Tomb Raider Chronicles - Review
Tomb Raider Chronicles was the Tomb Raider game that was never meant to be, well at least if you ask anyone at Core Design. Prior to working on The Last Revelation, Core had begun to get fatigue with the series and even tried to “kill off” Lara in order to get a break from the series to work on new titles and the next gen Tomb Raider. However when TR:TLR became another critical and commercial success, Lara’s star was signing brighter than ever and Eidos wanted one last Tomb Raider for the PS1 generation for fill the 2000 holiday period. So Core split into two teams, around three quarters of the staff worked on new titles and the next gen Tomb Raider while a quarter of the team worked on Chronicles, and it shows.
Tomb Raider Chronicles is set just after the events of TR:TLR with Lara buried alive in Egypt presumed dead. You are show Winston (The Butler) at a memorial service and the game then shifts to Winston and two of Lara’s other friends discussing some of her adventures. The game then takes you through four adventures. The first is situated in Rome, where Lara is searching for the fabled Philosopher's Stone. Pierre DuPont and Larson Conway are reintroduced and we learn that they too are after the Stone. The second adventure entails Lara on the hunt for the famed Spear of Destiny. This see’s Lara go against the Russian mafia and take them on, on a submarine. The third adventure is set in Lara's childhood on Black Isle of Ireland. She is staying with Winston but overhears him and Father Patrick Dunstan conversing about strange paranormal happenings on the island. She stows away on the small boat Father Patrick drives to the island and encounters many strange beings such as the Hanging Corpse, Changelings, a monster intent on chasing and killing her, the Grim Reaper, ghosts and the Demon Verdilet. The fourth and final expedition involves Lara infiltrating a high-tech complex owned by Werner von Croy in pursuit of the Iris artefact, an artefact Lara sees as her own from the beginning events of TR:TLR.
The way the story is set out and plays very much makes the game feel more like an expansion pack to The Last Revelation than a fully fledged new game. The gameplay of Tomb Raider Chronicles is closely tied to that of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. Lara now can walk on a tightrope, grab and swing on horizontal bars, and somersault forwards from a ledge while crouching. Lara sports a new camouflage snow-suit and a black catsuit suitable for infiltration. The crossbow and grenade launcher from Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation have not returned, but the MP5 submachine gun and Desert Eagle from Tomb Raider III are revived. New equipment consists of a TMX-Timex that Lara uses to track her statistics and grappling gun, which fires a grappling hook into perishable surfaces and produces a rope from which Lara can swing. It is used to latch on certain areas of the ceiling and swing across vaults. Only one vehicle (of sorts) appears: a high-tech diving suit designed to penetrate deep waters. The ability to save wherever one desires returns from The Last Revelation as does the combining system of puzzle items used to progress in the level. Lara also uses a crowbar and a torch to progress through the virtual world.
From a graphics perspective this is easily the most refined Tomb Raider to date. Lara’s character model is the best yet and draw distance and environmental detail have all been improved. It is the most varied Tomb Raider game in terms of level design, seeing you go from Rome, to Siberia, to a hunted island to a futuristic skyscraper. All look fantastic and a each fun to play. The game also features a special features menu that is unlocked when you find all the hidden items in the game. It features some content art as well as a short FMV showing off what the next gen Tomb Raider might look like.
Tomb Rider Chronicles is a strange game in the series, it in no way feels like a brand new game, more an expansion pack. It’s clear that this game didn’t have as much time and effort put into it and the final product is very, very similar to what has come before. It is also by far the shortest Tomb Raider game, clocking it at around 6 to 8 hours. If you love Tomb Raider then its worth picking up to add to the collection but if you don’t or like Core Design you are a bit burnt out with it, you may want to give this one a miss.
PC – 7.6 PS1 - 7.5
Tomb Raider Chronicles was the Tomb Raider game that was never meant to be, well at least if you ask anyone at Core Design. Prior to working on The Last Revelation, Core had begun to get fatigue with the series and even tried to “kill off” Lara in order to get a break from the series to work on new titles and the next gen Tomb Raider. However when TR:TLR became another critical and commercial success, Lara’s star was signing brighter than ever and Eidos wanted one last Tomb Raider for the PS1 generation for fill the 2000 holiday period. So Core split into two teams, around three quarters of the staff worked on new titles and the next gen Tomb Raider while a quarter of the team worked on Chronicles, and it shows.
Tomb Raider Chronicles is set just after the events of TR:TLR with Lara buried alive in Egypt presumed dead. You are show Winston (The Butler) at a memorial service and the game then shifts to Winston and two of Lara’s other friends discussing some of her adventures. The game then takes you through four adventures. The first is situated in Rome, where Lara is searching for the fabled Philosopher's Stone. Pierre DuPont and Larson Conway are reintroduced and we learn that they too are after the Stone. The second adventure entails Lara on the hunt for the famed Spear of Destiny. This see’s Lara go against the Russian mafia and take them on, on a submarine. The third adventure is set in Lara's childhood on Black Isle of Ireland. She is staying with Winston but overhears him and Father Patrick Dunstan conversing about strange paranormal happenings on the island. She stows away on the small boat Father Patrick drives to the island and encounters many strange beings such as the Hanging Corpse, Changelings, a monster intent on chasing and killing her, the Grim Reaper, ghosts and the Demon Verdilet. The fourth and final expedition involves Lara infiltrating a high-tech complex owned by Werner von Croy in pursuit of the Iris artefact, an artefact Lara sees as her own from the beginning events of TR:TLR.
The way the story is set out and plays very much makes the game feel more like an expansion pack to The Last Revelation than a fully fledged new game. The gameplay of Tomb Raider Chronicles is closely tied to that of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. Lara now can walk on a tightrope, grab and swing on horizontal bars, and somersault forwards from a ledge while crouching. Lara sports a new camouflage snow-suit and a black catsuit suitable for infiltration. The crossbow and grenade launcher from Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation have not returned, but the MP5 submachine gun and Desert Eagle from Tomb Raider III are revived. New equipment consists of a TMX-Timex that Lara uses to track her statistics and grappling gun, which fires a grappling hook into perishable surfaces and produces a rope from which Lara can swing. It is used to latch on certain areas of the ceiling and swing across vaults. Only one vehicle (of sorts) appears: a high-tech diving suit designed to penetrate deep waters. The ability to save wherever one desires returns from The Last Revelation as does the combining system of puzzle items used to progress in the level. Lara also uses a crowbar and a torch to progress through the virtual world.
From a graphics perspective this is easily the most refined Tomb Raider to date. Lara’s character model is the best yet and draw distance and environmental detail have all been improved. It is the most varied Tomb Raider game in terms of level design, seeing you go from Rome, to Siberia, to a hunted island to a futuristic skyscraper. All look fantastic and a each fun to play. The game also features a special features menu that is unlocked when you find all the hidden items in the game. It features some content art as well as a short FMV showing off what the next gen Tomb Raider might look like.
Tomb Rider Chronicles is a strange game in the series, it in no way feels like a brand new game, more an expansion pack. It’s clear that this game didn’t have as much time and effort put into it and the final product is very, very similar to what has come before. It is also by far the shortest Tomb Raider game, clocking it at around 6 to 8 hours. If you love Tomb Raider then its worth picking up to add to the collection but if you don’t or like Core Design you are a bit burnt out with it, you may want to give this one a miss.
PC – 7.6 PS1 - 7.5