Archiologist and adventurer Lara Croft is hired to embark on a perilous, globe-trotting quest to find an ancient artefact known as the Scion, with other treasure hunters hot on her trail for the riches.
I love the tomb raider franchise, although I will say the first entry is a bit of a humble beginning given how primitive it is compared to its successors. That's not to say it's bad, far from it actually as it has plenty to offer for newcomers of the series looking to get into it.
I guess the main issue is that Lara’s move set is rather limited in this game, she can't even climb ladders or light up flares, not that that's an issue during game play as the level design is built around her limited mode set. It just makes said level design rather primitive compared to later instalments of the series. Admittedly the move set is a bit clunky compared to other 3d platformers of the time, although again the game is built around it meaning you'll get used to it rather quick (thankfully the remastered version does offer more conventional controls which does smooth over the clunkiness of the original.) The biggest win this game and indeed entire franchise has to offer is the titular heroine Lara croft, if you're looking for the perfect template of a girl boss done right, Lara is it as she's competent at what she does without coming off as a total bitch like most modern girl bosses do (particularly from recent Disney outings.) This leads to very witty dialogue from her, particularly whenever she's interacting with the other characters as she's a proud Englishwoman and thus has that deliciously dry sense of humour that makes British people so endearing to everyone. This is what makes the story work as without her, it would be a typical Indiana Jones knockoff where our hero is hired to collect trinkets for their client who inevitably betray them. That and the locations themselves are rather varied as our heroine travels to Peru, Greece, Egypt and the lost city of Atlantis during the game, each heavily stylised from each other to give the game that much more personality (which the remaster did a brilliant job in upscaling nearly three decades later.) I should also mention that the ps1 version has a checkpoint system which makes this game brutally difficult, I would recommend sticking with the pc version unless you're looking for a challenge akin to dark souls as this limited save mechanic really cranks up the difficulty of the game.
I guess I should also mention the unfinished business expansion pack as that doesn't have its own entry on this site. It's a decent expansion that puts the Egypt and Atlantis levels on steroids as it ramps up the combat of the game to eleven in both areas. Thankfully the game is Hella generous with weapons, ammo and health packs here just like in the main game otherwise these stages would be nigh impossible to complete.
It's a very humble beginning to a great franchise, it's sequels would blow it out if the water (to say nothing on the anniversary game from 2007) but it still holds up compared to most of its contemporaries of its time.
Also, this game isn't racist in the slightest, don't pay any mind to that disclaimer that Crystal dynamics stole from Disney for the remaster as they only did that to stir up internet drama against people who have been critical of their reboot series.
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Tomb Raider is a 3D puzzle-platformer which was originally released back in 1996 on MSDOS. At the time, Tomb Raider caused quite a fuss, due to it's ground-breaking style and use of a strong female lead character.
Although Lara's ponytail is fairly iconic, in the game her hair is tied back. I do remember reading this was due to the graphical limitations at the time, so was included in later sequels. The graphics look pretty basic these days, with the environment being constructed out of square panels and bland, flat textures. For the most part, it doesn't affect the gameplay, but there are a few paths throughout the game that are easy to miss which can lead to frustration.
In some ways, Lara is very agile with fluent movement. Lara can run, jump, climb, flip and roll around the environment and is well animated. However, the controls can feel a bit awkward until you get used to them since you have to jump then press a direction to leap in that direction. You also have to be in fairly precise positions to interact with switches or to pick up items. This can be a bit fiddly and to make Lara slowly step to the required position.
It's quite easy to die by falling off ledges due to the controls. Luckily in the PC version, you can save anywhere, rather than having to use save crystals like in the console version.
In addition to the platforming, there will be all sorts of enemies that you meet throughout your journey. Various animals like bats, wolves, tigers, bears and crocodiles inhabit the lands, rival humans will try and betray you, and there are mutant creatures in the latter part of the game which require the more powerful weapons to take down.
Lara has unlimited ammo in her standard dual pistols, but other ammo is limited. There's plenty of secrets to discover which rewards you with extra ammunition and/or medpacks. At first it seems rare, but becomes a frequent occurrence as you progress. You can acquire the extra guns early if you find the secrets, or pick them up later in the game when the story progresses. Aiming is automatic if Lara is facing the correct direction, which leaves you to concentrate on the acrobatics to stay out of harm's way.
The puzzles within the game aren't usually complex, and rely more on observation in order to locate switches, or plot your route to navigate the area. There are switch puzzles, timed areas, and block puzzles.
Lara's journey for the legendary Scion sees her travel through Peruvian mountains, Greece temples, Egypt and Atlantis, which will take around 15 hours of your time. In general, the levels are fun and well designed. However, towards the end of the game, the levels seem to get boring and start to drag. Natla's Mines was a particularly dull level, not just because of the colour scheme, but it heavily relied on back-tracking and generally didn't have much going on within the level.
Tomb Raider was a special game in its day. Although a dated by today's standards, it is still highly playable and good value.
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probably your preferred storefront on PC, if possible. the PS1 port plays fine it just isn't as easily accessible and has a harsher save system.
there's an automated fix that will patch the game up to run smoothly on modern systems and will also let you launch the expansion pack levels from the same launcher. on top of this, the PC version of the game lets you save anywhere vs set save points among other things.
there's an automated fix that will patch the game up to run smoothly on modern systems and will also let you launch the expansion pack levels from the same launcher. on top of this, the PC version of the game lets you save anywhere vs set save points among other things.
>both have tank controls
yes good comparison, very insightful game commentary
It's amazing now and it was even more in 1996