Vinyl diving suit? Check. Skin-hugging daisy dukes? Check. Sub-machine, 9mm and assault rifle? Double check.

Lara Croft. The name that launched drool-worthy images and concocted wet dreams for nerds everywhere. She is the definitive nerd-core. Many women have come before the reigning queen of the industry, but none have ever come close to possessing half the amount of sex appeal Lara exudes. Add to that worlds of non-stop action and a plethora of exotic places to ‘raid’, and the Tomb Raider series still ranks as one of the most memorable and enjoyable games ever created. On a personal note, Tomb Raider marked the turning point in my gaming interest; transforming a casual, fun experience into a passionate one. Thanks, Lara!

Eidos’s visually stunning Tomb Raider: Underworld is no exception: showcasing Lara in all her beautiful glory, this installment addresses those burning questions left unanswered and provides a satisfying sequel to Legend. Prepare to be enthralled, prepare to be surprised, and prepare to be left hanging.

The visuals are breath-taking in Underworld, flaunting Lara in all of her sexy splendor.

Story
Much to the satisfaction of fans, Underworld picks up exactly where Legend and Anniversary left off. It acts as a great stand-alone sequel that manages to tie up some loose ends and carry the story seamlessly from one installment to the other.

The story begins with a punch: Lara Croft’s beloved mansion, which we all had grown to love and cherish, is suddenly alit with fire. As if that’s already not enough, Zip and Winston step in and shake things up a bit more by shooting at Lara. All of this happens in a matter of mere minutes, and then the game flashes back to a week earlier, in the Mediterranean Sea.

After some diving around in quite the sexy little scuba suit, we learn that Lara is on a quest to find Avalon. Avalon is the mythical resting place of King Arthur and also allegedly where Amanda claimed that Lara’s mother is. In case you never played Legend/Anniversary, Amanda (who resembles a two bit angry goth) first made her appearance in this incarnation and was Lara’s friend from college. After both of them witnessed the death of their friends, they were separated by an Entity and weren’t reunited until later along in the story, where Lara discovers that Amanda is now her enemy. Lara and Amanda both fight to find and use the Excalibur sword and open a portal, and it ends with Amanda confessing to Lara that her mother is in Avalon. End Legend, back to Underworld.

Lara can now employ some basic hand-to-hand combat action, though it’s nothing too noteworthy. You want to wrestle with a 300 lb tiger? Stick with the guns.

After discovering a temple of Norse origin and Thor’s gauntlet, Lara is led to believe that Avalon and the Norse underworld, Niflheim, are the same. Acting on her find, Lara then has a run-in on a boat with her olds, Jacqueline Natla, who is being held in captivity by Amanda. There, Natla informs Lara that Avalon is not Niflheim, but Helheim, and that she will need the mighty Thor’s hammer to enter it. Lara attempts to gun down a fleeing Amanda after their ship explodes, and watches her escape.

Lara then travels to Thailand and discovers that her father had already been there and took a second gauntlet of Thor’s back to Croft manor, where she must go to retrieve it. It is here that we see and find out why Lara’s manor goes up in flames and why Zip was shooting at her. Apparently, Zip mistakenly thought that Lara had shot at him after he took Amanda’s Wraith Stone from the vault. An evil doppelganger perchance? An evil doppelganger it is! Before Lara can even review the mansion’s security tapes, she is confronted by the doppelganger herself (A sexy, black-clad Lara with an attitude). Apparently, she has been created by Natla in order to defeat Lara and work for the other side. The doppelganger manages to kill Alister, her beloved comrade from Legend, and breaks hearts everywhere. Enraged, Lara leaves her burning house and resolves to find Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, and kill Natla with it.

She then travels to Mexico and Jan Mayen Island and finally finds Mjolnir in Valhalla, along with a message from her father. Armed and ready, Lara then confronts Natla on another one of Amanda’s ships. Lara then turns around and compromises with her after Natla claimed she knew Odin’s ritual to properly use the hammer and open Helheim/Avalon. With her help, Lara opens the entrance and finally is reunited with her mother. Unfortunately for Lara, her mother has been turned into a thrall, which was described as a deceased individual reanimated by the substance Eitr. In other words, a walking, mindless zombie.

One of the first bosses, the Kraken, will set your heart racing a time or two, until you come to realize he is blind, dumb, and stationary. Yeah.

Already feeling defeated, Lara is then subjected to some harsh truths from Natla: she reveals that it was her that killed Lara’s father and that she was just using Lara and Amanda to gain access to Avalon. As if it couldn’t get any worse, Lara’s doppelganger then shows up and tries to kill Lara. Just as it looks as if she is about to bite the bullet, Amanda has a change of heart and shows up in time to save the day, killing the doppelganger and holding off the zom-, er, thralls.

Amanda’s save allows Lara to make a get-away and hunt down Natla. She finds the winged beast attempting to activate an ancient device that will bring about Ragnarok, or, the Seventh Age of mankind. The device works by triggering volcanic activity throughout the world, which would eventually lead to apocalyptic mass destruction. Lara has to find a way to stop Natla from activating the device, return home, and tie up some loose ends with Amanda before the game finishes this chapter.

Gameplay
There’s no time for training: the story begins by placing the player in Lara’s Manor, which is heavily engulfed in flames and quickly falling apart. Thankfully, the controls are easy to maneuver and Lara runs beautifully through the hazardous maze of fire. It is here you experience the exciting extensions of the grappling hook as well as her ability to interact directly within the environment. This is only the beginning: next, you get to direct Lara in an underwater adventure.

Lara finally has the use of both hands and guns. She now can shoot while holding onto a ledge, shoot with two hands, and more.

The game itself plays very easily. When stuck in a puzzle, for example, you have the option to access her menu/map system and request a hint or even a direct answer. Trigger-happy players will find this useful if they don’t enjoy solving puzzles of their own free will. If you’re like the rest of us, then shying away from the hint buttons will make completing the adventure all the more satisfying.

One of the most exciting new features in the Underworld is an “interactive world that reacts and remembers.” Not only does the AI possess their own set of ‘thinking skills’, but the dazzling environment you play in has a mind of it’s own as well, creating a new kind of adversary for Lara. For example, any damage that you have Lara inflict upon the environment will be permanent throughout your gameplay. Likewise, enemies you demolish will remain lying exactly where you killed them. Footprints and knee prints are characteristic of the environment as well, only to be washed away when the rain hits. The more Lara gets down and dirty with her adventures, the more it reflects on her face and clothing: her face and body are smudged with dirt and sweat at times. Additionally, Eidos has introduced a new “hybrid” lighting model, creating an interactive weather system that affects the environment directly. Rain-soaked areas in ledges and cliffs that make it slippery for Lara suddenly dry out and become stable once the sun shines (also drying out her shirt!). These all make for an incredibly dynamic, non-linear and engrossing experience.

Not only is the environment almost 100% interactive, but the various objects, tools, and improvised weapons you find can be used a la Dead Rising. Lara can now use assorted poles and rocks found within the game to thwart enemies. She can also fire with two guns at the same time (only took you nine years, huh Eidos?) , hitting two different targets simultaneously, and also fire with one gun and hold an object with her other hand. Her infamous grappling hook is also developed a bit further: she can now pull objects off ledges and climb up walls effortlessly. Furthermore, Lara’s bike lends itself to moving along the plot and plays an important element within the game. These all make for a rather large assortment of weapons and tools to propel Lara forward in her quests.

An underwater adventure awaits you: Lara can now swim with speed and agility, all the while dodging sharks and glowy jellyfish.

The controls in the game are reminiscient of Legend’s. Though perfected to some degree, sometimes they play out a little less than stellar. The infuriating ‘perfect’ jumps you must perform in order to avoid certain death are few and far between in this title. Also nice is the nifty auto-aim feature when performing melee combat as well as guns. However, due to some buggy camera issues, Lara does seem to get “stuck” in certain walls or on certain edges.

The AI in Underworld leaves much to be desired. Though visually pleasing, you could kill most of the enemies with a dirty look. However, that’s not to say that her enemies and various animals are lifeless drones; au contraire, they now react to situations appropriately within the game and cause quite the stir within the story. They will retreat if necessary, plan attacks, fire at you relentlessly, and employ some adept fighting skills. However, if you find that the enemies are bit too annoying at times then you have the option to set enemy health to “low”. This allows for some great adventuring time with only brief spouts of enemy conflict.

Time to do away with the ol’ button mashing: the interactive quick-time cut scenes experienced in previous titles have now been replaced with a slow-motion screen and provide Lara with an opportunity to escape, all while under the player’s complete control. Additionally, unlike Legend, Underworld is not equipped with a lot of unlockables. Instead of the option to view Lara in a tantalizing cutscene at your discretion, once you watch the mini-movie in its entirety, that’s it. No re-watching available, unless you decide to play the game over again. Better pay attention.

Though an eye-popping explosion of beauty, Underworld is not without it’s faults. One of the most notable lies in the cameras. The system itself can be quite unstable at times, making for some rather frustrating moments to be had. Sometimes Lara gets stuck in corners, walls, bits of rock and the screen goes black with no warning. Although you can eventually wade her out of this mess, this fault lends itself to an unfinished feel.

Lara’s trademark sleeveless green top and khaki shorts have been replaced with a dark brown halter and black shorts. Her hair is also no longer braided, but worn in a ponytail.

Ultimately, one of the most disappointing elements in Underworld is the lack of a real challenge in the battle department. Sure, the never-ending plethora of puzzles to solve cause quite the frustration and annoyance at times, but as far as big boss battles are concerned? Pretty much nonexistent. The story threw a lot of really exciting villains your way, including Lara’s very own doppelganger, so my hopes were high in the sense of getting to fight them. No such luck. Apart from the measly animals and enemies that shoot at you for no apparent reason, the real boss battles lack even the popular button-mashing quick-time. You don’t even get to fight Natla, after all that you found out she’s done to wreck up your life. This leaves the player unfulfilled and a tad frustrated. The outlandish storyline weaves a plot and puzzle so intricately designed, building up to what must be an epic battle for all ages. False. Underworld does not climax in any such epic battle and fails to deliver a noteworthy boss fight.

Visuals
The incredible visual presentation in Underworld is hands down the greatest aspect of this game. A large, intricately detailed underwater world, antique, rusting statues, and lush vegetation are all fully rendered with exquisite detail.

The game takes you on a ride through a plethora of exotic locales: underground tombs, asian beaches, artic caves, and oceanic floors all astound and overwhelm your fragile human eyes. Every last rock is beautifully detailed to the core, and is a bit overpowering to take it all in at once. Rain glistens on statues and ledges, waters sway and churn with natural movement, sunlight sparkles on exquisite greenery and animal fur ripples with the wind.

Gymnast Alison Carroll has been selected as the new official Lara Croft model. Heidi Moneymaker, also an Olympic gymnast, was the model used for motion capturing.

Lara herself is a sight to behold. Her enviable figure is even more voluptuous and her face sports some of the most outstanding animations seen today. You can actually see her buxom behind bouncing up and down as she sprints along, carving an unforgettable visual inspiration for one-handers everywhere. Gone are the days where Lara moves choppily and slightly unrealistically around the world. Eidos used an actual Olympic gymnast for motion capturing, which makes Lara’s fluid acrobatics and effortless jumps all the more realistic and enjoyable. Even the henchmen and animals in this game exhibit just as much detailed beauty as Lara herself. Eidos did a brilliant job of creating a photo-realistic environment in Underworld, making it one of the top reasons to play this game.

Audio
Troels Brun Folmann and O’Malley’s ethereal musical score plays out quite divinely within the depths of Underworld. The score itself is orchestral and elegantly unique. The musical waves eloquently rise up and down and often do not repeat within the entire game. Important events trigger similar tunes though, which acts as a great tying element that wraps the game together neatly. Fans of the series will be pleasantly surprised to hear the fragments of the well known Tomb Raider main theme in the very first game.

The voice acting is superb in Underworld. Lara’s traditional British accent loses none of it’s charm and is constant throughout gameplay. Her conversations with Amanda seem natural and believable, almost letting the player forget that they are watching a videogame cutscene instead of a movie. Another cool feature of the game is the option to play it in English, Spanish, French, and German.

I pity Lara’s feet. Kicking vases full of treasures without shoes and running along bumpy, sharp rocks can’t be too comfy or sanitary.

DLC
While the 360 version of the game features an abundance of pleasing add-ons, the Playstation 3 version was once again left in the dust. The 360 version contains two brand new “episodes”, Beneath the Ashes and Lara’s Shadow, as well as six new costumes and never before seen taverns and caves. This goes without saying that over 125 points of achievements will also be included. Hopefully Sony will put on it’s game and up the ante for Underworld, and at least add some pretty trophies.

Lifespan
The entire game takes the average player about 8-10 hours to complete, depending on how much exploring you want to take part in. This game features a “treasure hunt” mode which provides you with an opportunity to unlock the few unlockables in the game. They consist of some beautiful character concept art, level concept art, and even more art. Nothing else to note of. This is disappointing when you compare to what was given to you in Legend: being able to view the cinematics over and over again. Given the bare arsenal of unlockables, this game leaves little to nothing in the way of replay value, unless you want to explore each area in its entirety.

Lara's signature acrobatics are executed with grace and ease within the game.

Recommendation
While a smorgasbord of visual delights, Underworld, though enjoyable, lacks a real challenge for players. Hardcore fans of the series will be blown away with it’s visual and audio presentation, but will feel a bit unfulfilled with it’s bare unlockables and overall gameplay. The absence of a memorable ending boss battle hinders the game’s ability to rise to heights of greatness. This and the appearance of a few glitches (Uh, a missing lever? What the-!) are the only things that could alter your opinion on the game. It does not play out too long, nor is it too hard. Though possessing a few faults, I still recommend this installment not only for die-hard fans of Lara, but for newcomers as well. Underworld dazzles you on the Playstation 3 and will take command of your senses to the fullest degree.

Tomb Raider: Underworld
Systems: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Find: Amazon - Gamefly - Goozex
All reviews are based on final retail code unless otherwise noted.

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