The Buzz

Yay!! So it’s my first review. ^_^  so, Giddiness aside I’m going to be doing”random video game from Aaron’s Collection” Yeah I know i plugged my own name in there. Don’t judge me. The random Video game this time is  Tomb Raider Anniversary for the Nintendo Wii. Your probably  wondering how i go about choosing these games. well,  it’s a pretty complicated process that is very taxing on the body. I lay all of my games on the floor and i blind fold myself and then i choose one. pretty difficult  I know.  (I’m usually shirtless when this is all goes down for some reason) Well enough of me and my being blindfolded and shirtless =P. On with the review!

 

For those who don’t know, the game stars Sexy, used to be extremely busty heroine Lara Croft as a er…. Tomb Raider of sorts.  Back in the late 90′s she was the go to gal for female action heroes in video games. Guys would drool over her polygonal cubed as hell model and her “assets” I guess you could say. Plus she had a killer english accent. The plot in Anniversary is fairly simple.  Lara is offered to search for the scion by Natla. For spoilerish purposes I’ll leave the rest out. Lara travels from Egypt, Peru, to Greece in search of Artifacts, Relics and hidden treasures. Gone are the days of Lara moving & jumping robotically. She moves and runs with fluidity like a normal person would. This was implemented in “Tomb raider Legends” and carried over to this game. Lara climbs and does everything with ease and the animations are nice for each move.

Tomb Raider is known for being a tad bit on the difficult side  (I never beat the first on the original playstation, hey i was a young kid) with it’s mix of action,exploration & puzzle solving. Which have been the most satisfying parts since the series began. The isolation and the overwhelming feeling of being alone and getting out of the caves and hidden tombs are very present in this game. It has it’s hard moments but you can view Lara’s journal on what do to next if you get stuck.

Of course since this is the Wii version it gets the added feature of motion controls which is the core of the game. You will climb and grappling hook your way through environments with ease using the Wii remote and nunchuck.  The big draw of this version is being able to solve puzzles, pull levers,  dust off artifacts, and crack open broken walls to reveal secrets. The overall feeling is cool and it makes you really feel like your part of the game as opposed to just sitting and watching. It does a good job without feeling too gimmicky. The controls are simple. you shake the nunchuck to use your grappling hook. analog stick controls Lara. the C button is your camera. The controls aren’t clunky but the camera.. could use a little work.

 

My Quote for this game would truly be “Look before you leap” believe me.  The camera caused many deaths because I simply wouldn’t know where to jump next. It’s good to take note of your environments and look  around before you just start climbing around like a monkey. If you haven’t played a next gen TR game the majority of it will feel fresh thanks to the added gameplay enhancements and different things Lara can do made for the Wii version. It’s a lot more fun overall. There’s an adrenaline bar so you can pull of some slow mo kills.  The Croft Manor is also in this game which is Lara’s ridiculously large mansion that you can explore and put things back in order. Her butler hasn’t been doing his job apparently. There is concept art, Developer commentary and alternate outfits and cheats galore. If your a huge TR fan then this is a game you must play.