A weird and frustrating camera control mars the otherwise fabulous game

User Rating: 7 | Tomb Raider: Underworld PC
By rohitmitra5752 | Review Date:
1. Gameplay - The game follows on the lines of games like Prince of Persia or even previous Tomb Raider games. You play the character of Lara Croft, and I really hope I don't need to introduce her to you (see Angelina Jolie's movie Lara Croft:Tomb Raider, if you already don't know her). Anyways, it follows from the previous games - Anniversary and Legends. The gameplay is linear, with no side quests. With every damage taken, your health goes down, but soon it reaches to normal. You get to fight with an array of guns, as well as hand-to-hand combat. However, the game doesn't focus so much on the fights as it does on the freestyle puzzle solving parts. There are instances where you may be asked to solve an elaborate puzzle to open an underground chamber, or may be asked to find a way to kill a monstrous Kraken. However this great game is marred by an annoying and frustrating camera control. Sometimes the camera goes haywire and you have no idea which way you are looking. The worst conditions occur when you are on a ledge and are preparing to make a jump. The camera goes so wild that you may well be leaping into a chasm rather than onto a safe platform.

2. Story - Well back in Anniversary we saw Lara locking horns with Jacqueline Natla, the deposed queen of Atlantis. She wanted to raise the army of Atlantis to destroy this world, once and for all. However, Lara manages to soil her plans. Then in Legends, we find out that Lara had apparently lost her mother in a cave in the Himalayas. Also she finds herself pitted against her friend Amanda, whom she had left for dead. After a long series of puzzles and relic hunting, Lara realizes that her mother is in Avalon. This game, stars off from this point. Lara is convinced that the key to Avalon lies with the Hammer of Thor, the Mjollnir. However to wield the hammer, Lara has to first acquire the gloves and the belt of Thor. Soon she realizes that Amanda has imprisoned Jacqueline and is forcing her to show her the path to Avalon. However, Lara gets all the pieces together first. Finally Lara teams up with Natla to get to Avalon to find her mother. However, reaching there she finds out that Jacqueline had tricked her into opening up a powerful weapon for her - the Jörmungandr, or the Midgard Serpent. Soon she realizes that the Midgard Serpent is nothing more than a large tectonic plate that if destabilized will destroy this world - Ragnorak or Armageddon. And Lara must stop her.

3. Graphics - Pretty neat and decent graphics, one of my favorites in the game is when she goes to the Thailand into Bhogavati(the capital city of the Hindu Underworld, Patala). The sceneries are simply outstanding. A must have for the gamers with the artistic and scenic taste.

4. Music and Sound - The sound effects were a bit of a letdown for me. However, the music this time made up for it.

A good game, and definitely a great game had the camera been better.

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