In 1996, Eidos Interactive came out of nowhere with a game that has become one of my all-time Top 10 computer games. (Maybe I'll do a top 10 series if I ever finish my 15 Best Movies of All Time)
Before Angelina Jolie entered the scene, there was Tomb Raider. Stealing Indiana Jones' thunder, Lara Croft raided tombs in beautiful 3D, shooting critters and bad guys on her mission to track down evil masterminds and treasure. With it's full 3D renderings, sumptuous environments and full-tilt boogie gameplay, Tomb Raider consumed hours of my time.
Running, climbing, shooting, crawling, hiding, creeping and, oh yeah, solving puzzles... never before did you have such control over a character. Yeah, Lara looked good too. But that wasn't even an issue. It's all about the gameplay. From ancient Indian ruins to Rome and Egypt to the lost city of Atlantis (with some pretty freaky creatures!), Tomb Raider was an evolutionary step in immersive 3D action/adventure gaming on the PC.
One year later, Eidos released the first sequel, Tomb Raider II. To this day, this one is my favorite in the entire series. I've played it completely through at least four times. Once again, Lara treks across the globe in search of treasure and adventure.
Lara spends time in Venice, Tibet, a ship wreck and many other locations in this huge action adventure game. It is gaming perfection.
In 1998, Eidos did it again with Lara's third adventure. Aptly titled Tomb Raider III, Lara began to show her age in this sequel. While levels in the jungle were quite fun, the game departs from traditional tomb raiding and moves to metropolitan locations, such as London. I still thoroughly enjoyed playing this sequel, though I hoped for a return to the tombs soon.
And back to the tombs it was in 1999, with the release of Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation. With a better developed storyline, TR4 takes place entirely in Egypt. Nothing but tombs, baby! It's a good story, though I did find myself getting somewhat bored by the repetitive scenery. How many mummies and skeletons can you shoot, anyhow? I guess I was also getting tired of pushing blocks and flipping switches. The game did leave you with a cliffhanger, wondering if Lara died at the end.
Just when you think Eidos is ready to totally redo their gaming engine, out comes Tomb Raider Chronicles. Even though the year was 2000, Eidos was still using the same game engine as the original game four years earlier. They put a little spit and shine on it, adding a few new moves for Lara. But this was essentially a rehash of the same game. I don't think I finished this one. How sad.
The hype surrounding Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness was off the charts. The buzz was that this would be the best Tomb Raider of all time. Aside from an updated graphics engine and beautiful locations, this was the absolute WORST Tomb Raider of all time. Lara played as stiff as a cardboard cutout, making it difficult to control her, especially when under attack by bad guys. I played this one about halfway through and quit in frustration. What a sad ending to a fantastic series.
But is it really the end? Apparantly not. Crystal Dynamics has taken the reigns of Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. They have just announced that the next game will be called Tomb Raider Legends. As of this writing, the web site has a brief preview with more to come.
Here's to hoping they are able to innovate and restore Lara to the throne of tomb raiding Queen! If not, I guess I'll have to pull out TR2 again and reminisce about the good 'ole days.
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