Tomb Raider Anniversary
While the gameplay was revolutionary in terms of what it offered with a 3D environment there really wasn't much to do. Sure you clumsily explored caverns and shot the occasional bat or dinosaur that lurched your way but a white-knuckled experience and action-oriented experience just wasn't there. Over the years the Tomb Raider franchise has improved ever so slightly with Legend arguably being the best of the bunch. When Anniversary was announced it naturally peaked my interest.
Taking Lara back eleven years, Tomb Raider Anniversary seeks to retool the original game with Legend's gameplay engine. The graphics have been reworked, various mechanics have been tweaked, and in many cases this feels like a new game. The story may still be the same and feature a tale about the Scion of Atlantis and the gameplay may still be plodding at times but Anniversary is the way remakes should be done.
Gameplay
As with any great game the reception amongst the gaming crowd hinges solely on the quality of its gameplay. If a title is boring, clunky, or lacks innovation you can pretty much assume that it's going to hit the bargain faster than Britney and a rehab center. Like I previously stated the original Tomb Raider game featured many flaws. Quite honestly if that exact game was released today it would be scoffed at which is why it's a great thing that Crystal Dynamics reworked the engine for Anniversary.
Much of the gameplay is still the same and you'll recognize many things if you happen to have played the original back in the day. For starters you're still exploring caves and tombs and shooting wildlife along the way. If you think of Lara's first adventure as some twisted version of Field and Stream you'd probably be on the right track. "Oh look! A bear! Good thing I have twin pistols with unlimited ammo and a pair of stairs to climb up."
This aspect of Anniversary is arguably its weakest point. Without sprucing up the experience by adding more intelligent AI and more engaging enemy encounters you can expect the game to become somewhat boring before long. For the first half of this game you'll long for the outright action found in Tomb Raider Legend and it's unfortunate that the developers didn't do anything to improve that aspect.
Without an all out gunfight the theme in Tomb Raider Anniversary remains much like the first; exploration. Skulking around caverns and solving mysteries are the things that made the original game as popular as it was. Sure the action was minimal going through but the fact that this title made you think on your feet instantly set it apart. Even eleven years later you'll still find yourself stumped and having to step back to completely analyze a situation. Chances are there is a lever somewhere you haven't pulled, switch you haven't stepped on, or item you haven't found. Anniversary, much like the original, is all about keeping your eyes open and having your wits about you.
As far as what changes have been implemented that make Anniversary somehow better there are quite a few. For starters Lara feels more nimble. She'll reach for nearby ledges to get a finger hold, moves faster, and tends to feel more acrobatic. Coupled with the grappling hook these maneuvers feel modernized and very similar to Tomb Raider Legend.
Another area where Anniversary shows some improvement over the original is with a reflex system during combat. When you shoot an enemy enough, be they regular foe or boss, they'll get angry and charge you. Once this happens all you have to do is press a button at the appropriate time and you'll lunge out of the way. This leaves your prey open for your assault and gives you the opportunity to nail them in the head for more damage. The system feels clunky during execution sometimes but for the most part it works and works well.
These changes help to make Anniversary a fun visit to the original game that started it all. The drab gameplay and lengthy gabs in action have been minimized and the overall experience feels much more fluid. I do have to say though that the camera system is still horrible. You'll fight with the camera in order to get a good angle on where you need to go or what you're fighting. Don't be surprised if it leads to your untimely demise and forces you to restart a stage or checkpoint.
In the end Tomb Raider Anniversary is a solid revitalization of an eleven year old title. The Legend engine breaths new life into the otherwise stale gameplay and if you ever found yourself loving Lara you owe it to yourself to play this one. As with any remake this one doesn't completely withstand the test of time but it certainly leaves you wanting another Lara Croft adventure.
Graphics
When you're talking about graphics Tomb Raider Anniversary is kind of a mixed bag. On one hand you have a revamp that looks entirely better than the original in every conceivable way. On the other Anniversary just doesn't look quite as good as Legend. Maybe this was due to development time or a lack of attention but the finer details are lost in the process.
Lara still looks amazing and animations for the most part are lifelike. She can be a little stiff at times and glitches are present that chop out animations altogether. Enemies look decent enough but in poorly lit environments a bear is only going to look like a black blob no matter how you look at it. And speaking of environments they are impressive but not awe inspiring like Legend or other next-generation adventure titles present. This is a PlayStation 2 game after all so the visuals can only look so good in the grand scheme of things.
Audio
Like most Tomb Raider games you can expect to hear footsteps echo through a cavern and guns blasting when enemies rear their ugly heads. In both cases the quality of the audio is about what you'd expect and is significantly better than what the original Tomb Raider offered. The voice acting in cut scenes is decent enough and the music, when it's available, is just as sweeping as ever. Like the graphics the sound in Anniversary isn't quite as impressive as Legend but it's a heck of a lot better than the original.
Conclusion
Maybe Tomb Raider Legend spoiled me but Anniversary just paled in comparison to the latest Croft adventure. The gameplay isn't quite as solid, the graphics aren't as good, and the sound isn't as impressive. Still, this game was never intended to be a sequel or successor to Legend, it is and has always been a remake of the original Tomb Raider. Along those lines the quality is superb and the experience is much better than anything you played through eleven years ago. If you're a Lara fan or just looking for a solid adventure game on your PlayStation 2 (or 3 respectively) you can't go wrong with this one. Just don't expect anything groundbreaking.