Tomb Raider: Anniversary

It would be fun if it werent for the bugs. The enemies are especially annoying, as they spend more time stuck in corners than they do attacking you. It's funny the first couple of times it happens with minor enemies, but then a boss does the same thing, and it just gets tedious.

Although Anniversary doesn't quite reach the heights of the original Tomb Raider it's a beautiful and engaging adventure throughout. Occaisionally glitchy controls hold the game back a bit and some of the corridor sections are a chore. But it's surprising how much of an enjoyable challenge the game is, it really doesn't hold your hand and it's all the better for it. The best way to experience Lara's first adventure is Tomb Raider Remastered by Aspyr but Anniversary is definitely a fresh take worth experiencing.

TRA is a very cute and funny game.

Tomb Raider Anniversary is a magnificent reboot.

I never played the original Tomb Raider, or any of it's sequels. I always thought that all it had to offer was "big boobs polygon girl", and I just wasn't interested. But a while ago, I picked up this Anniversary re-release, and today, for the first time, I booted it up (I have quite a game backlog). Wow, was I impressed! Even making it into the first real area of the game felt like a small achievement. The controls are a tiny bit janky, but considering other titles from the era that I have played, they feel tight and responsive for the most part. The environments are beautifully rendered, the platforming and exploration are fun, and the combat sequences are suitably tense. If ever there was a reason to internalize the lesson "don't judge a game by its cover", Tomb Raider: Anniversary is it. If, like me, you've been sleeping on this franchise, I highly recommend you jump in, and I highly recommend that you make this the first title that you play. If you're at all a fan of puzzle platforming or action games, it's likely to be right up your alley.