A great adventure game, very satisfying, fun and challenging.
I was never very enthusiastic about 3rd person games, I'm much more of an FPS-type person. But recently, I decided to try out quite a few 3rd-person games; Tomb Raider: Anniversary being one of them. My experience has been very satisfying, so much so that I have decided to purchase Tomb Raider: Legend and Tomb Raider: Underworld.
I am not the fondest person of hard games, as I find repetition to be annoying, and to be honest, a few times while playing got slightly annoyed, some puzzles take some time to figure out, and sometimes just all the jumping around and perfect timing can be challenging. But in a way, completing a challenging puzzle or difficult propely timed 'moves' can bring a great feeling of satisfaction.
I have to admit, I have a few times simply looked up a walkthrough for those overly repetitive attempts.
One thing I found to be dissapointing are the rewards, in a way, the rewards are only good if you play the game a second or third time around, which almost never happens in my case. I would have liked to have had the choice of unlocked outfits to dress-up Lara with BEFORE going on to the next Tomb Raid! But that isn't a fun-breaker though.
The music fits the game right, it's ambient and provides the proper mood. The graphics are pretty nice, although I do feel that more detail could have been brought to Lara's skin texture, it appears a little bland and 'simple'.. It doesn't change that she's the PC's sexiest heroine in my opinion though.
The action sequences in the game are pretty good, not the greatest though. But honestly, I didn't play this to get much shooting action, this game shines when it comes to puzzles and 'mistery'. Lara feels fluid, like a person, her actions are well done, her movement well done, climbing, grappling, hanging, etc.. are all very well done!
I'd recommend this game to anyone liking a good adventure/action game.. Easy to play, but challenging nonetheless.
Now though, I must go... Lara awaits me on her next journeys!
8.5/10