Tomb Raider Trilogy

The third game combines the best elements of its predecessors and takes LaraCroft on a search to find four mysterious artefacts fashioned from the heart ofan ancient meteorite. Featuring vast locations and more puzzle-solving,this game felt like more of a continuing story in Lara’s life rather than agreat advancement.

If you choose to buyTomb Raider III: The Lost Artefact,you will also get the five extra levels that come with that edition.

What’s new for the Tomb Raider Trilogy?

Included in this package is a world map which follows her travels, a Certificateof Authenticity and a cool hologram mouse mat of Lara, autographed of course 🙂

The game comes complete in a silver Limited Edition box. Mine’s No. 19961.What’s yours?

It’s worth noting that the PC specifications atop this review are for thethird game, the first two not requiring as fast a PC, but then if you haven’tgot a spec. this high, you’re more likely to purchase the individual gamesrather than this collection.

Actions

The following are the moves used in Tomb Raider II which also includesthe basics for the first game.

Moving

Running, walking and taking side-steps are basic operations that performs asyou’d imagine, but after performing a forward jump, pressing down or rollwill make Lara somersault in mid-air and land facing the opposite direction.This also works when taking a backward jump if you press up or roll.

Swimming

While underwater Lara can hold her breath for about two minutes, and thedirection keys will control where she goes in conjunction with the jump keywhich will push her forward. She can also pull levers and pick up objectsunderwater by getting as close as you can and pressing Action.

Lara can also swim on the surface, with the side-step buttons making herswim sideways in those directions. Pressing jump will make Lara dive, whileAction will make her climb out.

In this sequel, Lara can now wade in shallow water. Controls are similar tothose when walking, except Lara can only jump on the spot, and her movement isslower.

Attacking

Lara begins the game carrying a two pistols for John Woo-style two-handedaction, plus a shotgun, but along the way she will find semi-automatic pistols,an M16 gun as well as a grenade launcher.

Other actions

Lara can vault over some obstacles by pressing Up and Action together.It’s also interesting to note that when climbing up to a surface that can bejumped onto, you can also stand in front of it, jump up, THEN press actionand you’ll finish standing on it instead of having to pull yourself up.

Some walls are climbable, and in one of her new moves, Lara can climbup a wall by pressing Up and Action to jump and hang onto a handhold. Pressingthe cursor keys will move her in the direction required, and jump will make Larajump backwards away from the wall.

If Lara is near to a ledge while jumping, holding the Action key will make hergrab the ledge in front of her and hang there. She can then either shimmy acrossfrom side to side or pull herself up.

The Action key can be used to pick up objects by standing in front of them,be they objects already on the ground, or left behind by dead baddies after theyhave fallen to the ground. Similarly, the Action key will activate switches infront of her.

When Lara is in the correct position to use one of the objects she hascollected to solve a puzzle, pressing Action will call up the InventoryRing enabling you to select the required item.

When in a dark area, a flare is available to illuminate the situation.These last for about a minute, and will remain in Lara’s hand while vaulting,running or climbing. However, if Lara draws her weapons she will drop it.It can, however, be thrown a short distance first by pressing the flare buttonagain.

The look button, when used in conjunction with the cursor keys, allowsLara to look in all available directions. If you’re not facing forward whentrying to line Lara up for a jump, pressing Look on its own will make herface forward.

When using vehicles, the cursor keys will take her in the requisitedirection. Holding down ‘Walk’ will make her vehicle travel slower, while’Action’ will make her travel faster or fire weapons if the vehicle has thatcapability. Pressing Jump and either left or right, will choose which side toexit.

Additional Actions for Tomb Raider III

Moving

Sprinting is now a possibility. Need a quick burst of energy? Don’thave another doughnut, just press the Sprint key. A small energy bar willappear and when that bar depletes Lara will revert back to a run.

Other actions

Lara is now able to Duck and Crawl by pressing the crawl key and holdingthat down whilst using the cursor keys. If Lara is not able to stand up, thenholding this key down is not necessary, but when she is able to stretch herpixelated legs, she will resume her erect position.

Monkey is not only the name of a highly-popular Japanese TV show from the1980s, but is also one-half of the phrase Monkey Swing and if Laradiscovers an overhead frame she may decide to “Monkey Swing” across it.To perform this, press the Jump key and then Action to jump and then cling ontothe frame. Keep the Action key held down whilst pressing the cursor keys tomove Lara in your chosen direction.

Pressing the Left and Right cursor keys will cause Lara to rotate, whilereleasing the Action key will drop Lara like a stone.

And one other thing…

Unlike the first two games, after completing the India levels, you will bepresented with an Area Selection screen, allowing you to choose which one ofthe three remaining areas to visit first: London, South Pacific or Area 51.

You can choose each of these in any order and upon completion, you shall finishup in Antarctica for the final leg of your journey.

Graphics, Sound and Playability

As ever, there’s great fluidity and movement in the game engine, displayingcrisp, fast and smooth graphics. However, if the Lara series is to continuebeyond adventure No.4, things will have to change radically.

The sound effects and music match this too. From the music on the startscreen, to the special effects and music which shout out at you during the game,everything is very good indeed, but still the same.

The playability is spot-on throughout the series. The controls allow Lara tomove simply around the environment be it simply running, or running along up toa ledge, performing a forward roll and then pressing Action to hold onto the ledgebefore swinging forward to clear certain items. Sounds like a complicatedmanoeuvre, but it could be the sort of movement you’ll need to perform manya time.

Overall

Now four games on – including a turn on the Dreamcast console – and the cultof Lara Croft continues. When Lara was portrayed in the media bymodel-turned-Pepsi Chart Show presenter Rhona Mitra, Ms. Mitrawas due to release a single in the UK a while back called Raiders. Itnever materialised in this country, but France were allowed to hear her dulcettones on an album entitled Come Alive which was more like an extended12″ single, since most of the tracks are remixes, but on the plus-side, it wasproduced by Dave Stewart.

Afterwards, came Man-O-Man chicken-skinned-bimbo-turned-modelNell McAndrew (real first name: Tracey). It was when she appeared nakedand bald that she came to the fore, but I really wished she’d been left at the”three” as she turned out as appealing as Sinead O’Connor’s lesbian sister.

After a brief spell for Lara Weller, the model on the right, is thecurrent Lara, 16-year-old Lucy Clarkson, thus replicating the young16-year-old Lara in level one of Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation,although the film version will be portrayed by Angelina Jolie.

Tomb Raider Trilogy is a package that’s going to appeal to those newto the series in the main and is out not long after the fourth game wasreleased on PC, Playstation and Dreamcast. Sure, games with much better graphicshave come out since these three were released but if you haven’t given Laraa spin for yourself, this is certainly a great package with which to getstarted.

GRAPHICS
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
PLAYABILITY
ORIGINALITY
ENJOYMENT



OVERALL

Please check out my reviews for Lara’s separate adventures in :

Tomb Raider II,
Tomb Raider III,
Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artefact and
Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation.

If you’re after some more info on Eidos Interactive’s games, you can checkout their official Website atwww.eidosinteractive.com orthe

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.