Interestingly, Anniversary introduces a few minor changes in the way in which the story is told and how certain characters are represented. While the core story of the original is still largely intact, with the Atlantean Scion, characters and travelling to Peru, Greece, Egypt and the Lost Island, certain instances of the story have been changed slightly to create a bit more purpose behind character appearances and added tension to situations. Most players won’t notice a huge change in the overall story telling, though fans will be pleased with the changes.
Lara’s biggest danger in Anniversary is the environment itself. Over the last 11 years the Tomb Raider series has provided mind numbing puzzles that has required Lara to leap from small ledges, swing from ropes and to execute all sorts of tough manoeuvres to progress further. Players can expect a similar experience in Anniversary with traditional features such as jumping across large gaps, grappling across walls, and an array of tough puzzle conquering all present in the remake. The gameplay in the Tomb Raider is hardly ever faulted, and to be given roughly 13 hours worth of various puzzles ranging from simple block moving to complete room puzzles makes for an excellent adventure from start to finish.
The scale in Anniversary has been vamped right up.
Of course, wrapping your mind around some of the game’s more complex and gut-wrenching puzzles is eventually going leave you swearing at the telly. Naturally, the developers need some sort of congratulations for incorporating some extremely difficult puzzles, and then those “oh my God, I could’ve figured that out in five seconds but I spent two hours here” type of puzzles, offering a nice balance for gamers throughout the entire game. At the beginning of the game puzzles are generally fairly straightforward, merely requiring you to jump from ledges and pull triggers, though later in the game there are puzzles that need to be perfectly timed and complex water raising puzzles. Even when you think you’ve figured a puzzle out, the game often throws some curveballs by placing dummy ledges that lead to no where or platforms that’ll break when you stand on them – supplying a bit of unexpectedness on occasions. For this Anniversary remake, the developers have done an extremely good job of reworking some of the original puzzles that made little sense by expanding certain areas, slightly altering some puzzles for the better and offering players with new puzzles altogether.
Unlike the recent Legend outing, Lara isn’t gun-blazing and popping bullets into hundreds of enemies. Instead, the game uses wild animals such as bears, apes, wolves and even some other unexpected creatures sparingly, maintaining the quiet escape of raiding tombs for relics perfectly. What’s done extremely well with this element is that the game uses these creatures to create tension and quick shock horror moments, with most creatures jumping out of corners without warning – keeping players constantly on their toes.
Of the combat that is available though, it is done in an extremely versatile manner. Gun shooting is implemented with a simple lock-on system, allowing Lara to flip in any direction as she shoots. A new feature included in Anniversary is the adrenaline dodge, which allows Lara to dodge charging enemies in slow motion. While in the slow motion state, two small targets will move across the screen before they eventually lock onto the enemy’s head, and if you fire during that split-second it’ll provide an instant kill. Additionally, the game incorporates the interactive cutscenes seen in games such as Tomb Raider: Legend and Resident Evil 4, where players are prompted to press certain buttons to keep Lara alive.
Combat is still fairly simplistic, but still offers plenty of action for fans.
Graphically, Anniversary looks simply amazing for a PS2 title. Anniversary uses an enhanced Tomb Raider: Legend game engine, bringing the 11 year-old classic up to current day standards in all aspects. The absolute sense of scale has been bumped up dramatically since the original, making most areas appear much larger and realistic than previously. Texturing and overall presentation is of high standards, as well as Lara’s fluid animation as she runs, jumps and… uh, bounces. The soundtrack has been kept in order, with well-presented tracks that are perfectly implemented for each area. As an added incentive for those who have it, the game supports surround sound, which simply sounds like a treat whilst playing, and even 60hz and widescreen support.
While we’ve only been able to give this game nothing but praise so far, Anniversary isn’t without a few minor setbacks that prevent it from being a truly outstanding game. The camera system in all Tomb Raider games has always been problematic, and Anniversary has once again failed to incorporate a camera system that doesn’t need at least a little bit of manoeuvring during puzzles and general adventuring. Players have the ability to freely move the camera in any direction during play, as well as an overhead view by pressing the right analogue stick inwards. Unfortunately, the camera generally gets stuck on objects during tight puzzles, often making it difficult to know where to jump or move without sitting on solid ground and checking beforehand. Moving through narrow corridors is also a tad annoying since the camera rarely situates itself in a correct position.
Additionally, the game also has a few minor technical problems, such as being able to sometimes walk through small solid objects, and sometimes entering new rooms and having to wait until certain objects load. While it’s impressive that you’re able to enter any room without load times – except for the start of a new area – it’s somewhat surprising to enter a room and having to wait a few seconds before a pillar of spikes appear. None of these problems are terribly noticeable, or game ruining, though it’s extremely disappointing that such a high-profile series isn’t quite as polished as one would expect.
Without trying to sugar-coat this too much, there's one thing you must know: this game is a splendid remake to an already excellent game, but with heaps of extra bells and whistles making the experience that much better than before. If you were one of the few who experienced Lara's first adventure back on the PlayStation, then Anniversary provides enough to warrant another play through purely because of the new puzzles, captivating music and excellent sense of scale. And if you've never played the original, or are new to the series, then now is a better time than ever to start. Additionally, to add that little bit of extra icing to this already delicious package, the game has a recommended retail price of AU$69.99.
But yeah, you can dive atop the waterfall - I think Legend had the same feature.
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