Tomb Raider: Underworld

Not only the best Lara Adventure, but possibly the best adventure-puzzle-platformer in general. There are things one can criticise: the reduced difficulty (comparing to TR:A), further simplification (you can carry all the guns, but there are no ammo drops, for example), too many secrets to really go 100% without a walkthrough, considerably shorter playtime to the preceding two. But what it gets right, it nails: a better, gripping, story than half of the Indiana Jones films, and the atmosphere of discovery. Greatly improved graphics allow for lush vegetation, and a large part of the game happens in overgrown, South East Asian temples, modeled after Angkor Wat and similar. Lara gets new moves, which add little to the game play, but increase immersion. Both platforming and puzzles seem completly natural, and while the path is completely linear, the levels do not have a contrived feel of a platformer game, requiring no suspension of disbelief - at least in terms of levels, you still need to swallow the usual supernatural and ancient super advanced civilisation stuff, but that's par course of this genre). While some levels in Legend come close, here you really feel like you are exploring something, if not real, then at least believable, rather than playing a platforming game. I won't spoil the story, but while it rounds up nicely both Legend and Anniversary. it can be experienced completly on its own, if you prefer to start familiarizing yourself with the best title. It pays to read Lara's journal, as its entries tie everything she encounters to existing (mostly Norse) mythology. The levels also follow each other more naturally, without that world hopping for the sake of it feel which is typical to all Lara's (and Henry Jones's) adventures. It doesn't have the best puzzles, platforming, combat or story of all times, but it's one of the best gaming experiences I had, competing with adventure films on their own terms, while being an engrossing game to boot.

The best version of Tomb Raider in my opinion. Great puzzles, great graphics, and controls work fine. I had a problem to run this game on Win11, but I found a workaround for this: - run "cmd.exe" as an administrator - call "start /affinity 7FFFFFFF tru.exe" in the game folder

looks nice for its age, plays well too. payed maxed out on hd4600 igpu at 1366x768, smooth as butter. was fun to play. some good combat especialy later. lots of puzzle solving, some tuff ones had me stuck for a while. on sale its worth it.

Underworld continues after Legend and Anniversary, weaving a darker tale with North mythology. Built on a new engine, it offers impressive detail and variety from underwater ruins to vast temples. Unlike Legend's corridor heavy design, Underworld embraces larger, more open areas, giving at least some freedom to explore. Puzzles are well integrated and make strong use of Lara's acrobatics, Lara's Tools, etc. The grappling hook gains new uses, like tightening around objects to solve mechanisms. The motorcycle as vehicle isn't just for scripted chases but functions as transport, puzzle solving, and even combat, reminiscent of Tomb Raider II. Combat remains similar to earlier games, with the addition of dual target aiming. Oddly, jumping while shooting is less effective now, making ground combat more practical. But once you acquire the mythical weapon the game is tied to, balance is gone anyway, turning Lara into an overpowered force. Still Slow motion action sequences replace QTEs, letting players keep control an improvement over just button mashing. Unfortunately, climbing controls remain unreliable. While Lara auto grabs edges, many jumps feel scripted: if the designers didn't intend it, Lara simply won't hold on, even when it looks possible. This creates trial and error scenarios, worsened by occasional unclear level design. Motion captured animations look fluid but sometimes unnaturally fast or awkward, making movements feel strange. Croft Manor is absent, destroyed by the plot, meaning no training level. Post-game content is bare: no Time Attack, few unlockables beyond concept art. Exploration rewards are limited to collectibles with little value. Overall, Underworld feels like a step closer to classic Tomb Raider but is hampered by clunky execution. It's shorter, sometimes frustrating, and ultimately mediocre, yet it still provides a fitting conclusion to the Crystal Dynamics trilogy. Not outstanding, but worth a try if you can overlook its flaws.

I loved Legends and when Underworld came out I was looking forward to play it. It's basically more of the same we already knew before, with a bit more complex level design. I loved it but at some point I just stoped playing for some reason I don't remember and never touched it again. I guess now it's a good time to finish it.