Welcome to my first official review for TrueTrophies!
Lara Croft has always held a special place in my e-heart, so I am more than ecstatic to write this review!
This will not be a comparative review of TR: Underworld vs. TR: Legend/TR: Anniversary. This is a review of only Underworld. So let's get this started!
Story/Gameplay/Controls: 8.5/10 story; 8/10 gameplay/controls
The story focuses on Lara trying to find out what happened to her mother. Expeditions to the Mediterranean Sea, the coasts of Thailand and the Ruins of Mexico are just a few of her platforming pit-stops. If you pay attention to stories in video games (which I hope you do!), you will get a good bulk of education on Norse Mythology.
The game focuses almost entirely on platform and puzzle solving. I will be the first to admit, I shook my head many a time after I accidentally launched Lara off of some kind of ledge and having her plummet to her death. Almost 95% of the time, the controls work. Lara will do what you want/tell her to. There are a few places where if you aren't in the "sweet spot" Lara will either a) hang off a wall and do NOTHING, like she got paralyzed by a cactus that was inserted into her rectum; or b) you want her to do a specific action, but she switches it up and pulls a fast one on you by launching into the abyss while screaming and smacking the wall on the way down.
Some of the puzzles in this game are pretty simple while others will have you stumped for awhile. I am assuming 95% of the people who play will just use some kind of guide. But for the select few (including me) that try to do the puzzles without help will be quite pleased with the difficulty and thought process it takes to complete them.
As I stated, the controls work a greater majority of the time. You will have a handful of controller-clenching moments, but as with any platforming game, everyone will have them. You will probably have more trouble with the sometimes sporadic camera views. Its like the cameraman lost the remote to his wheelchair or something. Quite often, you will be getting a zoom-up of Lara's sexy butt. It's definitely not a bad view, but when you're trying to climb a wall and not tumble to your death and you can't see where you're going, it can get a little annoying.
There are a couple of motorcycle sections within the game. They are less than stellar as the motorcycle is not the greatest to control. It turns horribly and if you ever have to use the reverse, you will be angrier than two monkeys with only one cupcake. Lara might as well be driving a dump-truck when she is using reverse. It's painfully slow. But, you could just whip a donut and save yourself a few seconds. So at least there is another option!
The combat in the game is not it's strong point. I actually thought at one point there was
too much combat. Really though, there isn't a ton of combat, but for what's there...it's not good. All you have to do to emerge victorious from a scuffle is jump around like a rabbit on steroids and just hold the right trigger while your pistols with unlimited ammo do the work. The AI is not very bright, so you will emerge victorious quite often. But don't get too cocky. This isn't CoD. Don't go plowing into a fight thinking you'll get a 5 kill streak and get a predator missile. Lara can be fragile at times.
Sound/Graphics: 10/10 voice acting; 8/10 game sounds; 9/10 graphics
Keeley Hawes does an excellent job voice acting for Lara. All the other voice actors did a great job as well. The sounds throughout the game all mesh together. When you're in the jungle, it will sound like it. When Lara screams in pains, it sounds like she is in pain. Gunshots sound like gunshots. There is nothing that puts the sounds in the game over the top like in a Final Fantasy game. But it's solid.
The graphics in this game are definitely up to par for a PS3 game. Underworld was created in 2007 for a 2008 release and it fits well with the graphics of that time There isn't any pants-crapping graphics that revolutionized gaming like CoD4 did back in the day, but it is still very beautiful.
They did a spectacular job with the underwater graphics. The on-ground graphics were very pretty as well. The coast of Thailand and Southern Mexico missions are primary examples of the beautiful scenery that comes with this game. Lara herself even has that sexy look about her in the cutscenes. She definitely looks good in those swimsuits/bikinis! Speaking of cutscenes, I hope you like them. As there are a fair share of them. But they are necessary I believe, as they provide basically the whole story. You don't just get the cutscene before each of the new locations. You get them during and at the end of the location.
Replayability/Trophies: 6/10 replay; 9/10 acquiring trophies
As much as I enjoyed the game, there really isn't a strong point to replay it unless you missed a trophy or you really want to. It is possible to net yourself every trophy in one single playthrough. But, just because it is possible doesn't mean it should be exercised that way. If anything, do everything BUT finding all the treasures. As you can go to "treasure hunt" after you finish the game and you will revisit all the areas you were at. Which allows you to collect all the treasures.
Do not be intimidated by the trophy that calls for you to beat the game on the hardest difficulty settings. It doesn't matter what difficulty you are on when you're platforming. If you fall into the abyss on easy or hard, you will still die. The only thing that is affected by the difficulty change is the combat and there really isn't too much of that. Remember for the combat to just keep jumping and shooting that pistol. Keep your distance from your enemies if you can. Health packs can be abundant at times but you may need them later on. So play it safe!
Conclusion:Let me start off by saying thank you for taking the time to read my review. I had a lot of fun writing it! But please let me know how you feel about it. I know the trolls are always out in full force, so I know I will get some down votes just because I had the ambition to write a review. But if you see a glaring mistake, then please tell me!
If you can purchase this game for $10-15 then I highly recommend it. If you are looking to rent it, then I also say go for it! It probably will only take you a weekend to beat, but you will be happy that you did. It's a solid game all around!
5.0