Tomb Raider: Underworld Demo

Everyone's favorite archeologist is back in action, this time exploring some ancient ruins somewhere deep below the Arctic Sea, as well as a multitude of other environments. Since she is just as young as ever, Lara Croft is still able to climb the steepest mountains, battle fierce tigers and mercenaries, as well as recover mystic artifacts that hold unknown powers.

Tomb Raider: Underworld carries the heavy title of being the eighth installment of the franchise, which now spans across two decades. Just like always, Lara gets into trouble pretty quickly, especially since a bigger conspiracy comes to light, featuring her father and an enormous explosion that takes place at her house. Naturally, the entire plot evolves to include ancient artifacts and mercenaries, as well as long forgotten ruins far away from the reach of civilization.

A good thing about Underworld's story is that it tries to tie up a few loose ends from the previous games, namely Legend and Anniversary, both of which left some matters unsolved in the end. The new plot is interesting enough to keep you playing, especially since you get to visit some of the most jaw-dropping landscapes yet and solve some curios mysteries along the way.

As always, the developers took advantage of the latest motion capturing technologies in order to provide Lara with very realistic moves and animations, making it a real delight to see her jump from ledge to ledge, as well as perform her famous battle acrobatics. The graphic engine has been significantly improved as well, especially when it comes to the quality of the textures and the special effects used throughout the game.

There are still some issues, which, if Tomb Raider wasn't a born and raised platformer, maybe wouldn't have mattered so much, but they do in this case: the awful camera control and positioning. Given the fact that you have to perform wild jumps from one ledge to the other in order to advance through the levels, it is very annoying that, very often, you cannot see the place where you should jump. Moreover, the camera goes absolutely haywire whenever you are in tight spaces, since it zooms in too much and automatically rotates when Lara moves a bit, making it extremely uncomfortable and hard to coordinate your moves.

Despite the camera trouble, Tomb Raider: Underworld remains a very refined game, especially when it comes to the serene landscapes and the exploring part. It also explains a lot of events from the previous titles, which is always a welcomed addition.