n this installment of the Tomb Raider series, Lara Croft, consummate raider-of-tombs, larks about Egypt, where she inadvertently unlocks the evil spirit of Set, then spends the remainder of the game trying to undo her triple-D-cup oopsy-daisy while contending with her mentor-turned-archenemy. As in every other Tomb Raider incarnation, gamers control the lovely and talented Croft--high-priced gravedigger and swashbuckler extraordinaire--from the third-person perspective as she runs, leaps, climbs, shoots and crawls about the floor.
From the ground up Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation gives the Tomb Raider line a subtle yet major overhaul. Gone are the sprawling, convoluted levels that offered arcane yet tedious gameplay; instead this game offers tighter, more confining stages which confront or confound Croft at nearly every turn. The Desert Railroad level, for example, restricts the vivacious vixen to a handful of boxcars on a fatally fast-moving train, yet offers a glut of conundrums while also presenting numerous nasty ruffians that need to be slain. Levels such as this offer comparatively rapid play that moves sprightly through more than three dozen segments before the heady grand finale.
Likewise, the traditional Tomb Raider "secrets" are no longer hidden; rather, they are usually in plain view, with the methods of access providing the enigma, so the game continues to offer the requisite Tomb vexation without the previous frustration and hopelessness.
Additionally, Croft has picked up a few new skills--none of which, incidentally, are explained in the so-called opening "training" level. She now has the ability to swing on dangling ropes as well as shinny up and down poles.
Out of control fun
Controlling Croft is, as always, a clumsy affair. While she moves with unsurpassed grace and fluidity, collision problems persist. Croft is still likely to get jammed up against a doorway. The PlayStation version suffers not only from comparatively low resolution compared to the PC version, but a
great deal of clipping, pop-up and bizarre graphical flutter. Nevertheless, gamers long ago learned to forgive this lack of potency for the simple reason that the Tomb Raider games remain some of the most engaging, tantalizingly ornery and rewarding interactive adventure tales made. Last Revelation is no exception; in fact, this fourth go-round unquestionably revitalizes the franchise.
The game contains a diverse horde of innovative puzzles which are fresh and clever. The ability to combine objects and articles to create key implements or armaments gives the game a certain momentum without sacrificing the more teasing aspects of puzzle solving.
Also, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is positively heaving with mini cut-scenes and in-game featurettes which give the illusion of ever-present danger, of deviant voyeurs lurking in the shadows, and pleasantly heightens the sense of imminent peril.
In short, this latest installment of Tomb Raider offers tight and lively gameplay, yet does not sacrifice the fundamental immersive nature of the Indiana Jonesette theme on which the franchise was erected.
