Tomb Raider: Underworld

Tomb Raider: Underworld is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics, and published by Eidos Interactive. It has released primarily for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii systems in November 2008 in Europe and North America, and early December 2008 in Australia. A PlayStation 2 port was released in Q1 of 2009. This is the third and final installment in the second era of the Tomb Raider series, and the ninth mainline entry overall (if Anniversary is counted).

Plot
Picking up from where Legend ended, Lara continues her quest to discover what really happened to her mother many years prior. The game also looks to resolve some unanswered plot threads in Anniversary. She travels to various exotic locations including Thailand, Southern Mexico, and the Jan Mayen Island in hopes of finding Avalon, which is where her mother mysteriously ended up. While in the Mediterranean Sea, Lara discovers the ancient temple, known as Niflheim, one of the Norse underworlds, specifically referred to as "The Land of the Dead". On her travels, she encounters her former friend Amanda, and arch-nemesis, Jacqueline Natla.

Gameplay
Underworld follows the same gameplay template its predecessors have, only with severe new additions and tweaks. the "adrenaline dodge" is replaced with the "adrenaline headshot", which allows Lara to enter bullet time, and instantly kill the enemy by moving the targeting reticle over the target's head and shooting it. The grappling mechanic returns with very much the same functionality. Lara can now target two different enemies at once when dual wielding, shoot her weapons underwater, and have a larger storage capacity for healing items.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The game has a fine balance between combat, platforming, and exploration; all 3 of which being pillars of the series since the very beginning.
 * 2) Stunning graphics, even by 2008 standards. Lara looks amazing as always, and there are many subtle details found with a keen eye; such as water running off of solid surfaces, and Lara getting dirtier as she rolls around.
 * 3) Combat now allows Lara to target more than one enemy at a time so long as she dual wields certain weapons.
 * 4) Bike controls are much tighter this time around, and is used much more sparingly as a gameplay aid, rather than being a mandatory thing like it was in Tomb Raider: Legend.
 * 5) There are loads of treasures to collect (179 in total), some more well hidden than others, and relics require thorough combing of the environment or puzzle solving to find them.
 * 6) Speaking of relics, they actually have a gameplay purpose now; when collected, they will increase Lara's maximum health.
 * 7) Difficulty now features deeper player tailoring settings, affecting Ammo, Enemy Health, Lara's own Health, and Ledge Grab window. Master Survivalist provides a pretty rough challenge, too.
 * 8) Aside from Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, Underworld 's story is probably the darkest and most mature its ever been, until the second reboot, that is.
 * 9) It is great to see Jacqueline Natla again outside the realms of the original game and its remake, since she now plays a much bigger role in this generation of Tomb Raider.
 * 10) The levels themselves are much more open in this game, allowing for greater exploration opportunities more its more linear predecessors.
 * 11) The introduction of a Doppelgänger is a neat little call back to the original Tomb Raider, in which Lara faced one of these in one of the later levels in the game.
 * 12) The Doppelgänger even becomes playable in her own story, "Lara's Shadow. She plays quite differently from Lara, focusing more on direct physical combat than gunplay.
 * 13) *Speaking of, the Xbox 360 version of the game not only has exclusive costumes for Lara to wear (mainly bikinis), but it also has exclusive DLC in the form of the aforementioned "Lara's Shadow", and "Beneath the Ashes".

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Close to zero replay value after beating the game due to no post-game content and many Treasures and Relics being missable if you didn't collect them during your first playthrough.
 * 2) Platforming can feel clunky at times, since Lara often doesn't grab ledges that are clearly within her reach.
 * 3) *Even small drops can take off sizeable portions of Lara's health.
 * 4) *Despite some improvements to combat, it still feels dodgy at best. The next main line entry finally gets it right, though.
 * 5) The Wii version is considered mediocre, but the PlayStation 2 version is considered a disastrous port.
 * 6) There are some weird animations bugs here and there, such as Lara being stuck in one spot until the player makes her jump away.
 * 7) The game doesn't do a very good job of giving players the next objective, sometimes leading to trial and error gameplay.
 * 8) While the story is rather engaging for the most part, it is disappointing that Lara and Amanda don't resolve their differences by the end.
 * 9) While challenging to an extent, most of the difficulty stems from the clunky platforming more than the enemies being really tough.
 * 10) Camera can be god awful at times, giving players a poor view of their surroundings, leading to blind leaps of faith due to how uncooperative it can be.
 * 11) In each level, players are asked to pick their secondary weapon. This is a lie. In reality, Lara has all the secondary weapons and their ammo on herself at all times and they can be freely switched at any point using her PDA.
 * 12) The game tries to artificially extend its length mainly through backtracking and puzzles.
 * 13) *Many levels, especially earlier ones, require Lara to backtrack through entire temples just to escape. Something that no other Tomb Raider game does for obvious reasons.
 * 14) *Certain puzzles require you to pull not one, but two switches, usually in the mirror opposite part of the mechanism. Might not always be bad, but a few of the most blatant examples quickly get tiresome. Many levels, especially earlier ones, also require Lara to backtrack through entire temples just to escape.

Trivia

 * Tomb Raider: Underworld was one the last games published under Eidos Interactive's branding before the company was sold off to Square Enix in 2009.
 * This was also Lara Croft's final outing on the PlayStation 2.

Reception
Tomb Raider: Underworld received generally positive reviews from critics.

The Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 versions of the game were generally highly praised, with many critics comparing Underworld to older titles in the series, with GamesRadar commenting "Doing what made the original great, and adding a considerable face-lift" and The Guardian saying "And when you get stuck into Tomb Raider Underworld, it swiftly becomes clear that it is designed to appeal to a generation of gamers – surely now in their 30s – who grew up with Tomb Raider and fell in love with Lara's attributes and attitude." In reviews, the environments have been widely praised, many reviewers also praised Lara's motion captured movements and the much less linear style of gameplay, while some criticisms aimed at its "haywire" camera angles and "dodgy" combat system.

IGN described the game as enjoyable for the puzzles, exploration and graphics. They went on to praise that quick time events were replaced with adrenaline moments and noted improvements in combat, such as the ability to aim at two enemies at once and new sticky bombs. Similarly, Edge described Underworld as a "rare game that manages to provide a real adventure to go along with its action", praising its frenetic pace and Lara's new abilities.

However, the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions received mostly mixed to negative reviews. IGN commented the Wii version "is not a bad game" but went on to say "The whole thing has been oversimplified and dumbed down. The Wii puzzles are a joke, the combat is almost nonexistent, and the game is pretty short."

Prior to the game's release, Eidos attempted to prevent any reviews rating the game at less than 8 out of 10 from appearing, with an Eidos spokesman stating "the brand manager in the US that's handling all of Tomb Raider has asked that we just manage the scores before the game is out, really, just to ensure that we don't put people off buying the game, basically".

Tomb Raider: Underworld received a BAFTA nomination in 2009. For Underworld's story, Eric Lindstrom and Toby Gard received a nomination for the WGAW's Videogame Writing Award.

Sales
On 9 January 2009, Eidos announced that Tomb Raider: Underworld sales failed to meet expectations, selling 1.5 million copies worldwide as of 31 December 2008. However, on 27 February 2009, Eidos announced that the game had sold around 2.6 million copies worldwide. Also, on 8 May 2009, Ian Livingstone, President of Eidos Interactive, said "Underworld has met our target expectations". In May 2009, Tomb Raider: Underworld was released as part of both the Xbox Classics and PS3 Platinum Range. In December 2011, Tomb Raider: Underworld was given away for free to subscribers of the PlayStation Plus service.

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