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Cultural icon Lara Croft never seems to be off our screens at the
moment. Not content with a Lucozade advert, a forthcoming film and a new
TV ad campaign, she's gone back to her roots with another in the hugely
successful Tomb Raider series - like Cliff Richard, she's
back just in time for Christmas.
Players of the other games in the series will know what to expect
from this outing. It continues the much-imitated combination of
viewed-from-behind platform and combat action, and anyone familiar with
these games will be able to pick up The Last Revelation (TLR)
instantly.
For those few who have missed out on Lara's adventures in the past,
the games follow the fortunes of our upper class (and unfeasibly
large-breasted) archaeologist heroine. Viewed from behind and slightly
above, you guide the intrepid explorer through exotic locations, finding
historic artefacts and battling various endangered species and Arabs -
why is it always Arabs? Oh, and she occasionally saves the world along
the way.
As you might expect, Core Design has seen fit to update Lara's
portfolio with some new features. Finally, gamers will get a chance to
see her go up and down poles - her repertoire also includes shimmying
round corners, levering objects out of nooks with a crowbar and kicking
open doors. Yes, before you ask, crawling has been added, so you will
finally get a chance to see Lara on her hands and knees - I can almost
hear your palms sweating!
She can also combine objects and weapons, Metal Gear Solid-style,
to make new or more useful tools. For example, the skeletons she fights
are immune to normal bullets, but if Lara combines a revolver with a
laser sight, she can aim for their heads, shattering their skulls with a
single shot. This still does not kill them, of course, but it renders
them only able to stumble around blindly.
The graphics have been substantially re-worked for this addition to
the series. Lara is now fully skinned - to eliminate problems with sharp
corners at joins like elbows and knees - although Core has
resisted the temptation to reward her efforts with yet more silicon. The
old grey box proves itself well up to the task throwing a surprisingly
large number of textures at a fair rate. There is life in the old dog
yet. But sadly the good old 3D glitches are back - Lara still stands in
walls every so often, although the camera problems plaguing many recent
third-person games are gone.
Sound is much like the others in the series. These games have always
used music to create atmosphere well, and TLR is no
exception. The footsteps, moans of the undead and occasional comments
from Lara complement the action with admirable subtlety.
The Tomb Raider series has had its difficulties in the
past. The key to the success of the original game was its focus on
challenging level design and sense of atmosphere. TR2
chose to take a more combat-orientated approach in response to the
first-person shooters flooding the market at the time. This was not
entirely successful. TR3 went a little too much the other
way, relying on huge levels and complex tasks. This meant the player was
often left wandering around with no clear idea what to do next. Core
is no fool and has decided to go back to the original game's balanced
approach.
The first level in the game is a bit of a new departure, though. You
are transported back to Lara's past, as a sixteen-year old schoolgirl.
Could there be any reason for Core choosing this age, I wonder?
Anyway, in between the inevitable ogling, your task will be to guide her
through a training level, assisted by her mentor Von Croy. But there is
a twist in the tale - an unfortunate accident befalls Von Croy and Lara
leaves him for dead. He takes this badly, and reappears later in the
game as Lara's archenemy.
Enemy AI has been revamped, at last. In the other games the easiest
way to deal with enemies was to find somewhere a little out of the way -
usually a raised ledge or remote platform - and blast away. Now the
humanoid baddies are smart enough to come looking for you, so you will
need to be more ingenious to make progress. But the animals still are
dispatched with relative ease.
Unlike TR3, you can now be confident that the solution
to a puzzle lies close by - there is no pointless exploring and TLR
is more goal-oriented than any of its predecessors. The levels in the
game are all set in Egypt - no more globetrotting for Lara - and this
helps make the game feel yet more focused, much more like Tomb
Raider than any of the other sequels.
Longevity will not be a problem for TLR - the levels
are huge and puzzles can be challenging, but refreshingly, never become
obscure. The huge set pieces and occasional driving sections add
variety, and the new weapons flesh out the traditionally disappointing
combat sequences well.
With TLR, Core has again proved itself a class
act. Level design is excellent and varied, the puzzles are well thought
out, and finally the old block-pushing puzzle has bitten the dust. There
is enough here to keep both hardened platform gamers and newcomers
entertained, and the well-judged difficulty level will keep you at it at
least until the next one comes round. Certainly, Tomb Raider: The Last
Revelation is the best of the series and perhaps even the best game of
its genre.
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