Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Developer: Crystal Dynamics

Features:

Genre: Action-Adventure
Players: 1
Memory Stick Duo: 295KB

It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since Lara Croft first invaded the Playstation, Sega Saturn and PC. Since the original Tomb Raider was released Lara Croft has become a household name and the franchise has sold over 30 million games to date making it one of the biggest video game series of all time. As a tribute of sorts to the original game, Eidos launches Lora Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary (TR: Anniversary for short) for the PSP. Preserving the core elements of the original Tomb Raider game, Lora Croft is back in this new and improved remake of the original. TR: Anniversary uses an improved version of the Legend game engine and it includes all the original 'worlds' from Tomb Raider. Having played the PS2 version which was released earlier this summer, I was very curious to see how TR: Anniversary would make the transition from console to handheld. Needless to say, the transition is a smooth one and many fans of the franchise will be pleasantly surprised with this instalment.

Graphics

To be perfectly honest, as far as the visuals were concerned my expectations were low given the lower resolution screen of the PSP. To my amazement, TR: Anniversary for the PSP not only met my expectations but shattered them as well. The visuals are simply stunning and it almost appears a little cleaner than the PS2 version. This is likely due to the smaller PSP LCD screen; nevertheless the game does look great and appears to take advantage of the PSP’s hardware.

First of all, Lara Croft looks great on the PSP and has come along way since 1996. All of her curves are nicely detailed and she clearly remains arguably the hottest and sexiest character in the gaming industry. Now if only some levels required her to be in a skimpy bathing suit… I guess one can only wish as I digress. Nevertheless, Lara looks good and you will notice all the other character models in the game are also rendered quite well. The oversized gorillas and dinosaurs you encounter throughout the game are very detailed and bang-on. It very much reminds me of the beasts you face in King Kong the video game. Aside from some frame-rate issues, I had limited concerns with how smoothly I was able to move my character and with the overall look of the characters.

One of the great aspects of the franchise is environments and TR: Anniversary is no exception as it does a great job giving you the feeling you are in a ‘Raiders of the Lost Arc’ type movie to a certain extent. The maps are huge, detailed and there any many challenges throughout the game. Given my many deaths during the game, I was able to get a good look at the landscape and locales. Ultimately, this is where I noticed the smooth transition from the PS2 to the PSP as nothing is lost or scaled back in any way. Granted you do see some slow-down but this is to be expected given the size of the game.

As with other versions of the franchise I still had issues with the camera as it often seemed to have a mind of its own. Playing on the PSP often has me wishing I had a second analog stick. Fortunately, this is not the case when fighting enemies in this game as you have the ability to lock on your enemies in Lara TR: Anniversary for the PSP. Bottom line, the visuals are pretty and you will be pleasantly surprised considering the game is a little cheaper (depending on your local retailer) than your typical big name new releases for the PSP.

Sound

As far as the sound is concerned, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary is enjoyable. The following sounds stood out for me:

- The weapons are very solid;
- The soundtrack is decent and amps up when the action becomes more intense; and
- The overall presentation and battle sounds are effective.

Unfortunately you do not have the benefit of 5.1 surround sound when playing the game on the portable gaming device. So for many, the game may seem average in the audio department. Granted, there is nothing incredibly innovating as far as the sound is concerned. For those that have played the PS2 version, the audio is virtually identical in the PSP version. The single feature which really stood out for me was the sounds of the guns. It is very sharp and effective. You can even hear the echo of the gun as you fire away in rapid succession throughout the game. There isn’t much in the way of voice acting in TR: Anniversary but what is there is decent and clear. The music is also solid in the game and it intensifies when action heats up. Don’t expect any recognizable artists in the soundtrack, which was a bit of drawback, but it is consistent with previous games in the franchise nonetheless.

Gameplay

Time to point out the obvious; TR: Anniversary you play the role of Lara Croft. Similar to the original Tomb Raider, Lara Croft is hired by a powerful syndicate to retrieve a mythical object called the Scion. After discovering that Lara has been used as a pawn in some larger scheme, she takes matters into her own hands deciding that she must uncover the mystery behind this ancient artefact. For the most part, the story is irrelevant and true enjoyment comes from progressing through the missions and figuring out ways to make it through each level.

As I indicated earlier, TR: Anniversary is a remake of the original. However, before you start to send off some hate mail, I fully recognize this is a new and rebuilt version of the original and by no means should be considered an identical remake. Not only did Crystal Dynamics rebuild the original from the ground up; they also added new content and removed some of the old locales from the original version. At the end of the day, the game is a bit shorter and some of the puzzle challenges have been simplified. Nevertheless, the action is much more intense and the pace is seemingly quicker this time around.

Compared to the original Tomb Raider, Lara Croft is much more useful and has more gadgets at her disposal this time around. While her jumping ability does not seem as far as previous versions, her new abilities, which are identical to her abilities seen in Legend, offer up a much more enjoyable experience. Lara also seems to move much smoother and getting through missions is accomplished much easier this time around which makes for an easier game at the end of the day.

As far as the missions and levels are concerned, there is lots of variety as you progress. The mission locales are in exotic places as Peru, Greece and Egypt to name a few. If you have played the PS2 version, you will be amazed how the game is an exact duplicate on the PSP. The game took me quite some time to finish as it was lot of trial and error at certain points. Nevertheless, this was great time killer for those who need a gaming fix on the go.

As far as the fun factor is concerned, much of TR: Anniversary for the PSP is enjoyable, however I did find many of the battles repetitive and they really did not require much skill to accomplish the goal at hand. Essentially, whenever I encountered a bad ass dinosaur for instance, it was just a matter of running around in circles and repetitively shooting the thing to death. After awhile I actually found myself getting a little bored. That being said, there is plenty in the variety department to keep many entertained for hours.