a bit flawed. The ending is doubly punitive, as the climactic escape is exceedingly tough and becomes a numbing sequence of re-dos, especially aggravating when death strikes from an angle you can't possibly see until the moment you die, making it a bit too much of a memory challenge than the more fun sequence it should have been.
Aside from the awkward maneuvering, the game controls well, the buttons are mapped out in smart fashion, and at minimum the buttons are crisp to respond and you should never miss a critical ledge-grab if you timed your jump properly. The environmental graphics are at least decent, though made up entirely of squares, cubes, and cut-away sections from them, so there is a good bit of repetition. When active the sound is pretty good, but not amazing, as main level scores have a tendency to drop off and take their sweet time starting back up again, and some 'danger' riffs aren't smart enough to not start replaying when you re-enter an area whose main guardian you've already vanquished. The game is pretty lengthy, with over a dozen levels, most of which will take an hour or more to escape from. This game isn't for the faint of heart, but those who want to experience a tough, fun challenge will want to snag this from the used bin at their local game dealer.