Tomb Raider: Chronicles

They really were firing out Tomb Raider games back then and Tomb Raider Chronicles would be the fifth and last game of the classic style to be released. I played this on Dreamcast back in the day, but what is weird about that is that The Last Revelation came out mere months before this did! This game was pushed/rushed out so that they had a Tomb Raider game on shelves to keep fans “happy” while they worked on the next-gen Lara game for the PlayStation 2…. And we know who well that worked out.

Is Lara Dead?

The story here follows directly on from the events of The Last Revelation. It is presumed that Lara is dead and at her funeral, people are standing around talking about her adventures. I feel that this was a clever idea for a story and as the name suggests, Tomb Raider Chronicles lets us play through a few different classic Lara adventurers that made her the explorer she was. The storytelling is pretty good and far better than what the previous game offered. It even ends on a pretty damn good cliffhanger that back in the day I must admit got me pretty excited about seeing Lara again.

Same Old Problems

By this point, the game engine that they were using was starting to really show its age. They have added a few things here such as a nifty grappling hook which is cool. Lara can wear specific suits that help her hide and she can dive much better underwater. There are other “new” things like walking on a tightrope and how the game makes you use the analog stick to run and dodge around corners and the dpad for finer movements that are “enhanced” from previous games which can be frustrating. Back in 2000, I was still somewhat interested in the series so I was willing to overlook the fact that the series had not evolved much past the first game. However, going back now this is very hard to play, but so are all the older Tomb Raider games to be fair.

Better Than The Fourth

I would have to say that out of the original games, The Last Revelation is my least favorite and at the very least, Tomb Raider Chronicles is better than that. I like how you can save when you want and what I really think saves the game is the story. The three different adventures you get to play as are all very, very different. Not just in the story and the characters, you come across, but what Lara has to do and most importantly their locations. You get to go all over the world so in that regard the variety on offer feels much better here than in the last game.

Lara Croft was a real pop culture and video game icon during this time. In the span of five years, we got five games! I would not say any of these games are “bad” as a matter of fact the first two I loved back when they were first released. After that though, it felt like we were getting the same game over and over again. If I had to rank all five then I would probably put Tomb Raider Chronicles here third on my list. It may not have changed things all that much, but it is certainly better than the game that came before it.

Pros:

• I really enjoyed the three different stories
• You get to go to many different locations
• Lara as always looks great
• The grappling hook was fun to use
• Despite starting to get sick of the series, the ending really got me excited

Cons:

• It retains the majority of problems the series has had since the third game
• Tightrope walking is one of the most frustrating things you will ever do!