The freedom of movement…going places where there are no restrictions other than my own skills!
Graphics: 9 (beautifully rendered 3D textures however needs a beefy PC to fully appreciate it / main protagonist never looked better)
Sounds: 8 (gotta love Lara's accent)
Value: 10 (long campaign with plenty of puzzles to solve / secret locations abound)
Tilt: 9 (love the freedom)
Actual score: 9.1
Back in 1995, a little ole company undergoing a brainstorming session about a larger-than-life adventure that involves exploring tombs, pyramids and temples. Also combining this with a mixture of puzzles, action and discovery all in 3D was a daunting task indeed. Yet it was also a time where Windows 95, a 32bit platform was released therefore making this epic task somewhat possible. What the outcome was is an iconic character by the name of Lara Croft and the game Tomb Raider; one of the most influential game of the decade.
The best way to classify the gameplay of Tomb Raider is a 3D platformer. This was a remarkable step as during this period platform games are mostly 2D. So actions like climbing, swinging, back flipping, jumping, pulling, pushing, walking and sprinting never looked better. And never before had a game made those manoeuvres so fluent and precise. Actually it was so precise Lara herself sports over 5000 frames of animation. Yet to perform these acrobatic stunts it requires a bit of learning as it is all keyboard controlled. Thankfully though, Lara has a training ground in her manor that teaches you the ropes. So I highly suggest to practice these especially the ledge jumping otherwise it will be one hell of a frustrating ride.
Once delving into the game, Lara will be travelling through the icy Peruvian mountains, traversing lost Greece temples, trampling the wind swept caves of Egypt and then winding up in the mystical lands of Atlantis all in search for the legendary Scion. Fifteen levels in all it will take some considerable time to complete this game. In addition to this, each level has a certain number of secrets to discover for which entitles you extra ammo / med packs and so forth. Yet and as the name states, these secrets are quite challenging to find. But knowing Lara she doesn't mind locating them with your assistance!
With all the training behind you there are a couple of mishaps. The main one is that the game plays in 3rd person view meaning the camera will always follow Lara. That in itself is not bad however the camera tends to get 'jammed' when performing corner jumps; meaning that there will be times that you will be jumping blindly as the camera cannot properly stay behind her. Yet as the manual states by pressing the 'look' key can prepare you for that jump. Another issue is that in the larger caverns there is no way of knowing where to go next so there will be times you'll be wandering around aimlessly trying to find the lever / key. Yet once you do it's all of a matter of 'follow your nose' with short cut scene unfolding your next objective.
To compliment the marvellous graphics are the musical scores. Even though they are software instrumentation, they all have a classical feel to them. Naturally this will bring a feeling of ancient mystery thus well suited for the game. Also ambience sounds like sands whisking / footstep echoing etc provides a sense of timeless isolation. And considering Lara's heritage is from England, she certainly has a precise English accent.
It's really difficult to state whether Tomb Raider is more of a pop icon sensation (aka Lara Croft) or the marvellous technology that fuelled it. At the time of release, Lara's image was practically everywhere from magazine covers to television ads and the game was more of a backburner – a backdrop if you will. To add to this an interview with Lara's creator Toby Gard, Tony wasn't impressed with the direction Lara was going (aka sex symbol) as he felt that Lara will never do this. After playing the game, I felt the same way as Tony did as Lara seems more reserved about her natural beauty and more into raiding tombs. Yet according to the marketing machine (and I guess the vast population as well), it's more about Lara's beauty than raiding tombs. Yet looking in hindsight I also enjoy the freedom of movement…going places where there are no restrictions other than my own skills.