Tomb Raider Anniversary -- Final Opinion.

Nearly eighteen hours of gameplay later and the credits have rolled on Tomb Raider Anniversary. The Tomb Raider Legend engine allows for the same improved controls and new moves as applied to the original Tomb Raider. Gone are the original's tank like controls. There is hardly any go forward, stop, adjust so you're lined up just perfectly, and make the leap. Now it's entirely more fluid. All of that is done far more on the fly. It's not so start and stop anymore. And as in Legend, it's a great thing in Anniversary. In the original if you weren't lined up just perfectly you were going to be falling to your death. Tomb Raider Anniversary allows for a little imprecision. If you're close enough you can still grab on to that ledge or handhold. You'll be prompted to quickly press a button as a saving grace. The same sort of aspect has been applied to the cutscenes. You'll have to go through quick timer events we've all come to know. Crystal Dynamics has done the smart thing and actually mapped the actions to the controls for these scenes. In other words, it's not just some random buttons to press for the scene. If Lara needs to jump, then it'll be X, if she needs to fire her weapon it'll be R1, if she needs to roll or dodge it'll be the circle button. All just as she would normally control. You'll instinctively know what button to push based on the onscreen action and you'll never be tripped up. That's the best thing about it. It feels natural. It doesn't feel there just to trip you up as most quick timer events happen to do. The game walks a fine line incredibly well. It manages to feel just like the original Tomb Raider while being fresh and new at the same time. The level structures all feel familiar. You know you've been here before. But you also understand that things have been changed around to fit in Lara's new Legend moves like the grappling hook and all it allows. Everything has been changed because of it. From structure to puzzles and boss battles, yet it feels like you're playing the original Tomb Raider. The boss battles are the most obvious in how they've changed. Especially the human ones. No longer just shootouts and more quick timer events. The story has also been considerably changed. It's far more fleshed out and full. What was inferred has now been driven blatantly home. The puzzles are still fiendishly fun and clever. The action improved. The graphics are a mixed bag. They look great for a PS2 game. But having played Legend on the X360 and knowing what could have been makes the graphics lamentable.  The sound design is nothing short of awesome. The sparse use of music throughout most of the game helps create a great sense of isolation that feeds into the exploration of the tombs. And the music spiking into play with any sort of combat helps provide a sense of urgency in the matter. The best part of the original game has been preserved within Anniversary, and that is that sense of exploration. It's more about exploring and the puzzles than it'll ever be about the combat in the original and Anniversary. It's easy to lose yourself in the exploration and puzzles and that's a great thing. I'm giving Tomb Raider Anniversary a 9. Now bring on the sequel to Tomb Raider Legend, and make sure it's back on the X360 or the PS3.