Tomb Raider has been known to offer a nice mix of action and adventure. Some will argue that the only reason people like the games is because of the large breasted heroine. While it's easy to see why some think this, from my experience with the games, I have to disagree. The previous Tomb Raider games I played had a good mix of action, puzzles, and platforming. They also gave you a sense of fear from time to time with things like moaning mummies that would spring out of nowhere to attack, or a vicious raptor that was determined to rip into your flesh. And of course they can sometimes throw in a nice bit of story to go into the mix. As with most newer games in a series, I went in expecting it to be somewhat lacking compared to the early games. Does the trend continue or does this one manage to break it?
Well, as with the previous games, the story centers around an ancient artifact that our heroine, Lara Croft, is interested in and must obtain. Of course, it just wouldn't be right if there weren't some other people out there trying to get at it too and use it for evil purposes.This time around she has some help from Zip and Allister; two guys who hang out in the mansion or a nearby van and look up info for her on the Internet. This particular game centers around an ancient sword, or actually pieces of a sword that have something to do with her past. The story itself is all right, but they pulled a cheap stunt just to make more money. To not spoil anything, all I can say is that they really leave you hanging and I assume you'll have to wait for the next game to get the whole story.

The game itself is mostly what you'd come to expect from a Tomb Raider game: guns/shooting, puzzles, and outfits that show off Lara's sexy body. The first department mentioned is pretty disappointing though. There's only about four guns, which include your regular old pistols. I was at least expecting the game to have a better selection of weapons than the other games I had played, but alas, it wasn't so. It wasn't just the lack of guns that was a let down. Although admittedly there wasn't anything spectacular about the old shooting system, something about this one just made it too easy. You could just basically run back and forth and shoot and it'd be no problem. Very little jumping was required to avoid the enemies in the game.

There are a couple of interesting puzzles, but don't expect the majority to give you much trouble. There were only a few that had me hung up for more than a couple of seconds and it was just me having a brain fart and missing something obvious. The jumping and control in this game was a very nice improvement upon past games. On the others that I had played, the controls could be very clunky and result in falling to your death. In this one it's smoother and also the jumping is not so mechanic as it was before. In the past, you would walk to the edge, hop back, then run forward and immediately press the jump button to get her to jump. It resulted in the exact same thing every time and required little effort. This one will give you more control over her. Quite good control I may add, which is a nice improvement. In addition to that, they've added a few new things to the mix. We now have a grapple hook at our disposal, as well as an array of melee moves. While you likely won't have to resort to the melee moves very often, they were a nice touch if for nothing but watching the action. There's also something new in that there are cinematic-like scenes that you control by pressing certain buttons. It may look and sound cool, but it was too simple to do. It really isn't anything special and was something that could have been left out. The only thing amusing about it was not pressing a button when it told you to so you could get a different outcome which would result in a variety of interesting deaths.

For those of you who love to drool over polygonal women, Lara has a nice variety of outfits that range from her classic look to a sexy dress that gets a bit revealing. You can also unlock more and actually chose what you want to wear as you go through the game. There are several unlockables which include upgrades for your pistols, artwork, stage models, and outfits. Sadly, the outfits are probably the best thing in there, and that's not saying too much. You can obtain these by collecting bronze, silver, and gold artifacts that are found within each stage, including her mansion. Speaking of that, who didn't love to take a break from the main game and just have fun messing around in her house? It was very easy to lose sight of the game in some of the others and just play around with whatever her place had to offer. The size of this one is pretty decent and the design was nice. It has some nice puzzles to work with, but unfortunately it lacks anything that will hold your interest for very long. There is no timed course or track, which is very disappointing. The house is filled with artifacts to find and the gym is pretty big and offers some puzzles in itself. However, after you do this stuff there will be little left here to provide any fun. There is one other thing that you could do to get more out of the game and that is a time attack mode for each of the stages. Even though I usually love games like Metroid or ones with time attack modes, I had no desire to even bother with this.

Another thing that's a big problem is the lack of difficulty. The game has three difficulty levels and I chose to play on hard. It was really disappointing that, even at this difficulty, it was not even near as hard as the past games. To top that off, the game can be divided into seven stages and then the final boss. Not much, huh? Like I mentioned about the story, the game cuts you off short and they obviously expect you to put out money for another game, which will probably not be any longer. Put together, they still wouldn't have as many stages as some of the others. If you are any good at games, you should finish this game in about eight hours.

Now, after not having played one of the more recent games, I at first thought the graphics were pretty good. However, compared to other PS2 games, they're not anything special. Just a bit better than average. The water and dirt effects are nicely done and the game provides some nice explosions. Also, the character models were done pretty well. By far, this game has featured the best Lara or anyone in a Tomb Raider game. As for the stages, the game had some good settings and what could have been some creepy places, but something about it didn't give that feeling that the others gave off; that creepy feeling knowing that something could jump out and get you at any time. It just wasn't there, and it probably in part had to do with the atmosphere. That and also because there weren't really any (or at least very few) creepy enemies. There's all of two non-human types of enemies in the game, not counting bosses.

One other thing that was really disappointing was the music. I loved the music from the older games and could just sit and listen to it for a good while. Not so here. They have a mix of the Tomb Raider theme that plays at the beginning which is all right, but other than that the music overall is mediocre and very forgettable. Now the voice acting on the other hand was very good. All throughout the game, Lara would communicate with Zip and Allister. Zip tends to be more of the cool guy while Allister is more on the dorky side and sometimes outright clueless. The result can be amusing at times and provided a nice bit of humor to the game. Then there are the other characters in the game who have to be serious and some evil. They all did a good job which was a nice change from some games that are plagued by horrid voice acting.

So what does all this say about the game? Well, the story was all right, though I was pissed with the way it ended. The game provided a little fun while it lasted, but that wasn't long. Also, there was no real motivation to collect all of the secrets because the unlockables weren't really anything interesting. If you buy this game, it'll probably just sit and collect dust after you beat it. I'd say rent it if you like Tomb Raider and get your 8 hours of gameplay out of it. There are many more better games you can buy that'll last you much longer.

Pros:
+ Fun (while it lasts)
+ Improved controls.
+ Nice voice acting.

Cons:
- The game is too short.
- Not much challenge.
- Very little replay value.
- Forgettable soundtrack.

Scores:
Story: 6
Game play: 6
Graphics: 7
Sound: 7
Replay Value: 3

Overall: 6.0