============================================ Tomb Raider: Underworld Developer
: Crystal Dynamics Publisher : Eidos Interactive Genre :
Action-adventure Platform : PC Type : 3rd Person Mode
: Single Player Release : 18 November, 2008
GR Rating
: 9.4/10
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Tomb Raider: Underworld, also known as Tomb Raider 8, is the eighth game
in the Tomb Raider series, released in November 2008. It is the third
game in the series to be developed by Crystal Dynamics. Underworld
resumes the adventure from where Tomb Raider: Legend left off and
addresses elements of the plot left unexplained in Tomb Raider: Legend
and Tomb Raider: Anniversary.
The gameplay is much more different
from the previous two tomb raider games. As example, Lara's
environment will be an "interactive world that reacts and remembers",
such that footprints left in the mud or mud transferred to Lara's knee
from kneeling on the ground will be washed away by rain, the bodies of
the foes she encounters will remain where she killed them, and any
destruction to the environment she causes will be permanent. Lara Croft
now can jump from wall to wall (just like in Prince of Persia). This
instalment also features a new melee combat system, requiring Lara in
some instances to use "direct combat and evasive manoeuvres to distance
herself from her attacker". Lara can also split up her guns and fire at
two different targets simultaneously, or hold an item with one hand and
fire a gun with the other. The grappling hook can now be stretched taut
and used to pull objects off ledges unlike in previous series. In
cutscenes from previous titles, there were specific button presses; but
now, time slows down and gives the player a chance to get out of the way
while retaining the full control of Lara. Among the weapons there are
now Pistol, Sub-machine gun, Assault rifle, Shotgun, Tranqualiser gun,
Harpoon & Sticky grenades. Now players are even can choose her
outfit before a mission starts.
The story begins when Lara Croft
is seen in the lower corridor of Croft Manor where Lara has to escape
from a fire. After passing a few obstacle; game flashes back a week into
the past, showing Lara in the Mediterranean Sea. Lara is searching for a
way to Avalon, the mythical resting place of King Arthur, and the place
where Amanda claimed Lara's mother is. Lara finds a temple of
"Proto-Norse" origin, leading her to believe that Avalon and the Norse
underworld of Niflheim are one and the same. She also finds a gauntlet
that belonged to the Norse god Thor. She meets her old nemesis
Jacqueline Natla, whom Amanda has in captivity. Natla states that Avalon
is the same as Helheim, rather than Niflheim as Lara had supposed, and
that Lara will need Thor's hammer, Mj.
